Just about to buy iMac - SSD & RAM Advice Please

[SaSaSushi]

Since the OP has had his questions answered, I have read this and would really just like to understand the purpose of his plan?

I can't speak for the OP but the main purpose in booting a hard drive-only Mac from an external SSD would, of course, be to enjoy the vastly superior performance of the solid state drive and to then use the internal HD simply as storage for media files, photos etc.

 

[SD-B]

I can't speak for the OP but the main purpose in booting a hard drive-only Mac from an external SSD would, of course, be to enjoy the vastly superior performance of the solid state drive and to then use the internal HD simply as storage for media files, photos etc.

Thanks.
Its not something I would have assumed was advisable, hence, an interesting thread for me.

Thanks for confirming what I figured might be his reason..

 

[Gazmo]

Since the OP has had his questions answered, I have read this and would really just like to understand the purpose of his plan?

I too would have assumed it was backwards but I am not good enough with computers to go to the lengths he plans to, or as the last person has done with his set up either.

But, I would just like to know as i learn ore what the reason behind doing this would be?

TIA

The main reason behind it is saving money. To have an SSD installed internally by Apple with the BTO option costs an extra £160 on top of the Mac price. Then I'd have to buy an additional external 1TB drive for storage which will probably be an additional £100. The way I've done it I've done it for half the price by buying a SSD and enclosure for £130 and having the 1TB drive inside the machine (the non cost option on BTO).

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I can't speak for the OP but the main purpose in booting a hard drive-only Mac from an external SSD would, of course, be to enjoy the vastly superior performance of the solid state drive and to then use the internal HD simply as storage for media files, photos etc.

This is exactly my plan.

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It's not just about reinstalling apps. It's preferences and settings, libraries, all the things in your home folder library. If you can you want to keep the 'backup' OS on the internal in a state as close as possible to your daily user OS. If you do ever need to use it, the switch over will be seamless. The way you are describing your plan, should you ever need this backup OS it will be like starting from a clean install again. If you are worried enough to want this backup OS, just take a bit of time for maintenance (this can be automated) and get the full benefit should it be required.

Other than this, it seems like your plan will work.

Thanks for this, I'll definitely look into backing up my data incase of disaster with the SSD.

 

[Gazmo]

Well my Mac came a day early so I had a go at using Carbon Copy Cloner to get OS X to boot off of my new SSD. All worked perfectly so appreciate everybody's help!!

Loving the mac so far, loads of new things to get used to.

 

[Gazmo]

I have run a couple of speed tests on my Mac since installing OS X on my external SSD (connected by USB 3.0) - well worth doing in my opinion, the difference is like night and day.

System Spec

Internal HDD

External SSD

 

[Weaselboy]

That is a good result and fast disk speeds. Glad this worked out for you.

 

[Gazmo]

That is a good result and fast disk speeds. Glad this worked out for you.

Cheers Weaselboy, appreciate your help in getting me there!