Please help decide 256gb ssd vs 1 TB Fusion

[roadkill401]

I will use my setup mainly for photography and webdesign and will be working with Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Indesign and Lightroom.

Can anyone help me to decide, i'm going slightly crazy!

If you asked this exact same question on a Photography website, there would be a totally different tone taken.

I am going to make a leap here to say that you are not doing the Photography and Webdesign for personal interest, so likely there is a client involved paying for work.

The side you need to look into then is not how much local storage that I have, but how am I going to backup and archive the work that I am doing. HINT: None of that is local storage. So you are already into multiple external drives with your business, so all the parts about a fusion giving you a clean desk without the next to go external is all gone out the window. YOU WILL NEED EXTERNAL for multiple drive backups, of which one of them will be kept offsite.

I have multiple NAS drives that I use with my iMac. Each of the NAS has multiple drives in either a mirror or RAID configuration so I have at least single disk failure protection (in my big NAS I have RAID6 for dual drive failure protection). All them are external drives. I have a 512SSD but that was just that I got a great deal on it through the refurb program. I would have gotten a 256SSD otherwise.

I have a 3tb Lacie Thunderbolt drive on my desk that sits behind the iMac and I use that as a scratch disk and temp work drive. it is plenty fast enough for that use for me.

I have Timemachine running on a mirrored NAS. I backup all my work daily to my backup NAS for all my local files to duplicate what is backing up on the Timemachine. I have had drives fail. It does happen and I have never lost a bit of data. I have due to my backup practices saved my own ass when I did a brutal mistake and didn't catch it for 3 days. Saved many hours of work that it would have taken to fix.

If this is a business, then look at the work flow.

 

[teethemagicbee]

Yeah, at the end of the day, 1TB isn't much. That would fill up pretty quick when throwing RAW files about. Plus if you're not planning on deleting photos then you'll need an external drive at some point. Get the SSD and an external hard drive.

 

[hifimacianer]

There is one thing everyone has to consider: how long do you want to use the iMac?

If you buy a new one every 2-3 years, I would go for the Fusion drive.
If you want to use it for a longer time, go for the SSD!

Why?


Because every physical (spinning) HD will become slow and noisy over time, and should be regulary be replaced to prevent data loss! And since you have to disassemble almost the whole iMac (including the glued screen) to replace the HD, I would always go for the internal SSD option!

 

[BlueFire2009]

i'd go for the SSD too, we have an iMac with a 3TB Fusion Drive at work, and you can sometimes hear the HDD working inside when opening large amounts of data and transferring files. And I'd say the SSD is faster too compared to my macbook late 2013

 

[Chippy99]

If you asked this exact same question on a Photography website, there would be a totally different tone taken.

I am going to make a leap here to say that you are not doing the Photography and Webdesign for personal interest, so likely there is a client involved paying for work.

The side you need to look into then is not how much local storage that I have, but how am I going to backup and archive the work that I am doing. HINT: None of that is local storage. So you are already into multiple external drives with your business, so all the parts about a fusion giving you a clean desk without the next to go external is all gone out the window. YOU WILL NEED EXTERNAL for multiple drive backups, of which one of them will be kept offsite.

Bingo. Correct answer.

 

[shaunp]

Really?

The 1TB fusion and 256GB SSD (which is more than plenty if you are putting your data on an external drive) are the same price.

A 3TB external drive can be bought for about £70.

So for £70 on top of your £2k spend, you can have double the SSD size and three times the disk size, compared to a 1TB fusion machine.

Compared to a 3TB fusion machine, the 256GB plus external 3TB drive is cheaper.

You could even consider one of the Western Digital thunderbolt 2-drive arrays - mirror the disks. I'm not a fan of single HDDs for data. This isn't a replacement for backup, but I believe you should have both redundancy in the storage and a backup.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

A question about your CURRENT Mac (not the new one that you're contemplating):

How much space is consumed by your OS and your applications folder on your current Mac?

You can ascertain this by adding up the consumed space of these folders:
- Applicatons
- Library
- System
I would EXCLUDE the user folder for the moment.

Why I asked this question:

As mentioned above, you might consider buying the 1tb fusion drive option, and then "DE-fuse" the two internal drives.
If you do this, you'll be left with a speedy 128gb SSD -and- a 1tb HDD inside.

By doing this, you'll get all the speed benefits of a PCIe-mounted SSD and you'll still have a spacious internal hard drive for file storage.

Splitting the fusion drive isn't difficult, it involves a few terminal commands.
You'll have to backup what comes with the new iMac to an external drive first, of course.

You can then set up your music/photo/video apps to have their user libraries on the HDD. This will relegate file storage to the slower drive, and leave the SSD for fast tasks like booting, running apps, etc.

(Aside: this is similar to what fusion does anyway, but as the owner YOU will be the one controlling what goes where instead of the OS...)

 

[fathergll]

Not to pick on you or your post….

Isn't the decision the whole point of Thunderbolt?

The iMac never leaves your desk so having a connected drive(s) is practical.
Using a Thunderbolt connection was also expected to make them efficient.

No the decision is if you want external storage hooked into your iMac permanently.

 

[fathergll]

Can't really see any point in Fusion for most people.

Unless you are someone with a paranoid obsession with lack of wires, then external devices connected to your iMac is a usually a necessity, be it back up disk, printer, scanner, speakers, UPS, whatever. And if this is the case, as it is for most people, then why not have an external data disk and SSD-only inside the Mac.

There's plenty of advantages to this approach, with the only downside being that you have an externally connected device, but if you have several of those already, what's the problem?

Connected to my iMac, without thinking too long and hard about it, I have:

Scanner
Canon photo printer
OKI laser printer
Router (ethernet connection)
External speakers
UPS
External hubs (2)
Wired keyboard
External data disk
External back up disk
External Bluray drive

Is it *so* important to not have an external data disk in the list above?

You realize you are talking about a world of the Apple eco system where many people try to minimize things as much as possible. So is it crazy to think a person that purchases an ultra-thin all-in-one desktop may not want an external drive if there is a choice of having all their storage needs being internal without much difference in day to day usage?


I have a 1 TB fusion model myself. Why? Price was the factor when I purchased it. Another factor was the fact that my desk has a depth of 16" and i didn't want any externals.

 

[Geaux]

I just purchased mine with 3tb fusion.

Why?

Because I do photography as a hobby and my 500gb internal drive on my mbp is nearly full and my 256ssd is pretty empty but know I couldn't live off of only that drive. I like to have all of my information accessible without needing external drives and wires. I have two 3TB external drives used strictly for backup that is hooked up periodically for backup purposed.

Different strokes for different folks, probably why Apple still give you the choice.

 

[Chippy99]

You realize you are talking about a world of the Apple eco system where many people try to minimize things as much as possible. So is it crazy to think a person that purchases an ultra-thin all-in-one desktop may not want an external drive if there is a choice of having all their storage needs being internal without much difference in day to day usage?


I have a 1 TB fusion model myself. Why? Price was the factor when I purchased it. Another factor was the fact that my desk has a depth of 16" and i didn't want any externals.

I didn't say it was crazy, and I don't rule out such use-cases, I just point out that they are not the norm. Most people have some external peripherals.

Do you use a UPS? You should. Would it be so terrible to have an external hard disk sitting on it, under your desk?

As I say, I can't really see the point of Fusion. It's barely cheaper (if at all), and offers no material advantages over SSD+external, other than 1 less cable. Pretty pointless imho, but heck it's a free country.

 

[KNPaige]

Who can help me, i've been deciding for a month now which one to choose. I was leaning towards 256gb ssd but the 1TB capacity of the fusion is also a big plus.

I will use my setup mainly for photography and webdesign and will be working with Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Indesign and Lightroom.

Can anyone help me to decide, i'm going slightly crazy!

Get yourself a 256 GB SSD model. You'll enjoy the performance gains much much more than you will having pure capacity. To not compromise on storage, just go with an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt hard drive and you'll have the benefits of both; the raw performance of the SSD coupled with plenty of local storage for all your photography and web assets.

Plus, USB 3 hard drives are significantly cheaper than Thunderbolt options or Apple's Fusion drive option. You can get a 2 TB USB 3 hard drive for as low as 100$ on Newegg.

 

[fathergll]

Do you use a UPS? You should. Would it be so terrible to have an external hard disk sitting on it, under your desk?

Would it be terrible? No
Would it be ideal? No

As I say, I can't really see the point of Fusion. It's barely cheaper (if at all), .

Depends on one’s situation; I purchased mine on sale on a month after Retinas were released. $2,300 no tax, free shipping. If I wanted a 256 GB SSD I would have had to order a custom build from Apple. Pay $2,500+ tax which would of ended up costing me around $2650 in total. I opted to save $350 and forgo the external drive.

and offers no material advantages over SSD+external, other than 1 less cable. Pretty pointless imho, but heck it's a free country

1 less cable and 1 less peripheral. Trust me when I say it is a difference when you are trying to achieve a minimalist setup. Simple litmus test is based on the fact that vast majority of fusion drive owners are not the people who complain about them. I own both pure SSD setup and fusion. Very little difference if at all for day to day usage in my case. Others miles may vary.

 

[Chippy99]

Would it be terrible? No
Would it be ideal? No





Depends on one’s situation; I purchased mine on sale on a month after Retinas were released. $2,300 no tax, free shipping. If I wanted a 256 GB SSD I would have had to order a custom build from Apple. Pay $2,500+ tax which would of ended up costing me around $2650 in total. I opted to save $350 and forgo the external drive.




1 less cable and 1 less peripheral. Trust me when I say it is a difference when you are trying to achieve a minimalist setup. Simple litmus test is based on the fact that vast majority of fusion drive owners are not the people who complain about them. I own both pure SSD setup and fusion. Very little difference if at all for day to day usage in my case. Others miles may vary.

Of course individual circumstances may push things in a certain direction. You seem to feel the need to justify your purchase decision, which is entirely your choice and nothing to do with me nor anyone else.

Also, you fail to differentiate between what was right for you and what is right for the majority. For MOST people, the cost of the 256GB SSD version and the 1TB fusion is the same. Apple's prices are the same. For most people, a hard drive sitting under a desk (next to the other backup hard drive(s) probably) is an irrelevance.

I would argue that for most people, the advantages which include flexibility, reliability, quietness, security, capacity, far outweigh the disadvantages of a small external box.

 

[hifimacianer]

You realize you are talking about a world of the Apple eco system where many people try to minimize things as much as possible. So is it crazy to think a person that purchases an ultra-thin all-in-one desktop may not want an external drive if there is a choice of having all their storage needs being internal without much difference in day to day usage?


I have a 1 TB fusion model myself. Why? Price was the factor when I purchased it. Another factor was the fact that my desk has a depth of 16" and i didn't want any externals.

Since everyone should make regular backups anyway, the "minimize" hype is just obsolete. And everyone should keep in mind, that a fusion drive is still a "old tech" spinning drive with an SSD Turbo-Boost! But who will know how long that spinning drive will last? They start to be noisy and getting slower after some time, and should be replaced at least every 3 years.

How do you want to replace it? The display is glued, and you have to tear down the complete iMac to replace the HD. So I would always go the "SSD only" way.

I have a NAS (2 Disks, Raid 1) connected via Ethernet, where I can store all my files that don't need the maximum speed (documents, movies, music). My Photo-Library is on an external SSD connected via USB3 (in a case that supports UASP --> high speed). You can hide that external USB-HD behind the screen on the stand.

In that configuration you have the maximum speed AND minimum maintenance effort.

 

[PictureP]

I don't have an Mac at this moment, I'm coming from an old Sony Vaio windows laptop. Thanks everyone for your help. I will let you know when I've decided which one it will be.

 

[fathergll]

Of course individual circumstances may push things in a certain direction. You seem to feel the need to justify your purchase decision, which is entirely your choice and nothing to do with me nor anyone else.

Also, you fail to differentiate between what was right for you and what is right for the majority. For MOST people, the cost of the 256GB SSD version and the 1TB fusion is the same. Apple's prices are the same. For most people, a hard drive sitting under a desk (next to the other backup hard drive(s) probably) is an irrelevance.

I would argue that for most people, the advantages which include flexibility, reliability, quietness, security, capacity, far outweigh the disadvantages of a small external box.

I'm not playing favorites in this thread unlike some who refer to those as paranoid who don't want to use an external drive. As I said in my original post in this thread.....

Use a simple decision tree


Am I ok with using external storage for my files?


Yes ----> 256 SSD

No ----> 1 TB Fusion

That's as unbiased as you are going to get^^^.

 

[ZipZap]

Actually, Best Buys 8hr special last night made the decision. At their price it made no sense to pay 500+ more just for the 256GB SSD.

 

[fathergll]

Actually, Best Buys 8hr special last night made the decision. At their price it made no sense to pay 500+ more just for the 256GB SSD.

Uh oh. Don't tell Chippy that.

For MOST people, the cost of the 256GB SSD version and the 1TB fusion is the same.

 

[gnasher729]

Fusion Drive was invented at a time where SSD's were way too expensive for most people. While prices are still quite high, they have dropped a lot and will continue to drop. Fusion Drive is a technology of the past.

You can get a 1.128 TB or 3.128 TB fusion drive (it's one or three TB hard drive plus 128 GB SSD). 1.128 TB in SSD would still be very, very expensive, and 3.128 TB SSD would be totally unaffordable. Even if it gets closer to being affordable, the same drive size in Fusion technology will be a lot cheaper for a long time.

I would however expect that with decreasing SSD drives, we should be able to get Fusion drives with 256 or 512 GB SSD.

----------

OP:

A question about your CURRENT Mac (not the new one that you're contemplating):

How much space is consumed by your OS and your applications folder on your current Mac?

You can ascertain this by adding up the consumed space of these folders:
- Applicatons
- Library
- System
I would EXCLUDE the user folder for the moment.

Why I asked this question:

As mentioned above, you might consider buying the 1tb fusion drive option, and then "DE-fuse" the two internal drives.
If you do this, you'll be left with a speedy 128gb SSD -and- a 1tb HDD inside.

By doing this, you'll get all the speed benefits of a PCIe-mounted SSD and you'll still have a spacious internal hard drive for file storage.

Very bad idea.

You have been counting System / Library / Applications. What you didn't consider was that you don't actually use most of this most of the time. There are tons of printer drivers and you never use more than one or two. There are things in the Library that you never use, like a hundred fonts where you use not more than a dozen. Apps that you never use, and for the ones you use, half the size is translations into 20 different languages. With a Fusion drive, all these huge amounts that you never use will end up on the hard drive and not take any space on the SSD drive.

And the real advantage of the Fusion Drive is that the Mac does all the work deciding what goes where and not you. Plus the fact that the SSD drive will be completely used, where with a de-fusioned drive you will always have lots of wasted empty space on the SSD drive.

 

[/V\acpower]

Can't really see any point in Fusion for most people.

Unless you are someone with a paranoid obsession with lack of wires, then external devices connected to your iMac is a usually a necessity, be it back up disk, printer, scanner, speakers, UPS, whatever. And if this is the case, as it is for most people, then why not have an external data disk and SSD-only inside the Mac.

There's plenty of advantages to this approach, with the only downside being that you have an externally connected device, but if you have several of those already, what's the problem?

Connected to my iMac, without thinking too long and hard about it, I have:

Scanner
Canon photo printer
OKI laser printer
Router (ethernet connection)
External speakers
UPS
External hubs (2)
Wired keyboard
External data disk
External back up disk
External Bluray drive

Is it *so* important to not have an external data disk in the list above?

The downside of having two "data drives" (excluding a backup drive) is management. Fusion Drive makes if very convenient for me to use most of my SSD, without having to worry of what goes where. I prefer having an algorithm managing my drives than having half of my SSD space wasted because I am moving everything on an another drive.

I mean, OS and Apps is nowhere near 128GB for me, there is no way I would use more than 50-60 GB if I had a pure SSD inside of my machine.

 

[Chippy99]

Uh oh. Don't tell Chippy that.

I have no problem with that mate. I was referring to the fact that prices of the 256GB SSD and 1TB Fusion are the same, and for most people, they end up paying the same.

You are familiar with the word "most"? ;-)

 

[fathergll]

I have no problem with that mate. I was referring to the fact that prices of the 256GB SSD and 1TB Fusion are the same, and for most people, they end up paying the same.

You are familiar with the word "most"? ;-)