Mac mini 2018 SSD Drive Options - Advice Needed

[Toonartist]

Bought the i7 2018 Mac mini to replace a Mac Pro 2013 6 core, 32gb ram and 2xd500 gpu's.

So far, replaced the RAM with 32gb and added a Razer Core X with a PowerColor Red Dragon Vega 56 gpu. Also applied liquid metal thermal paste to the CPU.

So, next is the hard drive. I bought the unit with a 256gb SSD with the view of adding an External pcie NVMe SSD drive via. thunderbolt 3. But, still thinking how best to tackle it.

The first question I have is about setup and looking for opinion as to what would be best.

1. Use the external drive as a replacement for the internal one. Leaving the internal redundant.
2. Keep the internal drive for OSX and Apps and use the external TB3 drive for the User/Home folders.
3. Use the TB3 external drive as the main drive, wipe the internal drive and use it as a scratch drive. Taking a clone of the setup and sticking it on a USB c gen 2 enclosure with a pcie nvme drive as a backup in case of emergency.

Next question is about enclosures/hardware. The two options I was considering for the external drive setup.

1. Sonnet Echo Express SEL / Thunderbolt 3 with a 2TB drive... either

addlink S70 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 or

Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280

I'd be using a, "Aqua Computer kryoM.2 evo PCIe 3.0 x 4" adapter card... unless there are any other recommendations!

2. Buy a Samsung X5 (500gb) and then buy a 2TB drive to put in it.

I prefer the first option as I can daisy chain 5 other devices to that enclosure so I'm effectively not using/losing a TB3 port and it will have active cooling from a quiet internal fan.

I have other usb c gen 2 drives (Plugable) that have Sabrent 1TB Rocket in them that are used as mobile storage for the MacBook Pro but plugged into the mini for use when I'm in the office... so, I need to retain at least 1-2 TB3 ports for this.

Any advice, options would be greatly appreciated here as I'd like it sorted out before January when I'm back working properly again after Christmas!

Cheers

 

[tagumcity]

I’m planning on buying the m.2 ennclosure that rates at thunderbolt 3 full speed and will purchase a Samsung 970 plus separately. Some enclosures or combinations with the drive are crippled at half speed.

 

[Toonartist]

I’m planning on buying the m.2 ennclosure that rates at thunderbolt 3 full speed and will purchase a Samsung 970 plus separately. Some enclosures or combinations with the drive are crippled at half speed.

Yeah, that's what I would like to avoid.

The Sonnet is a full TB3 speed enclosure the adapter card is the unknown although it is PCIe 3.0 x4 so should provide the max TB3 speed. I looked at the Samsung 970 benchmarks that were compared to the two drives above. It was a bit faster but the difference wasn't sufficient for me to justify the extra £150 or so.

The drive will be used for motion graphics and I'll be moving large volumes of data so thermal throttling was a concern hence the enclosure with fan etc to keep temperatures down. Or... has anyone else experience that confirms it is a non issue?!?

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd set up the internal with:
- OS
- Apps
- "Stripped down" home folder(s)
By "stripped down" I mean that you put your "large libraries" of data (pics, movies, music) on the external drive
This keeps the internal "lean and clean", so it will run at its best.

If you're getting a thunderbolt3 drive, it should run as fast as (or nearly as fast as) the internal SSD.
So you could set it up as a completely independent boot drive if you wish.

But you want to keep a "bootable to the finder" copy of the OS on the internal drive anyway.
You always always ALWAYS want to have a "second boot drive" close by, which you can immediately turn to "in a moment of need".

 

[Toonartist]

I'd set up the internal with:
- OS
- Apps
- "Stripped down" home folder(s)
By "stripped down" I mean that you put your "large libraries" of data (pics, movies, music) on the external drive
This keeps the internal "lean and clean", so it will run at its best.

If you're getting a thunderbolt3 drive, it should run as fast as (or nearly as fast as) the internal SSD.
So you could set it up as a completely independent boot drive if you wish.

But you want to keep a "bootable to the finder" copy of the OS on the internal drive anyway.
You always always ALWAYS want to have a "second boot drive" close by, which you can immediately turn to "in a moment of need".

Thanks. Yes, just finishing up setting up all apps and getting the OS up-to-date so I can take a clone copy that will be on a bootable usb c drive for emergencies.

I wasn't sure whether I'd be better off (performance wise) using the new drive as an external boot & to trim back the home folder before copying it to the new drive (changing located via advanced user/login settings etc).

I've gone for the following

Ssd Drive - ADATA 2TB XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280
Adapter - EZDIY-FAB PCI Express M.2 SSD NGFF PCIe Card to PCIe 3.0 x 4 Adapter
Enclosure - Sonnet Echo Express SEL - Thunderbolt 3 Edition

In the end, the Adata drive had benchmarks to the Samsung drive for Random Read/Write speeds and while sequential was a little slower than the Sabrent Rocket, it was faster in random benchmarks.

Going this route rather than the Samsung X5 route should give me more upgrade options in the future. I see Sonnet are selling upgrade cards from TB2 - TB3 for the older versions so hopefully they do that again for whatever comes next.

Edit.

Forgot to ask. When migrating to new Mac mini / Apple desktops in the future, does having the home folder on an external drive cause any headaches?!? Cheers

 

[Fishrrman]

I believe there are ways to "properly relocate" the home folder to an external drive. I've never tried it.
But doing it "the wrong way" can invite all kinds of problems.

Myself... I prefer the home folder to reside on the same volume as the OS and apps.
I believe the OS "expects" to find it there.
Again, there's no problem moving the large libraries that normally reside INSIDE the home folder to another drive.

I keep very little inside of my own home folder.
Mail resides there, but I don't have lots and lots of it.

Just about everything else is on other drives and partitions.

 

[Toonartist]

I believe there are ways to "properly relocate" the home folder to an external drive. I've never tried it.
But doing it "the wrong way" can invite all kinds of problems.

Myself... I prefer the home folder to reside on the same volume as the OS and apps.
I believe the OS "expects" to find it there.
Again, there's no problem moving the large libraries that normally reside INSIDE the home folder to another drive.

I keep very little inside of my own home folder.
Mail resides there, but I don't have lots and lots of it.

Just about everything else is on other drives and partitions.

Yeah, I've done it before but I'd need to dig out the instructions. Getting it wrong as you say is... not good. It can really mess up disk permissions etc.

I think I'll test out disk speed etc when the drives setup and if it's very similar, not too much slower, then I'll boot from the external drive and keep the OSX on the internal drive as the standby / alternative boot drive. I could even set up a folder on the internal drive for cache/FCPx/motion 5 libraries etc.

 

[tagumcity]

Reliability, heat management, and drive capacity are some of the characteristics that seem most valued. The highest read/write speeds can’t be perceived by most users.

 

[Toonartist]

Got other problems at the moment.

Upgraded to 10.15.2 ready to take a clone copy for the new drive etc and now found the eGPU is broken on reboot. It has to be switched off while booting in with a direct HDMI cable to the Mac mini and then switching on the eGPU and disconnecting the HDMI cable. Been looking high and low for a copy of the 10.15 file. I have the 10.15.1 update file. Catalina seems to be a right pig compared to Mojave. Anyone now where I may lay my hands on a copy?

 

[Toonartist]

Unfortunately, the Adata drive didn't work out. The drive failed, kept overheating and crashing the system. Ended up getting the Samsung 970 Evo 1TB for £120 at Amazon... seemed a good deal.

System setup.

Ssd Drive - ADATA 2TB XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 - FAILED
Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB V-NAND M.2 - MZ-V7E1T0BW
Adapter - EZDIY-FAB PCI Express M.2 SSD NGFF PCIe Card to PCIe 3.0 x 4 Adapter
Enclosure - Sonnet Echo Express SEL - Thunderbolt 3 Edition


For reference, I've attached the disk speed tests using the Adata drive, a Sabrent Rocket 1tb, Samsung 970 Evo and the Apple internal 256gb drive. All drives (apart from apple of course) are in the Sonnet Echo Express SEL.

The Samsung 970 Evo is giving more or less the same boot up times as the internal Apple drive. The Adata drive was noticeably slower but I don't know if that was down to the fault/issues with that drive.

 

[tagumcity]

A few years ago I tried Adata's SDs, they were low priced and low quality. That burned any chance of my choosing Adata products. The company may have improved but I'm not risking my storage media use for a costs savings. I value performance and reliability over costs for storage media.

 

[Toonartist]

A few years ago I tried Adata's SDs, they were low priced and low quality. That burned any chance of my choosing Adata products. The company may have improved but I'm not risking my storage media use for a costs savings. I value performance and reliability over costs for storage media.

It was my first use of one of their drives and not impressed. Never had any issues with Sabrent, Samsung or Silicon Power. Actually the Silicon Power 500gb PCIe M.2 NVMe drive was the coolest running of all of them. You have to work it real hard to get over 35c. I'm now using that in the black Plugable USB C enclosure (which I also like) but will likely keep an eye out for any bargains over new year. Might get a 2nd 970 Evo at £120. We'll see.

 

[inmnbob]

i just purchase the 2 TB Sabrent NVMe drive and put it in an external case -getting R/W speeds of 850+ - Less expensive and faster than the Samsung T5