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New iMac - which hard drive option?

A

asfafa

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 27, 2010
14
4
Bridgwater, Somerset, UK
I currently have a 20-inch mid-2007 iMac with 4GB RAM and an upgraded 2TB hard drive, and I want to purchase the latest 27-inch iMac (3.2 GHz CPU with 8GB RAM), but I would like some advice in selecting a hard drive option, in terms of cost/value for money, reliability and practicality.

I have a 300GB iTunes library, and also 1TB video library stored on my current iMac, as they are streamed all over the house, and as everything is on the drive, it makes it easier to back up.

- Should I upgrade to a 3TB Fusion drive, and copy everything across, which makes backing up easier?

- Or should I just have a 1TB Fusion drive (or even a small SSD), and move my iTunes library and video library to external drives? My only issue then would be having too many external drives lying around with all the backups to do also...

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks, Paul
 
asfafa said:
I currently have a 20-inch mid-2007 iMac with 4GB RAM and an upgraded 2TB hard drive, and I want to purchase the latest 27-inch iMac (3.2 GHz CPU with 8GB RAM), but I would like some advice in selecting a hard drive option, in terms of cost/value for money, reliability and practicality.

I have a 300GB iTunes library, and also 1TB video library stored on my current iMac, as they are streamed all over the house, and as everything is on the drive, it makes it easier to back up.

- Should I upgrade to a 3TB Fusion drive, and copy everything across, which makes backing up easier?

- Or should I just have a 1TB Fusion drive (or even a small SSD), and move my iTunes library and video library to external drives? My only issue then would be having too many external drives lying around with all the backups to do also...

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks, Paul
Click to expand...

If as you say, you'd rather not go the external drive route, the 3TB Fusion drive is a no-brainer. In your case, the perfect compromise between performance and cost.
 
I agree on the 3TB fusion drive. The fusion drive isompressive. In terms of reliability there are threads in the forum you can read which indicate the reliability is essentially the same between the fusion and ssd drives.
 
asfafa said:
I currently have a 20-inch mid-2007 iMac with 4GB RAM and an upgraded 2TB hard drive, and I want to purchase the latest 27-inch iMac (3.2 GHz CPU with 8GB RAM), but I would like some advice in selecting a hard drive option, in terms of cost/value for money, reliability and practicality.

I have a 300GB iTunes library, and also 1TB video library stored on my current iMac, as they are streamed all over the house, and as everything is on the drive, it makes it easier to back up.







- Should I upgrade to a 3TB Fusion drive, and copy everything across, which makes backing up easier?

- Or should I just have a 1TB Fusion drive (or even a small SSD), and move my iTunes library and video library to external drives? My only issue then would be having too many external drives lying around with all the backups to do also...

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks, Paul
Click to expand...

Practicality would suggest a 3TB fusion drive. However if you want faster boot ups, better overall speed a SSD with an external drive is also a good option
 
Out of budget concerns, I'd suggest the 3TB Fusion.

Otherwise, go for a pure SSD setup for unparalleled speeds and reliability.

Edit: I use pure-SSD setups on both my iMacs.
 
Last edited:
I personally went with a 512GB SSD for fastest system response and app launching. I store my big media libraries (iTunes - 1.5TB and iPhoto - 300GB) and scratch folders on an external Thunderbolt drive.

Time machine will back up external drives as well, not just internal drives, so everything gets backed up automatically to a second external TB drive specifically for TM.
 
I have fusion and it laced with usb problems. Hopefully Apple fixes this.
 
etichi said:
I have fusion and it laced with usb problems. Hopefully Apple fixes this.
Click to expand...

Could you explain what problems you are having? I have a fusion drive, not one issue with it, I think it is a great drive.
 
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