Running Bootcamp in new iMacs

[Luis Ortega]

I am trying to decide on the ssd size to order and need to know whether I can install Windows using Bootcamp on an external ssd or whether I need to put it on a partition of the boot drive for it to work.
If I can put it on an external drive, I can get the 512GB ssd, but if not, I will have to order the 1GB ssd.

 

[TheyCallMeBT]

You can put it on an external drive. This video goes through the steps really well. I think you can skip having to use VMWare Fusion if you have access to a Windows machine. But I'm not positive, so I've asked him in the comments. I'll also be getting the 512 SSD, and installing Windows on an external disk for gaming.

 

[blitzz7t8]

You can put it on an external drive. This video goes through the steps really well. I think you can skip having to use VMWare Fusion if you have access to a Windows machine. But I'm not positive, so I've asked him in the comments. I'll also be getting the 512 SSD, and installing Windows on an external disk for gaming.

I ordered a 27-inch iMac with the i9 and Vega 48 options. I also want to install Windows 10 via bootcamp via an external SSD. My question is, do I need an external SSD with thunderbolt 3 connectivity like the Samsung X5, or can I get smooth performance from a USB 3.1 external SSD like the Samsung T5. My main concern is that I want Windows to feel snappy and actually exhibit SSD performance. IE loading apps quickly etc...

 

[TheyCallMeBT]

I ordered a 27-inch iMac with the i9 and Vega 48 options. I also want to install Windows 10 via bootcamp via an external SSD. My question is, do I need an external SSD with thunderbolt 3 connectivity like the Samsung X5, or can I get smooth performance from a USB 3.1 external SSD like the Samsung T5. My main concern is that I want Windows to feel snappy and actually exhibit SSD performance. IE loading apps quickly etc...

Well the T5 is still going to be way faster than a really good internal 3.5" 7200 RPM HDD. Rough numbers.. T5 is 450 MB/s, HDD is maybe 200 MB/s. X5 is 2.5 GB/s. I don't think the X5 speeds are worth the investment for Windows tasks. But only you can make that decision.

 

[Luis Ortega]

Well the T5 is still going to be way faster than a really good internal 3.5" 7200 RPM HDD. Rough numbers.. T5 is 450 MB/s, HDD is maybe 200 MB/s. X5 is 2.5 GB/s.

Do the ports on the 2019 iMac support all of these at their full performance?
Can you use any type of external ssd drive/connection to boot into Windows with Bootcamp, or does it only work with certain types, such as usb-c?

 

[maflynn]

Can you use any type of external ssd drive/connection to boot into Windows with Bootcamp, o

Maybe things have changed, but windows doesn't really like to be installed on an external drive. Its possible, but it requires a fair amount of work - at least that was the case when I tried a while back.

For me, I found that that if I installed windows internally, and then used the external drive for macOS, I could easily get everything installed and configured.

 

[fathergll]

Maybe things have changed, but windows doesn't really like to be installed on an external drive. Its possible, but it requires a fair amount of work - at least that was the case when I tried a while back.

For me, I found that that if I installed windows internally, and then used the external drive for macOS, I could easily get everything installed and configured.

I had the exact same experience....total nightmare following different guides whose procedures where full of bugs(i verified via comments section i wasn't crazy).

Someone did recently comment to me that the easiest way is to install bootcamp on the internal drive like normal and then use winclone to install it on a usb SSD and you can then delete the bootcamp partition but i haven't tried this.

 

[hfg]

Someone did recently comment to me that the easiest way is to install bootcamp on the internal drive like normal and then use winclone to install it on a usb SSD and you can then delete the bootcamp partition but i haven't tried this.

That is how I installed mine on a 2017 iMac. I didn't want to have Windows 10 resident on the internal 2TB SSD, so I temporarily installed it with BootCamp, then used WinClone to move it to an external 500GB TB3 SSD which is just about as fast as the internal SSD. I then velcro mounted the SSD to the iMac stand. It is working great!

480G TEKQ Thunderbolt 3 Portable External SSD Bus Powered Portable 2450MB/s Read / 1850MB/s Write
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C9C9D5T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1