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For external SSD (for booting the Mac OS), is it better to get T5 or internal NVMe within a case?
- Thread starter levmc
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Here’s an article I found on the TRIM command, and why it is useful: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/simple-questions-what-trim-ssds-why-it-useful
From the article:
Why is TRIM useful for SSD drives?
You already know by now that when deleting and rewriting data, a solid state drive that does not use TRIM has to partially move significant pieces of information, wipe out all the block(s) containing it and, finally, write the new data onto those blocks. On the one hand, this means that the device's performance is poor. On the other hand, it means that the SSD does lots of erasing and rewriting. These all pile up and cause fast wear of the flash memory chips that are found inside the SSD.
TRIM ensures that both these issues are prevented, by eliminating the need to erase and rewrite large chunks of memory continually. Instead of managing whole blocks, a TRIM enabled SSD can work with the smaller memory clusters called pages. Even more, whenever a delete command is issued by the operating system or the user, the SSD automatically sends a TRIM command to wipe the storage space being erased. This ensures a faster writing speed when new data is stored in that area.
I went with his recommendation and thanked him previously, but coming back with an update (Also to help my future self to remember):The TEKQ Cube Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure
TEKQ Cube Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure (0G) Support WD SN550 SN750 Crucial P2 (NOT Compatible with Device Without Thunderbolt 3 Interface) (0G)
TEKQ Cube Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure (0G) Support WD SN550 SN750 Crucial P2 (NOT Compatible with Device Without Thunderbolt 3 Interface) (0G)smile.amazon.com
Enclosure is really nice, gets fairly hot on active, cools quite fast, no problem.
For SSD, where I live, the Samsung EVO 2TBs aren't available (Other than PROs which arent compatible with Macs), so I went with an alternate route of WD Black SN750 2TB NVMe. On my 27" iMac 2017, for whatever reason, it wouldn't clone the drive. I formatted my SSD to APFS (Same setting as my internal's). I went to recovery mode, disk utility and tried to clone. Kept failing saying not enough space. My internal is 1TB, my external is 2TB, no idea why it's saying not enough space. After some research, I went with Carbon Copy Clone (Free), and worked out.
So for anyone who's reading this post and know what enclosure and SSD you're getting, if for whatever reason gets the same error during cloning, try that.
Now that I know it works, I would have spent a little more and purchased a different (better and more expensive) dock, or maybe powered NVMe enclosure like this one:
OWC Express 4M2 SSD Enclosure - Thunderbolt 3
Four easy-to-access NVMe M.2 SSD slots customizable for any workflow with up to 32TB of capacity and up to 2800MB/s performance. Includes a 1 year warranty.eshop.macsales.com
This suggestion is interesting as it is only 75 dollars and includes apparatus so that you can easily attach it to the back of the lid of a laptop if need be. How does it compare to another enclosure, TEKG, that somebody else in this thread suggested? ($125?)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N74VZKZ?tag=mrforums-20
By the way it says capacity 512 G is $150, and 0 G is $125. But what does 0 G supposed to mean? Why does it only go up to 512 G not 1TB?
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Thanks for the reply! I just saw this from OWC it looks pretty cool! Uses any 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD available today. Only $75.
[automerge]1596726951[/automerge]
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.
Came here looking to see if Tekq enclosure worked as boot drive, so thanks esp to @MJedi.
FYI, I also noticed the envoy-express, but was curious about their quoted speeds of ~1500MB/s even when using their own NVMe module capable of ~3000/MB/s. I emailed them and they confirmed that the bridge inside the enclosure is only using 2 PCI lanes, so that limits the speed to around 1500. Basically no sense getting a fast NVMe and putting it in the envoy-express.
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Now that I know it works, I would have spent a little more and purchased a different (better and more expensive) dock, or maybe powered NVMe enclosure like this one:
OWC Express 4M2 SSD Enclosure - Thunderbolt 3
Four easy-to-access NVMe M.2 SSD slots customizable for any workflow with up to 32TB of capacity and up to 2800MB/s performance. Includes a 1 year warranty.
This was one of the docks I looked into getting, but it was more expensive, and didn't want to risk spending that much unless I knew it was going to work.
If I could do it over again, I would have gotten one of the more expensive ones, or the powered NVMe enclosures.
I looked at this as a possible way to have expandable fast external storage, but it's not.
Each of the NMVe in this quad enclosure only uses one PCI lane, so transfers from each NVMe is around 750MB/s. So if you only have one NVMe, max speed from enclosure is ~750MB/s. To get full speed of ~3000, you need to fill it with 4 NVMe, and have volume striped across all of them.
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What are the speeds from the internal FD if that’s what you have? For my average use I’m sticking with the FD as an external SSD offers little if any advantages - 2019 27inch 5K 2TB FD model.
IIRC, the 2TB FD has a 128GB SSD, so that's good. On the smaller FDs the SSD is only 32GB, which is pretty small and means hitting the spinning disk a lot.
Anytime you exceed the size of the SSD portion of the FD, an external SSD connected via thunderbolt 3 would have much better speeds than an internal fusion drive. If the external SSD is connected via USB 3 (10Gb/s max) it should still be better than internal FD.
How much more would it have cost to get the 2TB fusion drive instead of the basic 1TB fusion drive?
I thought you were referring to TEKQ when you said "To get full speed of ~3000, you need to fill it with 4 NVMe, and have volume striped across all of them." But I guess you were referring to Envoy?
Did you get the $125 or $150 version of TEKQ?
I thought you were referring to TEKQ when you said "To get full speed of ~3000, you need to fill it with 4 NVMe, and have volume striped across all of them." But I guess you were referring to Envoy?
Did you get the $125 or $150 version of TEKQ?
That was my error in quoting you, when I really meant to quote vertical smile. The macsales 4 slot NVMe enclosure is the one with only one PCI lane per slot, which is a big limitation on speed throughput unless you fill all four slots.
I'm getting the TEKQ Cube and a WD_Black SN750 1TB for use as boot drive on 2017 3.8Ghz iMac w 40GB ram and a 2TB internal FD.
This is very good to know, but disappointing.
I reviewed the description page, and didn't see this mentioned, but it is on the tech spec tab, in tiny font.
I was on the fence on whether to try the OWC 4 bay enclosure, but seeing this, I probably won't.
IDK, maybe I will. I guess I could put four small NVMe drives in it and use a SW RAID. Running at the lower speeds would probably keep the heat of the NVMe SSDs down as well.
I will probably just pass on it.
Thanks for the info.
On the Amazon page there is a $125 option and $150 option. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N74VZKZ?tag=mrforums-20
$150 option says it is 512 gb capacity. Does that mean if you put 1TB NVMe in it, it won't work?
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Since I retired my use is pretty light these days. 128 gigs of fast storage is more than enough for my apps. For things such as iTunes, films and simply viewing photos then the HDD is good enough as none of those require a fast drive.
My iMac has a 512GB SSD, not a Fusion Drive. I wanted a fast external drive to boot from for experimental reasons, and decided to increase the storage as well.
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The model that's $125 with 0G means there is no SSD installed in it. You supply your own SSD. I got that model and put a 1TB Samsung EVO NVMe drive in it.
EDIT: So if you want to use your own SSD (bigger size, better brand) then you should get the 0G model. If you prefer that it already comes with a 512GB SSD, get the 512G model instead. I don't know what brand SSD is included with it though.
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Wouldn't it be better to get the $150 since the price difference is only $25, so even if you put in your own 1TB one, you could take the 512 gb one out and put it in a different computer?
Also, the Envoy says:
"Envoy Express is the first to include a laptop mounting system.
Removable adhesive gel and a lightweight yet durable plastic holder secure the Envoy Express onto the back of your Thunderbolt™ 3-equipped Mac or PC laptop screen. Easy to add and easy to remove with no marking or marring."
That does look pretty attractive, would there be anyway you can do that with TEKQ?
"Envoy Express is the first to include a laptop mounting system.
Removable adhesive gel and a lightweight yet durable plastic holder secure the Envoy Express onto the back of your Thunderbolt™ 3-equipped Mac or PC laptop screen. Easy to add and easy to remove with no marking or marring."
That does look pretty attractive, would there be anyway you can do that with TEKQ?
I would caution about adding a better NVMe SSD into this TEKQ. The speed is ultimately limited by the controller in the enclosure. The max speed for the controller in the TEKQ is 1800/2400 according the Amazon product page. Getting a faster NVMe SSD will not matter. Furthermore, some controllers work better with specific brands than other brands of NVMe SSD.
For instance, I bought a G-technology TB3 500GB drive and replace the SSD with a large SSD. The original iSSD inside was a WD. It turned out the controller works well with WD SSD and not too well with Samsung. A super-fast SSD like Samsung EVO 970 plus did not perform as expected. I finally got a 1TB WD SSD and getting 2300/2500 speed.
I guess it would be better if I had another computer to use the 512GB SSD in.
No. The TEKQ doesn't have the plastic holder. I wouldn't want to attach anything to the back of a laptop screen anyway.
Good point. For the TEKQ, however, I'm getting 1500/2400 speed using the Samsung 970 EVO so it's close to the max speed of the controller.
Recently I was booting my 2014 MBP from an external drive and I think it's not heating up as much, and I thought this could be because the internal SSD isn't working it isn't heating up and there's that much less heat to deal with.
So I thought if I attach the SSD to the back of the monitor like this https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/env...n=cj&cjevent=51baf14cdff011ea811a033b0a240613
instead of installing it inside, would that help with lessening overheating and fan noise?
So I thought if I attach the SSD to the back of the monitor like this https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/env...n=cj&cjevent=51baf14cdff011ea811a033b0a240613
instead of installing it inside, would that help with lessening overheating and fan noise?