Run 2018 mini off external USB-C (3.1) SSD?

[rmdeluca]

MacOS does not support TRIM/UNMAP via USB Attached SCSI (UASP). Windows and Linux support TRIM/UNMAP via UASP. That is the reason why ASmedia, JMicron and others list TRIM support for newer bridge chipsets.
[doublepost=1543343077][/doublepost]
Nonsense.

My comment was about UASP, which you already acknowledged opens up TRIM/UNMAP over USB in your post.

 

[DRDR]

No trim with my Samsung T3 and Sandisk Extreme. But trim with the eSata drives connected to the Caldigit TS3

 

[Chiromac81]

Overview of my externally connected drives (APFS, encrypted):
View attachment 806716

Each drive is connected according to its specification (Samsung T3 is not USB 3.1 gen2).

The sizes are:

• Samsung T3: 1TB
• Samsung EVO 850: 500 GB
• Sandisk Extreme: 960 GB
• Samsung EVO 970: 2 TB

Cost of ownership for the DIY-NVME-solution:

Sonnet Echo Express: 240€
Glotrends PCI adapter: 20 €
Samsung EVO 970: 500 €

I am using the TS3 Thunderbolt 3 dock from Caldigit for eSATA and a Sonnet Echo Express Box for the NVME. I strongly recommend going the NVME route.

Just as a comparison, I have a WD MyBook for Mac. It’s 3TB and I believe it’s USB (probably 3.0). How would that compare to the above for a reference?

 

[DRDR]

Just as a comparison, I have a WD MyBook for Mac. It’s 3TB and I believe it’s USB (probably 3.0). How would that compare to the above for a reference?

You can see such a hard disk in my graph: It is the slowest one.

 

[Chiromac81]

You can see such a hard disk in my graph: It is the slowest one.

So if you were me and I’ll be getting a 1 TB Mac mini because my 2012 iMac has 1 TB internal that makes sense for me to just do a straight transfer.

Most of my movies and photos are stored on the WD MyBook for Mac. Since it’s so slow should I get an external SSD 2 TB for my photos and videos that I can play through iTunes that’s on my internal storage and open iPhoto and stuff and airplay or play on Apple TV or is the slow external drive enough?

What would you guys recommend? I don’t think I want to get smaller internal hard drive then the Mac I’m using or it might be tough to separate it

And also what would you do with my external hard drive situation? Stuck with the WD or get a 2 TB Samsung SSD or any other option?

 

[DRDR]

So if you were me and I’ll be getting a 1 TB Mac mini because my 2012 iMac has 1 TB internal that makes sense for me to just do a straight transfer.

I am currently using a MacBook Pro NTB 2016. On the go I am using the internal 256 GB SSD. At home I am using the Samsung EVO 970 2TB NVME. It is partitioned into a 500 GB system partition and a 1500 GB data partition.

I have ordered a MacMini with 128GB SSD and an i7 CPU. I will continue using the external SSD setup. Once you have been there you do never want to go back: Hard disks or regular SSDs are just too slow (try browsing through 90.000 photos in the photo app, or take a look at indexing or video editing...it just feels much more snappier). Of course you could also get a large and fast internal SSD, but in my opinion the money is much better spent in a faster CPU and a very fast external SSD. You will spend less money and you will get more performance, future proofing and flexibility.

 

[Chiromac81]

I am currently using a MacBook Pro NTB 2016. On the go I am using the internal 256 GB SSD. At home I am using the Samsung EVO 970 2TB NVME. It is partitioned into a 500 GB system partition and a 1500 GB data partition.

I have ordered a MacMini with 128GB SSD and an i7 CPU. I will continue using the external SSD setup. Once you have been there you do never want to go back: Hard disks or regular SSDs are just too slow (try browsing through 90.000 photos in the photo app, or take a look at indexing or video editing...it just feels much more snappier). Of course you could also get a large and fast internal SSD, but in my opinion the money is much better spent in a faster CPU and a very fast external SSD.

What would you recommend me doing in my case with the 1 TB internal option I’m probably getting and either keeping my WD slow USB or get a SSD 2 TB or some combination for the storage of videos and movies...

 

[DRDR]

What would you recommend me doing in my case with the 1 TB internal option I’m probably getting and either keeping my WD slow USB or get a SSD 2 TB or some combination for the storage of videos and movies...

I would use if for time machine backups.

 

[Chiromac81]

I would use if for time machine backups.

Ok then what I think I’ll do is I’ll purchase the 1 TB version of iMac so it can transfer perfectly from my 1 TB internal 2012 iMac and then I’ll purchase a 2 TB Samsung T5 external SSD to get fast speed on that and I’ll just repurpose my WD my Mac external drive for time machine backups of both...hope that’s not overkill...

 

[DRDR]

Ok then what I think I’ll do is I’ll purchase the 1 TB version of iMac so it can transfer perfectly from my 1 TB internal 2012 iMac and then I’ll purchase a 2 TB Samsung T5 external SSD to get fast speed on that and I’ll just repurpose my WD my Mac external drive for time machine backups of both...hope that’s not overkill...

You do not need a 1 TB internal drive. Just order the smallest one and use the external drive for system and data. But I would not recommend using the T5 (no TRIM support) but the EVO 970 in an Sonnet Echo Express SEL TB3 enclosure:

• Sonnet Echo Express SEL TB enclosure: 200$
• Samsung EVO 970 2TB: 545$ (227$ for 1TB)
• PCIe adapter card: 21$

Total cost with the option to further upgrades later in time: 766$ (448$ for 1TB)
Versus iMac upgrade costs from 1TB fusion drive to 1TB SSD (no 2TB available): 700$

 

[Chiromac81]

Is

You do not need a 1 TB internal drive. Just order the smallest one and use the external drive for system and data. But I would not recommend using the T5 (no TRIM support) but the EVO 970 in an Sonnet Echo Express SEL TB3 enclosure:

• Sonnet Echo Express SEL TB enclosure: 200$
• Samsung EVO 970 2TB: 545$ (227$ for 1TB)
• PCIe adapter card: 21$

Total cost with the option to further upgrades later in time: 766$ (448$ for 1TB)
Versus iMac upgrade costs from 1TB fusion drive to 1TB SSD (no 2TB available): 700$

Is that option as fast as an SSD like the T5? What would be the drawbacks or comparisons between the two options?

 

[DRDR]

Is


Is that option as fast as an SSD like the T5? What would be the drawbacks or comparisons between the two options?

See my initial post.

 

[Chiromac81]

See my initial post.

Is trim support only important if running windows? If not are they comparable in speed and sound etc? Obviously the T5 is much smaller...

Also should I be paying the extra $100 to get the 10 gigabit on the mini for this or that won’t matter?

 

[DRDR]

Is trim support only important if running windows? If not are they comparable in speed and sound etc? Obviously the T5 is much smaller...

Also should I be paying the extra $100 to get the 10 gigabit on the mini for this or that won’t matter?

Trim must be supported by the operating system, MacOS apparently does not support it for USB drives. The drives will work, but it's better to have Trim support... There is a very active thread about 10Gbit. My summary: If you do not know if you need it, you do not need it. I will upload a video about my SSD shortly...

 

[Chiromac81]

Trim must be supported by the operating system, MacOS apparently does not support it for USB drives. The drives will work, but it's better to have Trim support... There is a very active thread about 10Gbit. My summary: If you do not know if you need it, you do not need it. I will upload a video about my SSD shortly...

Thanks for the reply. I thought the Samsung evo drive ya had was best with the 10 gbit

 

[DRDR]

Thanks for the reply. I thought the Samsung evo drive ya had was best with the 10 gbit

The 10 Gbit/s Ethernet is for your network. It only uses this speed, if your network gear supports it. This is MOST probably not the case.

The SSD speed is for storing and working with data inside your computer.

To transfer files to another computer, you use the Ethernet connection. Should this other computer also have a very fast SSD, the 10 GBit option for both computers makes sense. This is most often thr case in workgroups, where teams are sharing large data files like e.g. 8k video files.
[doublepost=1543433968][/doublepost]A question to the other people on this thread:

Has anybody used one of the new NVMe USB 3.1 Gen 2 enclosures?

Video: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/diy-thunderbolt-3-ssd.2157610/

 

[kevink2]

All else being equal, trim is better. Since my home directory is in a USB enclosure, and thus doesn't have it, I'll just hope that since I have plenty of spare capacity it will work good enough without it.

My main issue with my computer is less than optimal support for additional USB drives. I don't know if there are vestiges from restoring from a time machine backup that maybe brought some old USB drivers along.

 

[Meatsuit]

Hi All
Have have a 2018 i7,32,500 for a few weeks now. Updated the ram from 8 to 32 and picked up a GDrive Mobile SSD at 1TB. Thought i would share a few screenshots of some drive testing.
First is the Internal SSD :

Next G Drive Mobile SSD R-Series 1TB (Usb 3.1 Gen2):

Next a Geekbench 4 Screenshot. If any is Interested:

 

[pinkoos]

Thank you that is quite informative

 

[harriska2]

Even for external libraries for photos and music and movies they can be kept on mechanical drives. They are plenty fast enough for working with photo libraries in lightroom and running a plex server as I do. On slow 5400rpm drives. Multiple 1080p or 4k streams without issue.

Fast internal. Storage on cheap slow drives. But the op already has an external SSD so there's that. May as well use it.

Yep, I’m liking those 10tb drives. Even in original enclosure they handle scanned files and music just fine.

 

[Synchro3]

I just bought this case with Samsung EVO 970, TRIM supported, bootable:



https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/leidian-m-2-to-thunderbolt-enclosure.2157774/

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

...chose USB (APFS but no TRIM)

TB would have given me both but having a quality Samsung 500 GB EVO drive with lots of free space and modern garbage collection, I decided I could go without TRIM and to this day I have had no issues at all

Yes, the latest generation of the Samsung drives survives bad conditions (in external enclosures without TRIM/UNMAP) pretty well. Other SSDs are probably not as robust as the Samsung SSDs. The high end SanDisk models are also pretty good, but not as robust as Samsung SSDs. Thanks for your report!

 

[Cody Patterson]

For years now, I've been an advocate of booting and running a Mac from an external USB3 SSD, rather than ripping open an iMac (or pre-2018 Mini) and swapping drives out that way. I've promoted doing so as the "fastest, easiest, cheapest, safest" way to get more speed from an older Mac.

BUT... I don't recommend that with the 2018 Mini.
Apple's new internal SSD's are "state of the art" fast.

As I see it, the best solution with the new Mini is to buy an "adequate" amount of internal storage to boot and run and maintain "basic" accounts.
(It's not worth it -- not to me, at least -- paying Apple's high prices for 1tb or 2tb of storage, unless you have the cash to toss away freely)

Keep the OS, apps, and basic accounts on the internal drive.
If you have "large libraries" of stuff (movies, photo libraries, etc.), they can be kept "externally". Your apps will still find and access them without problems.

If you need more storage, add an external USB3 drive.
It can be USB3, or perhaps something faster (USB3.1 gen. 2, or thunderbolt).
It can be a platter-based HDD, or an SSD.

Drives like the Samsung X5 are nearly as fast as the Mini's internal SSD, but... you pay a high premium for them. More than I'd want to pay (unless I could justify it as a business expense, etc.).

The Samsung t5 and Sandisk Extreme USB3.1 external drives are getting to be downright affordable. These are realistic alternatives to platter-based external storage UNLESS you need more capacity than they offer.

When it comes time to order my new Mini (the 2012 I have is still doing fine), I'll get either 256gb or perhaps 512gb, and "call that enough" internal storage.
Anything more, I'll just plug in an external drive.

Hey Fishrrman.

We've got a 2017 iMac with the single 1tb HDD (not the fusion model). Instead of taking it apart would we get better performance using one of the usb-c thunderbolt ports for a solid state drive to install the os and apps on?

If we got this $200 Samsung X5 I'm assuming that would be much better even though it's external. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Port...s=thunderbolt+ssd+drive&qid=1597763050&sr=8-4

Would it still be better than the internal (and super slow performing) HDD if we got just some other standard SSD?
Like this:

SAMSUNG T7 Touch Portable SSD 500GB - Up to 1050MB/s - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive, Black (MU-PC500K/WW)

Transfer in a flash, secure with a touch. Whether you're storing critical business documents, games, or movies, the Portable SSD T7 Touch gives you speed and security in a palm-sized package. Experience the next level of external storage, available in three capacities to suit your needs: 500GB, 1...

www.amazon.com

Or this:

SanDisk 500GB Extreme Portable External SSD - Up to 550MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.1 - SDSSDE60-500G-G25

The ruggedized SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD delivers high-speed transfers with up to 550MB/s read speeds. This makes it perfect for saving and editing hi-res photos and videos. With an IP55 rating, it also stands up to rain, splashes, spills and dust.(1) | 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes; 1TB=1,000,000...

www.amazon.com

 

[Boyd01]

FWIW, here's a 2tb Samsung T7 connected to my 2018 Mini

This is a 1tb Samsung T3, which has been discontinued but is probably similar to the Samsung T5 or the SanDisk in your link.

Note that you are posting to a thread in the Mac Mini forum however. I'm not too familiar with the 2017 iMac, although the principles should be the same. You should see a substantial speed increase by using an external SSD instead of the slow internal hard drive.

The Mini has a really fast internal SSD, especially the 2tb, which is faster than the others shown in this thread. Here's the 2tb internal 2018 Mini SSD for comparison

 

[Cookie18]

Hey Fishrrman.

We've got a 2017 iMac with the single 1tb HDD (not the fusion model). Instead of taking it apart would we get better performance using one of the usb-c thunderbolt ports for a solid state drive to install the os and apps on?

If we got this $200 Samsung X5 I'm assuming that would be much better even though it's external. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Port...s=thunderbolt+ssd+drive&qid=1597763050&sr=8-4

Would it still be better than the internal (and super slow performing) HDD if we got just some other standard SSD?
Like this:

SAMSUNG T7 Touch Portable SSD 500GB - Up to 1050MB/s - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive, Black (MU-PC500K/WW)

Transfer in a flash, secure with a touch. Whether you're storing critical business documents, games, or movies, the Portable SSD T7 Touch gives you speed and security in a palm-sized package. Experience the next level of external storage, available in three capacities to suit your needs: 500GB, 1...

www.amazon.com

Or this:

SanDisk 500GB Extreme Portable External SSD - Up to 550MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.1 - SDSSDE60-500G-G25

The ruggedized SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD delivers high-speed transfers with up to 550MB/s read speeds. This makes it perfect for saving and editing hi-res photos and videos. With an IP55 rating, it also stands up to rain, splashes, spills and dust.(1) | 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes; 1TB=1,000,000...

www.amazon.com

I used an external SSD with my 2017 iMac for the first year or so. It was the Samsung T5 SSD. It is indeed much much quicker than the internal HDD. You will absolutely notice a huge improvement. It isn't as fast as an internal SSD though. The reason I ended up opening my iMac and putting an SSD inside was that it was sometimes unreliable. I had some issues waking the iMac from sleep after it had been left overnight which could only be fixed by powering it off and powering it on again. It didn't happen all the time but often enough to be a nuisance.

If given the option I would take the random non-wake ups over the incredibly slow HDD.