Mac Mini Late 2012 I7 2.5 SSD upgrade choice

[peterl7777]

Hi,
I have a late mac mini I7 2.6GHZ 16GB RAM that has a 1TB fusion drive 128ssd/
5400 RPM HDD. I want to put in a new 1TB SSD and clone the existing fusion drive to it ,then erase the fusion drive and use it as my time machine back up drive. I have a Samsung 24" CFG24 curved gaming monitor (1ms/response rate/144Hz refresh) I use this computer purely for basic office reception desk usage at my podiatry private practice. (No gaming or really CPU/intensive requirements)
I have narrowed it down to either the Samsung EVO 850 1TB MZ-75E1TO/BW(3yrs warranty) or the OWC Mercury extreme pro 6G 1TB (5 years warranty) the OWC is only $40-00 dearer.

My question is .......Which one should I buy?

Really appreciate any advice and thanks in advance for any help/advice

Peter

 

[DeltaMac]

First - Do you know that the fusion drive is two separate devices (a spinning hard drive, and an SSD)?
And, those two devices use both SATA slots in your 2012 mini.
You would clone the fusion drive to your new SSD, prior to installing the new SSD.
Then, remove the internal SSD, and install the new SSD in its place.

 

[peterl7777]

Thankyou!!! I did not realise that this was the situation ( as I have not looked inside the mac mini where disc(s) are located etc.) i.e. that the fusion drive was not one single hybrid unit but in fact 2 separate drives.... 128gb SSD and a 5400RPM HDD making up the remainder of the drive space and in turn using both of the 2 available physical drive bays/and the mac minis drive available disc cable /connectors. I will now know that I have to clone the drive externally, interestingly when I boot the mac mini I get a splash screen message that I need to initialise, ignore, or proceed/ok for the disc drive I bought this mac mini recently second hand with OS El Capitan and when I look at disc utilities the 128ssd
is not intergrated with the system so I presume that it is not being used and the OS has been installed only on the 5400 HDD so I will need to work out how to clone over to the new SSD that I will purchase and then either just use the 5400HDD and use the 128ssd as a portable ssd if I buy an enclosure for it or perhaps since I only need minimal storage get rid of the fusion drive i.e 128ssd and separate 5400hdd and buy 2 separate 500gig ssd's and run in raid 1 or use TM to back up disc one to disc 2 What does anyone think about this and which drive brand should I buy a as previously asked in initial thread
thanks for any replies in advance
Peter
[doublepost=1492862228][/doublepost]

First - Do you know that the fusion drive is two separate devices (a spinning hard drive, and an SSD)?
And, those two devices use both SATA slots in your 2012 mini.
You would clone the fusion drive to your new SSD, prior to installing the new SSD.
Then, remove the internal SSD, and install the new SSD in its place.

Thankyou DeltaMac for you reply/help I really appreciate your advice and knowledge to answer my post
kind regards Peter

 

[kschendel]

I'd possibly lean towards the Samsung only because of the large volume sold and working. Your mini uses SATA III, I believe, and unless you need to wring every possible drop of performance out of it on large files, I don't think you need to stress over which one to buy. Most "name brand" SATA SSD models released in the last couple years seem to be competent. Crucial, Samsung, Sandisk, Mushkin, Toshiba and I'm probably forgetting at least three or four.

Get a very inexpensive USB 3 enclosure (with no disk in it, you can get them from sellers such as newegg), stick the new SSD in there, clone it with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper, make sure it boots, then out with the old and in with the new.

 

[peterl7777]

I'd possibly lean towards the Samsung only because of the large volume sold and working. Your mini uses SATA III, I believe, and unless you need to wring every possible drop of performance out of it on large files, I don't think you need to stress over which one to buy. Most "name brand" SATA SSD models released in the last couple years seem to be competent. Crucial, Samsung, Sandisk, Mushkin, Toshiba and I'm probably forgetting at least three or four.

Get a very inexpensive USB 3 enclosure (with no disk in it, you can get them from sellers such as newegg), stick the new SSD in there, clone it with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper, make sure it boots, then out with the old and in with the new.

Thankyou!!! kschendel..... Appreciate your great advice and taking the time to reply. I will get the Samsung just because as you stated "a well known name brand" plenty sold, has a good track record, solid performance/competent etc.
I have both SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner programs as I have bought them previously over the years and as such
have either to use to get the job done so to speak. I will purchase an inexpensive USB3 enclosure as you have recommended to clone the drive(s) /replace existing to the new SSD drive(s) I wish to install/replace.
[doublepost=1492868549][/doublepost]Thank you to all that replied and gave me help advice with my thread,

Kind regards and thanks

Peter
[doublepost=1492868740][/doublepost]

Thankyou!!! kschendel..... Appreciate your great advice and taking the time to reply. I will get the Samsung just because as you stated "a well known name brand" plenty sold, has a good track record, solid performance/competent etc.
I have both SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner programs as I have bought them previously over the years and as such
have either to use to get the job done so to speak. I will purchase an inexpensive USB3 enclosure as you have recommended to clone the drive(s) /replace existing to the new SSD drive(s) I wish to install/replace.
Thank you to all that replied and gave me help advice with my thread,

Kind regards and thanks

Peter