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  #1  
Old 05-06-2019, 07:30 PM
sharptoupe sharptoupe is offline
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Default Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Hey guys,

So I'm running a 2012 MBPro with the stock 750gb 7200 rpm internal drive and two external OWC drives for sessions/libraries. My internal drive is almost maxed out and my externals are connected FW800 (older model) and USB 3.0.

Would it be in my best interest, performance wise, to buy an external SSD drive that connects via thunderbolt 2, or replace the internal drive with an SSD drive? Also my macbook only has 1 TB port conveniently, so if I do get a TB ext. HD, I need one that offers two TB ports to connect my UAD interface.

Thanks so much for any suggestions,
Matt
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  #2  
Old 05-06-2019, 07:37 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

What exact model/EMC number computer do you have. Printed on the back in plain sight
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  #3  
Old 05-06-2019, 07:37 PM
JGuth JGuth is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Go internal SSD. I like the OWC ones. Pretty easy install. Best bang for the buck upgrade you can do IMHO.
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  #4  
Old 05-06-2019, 07:59 PM
sharptoupe sharptoupe is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

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Originally Posted by JGuth View Post
Go internal SSD. I like the OWC ones. Pretty easy install. Best bang for the buck upgrade you can do IMHO.
Thanks JGuth. That’s what I was thinking of doing and just keeping the externals as backups.
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  #5  
Old 05-06-2019, 08:00 PM
sharptoupe sharptoupe is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
What exact model/EMC number computer do you have. Printed on the back in plain sight
Model identifier is 9.1 model number: A1286
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  #6  
Old 05-06-2019, 09:20 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

OK the reason for checking was around this time the support for SATA III in the main drive and optical drive bay were changing. You should have SATA III (6 Gbps) in the main bay and SATA II (3 Gbps) in the optical bay. https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/...GB/#comp_notes

You also do not have USB 3 in that computer [bzzt actually you do, see correction in a later post] and no thunderbolt [bzzt I'm wrong again, see later post], and one Firewire 800--but Firewire is pretty dead and you can't get any decent Firewire SSD drives. So all that says make most use of internal SATA SSD.... or upgrade the laptop. And I would try to stop using any external drives if possible, much easier to deal with and more reliable especially if moving the system between locations.

So you can add a SATA III SSD in the main drive bay, that is a no-brainer.

The Samsung 860 Evo is a fine drive to go with. Normal users are unlikely to notice not having the Pro version. And the Evo (and more expensive Pro) are available in 2GB and 4GB sizes at compelling prices. So for example it's possible for many people to stuff their VI samples on the boot/system drive.

I (and others) can't guess what you are doing, how complex your sessions are, etc, or how much total disk space you need. Disk cache can cover lots of sins, but your system also does not have much DRAM capacity, hopefully you have upgraded to 16GB already. If your sessions are small then setting disk cache to a few GB should be a big help, disk cache == normal is disabled.

If you need to you can add a similar SSD into the optical bay, an it will run at SATA II speeds, but you don't loose as much practical performance there as implied by the 2x raw bandwidth difference between SATA III and SATA II. and if you still need an optical drive move it to an external caddy (or just buy a new Apple external USB Superdrive) Especially if you just need the drive space I'd add this second drive--it may be a toss up as to wether it's better to put samples on the boot drive and sessions on the opticl bay drive or samples on the optical bay drive and sessions on the boot drive -- depends if your VIs stream or pre-load samples, how much disk cache might help you etc.. But since I see the optical driver as a waste of space I'd likely swap it with an SSD anyhow.

If you want to use the optical bay look for a suitable OWC tray adapter, but I would use Samsung 860 Evo or Pro SSDs, not OWC SSDs. If you don't have 16GB RAM already installed do that when you upgrade the drive(s). OWC RAM SO-DIMMs are fine, as are any mainstream vendor Viking, Micron , etc. just make sure they are speced for this exact model.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 05-07-2019 at 10:00 AM.
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Old 05-07-2019, 07:25 AM
sharptoupe sharptoupe is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Thanks for the detailed info Darryl, it’s really appreciated. I have upgraded my MBP to 16 gigs ram and It does have 1 Thunderbolt 2 port. I think the best route for me at the moment will be to go with your advice and upgrade the internal drive to a ssd, and possibly add another ssd to the optical drive as well.

Would it be beneficial to look into a thunderbolt external drive option since I do have the port? Would it make a significant difference in performance compared to using the internal drives?

Also, I’m not that familiar with the new iMac options out there, but could it be smarter to just buy a new, most likely more capable iMac, rather than continue to upgrade my MBP.

Thanks again!!
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  #8  
Old 05-07-2019, 09:55 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharptoupe View Post
Thanks for the detailed info Darryl, it’s really appreciated. I have upgraded my MBP to 16 gigs ram and It does have 1 Thunderbolt 2 port. I think the best route for me at the moment will be to go with your advice and upgrade the internal drive to a ssd, and possibly add another ssd to the optical drive as well.

Would it be beneficial to look into a thunderbolt external drive option since I do have the port? Would it make a significant difference in performance compared to using the internal drives?
Doh., sorry, I managed to pull up the wrong page when I looked up that model number. Here is the right one on everymac: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/m...sb3-specs.html

(I'll edit corrections into my previous post so others finding his thread don't get the wrong info).

So your MBP does have USB 3 (ie. 5 Gbps aka USB 3.1 Gen 1)

Your MBP does have Thunderbolt, but it is 1 not 2. Thunderbolt 2 was introduced in MBP in late 2013 IIRC.

Choices of Thunderbolt 1 or 2 high-performance drives (i.e. ones that use PCIe SSDs not SATA SSD internally) are very limited now. You might still be able to find a Sonnet Fusion Thunderbolt 2 drive somewhere. Unfortunately the current impressive Thunderbolt 3 PCIe/NMVe drives like the Samsung X5 or Sonnet Fusion Thunderbolt 3 are not backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1 or 2 computers.

Since you do have USB 3.0 an option I would look at if you need external storage is the Samsung T5 external SSD, thats is basically a Samsung Evo SATA drive stuck in a small USB USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, it is backwards compatible with your USB 3/3.1 Gen 1 ports. You lose a bit of performance with USB 3 not 3.1 Gen 2, but the drive can't hit Gen 2 limits anyhow as it's internally using SATA. Super nice and handy small drive, but I'd still try to get my daily needs met by installing internal SATA drives.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 05-07-2019 at 01:54 PM.
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  #9  
Old 05-07-2019, 10:15 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharptoupe View Post
Also, I’m not that familiar with the new iMac options out there, but could it be smarter to just buy a new, most likely more capable iMac, rather than continue to upgrade my MBP.
You need to think through the options, your needs, budget etc. Some scattered comments...

A new well set up iMac will be expensive, and my approach there is to go for higher-end systems that are well configured and will last many years, you will need to look at costs for what you want.

Apple is hopefully going to introduce a new Mac Pro this year, finally!. Which would also have me waiting to see what that looks like before say going for a high-end iMac or iMac Pro now... but may not stop more reasonable mid-low end purchases.

Do you need a laptop? The current iMac and MacBook Pro get you a lot more capability, starting with internal very fast PCIe/NVMe based SSD. That storage is so fast you can usually just throw everything (OS , samples, audio/sessions) on the internal single drive. As long as you have space. That SSD is also soldered to the motherboard in all current iMac and MBP and you pay a hefty Apple tax for it... but its super fast, so y general advice is to try to max out that internal PCIe SSD as much as you cn afford. I would not even consider an iMac with nternal HDD or Fusion drive silliness (noit to be confused with the imoressive Sonnet Fusion external drives).

The 27" iMac is the only one of any of these computers with user upgradeable DRAM. If I was to buy one of those I'd look at smallest memory config and upgrade myself later, put everything I could into the SSD upgrade.

All these computers have Thunderbolt 3 for external storage ... which with the right Thunderbolt 3 external drive (like a Samsung X5 or Sonnet Fusion Thunderbolt 3) you can get close to the internal SSD performance... but then you are again dealing with fragile external connections, I'd rather try to get core/critical storage internal.

I use a 2016 MBP with internal storage for everything and multiple T5 external drives for moving stuff around or testing new OS and Pro Tools installs etc. and some Thunderbolt 3 drives for playing with, and a LG Thunderbolt 3 monitor and a variety of external (typing) keyboards. My only complaint with the MBP is I would like more than 16 GB, current ones have 32 GB, and the butterfly keyboard sucks awfully for typing, current ones still do.
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  #10  
Old 05-09-2019, 03:16 PM
sharptoupe sharptoupe is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade to internal/ext. SSD?

Darryl,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience. I’m going to look into all of the options you’ve shared and make my decision based on the best bang for the buck. Really appreciate your feedback.

Take care.
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