

Why does it need to be "smaller than 2.5TB. That would work as long as my library remains smaller than 2.5TB. With the iMac I could have just the photos on the Fusion and all other files residing on either an external TB drive/NAS.

For that size of an SSD I would always recommend a Fusion Drive over it. Of course a Fusion Drive has advanatges over a 256GB SSD. The 3TB Fusion Drive is around 320MBps on the write speed side and over 700MBps for read speed. Thunderbolt can certainly match and exceed the speeds of any current SSD, including mSATA. I would do a search for speed results for such an mSATA combination in such an enclosure. I was wondering, beside the question above, what have been your experience with external thunderbolt storage. I will probably wait until the MacPro is out to make the final decision but it sounds like it is more directed to video editing and it will probably be overkill for photography.
#Imac fusion drive vs ssd 2018 plus
The MacPro 6core 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD 6GB VRAM (upgrades not yet priced) plus the same DROBO would cost about CAN$800 more. I know cost is another entire topic, but a 27"iMac 3TB Fusion, 4GB VRAM, $400 OWC 32GB RAM, DROBO 5D+240SSD costs about CAN$4K. What bothers me is the noise and the delay accessing an external drive (my experience with Firewire 800 DROBO) and I wonder if this would still be the same for newer Thunderbolt drives. With the MacPro, there is no way around, I would need a TB drive. I have lots of room to grow on this set up (all drives are about 60% full).Īll my data would not fit on a 3Tb drive though. I currently have a 120GB SSD for the OS and recent files (desktop) and 3 regular HDs: 3Tb for photos, 2Tb for Videos and 2Tb for iTunes and other docs. Would a 3TB Fusion be much faster than a DROBO 5D (with 240GB mSATA SSD installed) attached to the iMac via Thunderbolt? With the price announced and the fact it will come with 256GB SSD (upgradable to 1TB) I started looking at the iMac as an alternative for my needs. I have waited for the new MacPro for quite a while to replace my existing one. Very interesting discussion and I am learning a lot here.
