Help deciding 512gb or 1tb SSD for new iMac 2017

[EugW]

With sandisk 900 or samsung t5 (not released yet) on thunderbolt port you will get 800 read/write

Will keep an eye out for that. But it would not be that speed on the MacBook since that has no Thunderbolt and even if it supported USB, the MacBook is limited to 5 Gbps (or around 3.2 Gbps real world). I think the T3 is 3.2 Gbps (400 MB/s).

I may stick to USB 3 though for flexibility since that would work on the MacBook and my other machines. Too.

 

[gian8989]

Will keep an eye out for that. But it would not be that speed on the MacBook since that has no Thunderbolt and even if it supported USB, the MacBook is limited to 5 Gbps (or around 3.2 Gbps real world). I think the T3 is 3.2 Gbps (400 MB/s).

I may stick to USB 3 though for flexibility since that would work on the MacBook and my other machines. Too.

The sandisk has both usb type c & type A in the box and is a USB 3.1 so perfect for 5Gbps of macbook. It is not a thundebolt 3 ssd. Don't know anything about Samsung t5.

Your only problem would be a slow down if you have to connect it to a dock with other devices since you have only 1 usb in the macbook.

 

[btrach144]

As other users have pointed out, Sandisk extreme 900's RAID controller is awful and will slow down speeds drastically if transferring large files.

Not sure if there is exactly a good solution right now...

 

[gian8989]

As other users have pointed out, Sandisk extreme 900's RAID controller is awful and will slow down speeds drastically if transferring large files.

Not sure if there is exactly a good solution right now...

I just reported an info but have no experience about it. I personally would only buy samsung ssd, they probably cost more but are also the best on market.

 

[EugW]

OK then Samsung T3 or T5 it is.

 

[vyokyong]

In my opinion, I go for 1 TB SSD for reasons of ;

1) internal SSD will be separated to be two partitions. One is for OS systems and all apps. The other partition is for my working area for Photo and VDO editing. I love to have active works in internal SSD for fastest speed, no beach ball when do editing.

2) All photo and VDO will be stored in external HDD. The speed is not so important. But GB volume is most important. During transfer files to or out from internal SSD, I can do other things and come back when all transferred files are ready.

3) Buy 1 TB internal SSD from Apple, you get Apple Care warranty. I think that it is worth to have Apple Care warranty cover for 1 TB internal SSD. The Apple care cost is the same for 512 GB SSD or 1 TB SSD.

4) I will utilize 1 TB SSD first til nearly full memory. Then expanding to external SSD storage. Because external SSD storage price is always down with faster speed. The more postpone month to buy external SSD storage. The more money you can save and offset internal 1 TB SSD investment.

5) The internal 1 TB SSD is good for retaining value for resale of iMac after 4-5 years usage.

We don't know when will be OS system changing to be 128 bits. Or 4K VDO will be changed to be 8K VDO. To invest in max CPU, GPU and internal SSD is future proof.

Just my two cents of opinion.

 

[vyokyong]

Samsung external SSD 500GB T5 price USD 199 read/write speed is up to 540 MB/s

iMac 27 2017 internal SSD pay more extra USD 400 to increase SSD capacity from 512 GB to 1 TB. Write speed is 2,087 MB/s Read speed is 2,810 MB/s. It is 4-5 times faster than Samsung external SSD T5. And internal fusion HDD has write speed of 764 MB/s and read speed of 2,305 MB/s. It is still higher than external Samsung T5 SSD.

I pay double cost to get 1 TB but get 4-5 times faster speed for external SSD. If comparing USD/speed, I pay 2 times less than external SSD for same read/write speed.