Host Drive Vs External SSD fro speed

[Matthew Seed]

Hi guys and gals. I have a Mac that is an iMac 2011 thats running quite slow.

Can I just ask a quick question, would it be faster operation to have all my software libraries like for Superior Drummer etc on an external SSD drive going into Thunderbolt rather than all of them on the computers built in drive.

Thank you
Matthew

[muzines]

If the internal drive is a spinning drive, then yes.

If the internal drive is an SSD, then it will probably be comparable speed.

[Matthew Seed]

Thank you Desmond, below is the spec of my machine. Sorry to ask as it all doesn't mean that much to me, does this info tell you what I have ? Thank you

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac12,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 20 GB
Boot ROM Version: 85.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 1.72f2
Hardware UUID: 5A3856E8-4207-5889-AD28-239931F60A66

[muzines]

No, that tells me nothing about your internal drive, really. If your iMac is from 2011, it probably won't be an SSD, unless you've bought one and upgraded it yourself (although, it may not be easily replaceable depending on your iMac).

[Kwackman]

In your mac specs, to get that info you clicked.. "About this Mac"then "System Report"?
If my screen is like yours, on the left of all that info, if you click on the "Hardware" arrow, you should see in the list "Storage". That'll tell you what your internal drive is, hopefully!

[Matthew Seed]

Thanks guys, this is that info:

Available: 182.22 GB (182,215,380,992 bytes)
Capacity: 999.35 GB (999,345,127,424 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: Journaled HFS+
Writable: Yes
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk0s2
Volume UUID: ABE433F9-D355-35AE-88F1-E51BD4D9AC2D
Physical Drive:
Device Name: ST31000528AS
Media Name: ST31000528AS Media
Medium Type: Rotational
Protocol: SATA
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

[muzines]

Yes, it's a spinning rust drive. Any SSD will be much faster than what you have.

[Matthew Seed]

Thanks Desmond, would you advise an external SSD over replacing the internal drive of the iMac ?

And just 2 more questions if i may, sorry I don't know much about these things.

1. I only have one spare Thunderbolt port on my Mac, can i daisy chain my UAD Apollo Twin through an SSD into the Mac with no problems.

2. Is there any SSD drive you would recommend, if not an exact one then anything, spec wise I should look out for ?

Thank you so very much.
Matthew

[muzines]

Thanks Desmond, would you advise an external SSD over replacing the internal drive of the iMac ?

Well, first you need to find out if you can even replace the drive in an iMac. They weren't designed to be user-replaceable. If you can, yes, an SSD for the system will be a way faster experience in general.

1. I only have one spare Thunderbolt port on my Mac, can i daisy chain my UAD Apollo Twin through an SSD into the Mac with no problems.

You can only daisychain TB devices if the devices have two TB ports, one in and one out. I think the Apollo Twin only has one, so it would have to be at the end of the chain. So you'd need a TB drive which has two TB ports in order to add another device to the chain.

2. Is there any SSD drive you would recommend, if not an exact one then anything, spec wise I should look out for ?

Not particularly...

[Matthew Seed]

Thats really useful. When you get an external drive like that, can you put on there the software like Logic for example, can you run software from an external drive or is it just for the likes of Libraries of content ?

Thanks Desmond, Your help is much appreciated.

I will look into getting a 2 port TB SSD drive

Matthew

[muzines]

When you get an external drive like that, can you put on there the software like Logic for example, can you run software from an external drive or is it just for the likes of Libraries of content ?

Just for libraries, your projects and so on. Apps and the OS always run off your system disk (this is why an internal SSD speeds things up so much.)

Logic has a tool to relocate it's sound content to a different location, and many other apps/plugins etc have something similar, or let you choose where to store the big stuff.

[Matthew Seed]

Great stuff, Thanks again Desmond.

Matthew

[MOF]

I put a SSD into my MBP 2009 and put the old drive into a usb housing for when I want to use apps that only work on that OS.
I don’t know how easy replacing your iMac’s drive will be but if it’s fast enough for your requirements (adding more RAM might give you more speed and be easier to install) then I would say just get an external SSD for your sample libraries.

[wireman]

I put a SSD into my MBP 2009 and put the old drive into a usb housing for when I want to use apps that only work on that OS.
I don’t know how easy replacing your iMac’s drive will be but if it’s fast enough for your requirements (adding more RAM might give you more speed and be easier to install) then I would say just get an external SSD for your sample libraries.

I have also replaced the drive with an SSD in a MBP of around that vintage.

It made a huge difference to the boot up time.

[Jumpeyspyder]

Matthew Seed - With a mac of that age its probably worth double checking that you do actually have a thunderbolt port and not a Mini DisplayPort (they look the same) check in system profiler or look at the logos next to the ports

[Sam Spoons]

The late 2011 MBP does have Thunderbolt, and changing to a SSD made a huge improvement in performance.

[Ariosto]

I bypassed the internal drive on my mac mini - it's still there but I don't use it. I run the O/S from an external SSD drive which you can set up as the main boot drive and I also have other SSD drives as backups etc. It's very fast, 15 sec boot up and 10 sec close down, and just a few seconds to save a 5GB file.

[Matthew Seed]

Thanks guys for your input. Ya know what I am getting tempted to cut my losses and move on i.e buy a new Mac.

I am looking at a Mac Mini as I already have a nice super wide monitor that I like to use.

When buying a new Mac mini for music production there seems to be a lot of choice, I dont quite know what to prioritise.

for example:

3.6GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i3

Is the standard, or for £300 more i can get

3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7

So in there we have GHz, i3 or i7 and 4 or 6 core, could someone who knows explain what difference these elements make please, I am not to clued up on this level of tech.

After that its just storage and RAM options, I know not to buy Apple's memory of course, so I would go for the 8GB and upgrade with 3rd party.

I am guessing that any of these will be a major leap forward from what I have though.

I noticed that the thunderbolt ports are the USB 3 style, my UAD Apollo will work with this style port wont it, do i need a different cable ?

Thanks for any help guys its much appreciated.
Matthew

[muzines]

Go for the i7, it's a more powerful processor. A bit more money, but the machine will be better and last you longer.

Yes, your Apollo will work but you'll need an adaptor or two.

[Kwackman]

Just be aware that some mac minis can't be upgraded by the end user.
Apple keep changing the upgradability, but at one stage you couldn't upgrade the ram even.
Best double check with someone who knows (Desmond?) before pressing the buy button

[Matthew Seed]

Thank you guys, Thats just the info i needed.

I do hope you can change the RAM yourself, an extra £600 for 32GB is crazy cash.

Thank you again for the info, very much appreciated.

Matthew

[Matthew Seed]

Hi guys. Could I just ask one more question.

I am getting ready to buy a new Mac Mini and take the plunge. From what I can see you can change the RAM yourself which is good news.

However on the subject of Thunderbolt, all the ports on the new Mac Mini's are Thunderbolt 3. I assume if you get an adaptor from Thunderbolt 2 to 3 then I can run my UAD Apollo at its full speed ?

I can not seem to find any third party adaptors for this, of course apple make thier own at £50 a go, i need 3 so this is mounting up. does anyone know of any good third party adaptors please like the one I have linked.....

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MMEL2ZM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter?afid=p238%7Csjz2qESXs-dc_mtid_187079nc38483_pcrid_420352257486_pgrid_98718211840_&cid=aos-uk-kwgo-pla-btb--slid---product-MMEL2ZM/A-UK

[muzines]

However on the subject of Thunderbolt, all the ports on the new Mac Mini's are Thunderbolt 3. I assume if you get an adaptor from Thunderbolt 2 to 3 then I can run my UAD Apollo at its full speed ?

Yes.

I can not seem to find any third party adaptors for this, of course apple make their own at £50 a go, i need 3 so this is mounting up.

I don't know of or have any recommendations for third party ones, sorry...

[Matthew Seed]

Thanks Desmond, much appreciated. Looks like i'll have to shell out £150 for 3 apple ones then.

Thanks again
Matthew

[muzines]

You can try ebay, I'm sure there will be cheaper ones that are used, barely used, or surplus to requirements...