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New SSDs ligtning FAST....

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Posted on January 9, 2025 at 14:07:50
AbeCollins
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 I think I'm done with old SATA SSDs. This includes the 2.5" units meant to replace 2.5" spinning HDD. All SATA SSDs are so slow compared to modern NVMe. And that's an understatement!

My new NVMe based direct-attach backup SSD operates over a USB-C port and USB 4.0 protocol on my Mac Mini M1.

I maintain direct-attached backups as well as NAS backups for our all of our computers including the music server.

The chunky aluminum enclosure is a heat sink for the NVMe SSD and it looks cool.

SATA Disk Speed LEFT | NVMe Disk Speed RIGHT || The NVMe SSD is nearly 5x the speed of SATA

The Mac Mini internal NVMe Disk is similarly fast

Aluminum NVMe SSD enclosure and my old SATA favorite in Blue. Bye bye Blue!

Why? My backups complete almost 5x faster on NVMe storage.


 

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My approach is the opposite of yours, posted on January 9, 2025 at 14:48:30
E-Stat
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 I prefer the faster access and write speed of any SSD for everyday use across all my applications.

For backups that run while I'm asleep or doing something else, speed is a non-issue for me.

 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 9, 2025 at 15:15:14
kh6idf
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Posts: 1545
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001



Here's my speed measurement on my SSD primary C: drive. I also have a Samsung external T7 USB SSD for backup, measured speed on that is 957 MB/s seq write and 951 MB/s seq read.

I paid $127 for the 990 Pro and $150 for the T7, both 2 TB. Heck of a bargain if you ask me.

 

Not the opposite at all...., posted on January 9, 2025 at 16:22:41
AbeCollins
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 Speed + Speed + Slow + Slow here

I prefer the faster access and write speed on my computer across all my applications too AS WELL AS faster direct-attached backups.

The backup for my backups reside on NAS and run while I'm asleep and here speed is a non-issue. And then there are backups of my NAS to external USB HDD which is also slow but doesn't matter.

I have multiple tiers of backups and it varies depending on the computer. We have 4 of them that are in regular use. In general, everything is on an automated and coordinated non-conflicting schedule so they don't 'collide'




 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 9, 2025 at 16:39:40
AbeCollins
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 Now that's FAST! Is your primary NVMe on an internal slot inside your PC? I think my speed "bottleneck" is from the USB-C/USB 4.0 interface. The NVMe storage itself is capable of 7300 MB/s. Says so on the box ;-)

What is the capacity of your T7? The interesting thing about solid-state storage, depending on the design, is the speed increases as capacity goes up once you get beyond a certain hump in capacity. For example, the 512GB and 1TB Mac Mini storage is noticeably faster than the 256GB found in their entry models. I don't recall why but it might have to do with the number of banks that the controller can read/write to in parallel - or something like that. I believe this holds true for SSD in general, not just in the Mac.



 

In my system, posted on January 9, 2025 at 17:21:24
E-Stat
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 All data is stored on the mirrored NAS for fault tolerance and centralized backup. Consequently, don't bother with Time Machine. Only applications, local copy of iCloud photos and messages are found on the MacMini. A third of space used is for Parallels alone! Attach external USB based SSDs for periodic Carbon Copy Cloner OS images.



Sibelius' recent post revealed that Apple still wants $800 for 2 TB internal M.2 storage five years later. Doubt that I will go that route the next time around either.

Spinning rust used exclusively for backup purposes.

Fifteen year old Dell Studio tower running Win7 still working fine. OS on SSD with 2 TB spinning rust drive serving as yet another backup copy of data including multiple copies of Macrium based OS image backups. Used for ripping music and video and running Geoclock as it isn't supported under Win10. Here is other side of office where wifey plugs in university MacBook Pro for working at home.


 

RE: In my system, posted on January 9, 2025 at 21:59:53
AbeCollins
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I'm doing Time Machine local, Carbon Copy Cloner local and to NAS, and USB-Copy from NAS to external USB HDD. All bases covered and then some, including a disk in the gun safe and offsite.

I was looking at the Apple website and the storage pricing goes like this:

- 256 to 512 +$200
- 512 to 1TB +$200
- 1TB to 2TB +$400

In my case I feel more comfortable having at least 512GB for my general purpose computing for a couple reasons. My Intel Mac Mini has 1TB and 312GB is consumed. Had it been a 512GB SSD I'd have 200GB free which is still plenty of headroom for user and 'wear leveling'. 256 would be insufficient.



However, my Mac Mini M1 music server has only 256GB but it's just a dedicated music server.

My next Mac Mini will either have 512GB of Apple storage.... Or I might 3rd party upgrade to 2TB. Most recent Mac Minis had NAND storage soldered directly to the motherboard but the new Mac Mini M4's (and the Mac Studio) use a proprietary module. The key word being 'proprietary' but at least one company based in China is making them. I'm sure more will come on board including some in the US. We'll have to wait and see.

The end user upgrade process is a little more involved than just swapping a module. You'll need another recent Mac (2015 or newer) to run DFU mode between the two Macs over a USB-C cable.





 

Exactly!, posted on January 10, 2025 at 05:42:17
E-Stat
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 - 256 to 512 +$200
- 512 to 1TB +$200
- 1TB to 2TB +$400

$800 to meet my storage needs with zero fault tolerance. Pass.

Hard drives are the new CFLs. Use until they die and replace with SSD.

 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 10, 2025 at 15:37:10
kh6idf
Audiophile

Posts: 1545
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001
 Yes, the 990 Pro sits in a slot on the motherboard. The motherboard even has a heat sink for it.

My T7 (2 TB) is an external USB, connected to a USB 3.2 jack. The USB interface definitely slows it down compared to the native NVMe, but USB 4 is starting to appear, and it is something like 40 Gb/s. My motherboard doesn't have USB 4, just USB 3.2 (and USB 2.0).

 

This Seems Unbelievable , posted on January 10, 2025 at 22:11:40
Jotaro
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Posts: 250
Location: Kyushu Japan
Joined: June 6, 2024
An external 30TB SSD hard drive for what would be $60 or 5999 Yen...or roughly $38 USD.

Somethings not right.







 

Hot merchandise ?, posted on January 10, 2025 at 22:14:57
AbeCollins
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If it's too good to be true.... ?



 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 10, 2025 at 22:23:02
AbeCollins
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Location: Maidenhead Grid Square DM79
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 That's pretty slick. You're probably going directly into an NVMe slot vs NVMe memory on a PCIe slot.

I haven't 'built' a PC in a few decades. It might be a fun project but I'm not sure what I would do with it afterwards ;-)

When I was working I managed to repurpose a couple older servers to the SETI project and then Folding@home - donating distributed computing resources via the internet. The electric bill was on the company dime. I even let them have a few cycles from my Mac but that was notoriously slow compared to some of the built up PCs with NVIDA GPU.



 

Ships via Amazon, posted on January 10, 2025 at 23:20:53
Jotaro
Audiophile

Posts: 250
Location: Kyushu Japan
Joined: June 6, 2024

Here is another, shipped via Amazon but the selling is from China. Cost is roughly $80 dollars in Yen or $50 USD

I see quite a few on Amazon here for nearly the same'ish price. Then I see other brands like Buffalo and SanDisk 1TB drives that go for the normal $100'ish USD price range. Reading the reviews also looks suspicious as some of them are reviews of different products while some low rating ones complain of not being able to format and/or corrupt data...too good to be true. I'll stick with the name brands.








 

RE: Ships via Amazon, posted on January 11, 2025 at 08:32:21
AbeCollins
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That 30TB cheapie seems really suspicious. My favorite brand has long been Samsung which fetches a slight price premium over the other established brands. I just purchased a WD Black NVMe because the Samsung I wanted had a longer lead time.



 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 11, 2025 at 14:14:19
kh6idf
Audiophile

Posts: 1545
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001
 Yes, M.2 slot. The motherboard (see link below)has 3 of them, one PCIe 5 and two PCIe 4. I'm using the PCIe 5 slot but the 990 Pro is PCIe 4.

Built a new PC after using the old one for about 15 years since it became obsolete if I wanted to move to Windows 11. The new machine has an AMD Ryzen 7 9700 and 32GB of 6000 MHz RAM. With Windows 11 loaded it's a real pleasure to use.

Got all the parts at my local Best Buy except for the power supply. I wanted the Seasonic brand so ordered from Newegg (850W for some excess capacity).

The other nice thing is the noise level, or lack of it. Sitting 2 feet away it's nearly dead quiet.

 

Newegg..., posted on January 13, 2025 at 11:28:59
Tromatic
Audiophile

Posts: 2771
Location: Portland
Joined: July 27, 2000
 Has Micron 30TB drives for six grand. I suspect the 30 buck version is crap.

 

Or, maybe the Chinese Gov't or a hacker gets total access to your PC... nt., posted on January 13, 2025 at 12:35:51
mlsstl
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  Since: December 16, 2024
 nt.

 

How fast is fast enough?, posted on January 13, 2025 at 19:07:08
Rod M
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 Like kh6idf, I'd added a Samsung 2TB 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 for a new workstation for my wife. It actually had a 1TB M.2 2280 drive and an extra M2 slot and added the 2TB drive for Adobe projects and cache. It's quick.

Anyway, half as fast over USB with the M2 drive is still a lot faster than a SATA drive even in the motherboard. I just looked on my system and an SATA SSD drive only gets 540 MB/s. I thought the M2 drive that I stuck for my son's PC was only about 1,300. They've gotten a lot faster.

I've got one of those Samsung 2TB USB drives for travel for music files and video stuff. It's slow if you're copying a lot. But, for reading, it's fine, it's fast enough for streaming.

-Rod

 

RE: New SSDs ligtning FAST...., posted on January 13, 2025 at 19:33:07
Rod M
Web Geek

Posts: 16826
Location: So. California
Joined: March 1, 1999
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  Since: March 1, 1999
 That's a nice build. I've done too many builds and sometimes it seems like it costs more than just buying one. B&H had a deal last year for a Lenovo Legion Tower 7i, Intel i9, 32GB of 5600Mhz, 1TB M.2 and GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB) and I added a 2TB M.2 and 128GB of RAM. It's fast and silent.

The only problem that I had was figuring out how to turn off the LED colors and light show on all the front 3 fans.

Why do people like that?





-Rod

 

There was a time when disk speed was noticeable, posted on January 14, 2025 at 13:18:49
AbeCollins
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Not as much these days unless you're dealing with huge files or large backups. I DID notice the backup speed difference over USB 3.1 vs USB 4.



 

Depends upon which *fast*, posted on January 15, 2025 at 07:14:34
E-Stat
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 As with cars, there are multiple measures for fast. The sequential transfer rate you cite is analogous to top speed. Not something used everyday.

What I like about any SSD is its 0-60, aka access time.

 

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