using a thunderbolt 1 SSD as startup drive for new imac with HD or fusion drive-daft idea?

[madeirabhoy]

basically I'm only thinking about this because I hate to waste money.

2011 imac is dying, only 2 months after I bought not only a thunderbolt 1 to usb 3 adaptor, but also a thunderbolt 1 256gb SSD.

can I use that with an adaptor as a startup drive for a new Imac, allowing me to save money and just get the 1tb HD basic model? would it be slower than an internal SSD?

I suppose I could sell it on ebay but the difference in apple pricing is €240 to get a 256gb SSD and then I don't have the extra storage either...

 

[EugW]

Thunderbolt SSD should work well as startup drive. I ran a FW800 startup SSD for a 2010 iMac for a while and even that was half decent.

That said, I would never do that if I was buying new. You'd be better off just buying one with the 2 TB Fusion drive, and then splitting the Fusion drive into a 128 GB boot drive and 2 TB data drive. (Don't get the 1 TB Fusion drive though, since it only has a 32 GB SSD.) Remember also that the internal SSDs are way faster, being PCIe.

I personally just splurged and got a 1 TB SSD.

 

[Fishrrman]

My thoughts only, but I would think that a thunderbolt 1 drive is going to be VERY SLOW when compared to a new iMac with a 256gb factory-installed SSD.
The thunderbolt 1-to-3 converter isn't going to make the drive faster -- it will only provide "connectability".

Boot and run the new iMac from the internal SSD.
Connect the thunderbolt drive, use it.
But DON'T use it from which to boot.

 

[EugW]

My thoughts only, but I would think that a thunderbolt 1 drive is going to be VERY SLOW when compared to a new iMac with a 256gb factory-installed SSD.
The thunderbolt 1-to-3 converter isn't going to make the drive faster -- it will only provide "connectability".

Boot and run the new iMac from the internal SSD.
Connect the thunderbolt drive, use it.
But DON'T use it from which to boot.

For real world usage, a TB SSD won't feel slow if you're just talking about booting, OS navigation, and app launching and stuff like that. It would feel decent.

But it's still a kludge, and internal SSD is preferred. One thing I had to keep in mind for my FW800 SSD was that although the performance was acceptable, I had to be careful not to move the cable too much, or it could get disconnected which of course would crash the computer.

 

[madeirabhoy]

okay, alas I was in the mood for buying today. I live on a wee island so the shops have limited stock and delivery would be at least a week. first shop could only offer 21.5 inch with 2gb graphics and old fashioned HD. second shop was advertising the lowest 27" model but only had one machine in stock, the 2nd one up, the 3.5ghz which doesn't to me look like it should be 200 euro more, but it is what it is. it was 1tb fusion or nothing.

so given that I now have a machine with a 1TB fusion, is the thunderbolt SSD going to be any use whatsoever or should I sell it on eBay?

 

[EugW]

Hmmm... Why did you buy now? There may be new machines coming in just 10 days. And the upgrades will likely be quite significant.

Also, as I mentioned, the 1 TB Fusion drive model is not an ideal Fusion drive model, because it includes only a 32 GB SSD. The 2 TB Fusion drive includes a 128 GB SSD.

In that context, I hope you got a very good deal on the 2017 iMac with 1 TB Fusion drive.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

You are not going to be happy with the Fusion Drive and only a 32GB Blade Drive. Maybe take it back until something better is available.

 

[madeirabhoy]

Hmmm... Why did you buy now? There may be new machines coming in just 10 days. And the upgrades will likely be quite significant.

Also, as I mentioned, the 1 TB Fusion drive model is not an ideal Fusion drive model, because it includes only a 32 GB SSD. The 2 TB Fusion drive includes a 128 GB SSD.

In that context, I hope you got a very good deal on the 2017 iMac with 1 TB Fusion drive.

my old machine died. and living where I live id have to wait ages to get a new model, and there was 15% off everything.

but mainly my old machine died and I had money in my pocket.