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Which external SSD should I get for Mac Studio?
- Thread starter Cromulent
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Ah, yeah. Sorry I forgot to add a budget.
Well the SSD I was looking at was £220 but it wasn't USB4 or TB4. I guess I could go up to £350 maybe?
It's complicated. Beware of nuggets from Aliexpress and so on
You can even buy a SATA (for internal computer placement) SSD with SATA->USB dongle if you're looking for something faster than HDD, but you don't need a dash though (for "routine" files)
As for me, it is worth the candle unless you don't have a USB extender/ not use all USB ports
You can even buy a SATA (for internal computer placement) SSD with SATA->USB dongle if you're looking for something faster than HDD, but you don't need a dash though (for "routine" files)
As for me, it is worth the candle unless you don't have a USB extender/ not use all USB ports
You won't get speeds over 2500 MB/s (thunderbolt only, no usb), so no use in getting faster drives.
TB4 isn't faster than TB3, so you also don't have to focus on TB4 only.
Besides speed, look at the TBW spec as well.
Personally, I like the Orico thunderbolt(only) enclosure with silicon power nvme drive.
TB4 isn't faster than TB3, so you also don't have to focus on TB4 only.
Besides speed, look at the TBW spec as well.
Personally, I like the Orico thunderbolt(only) enclosure with silicon power nvme drive.
It's unclear what kinds of SSDs you're talking about.
If you mean NVMe M.2 SSDs, you may find it useful to read this current thread: Thunderbolt 4 & NVMe M.2 External Storage: Read/Write Speeds?
I'm very happy with the Samsung 980 Pro SSDs referred to in my signature, which also has a link to Samsung's page about them. For reasons explained in the thread, it's important to avoid Samsung's 970 EVO Plus SSDs.
You say that you "need the storage to be as fast as possible". The most recent posts in the thread (post #84 and #85 on page 6), discuss Blackmagic Disk Speed read and write speeds for my Samsung 980 Pros in RAID 0. As discussed in post #84, I used TEKQ Cube and Acasis enclosures:
If you mean NVMe M.2 SSDs, you may find it useful to read this current thread: Thunderbolt 4 & NVMe M.2 External Storage: Read/Write Speeds?
I'm very happy with the Samsung 980 Pro SSDs referred to in my signature, which also has a link to Samsung's page about them. For reasons explained in the thread, it's important to avoid Samsung's 970 EVO Plus SSDs.
You say that you "need the storage to be as fast as possible". The most recent posts in the thread (post #84 and #85 on page 6), discuss Blackmagic Disk Speed read and write speeds for my Samsung 980 Pros in RAID 0. As discussed in post #84, I used TEKQ Cube and Acasis enclosures:
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I settled for a OWC Envoy Express enclosure with a matched PNY CS2130 4TB M.2 NVMe Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) M280CS2130-4TB-RB. Performance is only about 1500MB/s R/W, but in real use it is hard to tell the difference to the internal 4TB on my MacStudio M1 Ultra. Total cost was a little over $500. Getting to 2500Mb/s is much more costly.
Later: since my internal SSD is running Ventura, I now have Monterey on the external disk, and - honestly - it is hard to tell the difference. Guess there is such a thing as "fast enough."
Later: since my internal SSD is running Ventura, I now have Monterey on the external disk, and - honestly - it is hard to tell the difference. Guess there is such a thing as "fast enough."
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I bought a Satechi STAND & HUB WITH SSD ENCLOSURE and put a WD 2TB SSD
it works Great with Mac Studio.
it works Great with Mac Studio.
Stand & Hub for Mac Mini with SSD Enclosure
satechi.net
Stand & Hub for Mac Mini with SSD Enclosure
satechi.net
I am looking to get a M2 Ultra mac studio in about a month, so asking this same question.
On my macbook pro 2019 16" I have a OWC Envoy Express with a Samsung EVO plus 2TB in TB4 port and I get around 1500 read/1350 write. I got the 500GB internal ssd in my mbp and for some of my projects and with VMs where I need that speed of the internal SSD. It's significantly noticeable when using the internal ssd. Because of my limited space, i ended up putting the VMs on the external drive.
I'm leaning towards the 4tb internal ssd for that reason, even though that $1000 extra is hefty.
It's in those moments I start to consider the new mac pro for the pcie slots I could use for faster external storage.
On my macbook pro 2019 16" I have a OWC Envoy Express with a Samsung EVO plus 2TB in TB4 port and I get around 1500 read/1350 write. I got the 500GB internal ssd in my mbp and for some of my projects and with VMs where I need that speed of the internal SSD. It's significantly noticeable when using the internal ssd. Because of my limited space, i ended up putting the VMs on the external drive.
I'm leaning towards the 4tb internal ssd for that reason, even though that $1000 extra is hefty.
It's in those moments I start to consider the new mac pro for the pcie slots I could use for faster external storage.
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How about this:
(shows up here for $129, that's a GREAT price for a 2tb USB3.1 gen2 SSD)
SAMSUNG T7 Shield 2TB, Portable SSD, up-to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Water & Dust Resistant, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Extenal Solid State Drive (MU-PE2T0S/AM), Black
Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water** and dust* resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe™ achieve soaring sequential read/write...
www.amazon.com
the T7 Shield works for me. I got the 4TB recently for $208. Write speeds are 850 while reads can be around 600. Some manual tests showed that I was getting 750 read. Regardless it runs fast and no hiccups when video editing off the drive. I tested it with HEVC 6k footage. I also have a thunderbolt enclosure with an ssd in it and that one reads and writes around 2,500 but gets kinda warm or hot.