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Thoughts on this upgrade...

L

lizard23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2013
8
0
I recently purchased a late 2012 refurb mini from Apple (i7 4GB, 1 TB non Fusion). I like the idea of a SSD but decided with some input from people on the forum that I was better off doing the upgrade to RAM and HD myself.

I have a lot of music/photos so storage is a concern.

My current thought is to upgrade to a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro internal and use the existing stock 1TB drive in an enclosure to store all of my data while keeping apps and OS on the SSD.

I am thinking I will forgo using the data doubler kit to add a second internal drive because the only real benefit i see to doing that would be to create my own Fusion drive, however, i don't like the idea that if one drive breaks, all of my data is gone.

What are your thoughts on this upgrade? Is there something else I should consider? Will the transfer speeds off of the 1TB external be fast enough?

I am relatively tech savy but new to the world of macs. Andy advice would be appreciated.
 
Nothing wrong with what you propose.

All I'd add is to think about how many drives you have had fail. I'm guessing it's really low.

So yes using a fusion drive doubles the risk of data loss. But double a really small chance still means its unlikely to happen and any risk can covered by a good backup regime.
 
So you are saying you think its worth the admittedly small added risk and extra effort to create my own true fusion drive?

you very well might be right and it would be cleaner.
 
Yes I do :)

Personally I like to have a decent amount of internal storage. The mac is silent most of the time, and I like to keep it that way. My 3.5" external drive in a caddy is noisy as hell. My 2.5" external is even noticeable when in use compared to the fusion drive.

So I have Samsung 830 128GB and 1TB stock drive combined as a 600 GB fusion drive with the remaining HD space as a 2nd partition (currently holding mavericks)
 
Nice. Are you in agreement with my choice of SSD?

Which DIY fusion drive instructions do you recommend? I want a true Fusion drive like the one I could have purchased from Apple.
 
Last edited:
Size wise 256 is a good choice (I only got 128 due to budget at the time) and if I was buying now old buy the Samsung 840 Pro :)

I'd avoid the standard 840 as they're quite different drives. I think its a bit misleading to label them both 840 and simply add pro to distinguish them.
 
The 840 pro series is one of the best SSD's available today. Regardless of whether you make a fusion drive, you should get another hard drive to do a backup. It doesn't matter if you fusion or split the OS/apps and data manually, there is no redundancy in your setup.

I would get the data doubler and utilize the space inside the mini. You would have to buy an external enclosure anyways. If you are comfortable disassembling a computer it would give a cleaner setup.
 
lizard23 said:
I recently purchased a late 2012 refurb mini from Apple (i7 4GB, 1 TB non Fusion). I like the idea of a SSD but decided with some input from people on the forum that I was better off doing the upgrade to RAM and HD myself.

I have a lot of music/photos so storage is a concern.

My current thought is to upgrade to a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro internal and use the existing stock 1TB drive in an enclosure to store all of my data while keeping apps and OS on the SSD.

I am thinking I will forgo using the data doubler kit to add a second internal drive because the only real benefit i see to doing that would be to create my own Fusion drive, however, i don't like the idea that if one drive breaks, all of my data is gone.

What are your thoughts on this upgrade? Is there something else I should consider? Will the transfer speeds off of the 1TB external be fast enough?

I am relatively tech savy but new to the world of macs. Andy advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Regardless of what option you choose - you should always have a solid backup plan in place. I'd suggest Time Machine as a first step. With that in mind, The fusion drive configuration would be very nice with what you're considering.

No matter what you choose - eventually it will fail. So just be prepared. :)
 
Guess transfer speeds for music/photo's are not relevant. OK, you have some time to spend the first time, but the incremental stuff, like copying photo's from a camera is never a problem, not even for the slowest USB2.

I personally like ethernet for external storage. Not as fast as USB3, but faster than Firewire 800 yet it allows access to the drives from all macs in the house, not only one.
 
Have you given thought to keeping the internal HD and installing a SSD but keeping them separate, non-fusion setup? You would get the speed benefits of sata.
 
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