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Using an external thunderbolt SSD external to speed up

D

d82k

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 24, 2011
48
0
Dear All,

I would like to increase the speed on my iMac 27" mid 2011. Currently it has the standard 1 TB hdd (almost empty) and 12GB RAM. I was thinking about adding an SSD internal to it but the cost is high, especially if I have to use one of the disks provided by Apple (https://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/31/angelbird-ssd-trim/).

For this reason the alternative could be to buy an external ssd 250GB thunderbolt disk, install Yosemite and boot my iMac from it.

Would I actually benefit from doing it or not really?
I found this right now: LaCie 250GB SSD Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Drive
Do you have any other to suggest?

Thank you for your support and advices.
dk
 
d82k said:
Dear All,

I would like to increase the speed on my iMac 27" mid 2011. Currently it has the standard 1 TB hdd (almost empty) and 12GB RAM. I was thinking about adding an SSD internal to it but the cost is high, especially if I have to use one of the disks provided by Apple (https://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/31/angelbird-ssd-trim/).

For this reason the alternative could be to buy an external ssd 250GB thunderbolt disk, install Yosemite and boot my iMac from it.

Would I actually benefit from doing it or not really?
I found this right now: LaCie 250GB SSD Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Drive
Do you have any other to suggest?

Thank you for your support and advices.
dk
Click to expand...

You would benefit it greatly.

You can also just buy any 2.5" SSD (you'll need a 3.5" to 2.5" adaptor though) and stick it inside your Mac if you can open it up.
 
I have the same iMac and opted for this external Thunderbolt SSD:

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-256...&qid=1423694132&sr=1-3&keywords=transcend+ssd

I feel it's quite fast and should last a while. I went with the Transcend over the Lacie because it was slightly cheaper and not near as ugly, though I'm sure that orange case can be removed.

Eventually I'll probably crack open the Mac and install it internally, but the external option seems to work nearly just as good. Getting 280+MB/s on reads, 380+MB/s on writes.
 
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Were it me I would stay with an external TB SSD. Allows for possible mobility for say a MBP -- nice to be able to boot into the same environment and have the same data, etc on the road.

More importantly you will see no speed increase by moving internally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY getting into a 2011 iMac is a huge PITA.

bassjunky said:
I have the same iMac and opted for this external Thunderbolt SSD:

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-256...&qid=1423694132&sr=1-3&keywords=transcend+ssd

I feel it's quite fast and should last a while. I went with the Transcend over the Lacie because it was slightly cheaper and not near as ugly, though I'm sure that orange case can be removed.

Eventually I'll probably crack open the Mac and install it internally, but the external option seems to work nearly just as good. Getting 280+MB/s on reads, 380+MB/s on writes.
Click to expand...
 
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colorspace said:
Were it me I would stay with an external TB SSD. Allows for possible mobility for say a MBP -- nice to be able to boot into the same environment and have the same data, etc on the road.

More importantly you will see no speed increase by moving internally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY getting into a 2011 iMac is a huge PITA.
Click to expand...

So an SSD directly connected to the internal SATA connector would show no speed improvement over an external Thunderbolt SSD?

I realize Thunderbolt is an external PCIe connection, but I'm curious if the throughput on the external is limited by SATA controller within the external chassis (in my case, the Transcend) or possibly the flash memory they use.

I'm pretty sure the Transcend doesn't use a typical 2.5" SSD in its case, but I'm curious if I were to use a good SSD like a Samsung 850Pro, if I would see any speed increase using it either internally or externally over TB.
 
bassjunky said:
So an SSD directly connected to the internal SATA connector would show no speed improvement over an external Thunderbolt SSD?

I realize Thunderbolt is an external PCIe connection, but I'm curious if the throughput on the external is limited by SATA controller within the external chassis (in my case, the Transcend) or possibly the flash memory they use.

I'm pretty sure the Transcend doesn't use a typical 2.5" SSD in its case, but I'm curious if I were to use a good SSD like a Samsung 850Pro, if I would see any speed increase using it either internally or externally over TB.
Click to expand...

There is actually a bottleneck with an SSD in a TB enclosure.

My 840 Pro in my LaCie rugged clocks in at 400MB/s read and write, but when connected natively via SATA3, it gets 510 MB/s read and 470 MB/s write.
 
[[ There is actually a bottleneck with an SSD in a TB enclosure.
My 840 Pro in my LaCie rugged clocks in at 400MB/s read and write, but when connected natively via SATA3, it gets 510 MB/s read and 470 MB/s write. ]]

Granted, there IS a slight speed difference which can be measured by benchmarking software, but....

.... IN THE REAL WORLD of "human perception", there will no "discernible difference" in these speeds.

The OP wanted the easiest way to increase the overall performance of the iMac.
The easiest, fastest way without doing surgery on it is to "go thunderbolt".

I predict the OP will be VERY pleased by going this route...
 
Agreed that based on the specific chipset used in the SATA/TB board there might be a very slight decrease in thruput, but hardly significant in most cases. I have an OWC enclosure with a Samsung 840EVO and even using USB3.0 the drop in performance about the same you mention below.

What that I do know for sure though is that opening a 2011 iMac, if you haven't done it before, will age you 1.83 years :)

Fishrrman said:
[[ There is actually a bottleneck with an SSD in a TB enclosure.
My 840 Pro in my LaCie rugged clocks in at 400MB/s read and write, but when connected natively via SATA3, it gets 510 MB/s read and 470 MB/s write. ]]

Granted, there IS a slight speed difference which can be measured by benchmarking software, but....

.... IN THE REAL WORLD of "human perception", there will no "discernible difference" in these speeds.

The OP wanted the easiest way to increase the overall performance of the iMac.
The easiest, fastest way without doing surgery on it is to "go thunderbolt".

I predict the OP will be VERY pleased by going this route...
Click to expand...
 
Fishrrman said:
[[ There is actually a bottleneck with an SSD in a TB enclosure.
My 840 Pro in my LaCie rugged clocks in at 400MB/s read and write, but when connected natively via SATA3, it gets 510 MB/s read and 470 MB/s write. ]]

Granted, there IS a slight speed difference which can be measured by benchmarking software, but....

.... IN THE REAL WORLD of "human perception", there will no "discernible difference" in these speeds.

The OP wanted the easiest way to increase the overall performance of the iMac.
The easiest, fastest way without doing surgery on it is to "go thunderbolt".

I predict the OP will be VERY pleased by going this route...
Click to expand...

^ ^

Yes, the difference is only there in benchmarks, not in real-life usage, where huge reads/writes are very, very rare. SSD = random read/write awesomeness, no matter if your SSD is first generation or current generation. It's full of win!
 
OP wrote above:
[[ My only concern is about the usage of a 3rd-party SSD drive (not Apple SSD) and Yosemite since it seems Apple only supports Trim on its own SSD drives.. ]]

My recommendation:
Don't worry about TRIM.
With many drives you buy now, it won't make any difference at all.

My opinion only, and others will disagree.
Some may disagree vehemently.
 
d82k said:
I found this in any cases: http://chameleon.alessandroboschini.com/
Click to expand...

Save yourself the money. Just use Trim Enabler. Works just fine in Yosemite.

And to answer your first question, yes - the difference will be huge if you switch to a Thunderbolt SSD. Don't overthink it. Just pick up a Samsung Evo or an OCZ/Corsair/Crucial whatever, shove it in a Seagate Backup Plus Thunderbolt enclosure, enable Trim Enabler, and you're done. Or do the Lacie Rugged if that orange thing is your bag.

I used a Thunderbolt boot SSD on my 2012 iMac for 2 years, and am still doing so on my new 5K iMac.

Personally, I'd buy this:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Thund...=8-3&keywords=seagate+backup+plus+thunderbolt

OR:

If you see this in time, it's cheaper here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-Thu...Home_Network_Storage_NAS_&hash=item259c8a6fba

Either way, the drive+adapter bundle comes with a detachable Thunderbolt cable, which I prefer to the integrated ones on the e.g. Lucie Rugged.

Pop the 1TB drive out and enjoy it as a spare or backup disk or... whatever.

Then put this disk in the enclosure:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-I...3851087&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+850+evo+250gb

And voila. $10-$50 cheaper than the Lacie (depending if you buy from eBay or Amazon), with a 5-year warranty SSD, and a free 1TB 2.5" disk to go along with it. :)

(I'm using that very enclosure/Thunderbolt adapter - with a 1TB Samsung 850 Evo)
 
Last edited:
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