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madthras

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 4, 2015
11
3
Any specific External SSD you guys would recommend for me?

I got iMac 5k
 
If you just want something for OS X boot drive and use your iMac's internal storage for everything else, even something cheap like this SanDisk Extreme will do the trick. I was amazed at the performance – I bought one so I could have an OS X diagnostics thumb drive. It's like an SSD; apps open instantly and stuff like that. Really impressive performance for USB.

Otherwise if you're looking for something a little larger or better performing, there are a number of external Thunderbolt SSD enclosures, but they're very pricey.

May I confirm why you didn't upgrade to an SSD in the first place on your iMac? If you're buying external SSDs you're going to be paying even more than the BTO would have been.
 
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If you just want something for OS X boot drive and use your iMac's internal storage for everything else, even something cheap like this SanDisk Extreme will do the trick. I was amazed at the performance – I bought one so I could have an OS X diagnostics thumb drive. It's like an SSD; apps open instantly and stuff like that. Really impressive performance for USB.

Otherwise if you're looking for something a little larger or better performing, there are a number of external Thunderbolt SSD enclosures, but they're very pricey.

May I confirm why you didn't upgrade to an SSD in the first place on your iMac? If you're buying external SSDs you're going to be paying even more than the BTO would have been.


I bought 1TB fusion drive (budget issues) and the SD is like 24GB, I want to store Games/Boot-up etc on the SSD, so I need an external one
 
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Any specific External SSD you guys would recommend for me?

I got iMac 5k
Just grab either a Samsung EVO 850 or a Crucial MX200 SSD and throw it in a USB3 enclosure that supports UASP like this by Inatech and you will be good to go.

For your described usage there really is no need to spend the extra money for a Thunderbolt SSD enclosure. A USB3 enclosure will be very close to the same speed. The only downside it USB does not support TRIM, but that won't be an issue the way you are using this drive.
 
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Just grab either a Samsung EVO 850 or a Crucial MX200 SSD and throw it in a USB3 enclosure that supports UASP like this by Inatech and you will be good to go.

For your described usage there really is no need to spend the extra money for a Thunderbolt SSD enclosure. A USB3 enclosure will be very close to the same speed. The only downside it USB does not support TRIM, but that won't be an issue the way you are using this drive.
OWC claims their SSDs don't need trim as the drives are configured to keep optimal performance with their controllers. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MSU3SSD240GB/
 
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Any specific External SSD you guys would recommend for me?

I got iMac 5k
A Samsung 850 EVO (do NOT get the 840 EVO even if its cheap, it's got dodgy firmware) inside a USB3 enclosure should do the job nicely.
 
i just got a 500gb Samsung 850 EVO and an vantec enclosure usb3 and I'm getting about 399 write and 430 read speeds
 
Get Samsung T1. ITB is about $400-500. No need a separate enclosure

Do you actually own one? Have you read about the fact that Samsung require you to install software onto your Mac/PC before you can even format the drive? I know it looks sexy and compact, but it's requirement to install a driver, a plugin and an application to format the drive is a big minus to me.
 
Do you actually own one? Have you read about the fact that Samsung require you to install software onto your Mac/PC before you can even format the drive? I know it looks sexy and compact, but it's requirement to install a driver, a plugin and an application to format the drive is a big minus to me.
I had although I returned it as I decided to wait for a bigger 2tb version. It worked very well and surely fast not to mention sooo small. Yes, you need to install a driver but I don't see a big deal about it personally. My mac also has a NTFS driver so that it can read NTSF HDD.
 
I would expect the NTFS driver would be updated to work with newer versions of OS X, I use Paragon's one, and it is updated regularly. I wouldn't trust Samsung to be so prompt.
 
I know you won't like this but return it and get the 2TB fusion, I don't see why not, it'll be cheaper than buying the external drive and bonus you won't have to use an external drive! I am keeping external drives in mind for down the road, I wouldn't want to buy a new computer and use it right away. Maybe if you were putting a completely different OS on it.

I understand the budget issues, but then again it's going to cost a few hundred more getting the external.. the only thing I can think of is that you want a 512GB SSD or larger...

edit: NEED a 512Gb or larger.
 
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