nMP Bootable Win 8.1 external USB3 SSD?

[Anim]

Hi all

I am thinking about getting a fairly cheap external SSD drive for booting windows for the single app I need and the odd game.

Will this kit do it?

Enclosure
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FCLG65U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A5JH7MGCI556L

SSD - Samsung 840 Series Pro
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009NB8WTI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ADB3R6J8O68ZA

Windows 8.1 DVD Install
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

I also looked at Crucial M500 480GB which is £100 cheaper than the Samsung but it seems the Samsung is approx. 10-20% quicker in most tests over at toms hardware.

Opinions appreciated.

Thanks
Anim

 

[Gav Mack]

Need thunderbolt enclosure and not usb 3.0 to boot with a nMP as the controller unlike the haswell iMac and MBP is not built in the chipset. The seagate goflex thunderbolt adapters I know are pretty cheap and I know they boot off the other Mac kit with TB but not tested the nMP myself.

The m500 is noticeably slower than the evo but much cheaper so it's price v performance - ymmv.

You'll have to setup on the internal PCIe then winclone it over - huge thread on the bootcamp forum with details.

 

[Anim]

Need thunderbolt enclosure and not usb 3.0 to boot with a nMP as the controller unlike the haswell iMac and MBP is not built in the chipset. The seagate goflex thunderbolt adapters I know are pretty cheap and I know they boot off the other Mac kit with TB but not tested the nMP myself.

The m500 is noticeably slower than the evo but much cheaper so it's price v performance - ymmv.

You'll have to setup on the internal PCIe then winclone it over - huge thread on the bootcamp forum with details.

Hi thanks for this, I see you have been posting on those other threads now.

I was reading through one particular post there but before I got to page 8 the MR server bombs out with cache errors.

But, it seems some people have got over the USB3 boot/install issues by doing a PRAM reset during part of the install when attempting to install on external USB3 drives.

Maybe I could use USB2 off the thunderbolt display to get past any initial USB3 install issues too.

The goFlex TB1 enclosure is £180-£200 and the USB3 one is £15'ish so big annoying difference in cost, I'm on a budget here unfortunately. If I end up getting a thunderbolt enclosure then I might just get a basic LaCie until I can upgrade later in the year.

So, more researching. I guess it's half the fun

 

[Gav Mack]

Hi thanks for this, I see you have been posting on those other threads now.

I was reading through one particular post there but before I got to page 8 the MR server bombs out with cache errors.

But, it seems some people have got over the USB3 boot/install issues by doing a PRAM reset during part of the install when attempting to install on external USB3 drives.

Maybe I could use USB2 off the thunderbolt display to get past any initial USB3 install issues too.

The goFlex TB1 enclosure is £180-£200 and the USB3 one is £15'ish so big annoying difference in cost, I'm on a budget here unfortunately. If I end up getting a thunderbolt enclosure then I might just get a basic LaCie until I can upgrade later in the year.

So, more researching. I guess it's half the fun

If something comes up I can contribute to I just answer! Just looked on amazon and the Seagate is £100 here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-GoF...8&sr=8-5&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt+adapter

You can buy the goflex shells to mount your ssd inside quite cheaply on ebay, they are a snap fit.

Seen them for £50-70 used so if you watch long and often enough if you are researching await the bargain. Me personally as the TB connects directly to PCIe I would go that route, USB use the discrete Fresco chip but also driving it uses the CPU far more than TB does. If you weren't gaming and were only using it occasionally I would sway towards the USB path though doing anything that pushes the OS hard I've found it's not particularly rock solid stable with USB boot in general never mind just Apple.

 

[Anim]

If something comes up I can contribute to I just answer! Just looked on amazon and the Seagate is £100 here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-GoF...8&sr=8-5&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt+adapter

You can buy the goflex shells to mount your ssd inside quite cheaply on ebay, they are a snap fit.

Seen them for £50-70 used so if you watch long and often enough if you are researching await the bargain. Me personally as the TB connects directly to PCIe I would go that route, USB use the discrete Fresco chip but also driving it uses the CPU far more than TB does. If you weren't gaming and were only using it occasionally I would sway towards the USB path though doing anything that pushes the OS hard I've found it's not particularly rock solid stable with USB boot in general never mind just Apple.

Ahh ok, will go Thunderbolt. Seems that the goFlex price is all over the place too, thanks for the find of the £100 one which is fine. I want to make sure I get the powered desktop one not the portable version based on some research.

Thanks for the help pal.

 

[Gav Mack]

Ahh ok, will go Thunderbolt. Seems that the goFlex price is all over the place too, thanks for the find of the £100 one which is fine. I want to make sure I get the powered desktop one not the portable version based on some research.

Thanks for the help pal.

No problem - the self powered models work fine with SSD's as they only draw about 0.2 or so of an amp. Know 3/4 people use them to boot Windows, but none with the can yet. The big models you will have to use a 3.5 inch frame like an Adaptadrive/icybox to fit the 3.5 inch enclosure.

eBay will be your friend - have fun!

 

[wildmac]

If something comes up I can contribute to I just answer! Just looked on amazon and the Seagate is £100 here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-GoF...8&sr=8-5&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt+adapter

You can buy the goflex shells to mount your ssd inside quite cheaply on ebay, they are a snap fit.

Seen them for £50-70 used so if you watch long and often enough if you are researching await the bargain. Me personally as the TB connects directly to PCIe I would go that route, USB use the discrete Fresco chip but also driving it uses the CPU far more than TB does. If you weren't gaming and were only using it occasionally I would sway towards the USB path though doing anything that pushes the OS hard I've found it's not particularly rock solid stable with USB boot in general never mind just Apple.

Gav..

I keep seeing you and others link these SSD adapters, but what cases are you using? or are you plugging a bare SSD into them?

 

[Gav Mack]

Gav..

I keep seeing you and others link these SSD adapters, but what cases are you using? or are you plugging a bare SSD into them?

The Seagate GoFlex enclosures are just a plastic snap fit shell which house a standard 2.5 inch drive exposing the SATA ports. A SSD with the 9 mm shim fits in fine.

Like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-F...US_Drive_Enclosures_Docks&hash=item2c76176888

I bought about a dozen of them a few years ago and plug the different dock ends depending on the job. The Dock types are USB2/3/FW800/TB and I've got the lot. Though most of the time for clients I just plug the adapters into bare drives/SSD's, they take a bit of force to snap out so the enclosure shells I keep for my own external media.

Here's the USB 3.0 dock end:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-F...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item485c09d4dd

FW800

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-FreeAgent-GoFlex-FireWire-Upgrade/dp/B003IT6PHC