Fusin Drive vs SSD replacement

[Beliblis]

Hi,

No quad-core with the new Mac Mini, so will buy a used 2012 Mac Mini and tune it myself.

I've found a MacMini with fusion drive – which I'd like to replace with a SSD. How much do you think I could sell the fusion drive for? (Couldn't find anything on eBay for comparison..)

Other option: Does the fusion drive fit into a windows machine? If so, I could give it to my girl-friend...

 

[hallux]

The concept of a Fusion drive is that it takes an SSD and a HDD and "combines" them into a single drive. Fusion then uses the SSD for the OS and frequently-accessed apps and data and the HDD to store things that get used less often. The Fusion drive is not a singular drive you can extract from the system and sell.

 

[Beliblis]

The concept of a Fusion drive is that it takes an SSD and a HDD and "combines" them into a single drive. Fusion then uses the SSD for the OS and frequently-accessed apps and data and the HDD to store things that get used less often. The Fusion drive is not a singular drive you can extract from the system and sell.

Thanks for the explanation. Just so I understand things correctly: a fusion drive uses BOTH hard-drive bays. One with an SSD, and one with a HDD?
What's their physical size? 128gb SSD + 750 gb HDD?

That's pretty much what I wanted to do anyway. Only difference being: I'd like to "stay in control" of what gets stored where. ("Fusion" sounds like the system makes that decision on behalf of the user, right?)

So: If I purchase a MacMini with Fusion drive – can I split that one Fusion drive into its 2 original components, so it appears as 2 hard drives on my desktop?

 

[hallux]

I suppose you COULD reinstall the OS and use the SSD for just the OS and the HDD for storage. That's how I have my Mini set up (though I'm not really utilizing the HDD right now) but when I installed the SSD it actually prompted me to configure the system with a Fusion drive since I had both bays occupied.

I BELIEVE the Fusion config is a 1 TB spinning drive and a 128 GB SSD.

Before you reinstall the OS, make sure you sign in to the Mac App Store and register the iWork apps (if you can) to your account so you can reinstall them.

 

[Beliblis]

when I installed the SSD it actually prompted me to configure the system with a Fusion drive since I had both bays occupied

So you installed the SSD yourself and installed a clean new system, and were prompted?
I thought Apple officially only supports Fusion drives on built-to-order machines... (see here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html )

 

[drsox]

So you installed the SSD yourself and installed a clean new system, and were prompted?
I thought Apple officially only supports Fusion drives on built-to-order machines... (see here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html )

Yes, I had that also when I added my own SSD to a 1TB drive in a 2014 version of the 2012 Mini.

 

[life27]

Installing a second hard drive (HDD + SSD as second) is important for the temperature or ventilation in mini cube?

 

[MR_Boogy]

Can anyone actually guarantee -saw it themselves or has a tear-down URL - that the official Apple Fusion Drive is done as two separate drives? It seems quite possible they could've combined both parts into one standard unit if they wanted to.

 

[drsox]

Can anyone actually guarantee -saw it themselves or has a tear-down URL - that the official Apple Fusion Drive is done as two separate drives? It seems quite possible they could've combined both parts into one standard unit if they wanted to.

It's not like the Seagate Momentus XT.
See this : http://www.anandtech.com/show/6406/understanding-apples-fusion-drive
and this : http://www.anandtech.com/show/6679/a-month-with-apples-fusion-drive/2

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Installing a second hard drive (HDD + SSD as second) is important for the temperature or ventilation in mini cube?

Don't think it make any difference. 2.5in HDDs run pretty cool anyway.

 

[hallux]

So you installed the SSD yourself and installed a clean new system, and were prompted?
I thought Apple officially only supports Fusion drives on built-to-order machines... (see here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html )

Yup. The OS X installer saw the 2 drives and said "hey, you want to do this as a Fusion setup?".

 

[KrisLord]

I've a DIY fusion drive in my 2012 mini and can also confirm that OS X originally saw them as a "broken" fusion drive and offered to merge them. So whilst there are guides as to how to combine them, the OS seems to want to do it if it's own accord. You can of course say no.

 

[donlab]

I bought the 2.3 quad core 2012 mini new and added a SSD to make a fusion drive. The system performed well for well over a year and then the apple 1TB drive died. I've since purchased a 1TB samsung evo to replace it. If you are going to buy a 2012 mini I would just go all SSD and remove the mechanical drive. I think heat played a large factor in the drive's premature failure.

 

[MacTCE]

I bought the 2.3 quad core 2012 mini new and added a SSD to make a fusion drive. The system performed well for well over a year and then the apple 1TB drive died. I've since purchased a 1TB samsung evo to replace it. If you are going to buy a 2012 mini I would just go all SSD and remove the mechanical drive. I think heat played a large factor in the drive's premature failure.

This is what I'm doing to my 2013 mini. I'm putting a SanDisk Extreme Pro 480 and a 960 and using them for the OS and storage respectively.

 

[MR_Boogy]

I'm considering doing similar; buy a larger SSD (512 should be enough) and not really use the original drive. But I don't fancy disassembling the Mac to replace the drive - the steps on iFixit are a bit more complex than I am happy with - and I feel bad about having my main/only drive external, it just feels wrong and not as neat