Which external SSD for iMac 27"?

[KimHansenDK]

I am looking for a fast external SSD that I can connect to my 27" iMac (2013) and boot from.

Would like read/write speeds of +400 MB/s.

What about USB3 vs Thunderbolt?

Any suggestions?

 

[kitsunestudios]

Go for this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/METB7DK0GB/

Dual-drive raid enclosure. Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 comparable.

Drop in a pair of 240GB SSDs, (Tigerdirect is selling Intel 335 Series 240's for $110 right now),

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7430869&Sku=I69-7113

make sure you have time machine backing it up, and you'll have a $500 480GB turbo-drive that should give you transfer rates between 500-1000 MB/s

Edit: looks like this can be used as a boot drive.

 

[KimHansenDK]

Great - thanks!

 

[Truthfulie]

Now days, any decent SSDs larger than 120GB capacity will get you near if not over 400MB sequential read and write. So you don't really need to risk creating point of failure with RAID 0 to get the performance you are looking for. If you don't need all that speed, going single drive is an option as well. Plus, going single large SSD is probably cheaper than buying RAID enclosure. Just make sure you go Thunderbolt though, since USB 3 doesn't support TRIM support which is crucial for SSD performance in long run.

 

[Weaselboy]

I am looking for a fast external SSD that I can connect to my 27" iMac (2013) and boot from.

Would like read/write speeds of +400 MB/s.

What about USB3 vs Thunderbolt?

Any suggestions?

USB3 speeds are pretty close the TB on a newer Mac, but as mentioned to get TRIM working you need TB.

A good combo is the Delock TB enclosure for $98 with either a Samsung EVO or Crucial MX100 inside.

You can get the Crucial for $109 and the Delock and be all set for $207.

Here is a thread with some tests of the Delock.

I would not obsess too much over small differences in benchmark tests. In real world usage you will never be able to tell the difference among any of these newer SSDs.

 

[Truefan31]

I have the crucial mx100 512 gb ssd in a seagate tb adapter. Tb connection. I'm sure I get around 400 mb speeds. I know my 27 imac boots in about 20 seconds now lol

 

[hfg]

I am looking for a fast external SSD that I can connect to my 27" iMac (2013) and boot from.

Would like read/write speeds of +400 MB/s.

What about USB3 vs Thunderbolt?

Any suggestions?

I haven't had any single SSD Thunderbolt drives exceed 400MB/s (DiskSpeedTest) ... they approach it, but do not surpass it.

However, using a Aikitio Neutrino Duo Thunderbolt enclosure with a pair of Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs in RAID-0 I get 683 wr / 753 rd MB/s.

http://www.akitio.com/portable-storage/neutrino-thunder-duo

If you need more drives as well, that same pair of 840 Pro SSDs in RAID-0 installed in a OWC Thunderbay IV are even faster, plus you have room for a couple of 3.5" hard disks for Time Machine backup or other usage. Or have 12TB at + 600MB/s with 4-ea. 3 TB hard disks in RAID-0 (keep your backup handy) for large fast storage needs.


You might also look at the LaCie "Little Big Disk SSD" for another very fast RAID-0 Thunderbolt drive @ >1200 MB/s.

https://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10621