Very slow iMac after restore - Additional HD showing on desktop

[Fishrrman]

Sorry for not seeing the year, my eyes and reading comprehension ain't what they used to be (if they were ever that good to begin with -- look at the carefully chosen avatar).

A 2017 iMac has USB3.1 gen2 ports (USBc).

Something like a Samsung t7 shield should give you read speeds in the 850-900MBps range.
And the 1tb version of this drive is VERY affordable (around $80 at amazon right now).

When a friend needed an upgrade to a 2008 iMac (back in 2018), I recommended a 2017 iMac, but I had to literally yell into the phone to convince him to get an internal SSD instead of a fusion drive.

That 2017 is still running fast and smooth today...

 

[Rychiar]

Sorry for not seeing the year, my eyes and reading comprehension ain't what they used to be (if they were ever that good to begin with -- look at the carefully chosen avatar).

A 2017 iMac has USB3.1 gen2 ports (USBc).

Something like a Samsung t7 shield should give you read speeds in the 850-900MBps range.
And the 1tb version of this drive is VERY affordable (around $80 at amazon right now).

When a friend needed an upgrade to a 2008 iMac (back in 2018), I recommended a 2017 iMac, but I had to literally yell into the phone to convince him to get an internal SSD instead of a fusion drive.

That 2017 is still running fast and smooth today...

they’re Thunderbolt 3 ports. Perfectly capable of running NVME drive at nearly 3000mb/s. I black magic tested mine

 

[niwashikun]

I love the Avatar, FWIW.

A 2017 iMac has USB3.1 gen2 ports (USBc).

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications:​

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

Connections and Expansion​

• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• SDXC card slot
• Four USB 3 ports (compatible with USB 2)
• Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) portswith support for:
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40 Gbps)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps)
  • Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI, and VGA supported using adapters (sold separately)
• 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
• Kensington lock slot

to convince him to get an internal SSD instead of a fusion drive.

Yeah, in retrospect I wish I had as well. 20/20 and all that.

 

[niwashikun]

they’re Thunderbolt 3 ports. Perfectly capable of running NVME drive at nearly 3000mb/s. I black magic tested mine

Glad you popped in, I'm about to make the purchase.
I'm thinking about upgrading to the housing with the fan, a lot of complaints about heating up. Not that much more $$.

My current 1T is about 1/2 full (504GB). Do you think I should stick with that for the NVMe or go up to 2T with the future in mind?

 

[Rychiar]

Glad you popped in, I'm about to make the purchase.
I'm thinking about upgrading to the housing with the fan, a lot of complaints about heating up. Not that much more $$.

My current 1T is about 1/2 full (504GB). Do you think I should stick with that for the NVMe or go up to 2T with the future in mind?

I can’t hurt but mine hasn’t overheated at all and i like the tiny silent drive. Size all depends how much you use. I’m a photographer so if i want to keep my photo library on my main disc i need at least 4 and i only have 500 left so my next drive will be an 8, which are starting to come down in price too

 

[niwashikun]

I can’t hurt but mine hasn’t overheated at all and i like the tiny silent drive. Size all depends how much you use. I’m a photographer so if i want to keep my photo library on my main disc i need at least 4 and i only have 500 left so my next drive will be an 8, which are starting to come down in price too

Makes sense, Thanks!

 

[niwashikun]

OK, re-fused the fusion drive which helped a lot, then rebooted from my new WD-Black in Acasis housing. Not quite getting up to 3000MB/s but definitely much faster than just the fusion.
.

Thanks to all for helping out. Special thanks to txdawe (for the fusion repair link) and Rychiar (for getting me set up on the NVMe drive)!

One last question:
Our fusion drive has Ventura installed and our back-up loaded.
Are there any pros or cons to leaving it that way?

Thanks again!

 

[Fishrrman]

"Our fusion drive has Ventura installed and our back-up loaded.
Are there any pros or cons to leaving it that way?"

I'd "maintain it as a backup" as you're doing.

Remember -- an external SSD can fail, just as could an internal drive.
If it was to fail, you would still have the internal drive as an immediate, bootable backup while you get things sorted out again.

 

[niwashikun]

"Our fusion drive has Ventura installed and our back-up loaded.
Are there any pros or cons to leaving it that way?"

I'd "maintain it as a backup" as you're doing.

Remember -- an external SSD can fail, just as could an internal drive.
If it was to fail, you would still have the internal drive as an immediate, bootable backup while you get things sorted out again.

That's what I was thinking but thought maybe I was being *too* careful.
Thanks for the confirmation.