SSD Upgrade - 2011 iMac

[krs]

Why would you not want to monitor external drives? I monitor my TM drive, and any other drive I connect to my Mini, even NTFS .drives

I think you misunderstood my post.
I would love to monitor my external drives - what I don't like at all is having to download Kernel extensions to be able to do that.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I really had no idea how involved a process this is. Trim function, DRAM, sheesh.

I should point out that purchasing an SSD is somewhat similar to purchasing a car. There are a bunch of valuable features that it would be advantageous to have, but unless you are well monied and you are willing to pay to have them ALL, you are ultimately going to have to choose one that has only a few of those features and settle for that. It's possible to find an SSD that is quite a good value. You're looking for a Camero, not a Ferrari.

For instance, a user on another Macintosh discussion list was considering a particular OWC SSD, and he e-mailed OWC for clarification on the specifications of the SSD. They sent him a list of specifications that read like a list of top-tier specs...until you realized that the SSD had absolutely no DRAM. Usually the only SSD's that include no DRAM are those that sound too good to be true when you see their low price. And then when you get an SSD with no DRAM, it is molasses slow compared to any other SSD.

However, this user wrote to OWC about this, and OWC claimed that their SSD didn't need DRAM, because all of its other features added up to adequate performance. (Most real world tests that I've seen for the SSD in question have it on the slow side compared to competing SSD's from other companies, but users have barely noticed and all seem to be happy with this OWC SSD. (It does have over-provisioning, so it is reliable and long-lived.)

So, like most products, what you need to do is do some shopping and read a lot of reviews, and then make an informed decision. It's not overwhelming, but like any other product you are looking for an example that is in the sweet spot of performance/longevity vs. price.

 

[pm-r]

So, once you identify a particular brand and model of third party SSD that you are considering upgrading your Mac to, it's really important to make absolutely sure that it is compatible with your year and model of Macintosh. (That makes it very attractive to purchase an SSD from a Macintosh specialist such as OWC. Their assistance and advice can make your purchasing decision way easier.)

THAT, are some of the main reasons I went with OWC and their recommendations when I was purchasing my solid-state drive last year for my 2011 27" iMac.

That said, that Crucial SSD Drive has some very good specs, reviews and a good very reasonable price from a firm also with a good reputation and Mac experience.


- Patrick
=======

 

[hughvane]

Another vote for OWC Apple Mac Upgrades - RAM, SSD Flash, External Drives and More. What they sell for Mac is usually the good oyster. I have even bought from them from way down here in lil' ol' NZ!

 

[hughvane]

I have searched, but cannot find reference to external/portable SSDs.

My Mini18 is approaching 2/3 full, it cannot be upgraded internally, so I am seeking opinions regarding an portable SSD. 1 Tb capacity should do it, I have heaps of external SATA drives for any extra.

LaCie is sold by Apple in NZ at greatly inflated price. There are other sellers at lesser price.
Transcend, of which I'm a great fan with other hardware, sells in NZ for ~$180 US
Samsung, about $160 US
Seagate (too expensive)
Crucial brand is hard to find in NZ.

Your thoughts and recommendations please, TIA ..... Hugh

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I have searched, but cannot find reference to external/portable SSDs.

I don't know anything about what is available in New Zealand. However, this external SSD is very popular in the U.S. It's fast and very reasonably priced for an SSD.

Crucial X8 1TB Portable SSD – Up to 1050MB/s – USB 3.2 – External Solid State Drive, USB-C, USB-A – CT1000X8SSD9
$100 U.S.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YD5TK4F/?tag=macforums0e4-20&th=1

This one is a bit slower, and more expensive, but Mike Bombich recommends it highly:

Oyen Digital Helix 1TB USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen2) NVMe Portable SSD, Up to 950 MB/S
$137 U.S.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YCQMQ4G/?th=1

I agree with your assessment that OWC has some solid products. But not all of them.
With regard to OWC's SSD's....if purchase an SSD from them, make sure that the SSD that you have chosen has DRAM. Not all SSD's include DRAM (its excusion is to save money), and the absence of DRAM drastically slows down an SSD. See this video about the importance of DRAM in an SSD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=ybIXsrLCgdM

 

[krs]

I have searched, but cannot find reference to external/portable SSDs.

My Mini18 is approaching 2/3 full, it cannot be upgraded internally, so I am seeking opinions regarding an portable SSD. 1 Tb capacity should do it, I have heaps of external SATA drives for any extra.

LaCie is sold by Apple in NZ at greatly inflated price. There are other sellers at lesser price.
Transcend, of which I'm a great fan with other hardware, sells in NZ for ~$180 US
Samsung, about $160 US
Seagate (too expensive)
Crucial brand is hard to find in NZ.

Your thoughts and recommendations please, TIA ..... Hugh

I have used the Crucial 1 TB SSD (with DRAM) in an external enclosure with my Mini for over a year. Works great as long as you don't move the Mini or the SSD - seems to be easy to slightly dislodge the USB 3 cable.
Of the SSD's you listed, I would pick the Samsung if you can't get the Cruial in NZ.
Maybe post the model number here of whichever SSD you plan on buying so you can get some feedback; Crucial makes at least three 1 TB models in the 2.5 inch SATA interface form factor,with and without DRAM.

 

[pm-r]

...if purchase an SSD from them, make sure that the SSD that you have chosen has DRAM. Not all SSD's include DRAM (its excusion is to save money), and the absence of DRAM drastically slows down an SSD.

It seems that the old opinion about slow DRAM-less SDDs is changing for some Brands and models:

DRAM vs. DRAM-less SSDs: Not so different after all

Users might disregard SSDs without dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), but Samsung's 980 SSD line is just as fast as DRAM SSDs.

insights.samsung.com

- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

It seems that the old opinion about slow DRAM-less SDDs is changing for some Brands and models:

Well, that author's opinion has changed, I'm not sure if everyone else's has. Once again, note that is a Samsung Web page and the author is an unknown. You've once again cited to a shill site Patrick.

I more or less agree with the article though. If you are comparing the speed of an SSD with a RDHD, the SSD is almost always faster. If you are content with your SSD just being faster than a RDHD, and you don't want to pay a bit more for extra performance, a DRAM-less SSD is fine.

Just about every SSD mechanism on the market today cuts some corners to achieve a lower price. An SSD might lack DRAM, it might lack over-provisioning, it might use a less expensive type of memory, it might have poor cooling that leads to thermal throttling, or it might not support the OS's implementation of TRIM. The thing to watch out for is if a given SSD does without two or more of these things. That will make the SSD unusually slow. (e.g. some Samsung SSD's do without BOTH DRAM and over-provisioning. That's why they've put that Web site up, to try and get you to purchase their slow models anyway.)

On another list we've been talking about these SSD's that you see from China that are advertised on places like Facebook. They offer huge amounts of storage capacity for what seems like a stunningly low price. Unfortunately, if you get one, and you manage to even get it to format, it will be as slow as a USB flash drive. That was the tradeoff you made for the low price.

Meanwhile, if you purchase a blazingly fast Intel or Angelbird SSD, it will be about three times the price of, for instance, a Samsung SSD of the same capacity. So, in the end, you can shop for any combination of performance, reliability, and price that you want.

 

[pm-r]

Well, that author's opinion has changed, I'm not sure if everyone else's has.

I did notice the site address, and it's always up to the consumer, or should be, to check them for reliability.

On another list we've been talking about these SSD's that you see from China that are advertised on places like Facebook.

I have often wondered about these offerings and I wonder where they obtained the dryers from in the first place as as far as I know there are only a few companies making storage drives, whether they be HDDs or SDDs.

It is one thing where I have never scrimped on price or even thought about doing so when it comes to reliability and data storage, a good reliable brand with a reasonable price suits me fine, and fast speed helps as long as the price isn't excessive.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I have often wondered about these offerings and I wonder where they obtained the dryers from in the first place as as far as I know there are only a few companies making storage drives, whether they be HDDs or SDDs.

You are correct about RDHD's; only three companies make them currently. (Actually, all three of those companies farm out manufacturing to a bunch of different factories all over Asia now. None of them actually manufacture their own RDHD's anymore.)

But there are a bunch of companies that make SSD's. See:

storagenewsletter.com

You can purchase these fascinating looking external SSD's with HUGE capacities from China for less than $20 each:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256803582311555.html

Folks see these advertised on Facebook for $80 and they go nuts for them. Unfortunately, they are absolute POS's.

 

[pm-r]

You can purchase these fascinating looking external SSD's with HUGE capacities from China for less than $20 each:

Actually, I have purchased a fair bit of stuff from AliExpress and have done for quite some time, but it never even entered my brain to purchase anything like an SSD or even a HDD from that site.

I did however purchase a Lithium powered 3 wheel Mobility cart from Divous Medical at Aliexpress last year. But that's a totally different category.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Actually, I have purchased a fair bit of stuff from AliExpress and have done for quite some time, but it never even entered my brain to purchase anything like an SSD or even a HDD from that site.

I find AliExpress to be fascinating! They aren't just one store, but rather they are sort of a store-front for a large number of other stores.

AliExpress is really fun to browse through because they have all sorts of interesting goods, mostly at ridiculously low prices.

I've purchased stuff from AliExpress that seemed too good to be true, but it turned out to be simply a stunning-good buy. For instance, I've purchased electric razors from them that looked exactly like a $150 (in the U.S.) Norelco razor, for about $14, and the razor showed up and it was every bit as good as a Norelco razor. (Who knows, it may have been made by the same factory that actually makes Norelco razors.)

I've purchased personal electronics, small appliances, watches, jewelry for my wife, high-tech LED flashlights, even motorcycle accessories, from AliExpress, and it has almost always worked out wonderfully.

If I see something advertised very late at night on television on an infomercial, I can almost always go to AliExpress and find exactly the same product there for a fraction of the price. (It's likely that the infomercial folks got the product from the same source.)

But one has to be extremely careful shopping with them. There is lots of stuff advertised on their Web site that is clearly of very low quality, stuff that is highly questionable, and some things that are obvious scams. As you say, I'd be incredibly reticent to purchase a computer storage drive from them. Though I suspect that with a fair amount of searching you might be able to find RDHD's from the same exact factory that makes them for the brand-name companies who sell them. The problem would be knowing that is the case. They won't tell you.

 

[mrjimmy]

Reviving this old thread as I'm only now upgrading!

Any experience out there with installing a WD Blue SSD in an older iMac (in this case a mid 2011 12,2).

I know everyone swears by the OWC upgrade, but it's simply too $$$.

Thanks!

 

[pm-r]

I know everyone swears by the OWC upgrade, but it's simply too $$$.

I'm not knocking the WD Blue SSD too seriously here, but are you sure you checked the correct pricing???

I just did so at both the OWC site and the Western Digital site for their Blue SSD, and the pricing was very similar, but I did not notice if the Western Digital also included: the SSD, thermal sensor, & bracket which you may or may not need or want and would need to be added to the cost.

PS: I think I may have mentioned it previously here but one of the main reasons I chose the OWC SSD was the fact that it Included: SSD, thermal sensor, & bracket, but also the fact that it did not need any extra TRIM support, whether that is something to consider or not these days you will have to check and I don't know what macOS version you prefer to run.




- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Any experience out there with installing a WD Blue SSD ...

I don't have any experience with WD Blue SSD's. But I have a prejudice against WD in general, because it always seems that if there is some way that WD can screw you...they will.

So, before you purchase that WD SSD, ask a lot of questions:

Does it include DRAM? (Garbage SSD's leave out the DRAM to save money. This slows them down precipitously.

How much over-provisioning does it have? (A cheaply made SSD may have NONE. Which means that your SSD will be fast when new, but quickly drop off in performance.)

Does it work with Apple's implementation of TRIM? (If it doesn't, your SSD won't have a very long lifespan, and it will, once again, drop off in performance much earlier in its life than it should.)

Is this model compatible with your model of Mac?

Apple Proprietary SSDs: Ultimate Guide to Specs & Upgrades | BeetsBlog

Apple’s SSDs are confusing. Are they M.2 drives? What connector do they use? AHCI or NVMe? What drive can I use to upgrade? We have answers. We’ll tell which SSDs work in which MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac minis and more.

beetstech.com

What is the rated IO speed of this SSD?

This site lists has a lot of information that might be helpful:

SSDs

docs.google.com

An SSD that is cheaply made will be a POS that won't be any faster than a RDHD, and it may not even last as long as a decent RDHD.

 

[mrjimmy]

I'm not knocking the WD Blue SSD too seriously here, but are you sure you checked the correct pricing???

I just did so at both the OWC site and the Western Digital site for their Blue SSD, and the pricing was very similar, but I did not notice if the Western Digital also included: the SSD, thermal sensor, & bracket which you may or may not need or want and would need to be added to the cost.

PS: I think I may have mentioned it previously here but one of the main reasons I chose the OWC SSD was the fact that it Included: SSD, thermal sensor, & bracket, but also the fact that it did not need any extra TRIM support, whether that is something to consider or not these days you will have to check and I don't know what macOS version you prefer to run.




- Patrick
=======

Hi Patrick,

I found a 1TB, WD Blue on Amazon for $79.00CAN free shipping, vs. $119.99USD + shipping from OWC. Enough of a difference to make a difference. The install will be done at a shop.

 

[mrjimmy]

I don't have any experience with WD Blue SSD's. But I have a prejudice against WD in general, because it always seems that if there is some way that WD can screw you...they will.

So, before you purchase that WD SSD, ask a lot of questions:

Does it include DRAM? (Garbage SSD's leave out the DRAM to save money. This slows them down precipitously.

How much over-provisioning does it have? (A cheaply made SSD may have NONE. Which means that your SSD will be fast when new, but quickly drop off in performance.)

Does it work with Apple's implementation of TRIM? (If it doesn't, your SSD won't have a very long lifespan, and it will, once again, drop off in performance much earlier in its life than it should.)

Is this model compatible with your model of Mac?

Apple Proprietary SSDs: Ultimate Guide to Specs & Upgrades | BeetsBlog

Apple’s SSDs are confusing. Are they M.2 drives? What connector do they use? AHCI or NVMe? What drive can I use to upgrade? We have answers. We’ll tell which SSDs work in which MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac minis and more.

beetstech.com

What is the rated IO speed of this SSD?

This site lists has a lot of information that might be helpful:

SSDs

docs.google.com

An SSD that is cheaply made will be a POS that won't be any faster than a RDHD, and it may not even last as long as a decent RDHD.

Thanks for all the info. A quick scan doesn't offer up all the detail you mention re. the WD drive. Personal experience is always the best. Difficult to find that as well.

 

[krs]

Thanks for all the info. A quick scan doesn't offer up all the detail you mention re. the WD drive. Personal experience is always the best. Difficult to find that as well.

I had that problem as well when I was looking for an SSD for my 2012 Mini.
All one can really do is to search the net and maybe find at least some information and also understand what the difference is between the different models by the same manufacturer.

 

[krs]

Hi Patrick,

I found a 1TB, WD Blue on Amazon for $79.00CAN free shipping, vs. $119.99USD + shipping from OWC. Enough of a difference to make a difference. The install will be done at a shop.

Are you sure they are exactly the same model?