SSD Thunderbolt

[CSchell]

Hi Brian,

Brand new to this forum, and I really appreciate your direct and informative adviceI. I just purchased a 2020 27” iMac and extra RAM  cards to bump it up to 128. The problem is I didn’t have a choice with this deal that it came with only a 512 GB SSD. I’ve been reading through the posts and reading reviews, etc., and it seems if I get a 2TB Thunderbolt SSD G drive, this would work faster as an external drive to work on than the Thunderbolt G Drive that is HDD, or is that an incorrect conclusion? I like the idea the SSD is bus powered and thus more portable for trips with my MacBook and that it appears to be faster. Second follow-up question: how would the speed of the external Thunderbolt SSD compare to using an internal SSD? 3rd follow-up: is bus-powered bad? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated! Thank you.

-Chris

[Brian]

OK, a few things here.

Yes, SSD is fast, I will give you that...but the problem is the USB interface, THAT is what creates a bottleneck. Even if it's USB 3.0. So while a Samsung SSD 1TB Portable like this one would be worth it if you are on the go, you are limited by your Mac's USB 3.0 port's speeds. So that drive would not be a "Internal HD Replacement/Supplement," or one that I would recommend working off of. Even if it's a SSD Drive. But that drive is great for storage and traveling.

Second, Thunderbolt 3 is fast, MUCH faster than your 1Gbps Ethernet Port. Thunderbolt 3 is around 40Gbps, and if you combine that with a Enterprise-Grade 7200RPM HD, such as this model which I personally own and work off off, will be your best bet. For what you want to accomplish, you need at least a Thunderbolt 3 HD. I have a 12TB. If you want to go bigger, feel free. It just depends on the money you want to spend.

Oh, one more thing! The G-Drives come with all necessary cables. Speaking of cables and BUS Powered. They are fine, but BUS Powered Drives aren't going to be that fast, usually around 5400RPM drives for the traditional spinning HD, which causes an additional Bottleneck. See how it all fits together? Take a 5400RPM HD, use USB 3.0 and it's not going to be that fast, at least not to work off of. Again, even if you get a SSD, USB 3.0 isn't that fast as compared to an Internal HD. The TB3 Drive is.

Now, I just saw this drive. An 8TB SSD on a Thunderbolt 3 Interface. It's the "Best-of-Both-Worlds!" SSD AND TB3. The problem? It's $1600 freakin' Dollars!! (US Dollars.) For a 8TB Drive. Umm...that's a tough pill to swallow. That's almost the cost of a stupid Mac. If that drive was like 18TB, then it would be worth it. But we will need to wait a few more years for those 20TB SSD Drives to hit the Market.

Bottom Line: I'd buy a 12TB-18TB Thunderbolt 3 G-Drive. I have a 12TB and it suits my needs just fine.

[CSchell]

Thank you for your reply, Brian. I totally get your point about connecting via Thunderbolt vs any USB. I will not be connecting any external hard drive that I am working on via USB. To clarify my specific question:

I am in the middle of a system upgrade. In my current system I work on a MacBook and do my photo work on a half-full 3 TB Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive that is basically connected via USB. It is really lagging now for obvious reasons. I am just trying to do this right this time (with the issue of the limited 512 GB internal drive on my new iMac)- "right" being creating a system that is quick.

I recently purchased a 2020 27" iMac and it only has a 512 GB drive- not the optimal size according to what I've read in posts here. My question: would a 1TB External Thunderbolt SSD work well as a substitution for an 1TB internal HD for doing photo work? I am talking about a drive like this: https://a.co/d/cEvzciu or this https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-fx  It looks like these drives read/write at nearly 9-11X the 230 MB/s speed of the Enterprise HDD G-Drive (if I am reading things correctly). I haven't even experienced 230 MB/s or 2000 MB/s, so I have no idea what that means in practical terms, but it seems like you are saying if you could get an SSD drive that connects via Thunderbolt that would indeed be the fastest.

Additionally, about portability: I do see having to do editing away from home with my MacBook, so it looks like that is a double advantage to doing my work at home on an External SSD Thunderbolt- I can take my current work with me easily. I will however be getting the 12 TB G Drive HDD to keep my other files, backup the SSD, and archive my photos. It seems like I should get a second one to do a clone backup as well.

Please let me know if my reasoning is ok and/or whether any of this is crazy. Thank you!

Regards,

Chris

 

 

[Brian]

2 hours ago, CSchell said:

iMac and it only has a 512 GB drive- not the optimal size according to what I've read in posts here.

Yeah, you really want at least 1TB for the main internal Macintosh HD. a 512GB will "Work," but you need to by hyper-anal on what is installed on that drive. After formatting, the MacOS, and programs...not to mention the PS Scratch Disk plus the cache area for the MacOS, and space becomes a Premium really quick.

2 hours ago, CSchell said:

My question: would a 1TB External Thunderbolt SSD work well as a substitution for an 1TB internal HD for doing photo work? 

No. You bought a Mac with a small HD, and you will be dealing with that HD regardless. You can't use a 1TB External to boot from and as a substitution. That's why I recommended getting something like a 12TB drive on TB3.

 

2 hours ago, CSchell said:

like these drives read/write at nearly 9-11X the 230 MB/s speed of the Enterprise HDD G-Drive (if I am reading things correctly).

Right. You can not compare speeds between SSD and a Traditional HD spinning at 7200RPM. Totally two different beasts. SSD will always win because there are no moving parts.

2 hours ago, CSchell said:

about portability: I do see having to do editing away from home with my MacBook, so it looks like that is a double advantage to doing my work at home on an External SSD Thunderbolt-

Yeah, if you are on the go, you are going to need a SSD Drive. The G-Drive, while excellent drives and I own several, do not like to be moved around.

Bottom Line: I feel a SSD TB3 or even a TB4 drive is in your future. Unfortunately, it will come at a Price-Premium. Don't fall down the Marketing with all the buzzwords about Throughput and Bandwidth and such; those numbers are based in a controlled laboratory...NOT REAL-WORLD SPEEDS. Kinda like my ISP, I have Gig Internet from Comcast, which technically is 1000Mbps, but I only get 940 Mbps down due to the Ethernet overhead issues. (I will save you the particulars so your eyes don't glaze over as to the why.) Anyway, those speeds on paper sound good, but in reality, SPEED IS RELATIVE. It's only "Fast" for a few days or so, maybe a week. Then it becomes your "Normal." Remember that. Basically, get a SSD that's fast, with a decent warranty and larger than you'll think that you need. (2TB-4TB.) I'd skip the 1TB for an external drive.