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upgrade imac late 2013 ssd (internal vs external)?
- Thread starter Heliotropen
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Sorry, I don't know specifically by brand and model but I have read that with larger sized, high performance SSDs there can be power spikes when running hard that can be problematic with some bus-powered enclosures.
Personally, I don't mind the AC adapter.
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This is another possibility, the Delock 42513 bus powered Thunderbolt enclosure for $125: http://www.synchrotech.com/products...sd-drive-external-enclosure-delock-42513.html.
Great find, thank you! I guess it turns out the primary reason the 42490 and 42510 have AC power is for users that want to use HDDs with higher power requirements.
It seems that there is a portable USB SSD that has Trim: https://www.angelbird.com/prod/ssd2go-pocket-662/?category=2. It appears that Angelbird provides an application you run that will send Trim commands to the SSD controller.
[doublepost=1499575897][/doublepost]Interesting review of an SSD that specifically does Trim performance tests: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crucial-m550-ssd-review,3772-10.html
From the review:
But I also want the instantaneous average of our TRIM testing. So, how does the drive fare servicing writes with and without TRIM during each 100,000-command window? The purple line represents IOPS across the entire trace, without TRIM. The teal line is with TRIM.
Notice that the peaks are higher with TRIM support enabled. This is how a desktop-oriented drive should behave. About 13% of the drive's span is freed by the command during our test, giving Marvell's controller more available blocks to write to. Without TRIM, the processor is stuck manually collecting garbage, juggling data in read/modify/erase cycles.
TRIM mitigates this, allowing the operating system to tell the drive when a range of LBAs is no longer needed. The alternative is letting the drive handle its own garbage collection as the operating system writes to LBAs already occupied by data.
[doublepost=1499575897][/doublepost]Interesting review of an SSD that specifically does Trim performance tests: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crucial-m550-ssd-review,3772-10.html
From the review:
But I also want the instantaneous average of our TRIM testing. So, how does the drive fare servicing writes with and without TRIM during each 100,000-command window? The purple line represents IOPS across the entire trace, without TRIM. The teal line is with TRIM.
Notice that the peaks are higher with TRIM support enabled. This is how a desktop-oriented drive should behave. About 13% of the drive's span is freed by the command during our test, giving Marvell's controller more available blocks to write to. Without TRIM, the processor is stuck manually collecting garbage, juggling data in read/modify/erase cycles.
TRIM mitigates this, allowing the operating system to tell the drive when a range of LBAs is no longer needed. The alternative is letting the drive handle its own garbage collection as the operating system writes to LBAs already occupied by data.
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One other thing to keep in consideration with the Delock (and other Thunderbolt 1 and 2 enclosures) is that you will also need to invest in Apple's $50 Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter in order to use it with the 2017 iMac.
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My apologies for the delay on this. I finally got back into BootCamp. The results for CrystalDiskMark:
I realize the 4K results are terrible. It seems to perform very well though and I'm not using it for any 4k encoding, mostly just gaming.
4K = file size. 4K write is lower compared to being internal due to overhead, normal for most external options.
Those numbers are really good. I was expecting 4K to be much lower actually. That handily exceeds USB options like the Samsung T3 (in benchmarks I've seen).
Great answers in this thread:
1) I have been convinced that an external ssd is the way to go for me ...
(If I do decide to open the machine up in the future, I can always use the drive as an extra).
I have not decided on usb3 or Thunderbolt yet.
a) usb3:
The enclosure will stand the test of time, but the drive might not (who knows if apple will continue to use Thunderbolt) = means I will use the enclosure even when the mac dies.
Is cheaper ...
Downside: can't use trim or update firmware.
To be fair, I don't think I have ever updated a drives firmware
Hmm perhaps I should update my fusiondrives firmware?
b) Thunderbolt:
Is faster?
Will enable trim = which will:
I) make the drive faster than the usb?
II) keep the drive alive longer (not sure it needs to live more than 3-4 years anyways though).
I'm hoping to get about 2 years more out of the imac.
downsides:
The enclosure cost about 10 x more here in denmark.
I think I only have one thunderbolt port, so I can't use my other thunderbolt stuff.
=> It's a hard choice, though right now I do lean towards the thunderbolt enclosure.
2) Will def consider buying 8gb more ram ... so I get to 16 gb ... I hope that's enough?
3) Will try to run the "fsck -fy" in single mode to see if it helps on the fusiondrive first.
And consider trying to upgrade the firmware...
Thnx guys ... this has been a huge enormous help
1) I have been convinced that an external ssd is the way to go for me ...
(If I do decide to open the machine up in the future, I can always use the drive as an extra).
I have not decided on usb3 or Thunderbolt yet.
a) usb3:
The enclosure will stand the test of time, but the drive might not (who knows if apple will continue to use Thunderbolt) = means I will use the enclosure even when the mac dies.
Is cheaper ...
Downside: can't use trim or update firmware.
To be fair, I don't think I have ever updated a drives firmware
Hmm perhaps I should update my fusiondrives firmware?
b) Thunderbolt:
Is faster?
Will enable trim = which will:
I) make the drive faster than the usb?
II) keep the drive alive longer (not sure it needs to live more than 3-4 years anyways though).
I'm hoping to get about 2 years more out of the imac.
downsides:
The enclosure cost about 10 x more here in denmark.
I think I only have one thunderbolt port, so I can't use my other thunderbolt stuff.
=> It's a hard choice, though right now I do lean towards the thunderbolt enclosure.
2) Will def consider buying 8gb more ram ... so I get to 16 gb ... I hope that's enough?
3) Will try to run the "fsck -fy" in single mode to see if it helps on the fusiondrive first.
And consider trying to upgrade the firmware...
Thnx guys ... this has been a huge enormous help
Great answers in this thread:
1) I have been convinced that an external ssd is the way to go for me ...
(If I do decide to open the machine up in the future, I can always use the drive as an extra).
I have not decided on usb3 or Thunderbolt yet.
a) usb3:
The enclosure will stand the test of time, but the drive might not (who knows if apple will continue to use Thunderbolt) = means I will use the enclosure even when the mac dies.
Is cheaper ...
Downside: can't use trim or update firmware.
To be fair, I don't think I have ever updated a drives firmware
Hmm perhaps I should update my fusiondrives firmware?
b) Thunderbolt:
Is faster?
Will enable trim = which will:
I) make the drive faster than the usb?
II) keep the drive alive longer (not sure it needs to live more than 3-4 years anyways though).
I'm hoping to get about 2 years more out of the imac.
downsides:
The enclosure cost about 10 x more here in denmark.
I think I only have one thunderbolt port, so I can't use my other thunderbolt stuff.
=> It's a hard choice, though right now I do lean towards the thunderbolt enclosure.
2) Will def consider buying 8gb more ram ... so I get to 16 gb ... I hope that's enough?
3) Will try to run the "fsck -fy" in single mode to see if it helps on the fusiondrive first.
And consider trying to upgrade the firmware...
Thnx guys ... this has been a huge enormous help
Take a look at the Angelbird SSD I posted above. It has Trim over USB. A pretty good comprise without needing to go Thunderbolt.
angelbird looks interesting - not sure if it's too expensive ...
Then again I don't want small money to keep me from decent to high performance ...
Hmmm ... by the way, should I totally abandon the idea of splitting the fusion drive into ssd and ordinary drive for data (movies, documents, heavy illustator files and so on) ...
That's the other option, that I'm not sure on the pros and cons of ...
I think I have allot less than 128 gb of apps and systems **** ...
The data files on my desktop is probably the worst in terms of size - and I sync those over dropbox with my macbook pro.
Then again I don't want small money to keep me from decent to high performance ...
Hmmm ... by the way, should I totally abandon the idea of splitting the fusion drive into ssd and ordinary drive for data (movies, documents, heavy illustator files and so on) ...
That's the other option, that I'm not sure on the pros and cons of ...
I think I have allot less than 128 gb of apps and systems **** ...
The data files on my desktop is probably the worst in terms of size - and I sync those over dropbox with my macbook pro.
I saw your link earlier, and it is interesting. The TRIM command won't work over USB under any OS. Under Windows you can use the SCSI UNMAP command on UASP enclosures like that. They mention installing some drivers they wrote and using their app.... so I wonder if they have figured out a way to run that SCSI UNMAP command under macOS? That's what I'm guessing they are doing.
I think Angelbird manuafacturers their own SSD. They might also have produced their own SSD controller which has special firmware to receive Trim commands from their app.
The question is if it works for mac
Any thought about splitting my fusion into 128 gb ssd + slow hdd ?
Is a bit affraid to kill the thing by doing it
Any thought about splitting my fusion into 128 gb ssd + slow hdd ?
Is a bit affraid to kill the thing by doing it
I remember they have an SSD that was faking the Mac controller to make it look like an Apple SSD, so native TRIM worked when installed internally, but I don't see how that would overcome the TRIM over USB issue. I'd sure like to know more about what trickery they have figured out with that driver.
The question is if it works for mac
Any thought about splitting my fusion into 128 gb ssd + slow hdd ?
Is a bit affraid to kill the thing by doing it
If you look at the Angelbird website they show it for the Mac. As far as splitting the Fusion drive, you could go that route and put the OS, apps and the user accounts on the SSD and user data on the spinner. That is a decision that you can only make.
[doublepost=1499626596][/doublepost]
If they wrote their own firmware and sent special Trim commands from the app and the firmware then started Trimming the SSD. What is not really clear is if the driver on the Mac handled Trim or if the app is a single shot Trim (like running fsck). I get the impression that it is the latter rather than the former.
Nice correction on the Angelbird drive - it sounds awesome.
As for splitting - I just don't know how it will work - I think someone have adviced me against it before :/
But I'm not sure ...
I don't want to wreck the thing ...
=> BUT it would be the cheapest option right now ...
As for splitting - I just don't know how it will work - I think someone have adviced me against it before :/
But I'm not sure ...
I don't want to wreck the thing ...
=> BUT it would be the cheapest option right now ...
There is no danger of damaging the hardware by de-Fusioning it but of course you would lose all data on the drive and need to back it up first.
I already have all my data backed on dropbox ...
(and on another macbook pro) ...
But that means I can always merge it back?
Then perhaps it's worth trying for sure ... not sure if it's smartest to wait for high sierra.
What is the best guide? for doing it the most optimal way?
(and on another macbook pro) ...
But that means I can always merge it back?
Then perhaps it's worth trying for sure ... not sure if it's smartest to wait for high sierra.
What is the best guide? for doing it the most optimal way?
I already have all my data backed on dropbox ...
(and on another macbook pro) ...
But that means I can always merge it back?
Yes, you can always create a Fusion Drive.
What is the best guide? for doing it the most optimal way?
I found helpful guides here and here. They're both the same procedure so either one will do.
Thank you so much for that information ...
Think I will try that first = and if it covers my need, I wont buy an external drive ...
If it does not I will refusion it, and buy the external drive ...
I still don't totally get why Apple fusions the drives ...
Think I will try that first = and if it covers my need, I wont buy an external drive ...
If it does not I will refusion it, and buy the external drive ...
I still don't totally get why Apple fusions the drives ...
This is a fairly old thread, but quite pertinent for me.
My other half has been struggling with her imac (late 2013) for a while now, so as an early Xmas present I decided to help her out.
The late 2013 iMac, unfortunately, as you know, has the screen glued on - there's no way I'm going to attempt to put an SSD into it internally. I've upgraded my macbook pro, which was fairly trivial, but cutting through the edge of the screen of a 27" monitor is not something i'd do - NOR let anyone else do, even if they proclaim themselves an expert - it's insanity.
The ifixit instructions + user videos of the process are enough to put me right off.
I have an order of a 1TB SSD, a USB 3 to SATA connector and some sticky 3M pads arriving tomorrow.
I've told my other half what I intend to do - and that it has zero risk of destroying her precious iMac.
I even mocked up how it would look.
Bottom line, I want it out of the way - she already has two external drives hooked up, so my solution is very simple and very cheap (relatively speaking).
Her desk is against a wall, so it's not like anyone ever sees the back of it, so I'm simply going to stick the drive onto the back of the mac with a 3M pad and connect it to USB3.
I'll let you know how I get on...
My other half has been struggling with her imac (late 2013) for a while now, so as an early Xmas present I decided to help her out.
The late 2013 iMac, unfortunately, as you know, has the screen glued on - there's no way I'm going to attempt to put an SSD into it internally. I've upgraded my macbook pro, which was fairly trivial, but cutting through the edge of the screen of a 27" monitor is not something i'd do - NOR let anyone else do, even if they proclaim themselves an expert - it's insanity.
The ifixit instructions + user videos of the process are enough to put me right off.
I have an order of a 1TB SSD, a USB 3 to SATA connector and some sticky 3M pads arriving tomorrow.
I've told my other half what I intend to do - and that it has zero risk of destroying her precious iMac.
I even mocked up how it would look.
Bottom line, I want it out of the way - she already has two external drives hooked up, so my solution is very simple and very cheap (relatively speaking).
Her desk is against a wall, so it's not like anyone ever sees the back of it, so I'm simply going to stick the drive onto the back of the mac with a 3M pad and connect it to USB3.
I'll let you know how I get on...
Attachments
It's held together with double-stick foam tape. It's easy to take apart with guitar picks or a specialty tool that looks like a pizza cutter with a plastic wheel. You can buy tape kits to stick it back together. Any tech will have the tools and tape.
You have two busses. The PCIe 2 buss has a small SSD. You can leave it alone or replace it with a larger one. System pulls are readily available as are new. The Samsung 970 EVO (250GB to 2TB) with an inexpensive adapter works but it requires High Sierra or newer and has a wake from sleep issue unless you run the following in Terminal: sudo pmset hibernatemode 0 standby 0
The SATA III buss is most likely where the problem is. As the hard drive fills up, a fusion (both drives together) slows down. Replace it with an SSD and your iMac will be faster than ever. If you don't want to do the work yourself, pay someone for an hour of his/her time. You will need an SSD and a temp sensor. The Samsung 860 EVO is available from 250GB to 4TB.
When done, you can "fuse" the drives together again or not using the PCIe SSD as your boot drive and everything else on the other.
[doublepost=1542854974][/doublepost]
That's easy. A fusion drive uses the PVIe SSD for booting which is fast. SSDs used to be very expensive.
What I don't get is why Apple still uses them now that flash memory is cheap.