Hi so I'm looking at two 2014 mac mini's, both with 8gb RAM but one comes with the original Apple PCIe SSD which came as a optional configuration and the other had its original HDD replaced with a new Samsung Evo 860 SATA SSD. Since both cost the same price I'm wondering would there be much difference in performance between the older PCIe compared to the newer sata drive?
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Original PCIe SSD vs new SATA SSD
- Thread starter sengh
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The PCIe SSD should be at least 2x the speed of the SATA SSD. I'd definitely get the one with the original Apple drive.
Look at Linus Tech Tips on YouTube, he recently did a blind test between 3 types of SSD running on a PC, from SATA to the latest PCIe 4 SSD. In the real world you won't notice any difference. Look at each of the mini's, the seller and which you think will be the best one to buy. The SSD performance won't make any difference.
Remember the 2014 Mini was sold well into 2018 so the computer could only be a couple of years old. The Apple disk may not be actually double the speed, but yes, it'll be faster than a SATA disk. There are some threads in this forum discussing the performance of Apple's SSD in the 2014 mini.
Here's the original Apple 128gb SSD (which I split from the fusion drive) in my 2014 8gb/2.8ghz i5 Mini.
![mini2014-128ssd.png]()
For comparison, this is the original Apple 256gb SSD in my 2012 16gb/2.6ghz quad i7 Mini Server. Not really sure how that would compare with the SATA 2014 Mini however.
![mini_sm256e.jpg]()
For comparison, this is the original Apple 256gb SSD in my 2012 16gb/2.6ghz quad i7 Mini Server. Not really sure how that would compare with the SATA 2014 Mini however.
Do you think it would it be possible to add a second SSD into the SATA slot of the one with the original Apple SSD? sort of like the fusion drive but with two SSD's insteadHere's the original Apple 128gb SSD (which I split from the fusion drive) in my 2014 8gb/2.8ghz i5 Mini.
![mini2014-128ssd.png]()
For comparison, this is the original Apple 256gb SSD in my 2012 16gb/2.6ghz quad i7 Mini Server. Not really sure how that would compare with the SATA 2014 Mini however.
![mini_sm256e.jpg]()
No experience with that myself, but it was mentioned here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-2012-ssd-boot-drive-help-plz.2220759/
SATA caps out at around 500-550MB/sec in real-world, due to overhead and latency/etc. It hasn't really changed in over a decade, and won't going forward. PCIe is where SSDs went to get more bandwidth, and HDDs still can't saturate a SATA connection.
So, does the 2012 Mini have a SATA interface? Not much of a "hardware guy" myself.
The 449/517MB/sec results I posted above were from the original factory-installed SM256e SSD in my 2012 quad Mini.
Yes, the 2012 Mini is SATA only. The 2014 adds the option for a PCIe based SSD, along with one SATA bay, so benchmarks from the 2012 aren't really relevant.So, does the 2012 Mini have a SATA interface? Not much of a "hardware guy" myself.
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Both minis in question have SSDs.
Thanks, but I'm still a bit confused. The original question was
"Since both cost the same price I'm wondering would there be much difference in performance between the older PCIe compared to the newer sata drive?"
So, looking at my post above, the first screenshot is a PCIe SSD in my 2014 Mini, which clocks at 682 MB/sec write and 714 read. The second screenshot is a SATA SSD that clocks at 449MB/sec write and 517 read. Doesn't that answer the question of how much difference the OP would experience with the two machines he's considering?
The original question was"Since both cost the same price I'm wondering would there be much difference in performance between the older PCIe compared to the newer sata drive?"
So, looking at my post above, the first screenshot is a PCIe SSD in my 2014 Mini, which clocks at 682 MB/sec write and 714 read. The second screenshot is a SATA SSD that clocks at 449MB/sec write and 517 read. Doesn't that answer the question of how much difference the OP would experience with the two machines he's considering?