256GB or 512GB SSD

[v.i.p.e.r]

Hi,

I'm just a few thoughts before ordering my new iMac. If just not completely sure with the internal SSD.
Im planning to USE MacOS an Windows10 with Bootcamp. What would you prefer?

Option 1:
256GB SSD + external 250GB Samsung EVO in USB3.0 UASP Case (Mac OS internal / Windows external)

Option 2
512GB SSD (Windows and MacOS)

I've a big NAS for all my Data and Backups.
My thoughts are also on a good sell price in a couple of years.
Depending on my discount and 70€ + 30€ for SSD and case the upgrade will be around 100 bucks ...

best
Tim

 

[ucfgrad93]

I'd go with the 512.

 

[Sirmausalot]

512GB without question. You can always add something external later and it will be even less expensive.

Hi,

I'm just a few thoughts before ordering my new iMac. If just not completely sure with the internal SSD.
Im planning to USE MacOS an Windows10 with Bootcamp. What would you prefer?

Option 1:
256GB SSD + external 250GB Samsung EVO in USB3.0 UASP Case (Mac OS internal / Windows external)

Option 2
512GB SSD (Windows and MacOS)

I've a big NAS for all my Data and Backups.
My thoughts are also on a good sell price in a couple of years.
Depending on my discount and 70€ + 30€ for SSD and case the upgrade will be around 100 bucks ...

best
Tim

512GB without question. You can always add something external later and it will be even less expensive.

Hi,

I'm just a few thoughts before ordering my new iMac. If just not completely sure with the internal SSD.
Im planning to USE MacOS an Windows10 with Bootcamp. What would you prefer?

Option 1:
256GB SSD + external 250GB Samsung EVO in USB3.0 UASP Case (Mac OS internal / Windows external)

Option 2
512GB SSD (Windows and MacOS)

I've a big NAS for all my Data and Backups.
My thoughts are also on a good sell price in a couple of years.
Depending on my discount and 70€ + 30€ for SSD and case the upgrade will be around 100 bucks ...

best
Tim

 

[ScorpionT16]

i got the 256 GB option, and added a 500GB Samsung EVO external SSD.

I Had a 256 GB SSD in my laptop (my only comp for 6 years before getting the new 5K) and I managed well. I have windows 10 on the iMac now (90GB dedicated partition), all the programs I need on OS X, and still have 130GB Free space. I'm a less is more kinda fellow and love to be frugal And I do have a decent amount of programs, I do design, photography, and architecture.

less space really makes you think, what you save, how you save, where you save, when you back-up etc, at least in my case. 512 GB would have been nice to future proof, but I couldn't afford the jump in price and got an i7 instead. To go from 256>512 was coming close to $400 CDN in my config, I got the samsung evo for $200, and now have 756GB of SSD space for half of apples price, plus an external back-up.

 

[jgo78]

i have 512 internal and 512 evo external. I keep all my steam games on the external ssd and works great. (usb3)

 

[Icaras]

512 all the way.

 

[Cape Dave]

I chose the 512. At the time, it guaranteed a Samsung SSD which was faster than the other brand. and I think better too. This gives me wiggle room. A good thing to have on an SSD for sure.

 

[maflynn]

I see no reason why you would want the 256 is you're contemplating the 512, and you already have a NAS for your external storage.

 

[Chippy99]

I see no reason why you would want the 256 is you're contemplating the 512, and you already have a NAS for your external storage.

I see no reason why you would want the 512 if you have external storage.

Yes, bigger is always better if it's free, but it isn't free. 256 is plenty big enough for all your apps and a bunch of scratch files or movies or whatever. And 512 is not big enough to store all of your content anyway, and likely neither is 1TB. So the bottom line is you need external storage or at least disk based storage of some kind, whatever SSD you go with.

I've been using my iMac daily for the past 2 years doing everything from video editing, movie encoding, running windows in a VM, linux in a VM, LOTS of photo editing and generally surfing, games and what not. I have a 256GB SSD and still have 140GB free. There'd be a whole lot more free if I moved the VM's off onto disk.


So I don't really see the point of internal SSD's bigger than 256. What advantage does 512 offer exactly? How would having 396GB of free space on my SSD be better than having my 146GB spare?

 

[lympero]

Macos and Windows. Smells like 1tb to me

 

[maflynn]

I see no reason why you would want the 512 if you have external storage.

Its faster, and there's something to be said for keeping your data organized on one volume. Plus if you get the 512GB, it might negate the need of an external drive completely, which simplifies the whole setup

 

[v.i.p.e.r]

Thanks for thr replies - very different opinions

Is the 512 version really faster?
How much?

 

[ScorpionT16]

Thanks for thr replies - very different opinions

Is the 512 version really faster?
How much?

Only marginally, the bigger the SSD storage, general the faster. PCIe Flash is already so quick, in real life, you can't really tell. Also, it's a good rule of thumb to leave at-least 20% free space on a drive for optimum performance.

Therefore, the bigger the drive, the more space left unused. with a 256GB, atleast 40-50GB free, with a 512, atleast 80-100GB free. I had a 256GB (non-PCIe and 2.5") in my old laptop, and when I had less than 30GB free space, i noticed a significant performance decrease, also my laptop was 6 years old

 

[Cape Dave]

I see no reason why you would want the 512 if you have external storage.

Yes, bigger is always better if it's free, but it isn't free. 256 is plenty big enough for all your apps and a bunch of scratch files or movies or whatever. And 512 is not big enough to store all of your content anyway, and likely neither is 1TB. So the bottom line is you need external storage or at least disk based storage of some kind, whatever SSD you go with.

I've been using my iMac daily for the past 2 years doing everything from video editing, movie encoding, running windows in a VM, linux in a VM, LOTS of photo editing and generally surfing, games and what not. I have a 256GB SSD and still have 140GB free. There'd be a whole lot more free if I moved the VM's off onto disk.


So I don't really see the point of internal SSD's bigger than 256. What advantage does 512 offer exactly? How would having 396GB of free space on my SSD be better than having my 146GB spare?

Nothing sucks like having to worry about whether one has enough room on their main drive. And situations change. So, each person will be different with the numbers, but I know of no one on this board who ever regretted getting the 512.

It does, to a degree, depend on each persons use. Not storage of music/video files at all? Sure, 256 will get you by. Until...

 

[makrom]

I would totally favor a T1 over an EVO 850. It can just hang on the backside of your iMac (or any other USB port for that matter), like a small dongle.
If I were to get an SSD only iMac and am planning to use it in combination with an exernal SSD anyway, I would just get the 256GB and an external 1TB. 256GB internal will be more than enough as long as you are able to easily relocate things to the eSSD. You can install applications or even the OS on it.
The only real upside of internal storage is that it's faster. Applications will start faster, but only just. The only way you'll be able to really reap the benefits is by using very fast external storage over TB2, like an SSD RAID 0.
The decrease in resale value will be less than the upgrade cost and you can easily put your eSSD to good use beyod your iMac.

 

[alias99]

What are the read / write speeds of the 2015 256gb ssd? Just ordered an iMac with it.

 

[zhaoxin]

Comparing to your options, 256G+256G VS 512G. I think 512G is better. As the amount of money is near. Then the inside 512G is more valuable as you can not change it yourself.

 

[Max(IT)]

Good luck in installing MacOS on a 2015 iMac ..... what Windows will you install ? Windows 3.11 ?