Storage iMac - NvME drive?

[BillN_33]

I have an iMac with the i7 3.8Ghz 8 core and 1TB SSD and 64GB DDR4 of memory

My LR Catalog is now approaching 750 GB of images

I read about using an external NvME drive (inside a holder)

My question is, I believe that the 2 Thunderbolt/USB4 connections on the iMac run at "up to 40Gb/s,"(is that 5 GB's per second?) - IF I put my Catalog on an External NvME drive will it be slower in editing etc., in LR than the internal SSD drive that's used at the moment. - to date I have split may Catalog between two iMacs - (I also have a late 2014 Retina 5K with 1TB of storage)

If it's OK to put my Catalog on an external NvME drive can someone recommend which I should get

I may be talking a load of rubbish as I really do not have much idea about all this stuff

(and presumably if I do get an External NvME set up, I will need 2 of such so that I can back up my Catalog or I can use a normal external 2TB drive?)

 

[Brentor]

I always thought best practice was to keep the catalog on the internal drive and all the image files on the external drive. This is what I do. Perhaps check Lightroom Queen for the lastest advice.

 

[steve_lyt]

The external NvME drive will only run at the max speed of the connection to the mac, either thunderbolts or usb, so yes it may slow down access to the catalogue , but unless its time critical , it wont really matter, i also keep images on an external drive on my pc, and the catalogue on the pc, same as i would do on a mac

 

[BillN_33]

I always thought best practice was to keep the catalog on the internal drive and all the image files on the external drive. This is what I do. Perhaps check Lightroom Queen for the lastest advice.

The external NvME drive will only run at the max speed of the connection to the mac, either thunderbolts or usb, so yes it may slow down access to the catalogue , but unless its time critical , it wont really matter, i also keep images on an external drive on my pc, and the catalogue on the pc, same as i would do on a mac

Thanks guys - how do I keep my images on an external drive and the Catalog on my computer? - all I have ever done is to import images when LR is open and then they remain on my internal (computer) SSD

 

[Brentor]

Make sure you move the images using Lightroom. Scott Kelby’s video how. Move images

 

[GeeJay57]

Thanks guys - how do I keep my images on an external drive and the Catalog on my computer? - all I have ever done is to import images when LR is open and then they remain on my internal (computer) SSD

The way I’ve done this before is:
- copy the pictures directory (including all of the file sub directory structure and image files) to the new drive.
- rename the pictures folder on your internal drive to something like ‘original pictures’
- now open Lightroom
- the Library section will show the pictures folder greyed out with a ?
- right click, select ‘Find Missing Folder’ and click on the pictures folder on your new external drive
- Lightroom will now update the catalogue to point at the new drive.

- when you’re happy all are present and correct in Lightroom, you can then using the OS (I usually make a backup first) delete the ‘original pictures’ folder.

 

[the_accidental]

I’m don’t think they made a USB4 intel iMac so before you get an external drive that doesn’t work- which exact iMac do you have? “About this Mac” or system info will tell you, you’re looking for a model number.

 

[Delphin]

I'm pretty sure that's correct, the Intel iMac only have Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1
Also even though it's the same socket, thunderbolt runs at four times the speed of USB, which mean to get that 40 Gbps | 5 GB/s you'll have to buy a more expensive thunderbolt enclosure for the NVMe

 

[Musicman]

I'm pretty sure that's correct, the Intel iMac only have Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1
Also even though it's the same socket, thunderbolt runs at least twice the speed of USB, which mean to get that 40 Gbps | 5 GB/s you'll have to buy a more expensive thunderbolt enclosure for the NVMe

This. USB on those iMacs maxes out at 10 Gbps

That said, my experience is that, for RAW processing at least, the speed of the drive where you store the original files doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to performance. If you’re often making round trips into PS when you are opening and saving TIFF files, then that may be less true.

 

[Stephen L]

I always thought best practice was to keep the catalog on the internal drive and all the image files on the external drive. This is what I do. Perhaps check Lightroom Queen for the lastest advice.

 

[BillN_33]

I’m don’t think they made a USB4 intel iMac so before you get an external drive that doesn’t work- which exact iMac do you have? “About this Mac” or system info will tell you, you’re looking for a model number.

"I have an iMac with the i7 3.8Ghz 8 core and 1TB SSD and 64GB DDR4 of memory" - see my first post

In the info the 2 ports are described as "2 Thunderbolt/USB4"

 

[the_accidental]

"I have an iMac with the i7 3.8Ghz 8 core and 1TB SSD and 64GB DDR4 of memory" - see my first post

I don't think that narrows it down enough. Look for the Model Identifier or model number in system information. E.g. I'm typing this on a MacBookPro18,1 MK1F3B/A.

 

[BillN_33]

I don't think that narrows it down enough. Look for the Model Identifier or model number in system information. E.g. I'm typing this on a MacBookPro18,1 MK1F3B/A.

Model identifier is iMac20.2

2020 Retina 5K 27 inch

 

[the_accidental]

Ok so you have Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 3.1 Gen2 (up to 10Gb/s).

For an SSD you're best with a TB3 enclosure, as it's native PCIe and also faster. That said, as above, 10Gb/s should be fast enough for a Lightroom catalogue.

If it was me I'd get a TB3 enclosure though. Note not all M.2 enclosures do NVMe drives, some are SATA only.

 

[Brentor]

I have 2 Acasis (up to 40Gbs) with Western Digital NVMe SSDs. These work fine on my Mac Mini M2 Pro. I did try some cheaper enclosures but I ended up returning them as some were not recognised by the Mac at all and others were temperamental.

​

 

[BillN_33]

Thanks guys for all your comments

 

[GeeJay57]

Thanks guys for all your comments

You’re welcome.
BTW - When copying your pictures folder, there is no need to copy the Lightroom folder(s) to the new drive.