Internal or external SSD upgrade to IMAC 2012

[viveiroscordeiro]

Hi,
I would like to upgrade an old iMac:
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012); 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5; 24 GB 1600 MHz DDR3; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1 GB; USB3.

Which option would be better?
-substitute the internal drive by a new SSD (samsung 860 EVO or similar) and thermal sensor...
-Keep the main drive and connect an external SSD by USB3 or thunderbolt 2.

I'm confused by the fact that some external drives ar faster then the internal ones...

Any advises?

Thanks!

 

[Amethyst1]

substitute the internal drive by a new SSD (samsung 860 EVO or similar) and thermal sensor...

That's the neatest solution.

-Keep the main drive and connect an external SSD by USB3 or thunderbolt 2.

The 2012 iMac only has Thunderbolt 1. I'm not aware of many Thunderbolt 1/2 SSDs, and Thunderbolt 3 ones need a bidirectional adapter and an external power source (eg a dock) since the adapter doesn't supply any power.
USB 3.0 is what I'm using with a Samsung T5 for my boot drive. No TRIM support via USB though.

As for some external SSDs being faster than internal SATA ones - those are PCIe SSDs attached via Thunderbolt.

 

[viveiroscordeiro]

That's the neatest solution.


The 2012 iMac only has Thunderbolt 1. I'm not aware of many Thunderbolt 1/2 SSDs, and Thunderbolt 3 ones need a bidirectional adapter as well as a power source, since the adapter doesn't supply any power. USB 3.0 is what I'm using with a Samsung T5 for my boot drive. No TRIM support via USB though.

Yes, my mistake the thunderbolt is 1, so even using a external samsung T7, I would be limited by the USB 3 transfer rate which is 600MB/s... Internal or external would have about the same transfers rates, 540MB/s or 600MB/s, right?

 

[Fishrrman]

Fastest, easiest, safest way:
Plug in a USB3 SSD and set it up to be the boot drive.

You can install a drive internally if you wish, but, be aware that there is a possibility of something getting damaged during the procedure.

You can get about 85% of "the speed" from the USB3 drive (that you would get from an internally-installed SSD).

In my opinion, the slight loss in speed isn't worth the risk of opening the iMac -- unless you're absolutely sure of your abilities to do the job.

You should see read speeds in the 420MBps range from a USB3 SSD.

Either buy one "ready to go" (like the samsung t5), or get
- a "bare" 2.5" SATA SSD
and
- a 2.5" USB3 enclosure like this:

Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure External SATA HDD and SSD Case - Optimized for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5" SSD, Tool Free (FE2002)

Attention: package contains an extra foam sticker for 7 mm thickness hard drives, you should attach the sticker to the original one inside the lid before you insert the hard drive; 12.5 mm hard drives might be incompatible with this product. 70% faster than traditional USB 3.0 With UASP transfer ...

www.amazon.com

(drive just snaps into it).

I would suggest using CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of your existing internal drive to the SSD.
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days (this costs you nothing).

Another advantage of the external SSD:
Someday you're going to get another Mac.
When that day comes, it's easy to just unplug the SSD and "take it along" with you.

 

[Amethyst1]

Internal or external would have about the same transfers rates [...]?

Via SATA III (6 Gbps) and USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), yep. Thunderbolt 1 (10 Gbps) is faster. These figures do not take overhead into account however.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Via SATA III (6 Gbps) and USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), yep. Thunderbolt 1 (10 Gbps) is faster. These figures do not take overhead into account however.

Consider that only nVME SSD and Thunderbolt 3 box can only give 900MB/s writing on a Mac mini M1, and a high waste of money to buy TB2 cable + TB3 to TB2 adapter, listen to Fishrrman and be consent with a humble USB 3.0 box + 2.5" SSD or M.2 Sata SSD. Other options are just wasting money.
If you want to pursuit the SSD speed, get a PC which support PCIe gen 4 and an M.2 slot 4x4 to benefit from the latest nVME available.

 

[viveiroscordeiro]

Thanks for all the opinions, now everything it's much clear to me... I will jus think if the effort and risk of opening the iMac worth the mor "clean solution"... As in practice I already have some external ssd for storage, no big aesthetics diference... So strongly inclined to go for the external upgrade...

 

[Amethyst1]

So strongly inclined to go for the external upgrade...

I'd also go that route. No risk of damaging the iMac.

 

[viveiroscordeiro]

Just one last question: Would be better to have one large external SSD with the OS and the files, or one for the system and other for storing? For example, Is there any slowdown, if I have 2 externals USB3 SSDs. One with the OS and I'm editing videos from the second one...

 

[tri-x]

Thanks for all the opinions, now everything it's much clear to me... I will jus think if the effort and risk of opening the iMac worth the mor "clean solution"... As in practice I already have some external ssd for storage, no big aesthetics diference... So strongly inclined to go for the external upgrade...

I went this route—2x Samsung T5s (1TB for MacOS and most files; 500GB for Lightroom catalog and music library) and it's sooo much faster than the Fusion Drive. It'll give your Mac a new lease on life. Can highly recommend!

 

[Fishrrman]

The SSD should have the OS -AND- apps on it.
It should have your account.

If your account has "too much stuff" in it to fit (such as large libraries of music, movies, and pics), then move the large libraries to the internal drive. They can be accessed from any source.

It does you no good to have an SSD and NOT run the OS and apps from it...!

 

[viveiroscordeiro]

The SSD should have the OS -AND- apps on it.
It should have your account.

If your account has "too much stuff" in it to fit (such as large libraries of music, movies, and pics), then move the large libraries to the internal drive. They can be accessed from any source.

It does you no good to have an SSD and NOT run the OS and apps from it...!

I will put the OS and apps on the new SSD, the question is if will result any problem from connecting 2 externals SSDs at the same time, as I already have one external SSD with the video files. (SSD "1" with OS and APPs + SSD "2" with videos I'm editing).

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't see why you can't have more than one SSD connected at once.
I'm doing that right now as I type this.

 

[viveiroscordeiro]

Finally I upgrade with a Samsung 870 QVO SSD 2TB SATA3, inside Tooq external case 2.5" SATA USB 3.0, cloned wit BCC.
Everything is working fine and speeds are in the 420MBps range, as expected.
I'm very happy, but in 3 or 4 days I experienced 2 complete freezes that required a restart, (they happened after some time inactive). Would this be related with the upgrade?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I experienced 2 complete freezes that required a restart, (they happened after some time inactive). Would this be related with the upgrade?"

I would:
- power down, all the way off
- remove and re-attach connecting cable to drive (do both ends of cable)
- try again.