Thinking about external SSD. new iMac

[Carl Baron]

Hey,

i have just got my new iMac (with no fusion drive). i have been thinking about getting an SSD 200Gb or above and attach it to my system using usb 3.0 or thunderbolt.
my idea is put the OS and my app's on it then keep my HD movies on the 3TB HDD.

Thoughts any one? and what 3rd party software would i need?

I have tried a OCZ Vector 256mb with Seagate stae128. The write speed is 351 and read spead is 350.

 

[starscript]

I have tried a OCZ Vector 256mb with Seagate stae128. The write speed is 351 and read spead is 350.

that's very good speeds how is it connected to your system?

i have a Samsung 840 256Gb and Crucial V4 128Gb on their way going to see what speeds i get on usb 3, then wait for the 512Gb pro to drop in price a little and shove it into the imac

 

[HelplessMoose]

I just stumbled upon this blog post about using an external 512 GB SSD on a Mac:
http://wolfgangtechnology.blogspot.com/2012/06/mac-with-seagate-thunderbolt-adapter.html

Long story short is that an external power source is required for SSD's that large. The smaller SSD's (~240 GB and down) seem to work fine on TB-bus-powered-only connections but even that has something to do with the length of the TB cord as well.

So it sounds like if you want a trouble-free big external SSD via TB, you'll need a dock with its own power brick.

 

[starscript]

Long story short is that an external power source is required for SSD's that large. The smaller SSD's (~240 GB and down) seem to work fine on TB-bus-powered-only connections but even that has something to do with the length of the TB cord as well.

So it sounds like if you want a trouble-free big external SSD via TB, you'll need a dock with its own power brick.

thats a quit a nifty hack but i think this

would do the same job with less solder buns

 

[starscript]

i have don some tests using a samsung SSD 830 256GB
using a USB 3.0 to SATA 2 adapter
on my iMac using USB 3.0 i was getting speeds just shy of 200MBPS read and wright.

transferring a 35GB file took just under 3 minutes

i also did a speed test on my mack book air 2011 on USB 2.0 the read wright speeds are the same as a traditional HDD so 30/40 MBPS.

i'm really happy with the speeds, i'm extremely tempted to put it inside my iMac or get a 512Gb and put that in.

if any one wants any other strain tests don just ask or a step by step guide to installing a new SSD

 

[Tanax]

i have don some tests using a samsung SSD 830 256GB
using a USB 3.0 to SATA 2 adapter
on my iMac using USB 3.0 i was getting speeds just shy of 200MBPS read and wright.

transferring a 35GB file took just under 3 minutes

i also did a speed test on my mack book air 2011 on USB 2.0 the read wright speeds are the same as a traditional HDD so 30/40 MBPS.

i'm really happy with the speeds, i'm extremely tempted to put it inside my iMac or get a 512Gb and put that in.

if any one wants any other strain tests don just ask or a step by step guide to installing a new SSD

Remember that the speeds you get from USB3 is highly dependent on what type of USB3 chipset/controller the case is using. You'll need one with USB3 SuperSpeed and that is using ASMedia controller 1051 or 1053. And of course, SATA III is always helpful. With those, you'll reach read/write speeds of 300-400 MB/s.

 

[starscript]

Remember that the speeds you get from USB3 is highly dependent on what type of USB3 chipset/controller the case is using. You'll need one with USB3 SuperSpeed and that is using ASMedia controller 1051 or 1053. And of course, SATA III is always helpful. With those, you'll reach read/write speeds of 300-400 MB/s.

ahh yeas i have seen them i have't seen any of them under £50 and difficult to get in the uk. i have popped open the mac and inserted the SSD,
massive difference.

 

[Tanax]

ahh yeas i have seen them i have't seen any of them under £50 and difficult to get in the uk. i have popped open the mac and inserted the SSD,
massive difference.

The Thermaltake Silver River 5G is about £20. I'm sure that internal SSD is a bit faster but remember that "popping open" an iMac 2012 isn't something everyone wants or even dares to do. And the speed difference isn't THAT massive. What kind of speeds are you reaching now when it is internal?

 

[starscript]

The Thermaltake Silver River 5G is about £20. I'm sure that internal SSD is a bit faster but remember that "popping open" an iMac 2012 isn't something everyone wants or even dares to do. And the speed difference isn't THAT massive. What kind of speeds are you reaching now when it is internal?

ohhh, got a link to a shop?

 

[Tanax]

ohhh, got a link to a shop?

Sure.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermaltake...N41Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357314971&sr=8-1

 

[starscript]

Sure.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermaltake...N41Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357314971&sr=8-1

Thanks, i will be getting one of them, i now feel cheated out with £19.
welli will be able to copy form external to external now.

using a 256Gb as my host HD is killing me, doing a recovery of a 750Gb keep having to flush all the obsolete files till i reach the sector i need

 

[Zav]

If you can wait, Caldigit are releasing the T1 enclosure soon and its looks VERY nice and apparently has awesome speeds!

http://www.caldigit.com/Thunderbolt/T1T2.html#T1

 

[MaydayMAc]

i am using lacie big drive i bought from mac warehouse for $200 removed theHD and install (2) intel 520 180 in Raid 0 I get 350 writes and 470 Reads

 

[Tanax]

If you can wait, Caldigit are releasing the T1 enclosure soon and its looks VERY nice and apparently has awesome speeds!

http://www.caldigit.com/Thunderbolt/T1T2.html#T1

Which will probably cost a heck of a lot more than £20.

i am using lacie big drive i bought from mac warehouse for $200 removed theHD and install (2) intel 520 180 in Raid 0 I get 350 writes and 470 Reads

Those are nice speeds but for $200 EXCLUDING the actual SSDs are insane. Not to mention the fact that the only reason you are getting that speed is because it's 2 SSDs in RAID 0, forcing you to get 2 SSDs.

The Thermaltake will get you 300/400 mbps write/read with USB3, only costing £20 + 1(not 2!!) SSD.
Thunderbolt is nice and all.. but way too expensive at the moment, at least for external drive enclosures.

 

[MaydayMAc]

True but the drives where cheap Bestbuy has the Intel 520 for $129 so thats why i went that rought

USB3 in thermaltake is fast I know. but USB3 not as efficient as Thunderbolt USB3 uses alot of CPU

and the thermaltake Quailty control been bad I have a defective one here that just died

 

[donwolfkonecny]

external boot ssd

What is the best (fastest) connection for an external boot SSD, would it be Firewire800 USB3 or Thunderbolt? And how does the speed (and experience) compare to internal. I assumed an external SSD would be as slow as HDD.

 

[GGJstudios]

What is the best (fastest) connection for an external boot SSD, would it be Firewire800 USB3 or Thunderbolt? And how does the speed (and experience) compare to internal. I assumed an external SSD would be as slow as HDD.

This may help:

From Thunderbolt's Bandwidth: Sizing Up To USB 3.0, FireWire, And eSATA : Everything You Need To Know About Thunderbolt

 

[Tanax]

What is the best (fastest) connection for an external boot SSD, would it be Firewire800 USB3 or Thunderbolt? And how does the speed (and experience) compare to internal. I assumed an external SSD would be as slow as HDD.

USB 3 external SSD is almost as fast as internal SSD, depending on which enclosure you get.

 

[Dduval]

I just ordered the seagate stae128 TB adapter and a Samsung 840 pro 256gb.

I'll post some results once I get it setup. I think I did a ton of research on what ssd to get. The main reason I went with the Samsung 840 pro was due to the very low power requirements. Best in class that I could find. I wanted to make sure I eliminated (as much as possible) power issues, drop outs, disconnects, etc.

This will be my boot drive, well see how it goes...

 

[MaydayMAc]

I just got the Thermaltake 5g usb3 enclosure. its fast. But u Cant enable TRIM on it like you can With Thunderbolt. So how do u keep the SSD from slowing down ?

 

[WilliamG]

I just ordered the seagate stae128 TB adapter and a Samsung 840 pro 256gb.

I'll post some results once I get it setup. I think I did a ton of research on what ssd to get. The main reason I went with the Samsung 840 pro was due to the very low power requirements. Best in class that I could find. I wanted to make sure I eliminated (as much as possible) power issues, drop outs, disconnects, etc.

This will be my boot drive, well see how it goes...

Given my experience with the STAE128 and the Samsung 830 256GB, I think you'll be just fine. No issues since I set it up 10 days ago, - on 24/7 with a few sleep cycles.

 

[Tanax]

True but the drives where cheap Bestbuy has the Intel 520 for $129 so thats why i went that rought

USB3 in thermaltake is fast I know. but USB3 not as efficient as Thunderbolt USB3 uses alot of CPU

and the thermaltake Quailty control been bad I have a defective one here that just died

Quote me next time if you want a reply XD
USB3 hardly uses so much CPU that you will notice it. Besides, most people get way too good CPU than they need. The i5 for instance in the new iMac 27" is far too good for most people. And people still upgrade to i7 even though the i5 will be more than enough for their needs. So I doubt people will notice a decrease in CPU performance if they get a USB3 enclosure instead of TB.

 

[Dduval]

Given my experience with the STAE128 and the Samsung 830 256GB, I think you'll be just fine. No issues since I set it up 10 days ago, - on 24/7 with a few sleep cycles.

Good to hear...what speeds are you getting?

 

[starscript]

Quote me next time if you want a reply XD
USB3 hardly uses so much CPU that you will notice it. Besides, most people get way too good CPU than they need. The i5 for instance in the new iMac 27" is far too good for most people. And people still upgrade to i7 even though the i5 will be more than enough for their needs. So I doubt people will notice a decrease in CPU performance if they get a USB3 enclosure instead of TB.

Tanax you are completely right, development in cosumer computing has slowed down the clock speed wars of yester year. and see mostly with the new intel processors development is more focused on heat, efficiency and faster buss speeds.


There is no point in having a massive CPU if no other part in the computer can keep up if we take a look at some clock speeds the home and pro user can identify what parts require that expensive up-graid,

The CPU Intel I5 clocks at 2.9GHz
RAM clocks in at 1.6GHz (you can get faster RAM)
SSD 500MBps data transfer rate to compair to RAM, RAM data transfer rate is around 16GBps
USB 3.0 data transfer rate is around 300MBps
HDD around 100 MBps data transfer rate.

So as we look at some of the speeds of the parts that make a computer, where the most people assume faster CPU faster computer where they are right they will get a faster CPU it's a more wiser idea to look at whats the slowest part we will be working off the most frequently and think how can we make that bit work better. leaving use with a better computer to the more often CPU upgrade
i hope this helps some on on understanding how to improve their computers.

 

[bonedaddio]

Thinking about thinking about...

My $.02 = If you're thinking about an SSD for a new iMac, Thunderbolt is the way to go, IMHO. Depending on which adapter/which SSD you choose, you can get the maximum throughput available on the drive without opening the case, or paying the rather high Apple SSD tax. There's lots of testing on the forum to bear this out.

Cheapest/most compatible route is the Seagate Backup Plus Desktop adapter (STA129; $150) and a single SSD of your choice, plus the Apple Thunderbolt cable ($49.00).
Faster than USB 3.0
More stable than USB 3.0, especially under heavy CPU load
Trim supported
Compatible with Boot Camp/Windows.

Another variation:
Pegasus J4 Thunderbolt Enclosure ($387.00) and up to four SSDs of your choice, plus the Apple Thunderbolt cable ($49.00).
Faster than USB 3.0
More stable than USB 3.0, especially under heavy CPU load
Trim supported
NOT Compatible with Boot Camp/Windows at this time; Pegasus tech support sez it's a new product, a Windows driver will be forthcoming but no ETA on it.

I'm going to be using both. I've tested both setups with TBolt on a late 2011 MacBook Pro, and they work crazy fast, both enclosures sleep and wake just fine, etc.