Fast external ssd

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A couple of years ago I bought a Thunderbolt external ssd that also had a usb 3 connection for use in making CCC backups. Much to my surprise the usb 3 connection was noticeably faster than the Thunderbolt connector so I used the device in that configuration. I mention that only because it made me realize that speed specs may not reflect actual hardware speed when in use in a real machine.

When I found I needed an external drive I bought a Samsung ssd and a 2.5" SATA external drive enclosure optimized for ssd and have been using that as my external drive for the past 18 months or so *. Recently I have thought about getting a larger external drive to hold my digital photos but thought I should ask what might be the fastest type of drive and connection. As it is I use my external drive to hold many of my apps since my Mini ssd is not large, and so would want the fastest thing I could get using the fastest connection I could use.

Not really being familiar with computer hardware I thought I should ask before I spent any money. Can anyone tell me what is the fastest thing I could attach to my Late 2014 Mac Mini. It is not a speed demon but it is configured with the only i7 chip available for the Mini I could get at the time, so I think it should be able to support whatever is the fastest external drive I can buy.

What is the current speed demon in external ssd hardware? I might also want to use this with my 15" MBP with its new usb hardware.

* I did some checking and found that it was actually almost 3 years ago. No wonder I am thinking about getting something faster.
 
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Raz0rEdge

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There are multiple factors at play here. First you want to figure out the speed of the SSD itself. The regular ones usually support up to 500 MB/s read and write speed. Some of the more fancier (and expensive) ones might go beyond that. Next, you need to figure out the SSD is connecting to the external enclosure. If it is a SATA connection, then you'll want SATA 3 which can go up to a theoretical 600 MB/s. The other connection type is PCI-e (PCI Express) that can go up to 2.2 GB/s (or nearly 4x faster than the SATA 3 speed).

The last part of the chain is connecting the enclosure to your Mac and that can be over USB 3 or TB 2. USB 3 will max out around 650 MB/s and TB 2 will max out at around 2.5 GB/s.

So, bottom line. If you go with a SSD that read/writes at 500 MB/s and is connected using SATA 3, then you'll be fine with the USB 3 connection. If you find a faster SSD that can use PCI-e, then you'll want to go TB2 to ensure that you are talking to the device at the fastest supported speed.
 
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There are multiple factors at play here. First you want to figure out the speed of the SSD itself. The regular ones usually support up to 500 MB/s read and write speed. Some of the more fancier (and expensive) ones might go beyond that. Next, you need to figure out the SSD is connecting to the external enclosure. If it is a SATA connection, then you'll want SATA 3 which can go up to a theoretical 600 MB/s. The other connection type is PCI-e (PCI Express) that can go up to 2.2 GB/s (or nearly 4x faster than the SATA 3 speed).

The last part of the chain is connecting the enclosure to your Mac and that can be over USB 3 or TB 2. USB 3 will max out around 650 MB/s and TB 2 will max out at around 2.5 GB/s.

So, bottom line. If you go with a SSD that read/writes at 500 MB/s and is connected using SATA 3, then you'll be fine with the USB 3 connection. If you find a faster SSD that can use PCI-e, then you'll want to go TB2 to ensure that you are talking to the device at the fastest supported speed.
So then, do I understand correctly?

My Mac Mini has 2 TB2 ports. So if I buy a TB2 enclosure capable of accepting PCIe cards, get and install some PCIe cards and hook the enclosure up to one of the TB2 ports, then I will have a working external ssd significantly faster than my current external usb 3 ssd?

I have tested my internal ssd (using BlackMagic) and the figures I got were about 720 MBs write and 730 MBs read. That compares to about 250 and 400 on my external ssd which I currently use to store digital photos and some apps that I run only occasionally. Would such an external drive be fast enough to use as a boot drive? I understand that depends upon my subjective view of "fast enough" but how would it compare to my current internal ssd? And how fast are PCIe cards?
 
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AFAIK, only the Mac Pro models can use certain PCIe cards.

Maybe have a look here:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=PCIe+cards+and+Mac+models&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
I was referring to using the PCIe cards in an external enclosure as an external drive. Would that restriction apply in that case? I assumed that all external memory was just that - external - and that any enclosure would contain the firmware needed to connect the device to the computer. Is that not correct?
 

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Hey Mike. Before you get too deep into this idea/project...check prices first. You're talking a pretty expensive project. Relative to a standard external "spinner" HD.:)

Maybe give us an idea of your maximum budget...to make sure we're in the right ballpark.

- Nick
 
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I was referring to using the PCIe cards in an external enclosure as an external drive. Would that restriction apply in that case? I assumed that all external memory was just that - external - and that any enclosure would contain the firmware needed to connect the device to the computer. Is that not correct?



I don't know, but as Nick says, you're looking at some pretty expensive options which are beyond some Pro's financial restrictions.

Have a look here:
https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/best-mac-hard-drives-3594425/




- Patrick
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Hey Mike. Before you get too deep into this idea/project...check prices first. You're talking a pretty expensive project. Relative to a standard external "spinner" HD.:)

Maybe give us an idea of your maximum budget...to make sure we're in the right ballpark.
There are a couple of things going on here, so it is a bit difficult to put a top budget unless the different choices are specified.

1) A larger external drive

In this case all that would be needed is a fast connection and a fast ssd. My current setup, a Samsung 500GB ssd in a usb 3 UASP compatible enclosure, works well enough but a larger ssd would be nice and I find that repeated speed tests with BlackMagic shows transfer speeds dropping noticeably over time from about 250MB/s to less than 100 MB/s. Budget for an updated version is probably around $200.

2) A larger internal drive or boot drive

I see two choices here.

First, I could actually upgrade the internal ssd in the Mini from 256GB to 512GB, but I do not know what kind of ssd is currently inside the Mini, nor what options I might have for an internal upgrade. That is, is the internal ssd a regular SATA type ssd? Or a PCIe card? And is the internal hardware capable of accepting either? And what are the speed consequences of each choice?

I assume the budget for this would be on the order of $500-$600, including the labor and new ssd.

Second, I could get the fastest external drive and use it as a boot drive, completely replacing the internal ssd. This would seem to require a Thunderbolt 2 enclosure along with PCIe cards, and the budget would be about $600-$700. I have looked at the prices and simple TB enclosures are expensive, but seem to cost in the $300-$400 range. SATA memory costs less than $200 but I do not know the cost of faster memory and I do not see the sense in putting a SATA disc with an access speed of 500MB/s in a TB2 enclosure capable of much higher speeds, so I do not know how much this would cost. Perhaps the cost would not fit within the budget.

3) A new Mini (or Pro)

The Mini specs are the same now as when I bought my Mini almost 3 years ago, but I would not want to replace this machine with its dual core i7 chip with another Mini with the same specs. I might do that if Apple upgraded the specs, but after 4 years (this is a Late 2014 model) I do not see that happening anytime soon.

The Pro would be a good update, and a lot faster, but the cost is in the $3000+ range and I can not justify such an expense for the work that I do with my Mini, which is mostly family photo editing, writing of relatively small home-use apps with Xcode and browsing.

I thought about using a MBP as a desktop computer hooked up to my current BenQ monitor, but I do not know how well that would work. Given my eye sensitivity I can not get one of the new iMacs. Given the limited choices for a new computer, and the costs, probably means that this is not a viable path and I al left with the first two choices.
 
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I don't know, but as Nick says, you're looking at some pretty expensive options which are beyond some Pro's financial restrictions.

Have a look here:
https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/best-mac-hard-drives-3594425/
I stopped using spinners some time ago when I realized that an ssd was much, much faster and when the cost had dropped back into the realm of reality, so I would not want to go back to a physical platter drive. However SATA ssds seem limited to about 500MB/s write speeds and are even lower when used with usb 3 enclosures.

A couple of things puzzle me about all of this. My experience with TB drives is that usb 3 is actually faster, so I have been reluctant to spend the extra money for the TB drives. Perhaps TB2 is better, but I can't seem to find them anywhere locally or online, do so I do not know. When I do a search on Amazon for TB2 ssd what I get is a load of usb 3 ssds and, on top of everything else, even my fast UASP compatible ssd enclosures with SATA ssds inside show constant dropping of transfer speeds as I let the BlackMagic app run a series of tests. The results start out at relatively high speeds (420 MB/s read, 300MB/s write) but then drop down to less than 150MB/s read and less than 100MB/s write, so I am not sure that I am even getting reasonably fast access over time.

The cost of ssds, either pre-configured as enclosures or bought and then placed in enclosures, is not high but I think that really fast access ssds, if they are available at all, are probably very expensive.
 
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but I do not know what kind of ssd is currently inside the Mini, nor what options I might have for an internal upgrade.


Using System Info (about this Mac) will tell you or at least give you some idea, and for various upgrades, check out your Mac model(s) at everymac.com and thy supply various upgrade options if available.




- Patrick
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Using System Info (about this Mac) will tell you or at least give you some idea, and for various upgrades, check out your Mac model(s) at everymac.com and thy supply various upgrade options if available.
Ah. I had not thought to do that. Interesting.

I guess the current ssd is PCI. Thanks for mentioning that.
 

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I assume the budget for this would be on the order of $500-$600, including the labor and new ssd.

Good deal Mike. If you were expecting a price tag in that area...then no surprises for you. Sounds like you're well of the costs involved.

If you hadn't been so well informed...didn't want you to think this could be done for under $150 for example.:)

- Nick
 
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You can also go to Crucial.com and run their scan tool, it will list your upgradeable options.
 
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You can also go to Crucial.com and run their scan tool, it will list your upgradeable options.


Also, if you got the mini with the 256GB SSD installed, it is more than likely, the PCIe blade type drive installed.
 
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Just my luck.

I contacted the local BestBuy to see if they could upgrade the ssd in my Mini. The Geek Squad guy told me he knew how, and that he had done that sort of thing before, but they are now a Certified Apple Repair Shop and Apple will not let them do it. Figures.
 

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Give the DIY method a shot Mike...you can do it.:)

Spent $10-$15 on some tools...follow the ifixit.com procedure...take your time...and in the end when the upgrade is done you will feel great & much more confident in your computer upgrading skills.

AND...you still have the tools to do other electronic fixes with....AND you will have saved a decent amount of $$$ that you can put towards your external drive project.:)

- Nick
 
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Just my luck.

I contacted the local BestBuy to see if they could upgrade the ssd in my Mini. The Geek Squad guy told me he knew how, and that he had done that sort of thing before, but they are now a Certified Apple Repair Shop and Apple will not let them do it. Figures.



Phew!!! Aren't you lucky that Apple changed the rules if the BB Geek Squad there is anything close to what they are locally as to working on any Mac.




- Patrick
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:D

So, if I do this, where do I send the extra parts? There are always "extra parts" when I finish repairing something ...
 

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