Fusion Drive with Sata II vs. Sata III

[nebel]

Tired of waiting for a an updated Mini, I bought the current base model as I think it will be anyway sufficient for my use for several years to come. Now I'm planning to replace the RAM and add an SSD to create a fusion drive. I currently have a Verbatim 128 GB SSD (Sata II) installed to my MacBook and I could use it as part of the new setup. I'm wondering whether the old drive would be sufficient or whether the difference in the performance compared to an SSD with a Sata III interface is so high that I should buy a new drive? The SSD I own is unfortunately not one of the drives with the highest performance which also speaks for a new SSD...

 

[gnasher729]

Tired of waiting for a an updated Mini, I bought the current base model as I think it will be anyway sufficient for my use for several years to come. Now I'm planning to replace the RAM and add an SSD to create a fusion drive. I currently have a Verbatim 128 GB SSD (Sata II) installed to my MacBook and I could use it as part of the new setup. I'm wondering whether the old drive would be sufficient or whether the difference in the performance compared to an SSD with a Sata III interface is so high that I should buy a new drive? The SSD I own is unfortunately not one of the drives with the highest performance which also speaks for a new SSD...

The biggest benefit by far that you get from an SSD drive is that it can read hundreds of tiny files very quickly, unlike a hard drive. And you get that advantage, no matter whether SATA II or III. Given the choice between using an old, not very fast SSD drive for free, paying £50 for a new 120 GB or £90 for a new 240 GB SSD drive, the thing I would _not_ do is paying £50 for the medium size drive.

 

[Fishrrman]

The late-2012 Mini can take full advantage of SATA III speeds.

It's worth spending the money to get a new drive and put it in there. I don't think you'll regret doing so.

240+/-gb SSD's are a pretty good value right now.

 

[pdafan]

I agree with gnasher729.
If you want to buy, go for a higher capacity SATA3 SSD.
Otherwise stay with your 128GB SATA2.
Mac mini mid 2011 already has SATA3 interface.

 

[nebel]

OK, thanks a lot for your opinions! I think I'll start with the current SSD; I can always replace if with a larger drive in the future, if the capacity becomes insufficient.

 

[nebel]

...and it's done. The procedure of adding the SSD required a pair of steady hands and patience, but in the end I'm happy as the computer responds a lot quicker now. Surely the performance would be better with a new SSD, but for now this suits me just fine. Thanks once again!

 

[JPamplin]

Good.

I do believe the SSD acts as a buffer both for reads and writes (writes, I know). So even if your Mac came with SATA2, or even SATA3 with a SATA2 drive (I've seen it), then a SATA3 SSD would buffer all that. Huge difference.

I've done Fusion Drives on SATA2 and SATA3 and it's a huge upgrade either way. Recommended.

JP