SSD for iMac

[Black]

I think you have Thunderbolt but not USB3 on that model?
Definitely get a FW800/USB2 case. Please please please when you do, try booting via USB2 first so you can give me some backup here next time anyone says there's no benefit to an SSD booted via USB. But FW800 booting will be more than enough to cure your lagginess.

[C(-)ris]

Put that drive in a thunderbolt case and it will be just like having it internal. Skip the FW800 if you have a Thunderbolt port.

[davemchine]

Well this is interesting. According to http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/im...specs.html I do have thunderbolt. Unfortunately ssd's and thunderbolt are not offered together from OWC. Bummer.

[jdc]

OWC makes excellent SSDs, no argument there -- but they are not the only game in town with great SSDs.

Probably the cheapest solution would be the Seagate TB dock for $99 and then just about any SSD you want.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFlex-Thu..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363983106&sr=8-1&keywords=goflex+thunderbolt+adapter

Although I dont see any deals right now, but I have seen 256 GB Crucial SSDs for $160.

[Black]

jdc wrote:
OWC makes excellent SSDs, no argument there -- but they are not the only game in town with great SSDs.

Probably the cheapest solution would be the Seagate TB dock for $99 and then just about any SSD you want.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFlex-Thu..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363983106&sr=8-1&keywords=goflex+thunderbolt+adapter

Although I dont see any deals right now, but I have seen 256 GB Crucial SSDs for $160.

The via external USB is dramatic, and via FW800 leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.
I wish someone would do a test comparing SSD booting via external T-bolt vs FW 800 for various processes.
Although the main problem it cured for me was system sluggishness-- not sure how you would measure that.

[decay]

i have noticed that most tests focus on data transfer speed

[Black]

decay wrote:
i have noticed that most tests focus on data transfer speed

Yup, I had spinning beachballs and lags waiting for applications to switch or quit before SSD booting.
Now I don't.
I'm perfectly happy with USB 2 for my other external drives (HDDs) which I use for security cam storage, downloads, EyeTV cache, backups, etc.
Not all that interested in file transfer speed here, but I will never go back to HDD booting.

[davemchine]

Since thunderbolt is an emerging technology I think I'll just back off and get the case with firewire 800. I will most likely order next week and I will report back the speed difference booting between usb2 vs firewire 800 for Black. I would think firewire 800 would be faster but I'm more concerned about day to day use rather than startup time.

[davemchine]

Ah screw it. MiniStack is on the way. It will match and stack with another drive I already have so it will look nice and hopefully work well. 240GB, SSD, Firewire 800, usb3, esata. That's about as future proof as I can get right now. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/MSQSSD240/

[jdc]

Looks nice. I thought it included more ports, like a hub, but guess not. Ministack classic has the 3 extra USB ports, but only USB 2.

barefeats tests USB 3 vs TB, but just read/write tests. http://www.barefeats.com/hard168.html

Im not sure how they would measure "day-to-day" stuff, since a lot of peoples 'days' are different