I'm looking for some options for a fast 2TB SSD drive that I can hook up to the USB-C / Thunderbolt port on a 2020 iMac.
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Fast 2TB External SSD options for 2020 iMac - USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3 - Any Suggestions?
- Thread starter nigel415674
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Samsung T7. Its what I’m using. It is ridiculously fast.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...p/B0874YHTXW&usg=AOvVaw2KOOAAPXNVK18wEGZ_n-pD
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...p/B0874YHTXW&usg=AOvVaw2KOOAAPXNVK18wEGZ_n-pD
What do you plan on using the drive for?
It might be overkill for what you what you are looking for, but the Samsung X5 TB3 NVMe drive is probably the fastest out there, or at least one of the fastest.
That speed comes at a price, but you might be able to save some bucks by getting the smallest size X5, and buy a 2TB 970 Pro NVMe separately and install it yourself.
I am using an X5 on my Late 2012 iMac. The TB3 drives are the fastest you can get for my iMac without getting into striping RAIDs.
It might be overkill for what you what you are looking for, but the Samsung X5 TB3 NVMe drive is probably the fastest out there, or at least one of the fastest.
That speed comes at a price, but you might be able to save some bucks by getting the smallest size X5, and buy a 2TB 970 Pro NVMe separately and install it yourself.
I am using an X5 on my Late 2012 iMac. The TB3 drives are the fastest you can get for my iMac without getting into striping RAIDs.
If you want a drive "as fast as" the INTERNAL SSD on 2020 iMacs, then the only solution is a thunderbolt3/nvme drive.
USB3.1 gen2 (nvme drive in an enclosure) will give you 965MBps read speeds -- only about 1/3 that of the internal SSD.
For the cost of an external tbolt3 2tb drive (they're not cheap), it's almost worth paying Apple for 2tb of internal SSD storage. Then get an external platter-based drive to serve as a backup.
USB3.1 gen2 (nvme drive in an enclosure) will give you 965MBps read speeds -- only about 1/3 that of the internal SSD.
For the cost of an external tbolt3 2tb drive (they're not cheap), it's almost worth paying Apple for 2tb of internal SSD storage. Then get an external platter-based drive to serve as a backup.
Would it be possible to get your read/write speeds on this? I'm either going to buy this -or- build my own with Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB - M.2 NVMe. The second option would be about $100 more.
I don’t own a T7, but being a USB3.2 Gen2 drive, it would probably get between 900-1000MBps peak speeds.
What do you plan on using the drive for?
And a lot faster. The price comparison should be between the X5 and build your now Thunderbolt..
In simple terms there are 3 speed levels (approximately):
500 MB/s - Samsung T5, Sandisk Extreme Portable
1000 MB/s - Samsung T7, Sandisk Extreme Pro Portable
2000+ MB/s - Samsung X5 or build your own Thunderbolt.
Blazing fast, chainable, and ultra quiet (no fan)...
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OWC ThunderBlade: 40 GB/s Thunderbolt (USB-C) NVMe RAID SSD
Silent, blazingly fast, and mobile-ready, the OWC ThunderBlade offers top-tier performance with RAID reliability for creative professionals on the go.
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Thanks! Expensive for 2TB!!Blazing fast, chainable, and ultra quiet (no fan)...
OWC ThunderBlade: 40 GB/s Thunderbolt (USB-C) NVMe RAID SSD
Silent, blazingly fast, and mobile-ready, the OWC ThunderBlade offers top-tier performance with RAID reliability for creative professionals on the go.
I will have videos on it for editing. I just don't want the videos on my internal drive so was looking for something external and fast.
I've gone down the TB3 Envoy Express NVME enclosure with a 2TB Crucial P2. (£300/$300 estimate).
Mine's used for images and DTP files (40gb client folders of 2gb InDesign/Photoshop/Illustrator files & assets), not video though.
Mine's used for images and DTP files (40gb client folders of 2gb InDesign/Photoshop/Illustrator files & assets), not video though.
Probably because it's completely, utterly silent (no fan, the entire enclosure is a heat sink) and can be daisy chained to add more drives. You cannot daisy chain the other SSDs being discussed here. With those you are limited to the number of TB3 ports.
There is also this, which is much cheaper for equivalent capacity. Remember, though, that with this solution you need to use 4 NVMe sticks and softRAID to get the same speed. This also has a fan to keep everything cool, but not necessarily quiet.
OWC Express 1M2 - The Fastest Single Portable SSD We Offer
Ultra-fast, compatible, and reliable portable USB4 NVMe SSD with speeds up to 3836MB/s. Build your own or choose ready-to-run solutions for your Mac or PC.
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