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analogarsonist

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2010
7
1
Hi everyone,

First off I acknowledge that there are a ton of threads on this topic, and I’ve spent many hours digging through posts and review sites and still confused. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I just bought a new M1 Mac Mini with 8gb memory and 256mb internal ssd storage, with the plan to purchase external ssd storage.

I want to buy a 2tb ssd, and I’m planning to use external storage for my 500mb photo library and video editing.

it doesn’t need to be lightweight or portable, it won’t move from my desk. I have young kids so it would be nice for it to be somewhat sturdy. I’m thinking I’d like to get the fastest speed available in the hopes that this solution will last for years. I’d also prefer a cooler quieter option, since space or portability is not an issue.

thinking that the Samsung x5 may not make sense since I don’t need portability. I’m leaning towards buying an NVME S.2 internal SSD (like Samsung evo pro) with a thunderbolt 3 enclosure, but I’m starting to get a bit lost as I read through reviews (fledgling, orico, sabrent, etc) and most of those still seem to cater towards portability, and it seems like they’re slower than the x5 option?

Any advice from others in a similar situation?

thanks in advance!!
Alan
 

Honza1

macrumors 6502a
Nov 30, 2013
940
441
US
I was solving similar issue few months ago and settled down on generic enclosure with SATA NVME drive, one of the old ones which can do only ~500MB/sec. Enclosure and drive were cheaper and drive is running much colder than proper NVME drive which can go ~2.5x faster (1250MB/sec, that one is cooking all the time).
Data storage - photos, movies, large data files - need more space and reliability than speed. There are very few sources/targets which can achieve larger speeds than 100-200MB/sec. NAS with ethernet? Typically 100MB/sec unless you have expensive hardware. Internet via Ethernet or wifi? 100MB/sec max. Hard drive in enclosure? 130MB/sec. With exceptions, no way we can get large amount of data moved much faster, except the main SSD or may be other external SSD. Unless you are going to work with pictures/movies directly on that drive, it is waste of money to get fastest external drive with this purpose. And, realistically, in real life even if you work with pictures on that drive directly, you will not be drive speed limited. The difference between 500 and 1500 MB/sec in real life - for data - is small.
 

analogarsonist

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2010
7
1
Thanks Honza1! I bought an 8TB WD Mybook last year, tried to use it for my photo library with the Mac mini, and it was really noisy 24 hrs a day. Eventually the Mac photos app started crashing. The Mac photos app seems to be really heavy for background read/write image processing. Do you use your drive for the Mac photo library? Any issues?

thanks!
Alan
 

macjunkie2013

macrumors member
Jun 9, 2013
87
77
You Ess Eh
Going with a TB3 option is the right choice.

As far as I can tell there is no difference in performance between various TB3 NVME enclosures. The difference in performance seems to be only related to the actual NVME drive installed.

I am pretty happy w the Samsung 980 Pro 2TB in a TB3 enclosure. Aside from its top speed it also runs comparatively cool. I have a 16GB/256MB Mini M1, so boot from the TB3 drive. I am getting an average of ~ 2600MB/sec RW

IMHO it seems natural to boot the Mac Mini from a TB3 drive, it needs a plugged keyboard, mouse, and monitor anyway!
 

Honza1

macrumors 6502a
Nov 30, 2013
940
441
US
Thanks Honza1! I bought an 8TB WD Mybook last year, tried to use it for my photo library with the Mac mini, and it was really noisy 24 hrs a day. Eventually the Mac photos app started crashing. The Mac photos app seems to be really heavy for background read/write image processing. Do you use your drive for the Mac photo library? Any issues?

thanks!
Alan
Yes, but do not have large enough Photos library to care and have issues. In my case I have 150-300GB of movies on my external drive + some large documents.
One observation - not every external enclosure seems to wake up properly, I have some which seem to disconnect once in a while. I was not able to observe any specific pattern. But can be VERY annoying as programs really do not like when their library/document disappears. Reliability is more important then speed for me.
 

HDFan

Contributor
Jun 30, 2007
7,257
3,313
Although you don't want a portable solution, MaxTech recommends the Sabrent Rocket:


I have had no problems with my OWC 2 TB Envoy Pro EX. OWC has a number of solutions, including just an enclosure (but it is slow).

 
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analogarsonist

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2010
7
1
Thanks everyone!

leaning towards a portable tb3 ssd instead of an enclosure + ssd. Seems like you get better quality / performance when it’s designed as a single unit.

HDFan - I’m not familiar with maxtech, are they a pretty authoritative source? I’ve definitely seen the sabrent rocket xtrm-q portable tb3 ssd discussed in forums. I read a Tom’s hardware article that compared it with the x5 - seems like the x5 outperforms the rocket, but sabrent has more competitive pricing?

rambo47 - yeah that LaCie rugged ssd seems like a great option, just feels like a waste to purchase a rugged option when it won’t leave my desk?
 
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TheRealAlex

macrumors 68030
Sep 2, 2015
2,980
2,248
Thanks everyone!

leaning towards a portable tb3 ssd instead of an enclosure + ssd. Seems like you get better quality / performance when it’s designed as a single unit.

HDFan - I’m not familiar with maxtech, are they a pretty authoritative source? I’ve definitely seen the sabrent rocket xtrm-q portable tb3 ssd discussed in forums. I read a Tom’s hardware article that compared it with the x5 - seems like the x5 outperforms the rocket, but sabrent has more competitive pricing?

rambo47 - yeah that LaCie rugged ssd seems like a great option, just feels like a waste to purchase a rugged option when it won’t leave my desk?
Good choice prices of 40Gbps enclosures + the actual NVME drive are crazy high.

I grabbed a 1TB for $199 on sale for my M1 Mac Mini

Sabrent Rocket XTRM 1TB Thunderbolt 3 External SSD (Up to 2400MBs/2400MBs R/W) (SB-XTRM-1TB)​


and a new on sale Sandisk Extreme for $159 on sale. It’s the new 1050MB/ sec version

SDSSDE61-1T00-G25​


the Sabret Rocket will stay plugged in always as the main hard drive and the Sandisk is smaller than my car key fob and is for portability

$615 MacMini M1 + $360 in Thunderbolt 3 portable drives.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,175
13,223
ALL external SSDs are going to be "on the small side" (like the X5).
It is what it is. If you don't want the kids fooling with it, velcro it to the desk.

If you want "the fastest", the X5 is the way to go. They can get pretty warm, however -- as in, "hot". I've heard that the speed can "throttle back" under extended write loads due to overheating.

If you could be satisfied with "a little less", then consider a USB3.1 gen2 drive. Samsung offers one called the t7.
Or, buy a "bare" nvme blade drive, and put it into the USB3.1 gen2 enclosure of your choice.
 
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doboy

macrumors 68040
Jul 6, 2007
3,774
2,945
Good choice prices of 40Gbps enclosures + the actual NVME drive are crazy high.

I grabbed a 1TB for $199 on sale for my M1 Mac Mini

Sabrent Rocket XTRM 1TB Thunderbolt 3 External SSD (Up to 2400MBs/2400MBs R/W) (SB-XTRM-1TB)​

FYI, this drive contains a QLC NAND. They also make the one with a TLC, but at a higher cost. Most should be fine with a QLC NAND.
 
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HDFan

Contributor
Jun 30, 2007
7,257
3,313
HDFan - I’m not familiar with maxtech, are they a pretty authoritative source?

Max Tech is a YouTube Mac channel. May not have the insider access that Gurman, Kuo and and others have, but is able to make fairly accurate predictions using public sources. Does detailed technical reviews and comparisons. No BS.


 

rambo47

macrumors 65816
Oct 3, 2010
1,360
983
Denville, NJ
Thanks everyone!

leaning towards a portable tb3 ssd instead of an enclosure + ssd. Seems like you get better quality / performance when it’s designed as a single unit.

HDFan - I’m not familiar with maxtech, are they a pretty authoritative source? I’ve definitely seen the sabrent rocket xtrm-q portable tb3 ssd discussed in forums. I read a Tom’s hardware article that compared it with the x5 - seems like the x5 outperforms the rocket, but sabrent has more competitive pricing?

rambo47 - yeah that LaCie rugged ssd seems like a great option, just feels like a waste to purchase a rugged option when it won’t leave my desk?
It might not leave your desk *intentionally* but it may indeed leave your desk at some point. Gravity is a b!tch. :)
 

Rock Star

macrumors newbie
May 5, 2021
25
15
I am pretty happy w the Samsung 980 Pro 2TB in a TB3 enclosure. Aside from its top speed it also runs comparatively cool. I have a 16GB/256MB Mini M1, so boot from the TB3 drive. I am getting an average of ~ 2600MB/sec RW
Would you be willing to post a screenshot of AmorphousDiskMark for your Samsung 980 Pro 2TB in a TB3 enclosure combo ?
I'm especially interested in the RND4K QD1 speeds (MB/s and IOPS) of your combo.
 

macjunkie2013

macrumors member
Jun 9, 2013
87
77
You Ess Eh
A bit of searching will reveal I already had...

 

theunk

macrumors member
May 15, 2021
56
18
I have an OWC dual drive dock https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/external-drives/owc-drive-dock which holds two drives. It connects via TB 3. It replaced two OWC FW800/USB 3 docks, which still work very well, just recovering deskspace. I have a Samsung 1 TB SSD and a collection of newer mechanical hard drives. Good price, good performance and flexibility. I went low on my 2018 mini selecting the 128gb ssd main drive. I need the external capacity. You forget about how smooth SSD’s are until the HDD spins up. It is not kid proof but then that is not a hardware issue.😜 I am relying on the good folks at Apple to keep my photos safe. Too many friends have lost their collections because of local drive failures.
 

Rock Star

macrumors newbie
May 5, 2021
25
15
A bit of searching will reveal I already had...

True. But no RND4K QD1 IOPS results though. Thanks for linking to that page.
BTW, it's funny that the RND4K QD1 MB/s results of your external enclosure are better than those of Apple's internal drive. Tiny files (for coding, OS) will (theoratically) load faster from the external SSD, than from the internal SSD.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,572
12,919
And, realistically, in real life even if you work with pictures on that drive directly, you will not be drive speed limited. The difference between 500 and 1500 MB/sec in real life - for data - is small.
I was using a plain old cheap USB 3 hard drive for my media until recently and it was totally fine. Fast enough to load up a video or music and play it. The only time it was annoying was when I was first copying 1TB of files onto it, but that's really a one-time thing.

SSD prices have come down a ton since then so I've stepped it up, but like you say that extra speed isn't always actually needed.
 

vel0city

macrumors 6502
Dec 23, 2017
347
510
I was using a plain old cheap USB 3 hard drive for my media until recently and it was totally fine. Fast enough to load up a video or music and play it. The only time it was annoying was when I was first copying 1TB of files onto it, but that's really a one-time thing.

SSD prices have come down a ton since then so I've stepped it up, but like you say that extra speed isn't always actually needed.

It's more about the silent operation than the speed for me. I keep all my assets (stock images, textures, 3D models etc) on external drives and as you said the loading speed from a USB 3 drive is fine, it's just the drive noise that can be annoying. SSDs are a great upgrade in that respect but definitely not a cheap option.
 

MacorNothing

macrumors regular
Apr 6, 2021
163
1,006
South France
Hello I have Samsung X5 SSD connecting TB3. Look this picture, judge for yourself if this small size is better for children ?
IMG_3187.JPG
IMG_3188.JPG
 
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ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,572
12,919
It's more about the silent operation than the speed for me. I keep all my assets (stock images, textures, 3D models etc) on external drives and as you said the loading speed from a USB 3 drive is fine, it's just the drive noise that can be annoying. SSDs are a great upgrade in that respect but definitely not a cheap option.
I know what you mean. I was using a big chonker of a desktop USB drive for Time Machine backups and it was driving me nuts every time it would spin up. I found a 4TB portable USB drive and that took care of the noise problem for me. It's probably slower, but for backup it doesn't much matter. I did switch to 1 TB SSD for my media stuff, but SSDs of that size are more affordable these days.
 
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