Optimal Connection Speed for External Enclosure for 2020 iMac... USB 3.1... 3.2...TB etc.

[ItsAShaunParty]

When I bought my 27” 2020 iMac 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7, 72 GB RAM. I didn’t realize the hard drive was soldered until it was a week too late. The 512 SSD is pretty rough. My computer is filling up.

I also have an 8 TB Seagate Expansion HD external that is pretty full.

Instead of buying a new external to add to the Seagate, or a new bigger HD, I think it’s time that I step up and buy an enclosure for multiple drives. Seems like the mature thing to do. Hopefully, this will save money in the long run and be easier to manage.

If you’re not familiar, my specific iMac model, it has four USB 3.0 ports and dual Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.

I’ve been looking at a variety of 4-drive enclosures. The pricing is largely based on the speed or type of the connection. USB 3/3.1/3.2 Gen 1/Gen 2 also type C. I’m not too worried about RAID right now.

I’m not sure if I’ll be using HD’s or SSD’s. Due to the price of SSD’s, I’m probably going to start with one or two smaller SSD and two larger HD’s.

I have a few questions…

1. What sort of speed difference would I see between an HD and SSD in real-world use?
2. If I want to edit video or mix music on Logic off of the enclosure, will I need an SSD?
3. If I get an enclosure with USB 3.2 and end up with all spinning HD's, can they even take advantage of that kind of speed? (Though if I have just on SSD, the 3.2 will be worth it... right?)
4. Am I being way too neurotic about this?

Basically, I don’t want to pay top dollar for something that won’t go to good use.

As far as enclosures, I'm leaning towards this…. Thoughts?

SABRENT USB 3.2 4 Bay 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Tray Less Docking Station (DS-SC4B)

The Sabrent USB 3.2 4-Bay 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Tray-less Docking Station (DS-SC4B) is the PERFECT solution for all you docking needs! FEATURES • USB 3.2 Type-C port with up to 10Gbps transfer speed. • 4 x SATA 6Gbit/s 3.5” hard-drive bays. • High-quality aluminum for optimal heat dissipation and ...

www.amazon.com

Other recommendations?

Thanks so much!

PS: Also, does anyone know of some good Cyber Monday deals on SSD’s?

TL;DR
I have a 2020 iMac and want a 4-drive external enclosure. Am I wasting money if I get too fast of a connection speed?

 

[Juicy Box]

Am I being way too neurotic about this?

Not at all.

Many people don't know what they need and over buy, or worse, under buy.

When shopping, it is more important to look at the actual rated speed or transfer rate and not the USB name or specification.

For example:

USB 3/3.1/3.2 Gen 1/Gen 2 also type C.

USB 3.2 gen 1 is the same exact thing as USB 3.1 gen 1 and USB 3.0.

The USB names can be very confusing, mostly due to the USB nomenclature changing a few times over the last decade.

What is worse is that manufacturers often misname what their devices are capable of on packaging, and product listings online (not sure if it is deliberate or accidental).

Not saying that it never wrong, but actual max transfer rate speeds listed is usually more reliable than the given USB name.

Here are the USB names, and how they have changed over time:

USB 1.1 Up to 12Mbps
USB 2 Up to 480Mbps
USB 3.2 Gen1x1 Up to 5,000Mbps This is the same as USB3.0, and USB3.1 Gen1
USB 3.2 Gen2x1 Up to 10,000Mbps This is the same as USB3.1, and USB3.1 Gen2
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Up to 20,000Mbps. This is the same as USB3.2

USBc is the port, and not exactly based on speed, but IIRC, USBa only goes up to USB 3.2 Gen2x1.

Maybe you knew this already, but if you didn't, it should help when shopping for enclosures.

What sort of speed difference would I see between an HD and SSD in real-world use?

Generally a night and day difference, but totally depends on what you are doing with them.

A HDD would be totally fine for backups and storage, and some workflows, but most modern workflows, or using as a bootable drive, the SSD would be the way to go.

I use HDDs for media server storage, as SSDs would be very expensive. I also use HDDs for encoding video, as the bottleneck is the CPU not the HDD.

If I want to edit video or mix music on Logic off of the enclosure, will I need an SSD?

For your case, I would think a SSD would be the way to go. But as you said, SSDs can be expensive.

You could get a mix of SSDs and HDDs, even put them in the same multi-bay enclosure. Work your projects from the SSDs, store them on the HDDs.

If I get an enclosure with USB 3.2 and end up with all spinning HD's, can they even take advantage of that kind of speed?

Generally no, the HDDs will not be able to take advantage of a faster max transfer speed enclosure, at least not a single drive. If you are using multiple HDDs in the same enclosure, and you are using multiple drive at the same time, then you could take advantage of having a 10Gbps+ enclosure.

Another thought, I once tested a SSD over FW800 (800Mbps) versus a fast 3.5" HDD internally over SATAIII (6Gbps). Not surprisingly, the sequential speeds were faster on the HDD. But the random speeds were much faster on the SSD over FW800.

While the sequential speeds on the 3.5" internal HDD were much faster, the FW SSD "felt" faster overall when it came to many tasks.

This was all in reference to using the drives to boot MacOS , but it kind of fits your question.

 

[Fishrrman]

For platter based hard drives, USB3 is "all you need".

Yes, there can be a noticeable difference between using a platter-based HDD and using an SSD.
Sometimes the differences are profound.

A good multi-drive enclosure costs $$$.

If it was me, I'd buy a 2-bay enclosure for 2 3.5" platter-based drives,
and
A 2-bay enclosure for either 2 2.5" SSDs
or
A 2-bay enclosure for 2 "nvme" blade SSDs (if they exist).

Best not to keep all the eggs in a single basket.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I bought a 2TB SanDisk USB-C external SSD and get between 500-600MBps read speeds and slightly slower write speeds. My external USB3 port-powered motorized rust drive maxes out around 95MBps. There is a huge difference between motorized and solid state data access speeds. Bought the 2TB SSD to supplement the internal 1TB SSD, as the external 2TB was half the cost of upgrading the internal drive from 1 to 2 TB.