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SSD vs Fusion Drive

FWIW. I don't have an iMac. Instead I have a 2014 Mac mini which had similar selections for the internal drive. I opted to go with the 2 TB Fusion drive, for two reasons:

1. I still get the benefit of an SSD for quick startup and access to applications, and
2. I still get the benefit of having a large HDD for everything else.

Before this I had a 2012 mini with a 750 MB HDD. The performance difference with the Fusion drive is significant.

I also do not have an iMac so I am not able to speak to your situation directly.

I have a 2010Mac Pro with a DIY Fusion Drive that I created for myself. I have found the increase in performance after the installation of the DIY Fusion Drive to be sufficient for me to continue using it as my primary computer. Whereas before hand I was seriously considering replacing it because of the slow performance.

Fusion drive pros

• Lower cost per GB than SSD
• Faster than a traditional HD

Cons of Fusion drive are:

• Not quite as fast as SSD
• Less reliable due to it's mechanics than a SSD

Pros of a SSD

• Fastest IO available which translates into super fast startup, shutdown, file and app opening and closing.
• More reliable than a Fusion drive due to being 100% solid state

Cons of a SSD

• Price per GB is higher.

My personal thoughts are to go with the smaller SSD and only

keep macOS, Apps, and basic user data on it.  Everything else

should be kept on external drives, including backups. USB3 will

work pretty much at the full speed any HDD drive so there will

be no performance advantage over having it internal.

Put the stuff on external drives that are not utilized every day

like movies, photos, even iTunes library.  Music playback is so slow

it won't matter and USB3 and HDD is more than fast enough to

stream movies.

The 21" 1TB Fusion drive [32GB SSD / 5400rpm HDD] is in some ways comparable to the MacBook Air TFT display. Its cheap and get the job done but is also noticeably inferior to other options. Even users upgrading from 2009-2011 iMacs with 7200rpm HDDs occasionally find the 21" fusion to be more of downgrade than upgrade.

My thoughts:

If you are upgrading from a 2012 or newer 21" iMac with only an HDD or from one of the older laptops with just an HDD then the 1TB Fusion will be a solid upgrade from day one with plenty of storage space. If the day comes when you need better then external SSDs are an option.

However if are already accustomed to SSD speeds (or even consistent 7200rpm speeds) then you will probably be happier with 256GB SSD.

All down to what you can afford and what space you need. I went for the 27" 2017 4.2HGhz with the 2TB Fusion... when prices come down I can connect a SSD to the firewire.

Hi! I am about to buy a new 27 iMac for video editing and music production. I will go for the top end spec but would like to know more about the benefits of a SSD over a 2tb 128gb flash fusion drive. In almost all forums the advice is to go for SSD and add an external drive. I really don't understand this argument. If I already store all videos and music on an external drive, why do I need a flash larger than 120gb? I see speed tests telling me that fusion write speed is 1/3 but read speed almost the same as SSD, which to me must be more important if most of the writing will be on an external drive. Where am i wrong? Best, Hans

For me it was cost so I bought the 27" with the  standards 2TB. If your apps spend most of their time with disk read writes then a SSD may be an advantage. The solid stat part of the rotating HDD learns what data is most frequently accessed and places that in the SSD section . 

But if money is not a object buy with the  biggest internal SSD you can or wait for the Pro models otherwise add an external USB C SSD at a later date and hold your data on that.

Anyone using the new iMac 27 with Final Cut pro on a fusion drive?

最后更新：2017-08-22 16:18:03

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