iMac SSD Speed

[hakasehakase]

Hi, I am new to this forum and would like to ask one question.

I’m thinking of buying the new iMac i9 for audio production. I would be using Logic Pro.

I already have an external ssd for the project files and samples so would be only needing an internal 512gb size ssd.

However I saw that on the latest Mac mini the speed of the ssd mattered with size.
The 2TB SSD was the fasted and the 128 having the slowest write and read speed.

Should I buy an 1TB internal SSD rather than the 512gb SSD even though I wouldn’t be needing that much space?
Would the 1TB Internal be faster than the 512?
It will only be for the system and the project I will be currently working at the moment.

Any advice would be thankful. Thanks!!

 

[cruisin]

SSD is made up of chips, so bigger capacities in the same model use more chips (in a kind of RAID). The speed increases is mostly due to more chips sharing the writing workload. Higher capacity chips are also possible, but the speed doesn't seem to increase as much.

So a larger drive will be faster, but mostly for writes. Reads seem less affected.

Perhaps look up some benchmarks. For the 2018 Mini: https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/10/review-2018-mac-mini-video/

From what I’ve seen.
128GB -> ~600MB/s
256GB -> ~1.3GB/s
512GB -> ~1.9GB/s
1TB -> ~2.6GB/s

Reads are all > 2GB/s.

The iMac will be similar or better and the new iMac Pro has even faster speeds.

 

[jonatious]

SSD is made up of chips, so bigger capacities in the same model use more chips (in a kind of RAID). The speed increases is mostly due to more chips sharing the writing workload. Higher capacity chips are also possible, but the speed doesn't seem to increase as much.

So a larger drive will be faster, but mostly for writes. Reads seem less affected.

Perhaps look up some benchmarks. For the 2018 Mini: https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/10/review-2018-mac-mini-video/


The iMac will be similar or better and the new iMac Pro has even faster speeds.

Wait a min, I never knew, larger the SSD, faster the drive is

 

[keysofanxiety]

Wait a min, I never knew, larger the SSD, faster the drive is

Yep, the chips work in parallel so the bigger the drive, the faster it is. Speeds tend to peak around the 1TB size.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Well it is marginal and you may not notice increased speed.

 

[hakasehakase]

Thanks for the reply guys!
So if its just a small increase from a 512GB to 1TB, should I just go for the 512GB?

 

[Fishrrman]

ANY internal iMac SSD will suit your needs.
The larger ones are probably a little faster.
But even the 256gb will exceed your requirements.