Late 2015 iMac 27 storage upgrade options

[netmac]

Hi,

I have a late 2015 iMac 27 with 1TB HDD. It is too slow for applications to open and regular Finder operations. I am planning to upgrade the storage to improve the speed.

Here are my options.

1) Apple 256 GB Flash drive (PCIe SSD?) for $500 (labor included)
- Result 1 = 1 TB fusion drive. Combine 1 TB HDD with 256 GB Flash drive.

2) Apple 512 GB Flash drive (PCIe SSD?) for $900 (labor included)
- Result 1 = 1 TB fusion drive. Combine 1 TB HDD with 512 GB Flash drive.
- Result 2 = 2 drives independently with a total of 1.5 TB (possible?)

3) MacSales 1 TB SSD (SATA) upgrde for $410 (plus labor)
- Result 1 = 1 TB SSD. Replace HDD with SSD.

4) MacSales 2 TB SSD (SATA) upgrde for $770 (plus labor & waiting time of 41 days)
- Result 1 = 2 TB SSD. Replace HDD with SSD.

5) Crucial MX300 2TB SATA SSD for $550 (plus labor)
- Result 1 = 2 TB SSD. Replace HDD with SSD.

6) External USB 3 SSD
- bulky, slower, cheaper than Thunderbolt version, not preferred

7) External Thunderbolt SSD
- bulky, fast, expensive, not preferred at this time

8) Other options

Here are my questions.

1) What do you recommend?

2) PCIe SSD is much faster than SATA3 SSD, in spec. What is the speed difference between Fusion drive (PCIe SSD + HDD) and SATA SSD? Is the different big enough in real life?

 

[JustMartin]

It's difficult to tell without knowing your usage. But, another option might be to Thunderbolt or USB an external SSD ands use that as your main drive. That way would save on installation costs.

Asking about the speed difference between Fusion and SSD is (re)opening a very old can of worms which will only result in screeds of anecdotal evidence, blind prejudice and personal belief systems (do a search for examples) Suffice to say, the Fusion model is a good fit for users who a) do not regularly write more than 4Gb at a time to the disk and b) use the same files and applications regularly or have a load file from somewhere else and immediately use it workflow.

 

[Fishrrman]

I guess you've got money to toss away.
Before I'd spend $500-900 on that one, I'd get another with a built-in SSD or 2tb fusion drive.

The easiest, fastest, cheapest, SAFEST way to get more speed:
Option 6 -- plug in an SSD in a USB3 enclosure.

It will give you read speeds of +/-430mpbs, and writes between 250-330mbps (depending on the make and size of the SSD).

That will be 3-4x times as fast as the internal drive you're using now.
It will transform the machine in a matter of minutes -- again, with the least $$$ expenditure and risk.

As far as the fact that you'll have an "external enclosure" as a result, get a strip of Velcro and attach it to the back of the iMac's stand -- out of the way, out of sight.