Best value & performance SSD

NeilA1975

NeilA1975

Suspended / Banned
Messages
5,026
Name
Neil
Edit My Images
No
After purchasing an iMac I've decided to make a couple of immediate upgrades.
First is the memory, from 8gb already installed to 24gb.
Second I'm going to go with an internal SSD but use it externally as boot drive, via the USB port. This will be out of sight and attached to the rear of the Mac in order to prevent disconnection. I'll also make a clone of the SSD on the already installed internal hard drive in case there are any issues with the SSD.
Size wise I'm probably going to go for 240gb. This should cover all of my needs as far as the OS and software is concerned. Images, videos and music will be stored on the internal drive via a partition.
Since there are so many SSD's out there of varying prices, any suggestions on what make I should be having a serious look at? Cost is an issue so I need to bear this in mind too.

Thanks
Neil
 
Thanks guys.
Yep, been looking at these....question, do I need a UASP connection to make it work correctly speed wise?

Thanks
Neil
 
Samsung or Kingston are the best, but never had trouble with crucial.
 
I have used OCZ, SanDisk and Kingston with no problems.
I think that there is a lot of hype with SSD technology, just as there was with spinning platters so I will buy whatever is the cheapest £/Gb on offer at a particular time.
For Apple, however, I would take note of customer reviews as some SSD's don't like to play nicely with Macs.
 
Samsung SSD in my Macbook Pro really flies along, brings a 5 year old machine into the modern age :)

get one from a reputable place though, not from the Bay of Evil or amazon Marketplace.
 
I always use Novatech.

Great customer service if you need it and knowledgeable salesmen who really know their stuff.
 
WOAH !!

SSD via the USB Port?

Why ? That will kill its performance, the transfer rate of USB is pathetic compared to the SSD performance.
 
Started with Samsung 830 for main pc, then added Corsair Force 3 to run all softwares. Crucial M500 added to my laptop. So all drives works great, but samsung runs fastest (hdtune, crystal disk... but again i did those tests long time ago)

And now awaiting delivery for Samsung 850 EVO from Ebuyer (as they had none in stock for 3 days) for ageing imac 27" i7 (2010 I think). This should arrive tomorrow or saturday :)

I would advice add SSD to addition to normal HDD inside your imac.
 
htid said:
SSDs are about 530mb/s (or similar) right? USB C is 10gb/s...is it as simple as that? If so youll have no problem :D
Click to expand...


complete s***e
 
at absolute best 200mbp/s

sata 3 is 600 mb/s
 
htid said:
Chill out mate I did ask it as a question rather than making a statement. No need to speak like that, just tell me I'm wrong rather than being a idiot.
Click to expand...

do your research then.
 
Mr Bump said:
do your research then.
Click to expand...

I actually did and not counting my mistaking his 3.0 for 3.1, I can't see what I've said wrong. Just because I can't quite understand the technicalities of it and asked if it really is that simple doesn't mean you have to respond like that.
 
A warning has been given for this post
Mod edit: uncalled for
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I merely asked a question based on what I'd read, I don't understand why you had to get so defensive and insulting but whatever.
 
htid said:
I merely asked a question based on what I'd read, I don't understand why you had to get so defensive and insulting but whatever.
Click to expand...

your poor and unqualified advice might have involved this chap spending 100's of pounds on rubbish will you offer a refund?
 
Mr Bump said:
your poor and unqualified advice might have involved this chap spending 100's of pounds on rubbish will you offer a refund?
Click to expand...

No need for such comments, IMHO.
The question posed was to which SSD gi ws the best performance / value, not whether or not I should embark on this exercise which, after quite a bit of research, I'm determined to do.
FWIW, the setup I'll be using will give vastly superior results, speed wise, over the standard HDD I currently have without the need to open the Mac up, which for me is a huge mission on this slimilne version.

The parts I've orders are;

Inateck 2.5 inch, USB 3.0 HD enclosure with UASP SATA 3 support
Samsung 250gb EVO 850 SSD
Plus a further 16gb RAM for photo and video editing.

I'll be more than happy to post the results when up and running, but from what I've seen from numerous tests by different people with this combo, the speeds should trump the ones you posted in your link......let's wait and see.
 
Mr Bump said:
what a load of b*****ks

USB3 is better but its still complete s*** compared to direct sata3 bus
Click to expand...

jeez do you always have to have such an attitude?

anyway, the brief from the other thread was to run an SSD as a boot drive externally. personally I don't think that is a good idea, however with the cost of TB drives/enclosures USB3 would be the next best alternative if the OP REALLY wants an external boot. theoretically USB3 is max 5 Gbit/s, sata3 is 6 Gbit/s. id agree that with cpu/bus overheads etc yadda yadda it's not going to be as good.

still with the cost of usb3 enclosures (think my startech UASP was sub £20) there isn't harm in trying. worst case the OP has to splash out on a TB enclosure or take the iMac apart and fit the SSD internally.
 
I was considering doing the same and booting by USB - I eventually replaced the HDD with a 1 Tb Samsung SSD. Personally I would get it done professionally ( it cost me £100) But my 2011 i5 Imac flies now has no fan issues and has probably future proofed itself for another couple of years. There is a teardown on youtube but I referred getting it done by someone who's done it before as the IMac screen is not cheap to replace
 
Last edited:
asaspasas6 said:
Started with Samsung 830 for main pc, then added Corsair Force 3 to run all softwares. Crucial M500 added to my laptop. So all drives works great, but samsung runs fastest (hdtune, crystal disk... but again i did those tests long time ago)

And now awaiting delivery for Samsung 850 EVO from Ebuyer (as they had none in stock for 3 days) for ageing imac 27" i7 (2010 I think). This should arrive tomorrow or saturday :)

I would advice add SSD to addition to normal HDD inside your imac.
Click to expand...


Just added new Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD to iMac... and it's way better now :)
 
Daily deal on a SanDisk 960Gb SSD today..
 
Neil, don't know what NLE you are using but my experience anything that can speed up data transfer for video is a good thing. Would like to know how you get on as I'm looking to go down the SSD storage route and debating USB3 or TB . May need to opt for the expensive TB as I may be opting to go 4K soon and those files are big.
 
I downloaded Softraid for my mac. It warns me every time i turn on my mac that my internal HD has a high chance of failure. I've been considering an SSD for some time now anyway..this has just sped things up for me.

I asked in a shop about Sandisk and was highly recommended Samsung. It'll be either of those for me. I'll be going for a 960 with 550/600 up/down speeds.
 
Chappers said:
Neil, don't know what NLE you are using but my experience anything that can speed up data transfer for video is a good thing. Would like to know how you get on as I'm looking to go down the SSD storage route and debating USB3 or TB . May need to opt for the expensive TB as I may be opting to go 4K soon and those files are big.
Click to expand...

I don't believe TB has any speed advantages over USB 3.0 with a UASP enabled enclosure and SSD drive.
I can expect somewhere in the region of 250-300 MB/s write and 400+ MB/s read so considerably faster than my internal HDD.
Heres a vid. that illustrates. Fast forward to 17 mins.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVAp_tUceXs&nohtml5=False
 
Thanks Neil. 400+MB/s read is OK by me. probably 3+ times faster that I'm getting at the moment. Give it a year and I'll be thinking that's slow:)
 
OK, been waiting a few days for the Inateck enclosure to arrive and it finally got here about an hour ago.
Took all of about 20 mins from formatting the SSD and cloning the already installed HDD using Carbon Copy Cloner.
Drive is now set up as my main boot drive, speeds are as follows.

Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 13.00.18 by Neil Almond, on Flickr

Write speeds are better than i thought, read speeds are exactly where it was expected. I know its slightly slower than if I had installed it internally, but the hassle and cost made this the much more obvious and attractive option, for less than a £100 too - no complaints and system boot up and programme loading times are insanely quick.

A good result.
 
Ordered a T1 Samsung Portable SSD from Scan computers as it was slightly cheaper than SSD + Enclosure

Via USB3 it clocked 384 write and 429 read.

Impressed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top