Thunderbolt SSD for 2011 imac

[DrCheese]

Hi guys,

My dad's 2011 imac only has a standard HDD, replacing it is more or less impossible as I'm really not a fan of taking apart the screen!
It is horrifically slow to use in general day to day usage. My 2011 Macbook air is a trillion times faster due to the SSD.

Has anyone used a thunderbolt SSD as a boot drive? If so, Does anyone have any recommendations about which one to get?

Thank you

 

[antman2x2]

Yes, I have the same exact computer and ive been using a LaCie thunderbolt SSD as a boot drive for about 2 years now, I also use another one to boot games and other apps off of. Works great and its super fast!

It cost me about $199

 

[DrCheese]

ahhh thank you I'll have a google around & see if I can pick up one

 

[JamesMay82]

Is using a thunderbolt external SSD as a boot drive just as fast as having an internal SSD drive?

 

[bassjunky]

Is using a thunderbolt external SSD as a boot drive just as fast as having an internal SSD drive?

I've heard running it internally is faster, though I've been booting off an external SSD over Thunderbolt for a couple of weeks now and it flies, at least in comparison to the internal HDD. I've been getting about 380MB/s on my reads, 280+ on the writes.

That gets me thinking though, is that because maybe the internal SATA ports are running at 6Gb/s whereas my external drive is only at 3Gb/s? Guess I should check that out.

 

[matreya]

Is using a thunderbolt external SSD as a boot drive just as fast as having an internal SSD drive?

Yes, if you're comparing it with an internal SATA3 SSD. A PCI-e SSD benchmarks a lot faster, but won't matter much in day to day usage.

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I've heard running it internally is faster, though I've been booting off an external SSD over Thunderbolt for a couple of weeks now and it flies, at least in comparison to the internal HDD. I've been getting about 380MB/s on my reads, 280+ on the writes.

That's about normal for a single SSD. I get a bit more with mine, but it's probably a different make/model of SSD...

That gets me thinking though, is that because maybe the internal SATA ports are running at 6Gb/s whereas my external drive is only at 3Gb/s? Guess I should check that out.

Why would your external drive only be 3Gbps? Is it an OWC 3g?

 

[bassjunky]

Yes, if you're comparing it with an internal SATA3 SSD. A PCI-e SSD benchmarks a lot faster, but won't matter much in day to day usage.

I believe the internal SATA connections on a mid-2011 iMac support a 6Gb link, though a PCI-e SSD would still be faster, but that's not an option for these models.

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Why would your external drive only be 3Gbps? Is it an OWC 3g?

I'm not positive it is 3Gbps, I'll have to double-check. I'm using the Transcend 256GB SSD Thunderbolt drive.

 

[JamesMay82]

ok cool was just curious,

I bought the retina iMac but only went with 256SSD and was just thinking about future upgrades etc especially when SSD prices come down.

 

[matreya]

ok cool was just curious,

I bought the retina iMac but only went with 256SSD and was just thinking about future upgrades etc especially when SSD prices come down.

Then in your case, your internal SSD is going to benchmark as considerably faster than a regular SATA3 SSD in a thunderbolt enclosure, but won't matter much in day to day usage, so I've been led to believe.

Personally, I find my Retina runs a good deal zippier than the late-2012 iMac I had with the same RAM, but with a SATA SSD inside.. Might be the .6 GHz in extra clock speed tho

 

[bassjunky]

I stand corrected, my external SSD over Thunderbolt does have a 6Gbps link speed.

 

[JamesMay82]

Good stuff! hopefully SSD externals will come down in price..... one can hope!