Late 2012 iMac: Dual SSD or 12TB Fusion Drive

[Hexley]

I have a late 2012 27-inch iMac (Slim unibody iMac without Retina Display) that was BTO'd with a 1TB Fusion Drive.

1TB HDD died within the last 12 months so I have been running on the 128GB Blade SSD SATA

I am choosing between these two upgrades

Option 1

Dual 1TB SSD through MaxUpgrades that allows for two 2.5" 1TB SSDs to run on RAID 0. Throughput would be 1,000MB/s.

Option 2

Install a 12TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD with the original 128GB Blade SSD SATA and make a new Fusion Drive.

I do not see myself buying a new iMac until Q1 2023.

I will have a 12TB Time Machine backup.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

You will have to take into account costing, but Option 1 would be the best shot for me.

 

[Hexley]

Pricing

Option 1
$80 - MaxUpgrades dual SSD kit
$600 - 2x1TB Samsung 850 Evo

Option 2
$50 - OWC HDD Replacement Kit (bought)
$520 - 12TB Seagate BarraCuda

Thanks for the feedback @nambuccaheadsau

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I would choose a 2TB ssd and fuse it with your PCIe connected blade for the best speed combination.

They are less than your quote above, give you slightly more space including the blade and will be faster with the blade controlling everything. And you wouldn't need the upgrade kit you already have a sata connection from your old HDD.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX30...d=1509530174&sr=8-3&keywords=2tb+internal+SSD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010QD6W9I/ref=twister_B00PRDMHLU?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Hexley]

I would choose a 2TB ssd and fuse it with your PCIe connected blade for the best speed combination.

They are less than your quote above, give you slightly more space including the blade and will be faster with the blade controlling everything. And you wouldn't need the upgrade kit you already have a sata connection from your old HDD.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX30...d=1509530174&sr=8-3&keywords=2tb+internal+SSD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010QD6W9I/ref=twister_B00PRDMHLU?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Sadly my iMac only has a Blade SATA SSD with a read/write of less than 300MB/s.

With a Fusion Drive I would be limited to the slower Blade SATA SSD.

I doubt it'll combine the 500MB/s of the 2TB SATA SSD with the less than 300MB/s of the Blade SATA SSD to have a total of 700-800MB/s

PCIe came out in iMacs after mine.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Sadly my iMac only has a Blade SATA SSD. PCIe came out in iMacs after mine.

Ahhh yes just noticed it was a 2012. However it will still work just with sata 3 speeds not PCIe just replace one drive not 2.

 

[Fishrrman]

How much will those additions -cost-?

I'd probably just get a new 2017 iMac... !

 

[Hexley]

How much will those additions -cost-?

I'd probably just get a new 2017 iMac... !

The HDD or SSD would cost $600-700

 

[Fishrrman]

"The HDD or SSD would cost $600-700"

NOT worth it.
Put that money towards something new.