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philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,362
248
Howell, New Jersey
well for the cheapskates (I have pinched pennies myself so cheapskates is not an insult) it works very nicely . I have the seagate 20-25 usb3 cable and a 256gb samsung 830 ssd.

my cost was silly low I grabbed the ssd on a blow out sale for 126 dollars and the cable for 20 so for 146 I have an external usb3 booter.


price today for ssd is 190

http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-I...=1351516263&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+ssd+256gb

for cable 25

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeA...1351516304&sr=1-3&keywords=seagate+usb3+cable



so no deal it is 215 and not pretty but it works well not quite as good as t-bolt but it does cost a lot less.


now for form freaks here is the ministack empty it is 95 bucks.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/MSQKIT0GBSW/
 

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Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
While the MiniStack might be 95, there are other USB 3.0 HDD enclosures out there for less than 25 that look quite a bit better than this Seagate cable thing ...

Speed is okay, though not enough to justify buying a SSD for me.
 

borostef

macrumors 6502
Feb 10, 2012
333
41
Zagreb, Croatia
Why don't you just put the SSD into the Mini? It is not that hard, and if you are not sure how to do it there is a very good tutorial on ifixit site.
The way you are using it you can't get the speeds the SSD is capable of...
I think it is a shame since you already have an SSD.
 

tredstone

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2010
166
0
If you botch the SSD install on the Mini, don't the fans permanently spin at maximum?

Anyways - how do these speeds compare to a thunderbolt and a regular HDD? Also, are you booting off the USB3 drive?
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
If you botch the SSD install on the Mini, don't the fans permanently spin at maximum?

Anyways - how do these speeds compare to a thunderbolt and a regular HDD?

You can easily reach those speeds with relatively cheap HDD raids, both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, but it's faster than most single-HDD-solutions.
 

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,362
248
Howell, New Jersey
Why don't you just put the SSD into the Mini? It is not that hard, and if you are not sure how to do it there is a very good tutorial on ifixit site.
The way you are using it you can't get the speeds the SSD is capable of...
I think it is a shame since you already have an SSD.

thanks for your post. I like your concern but
this is a service of testing for mac rumors members/

I offer ideas on making your mini faster. USB3 is the only new thing you can do with this mini. Yeah there is Fusion and I may try to do a knock off of it,but that would most likely be not legit so I would not post it.


I have a raid0 1tb ssd in a lacie little big disk as my real booter and the internal 1tb oem is my backup. I get killer speeds and I am quite happy with my setup



Opening your mini which I have done to hundreds of minis for some is scary thing to do. This is a no warranty damaged way of boosting your mac.


Also remember that whatever works here will work for an iMac. whenever a new mini comes out I post 5 or 6 posts on ways to speed your gear up.
 
Last edited:

borostef

macrumors 6502
Feb 10, 2012
333
41
Zagreb, Croatia
thanks for your post. I like your concern but
this is a service of testing for mac rumors members/

I offer ideas on making your mini faster. USB3 is the only new thing you can do with this mini. Yeah there is Fusion and I may try to do a knock off of it,but that would most likely be not legit so I would not post it.

If it's for testing purposes than I thank you for your input...
 

cmonroe

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2012
52
7
I had a Samsung 830 256GB HD in the USB 3.0 mini pro enclosure referenced in comment #3 and it screamed. Not quite as fast as internal but the numbers were better than the first post here. I wish I would have saved them, the 830 is now inside the mini along with the original drive using the OWC kit.
 

tredstone

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2010
166
0
It really annoys me that this solution is so much cheaper and easier to implement than a similar Thunderbolt option (well, particularly because I have a 2011 Mini with only USB2 and TB). The Seagate adapter for TB apparently doesn't support SSDs and repeatedly cuts out, according to reviews. Apple really botched it with TB. :(
 

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,362
248
Howell, New Jersey
It really annoys me that this solution is so much cheaper and easier to implement than a similar Thunderbolt option (well, particularly because I have a 2011 Mini with only USB2 and TB). The Seagate adapter for TB apparently doesn't support SSDs and repeatedly cuts out, according to reviews. Apple really botched it with TB. :(

I have done extensive testing of the seagate adapter 256gb ssds and under with this cable

http://www.macmall.com/p/product~dpno~9102188~pdp.hcifjff

you should be fine.
 

tredstone

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2010
166
0
Philip, could you provide the model # of the adapter? Want to make sure I get the right one (I see a few on amazon).
 

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,362
248
Howell, New Jersey
Philip, could you provide the model # of the adapter? Want to make sure I get the right one (I see a few on amazon).

the seagate adapter for t-bolt is

stae121

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFle...7&sr=8-2&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt+adapter



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
now i see stae128

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Porta...1&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt+adapter


this is a newer model no one has tested it as it came out this month.
 
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