Reddit mentions: The best external solid state drives

OK, I feel like I can help here. I purchased a the base model 2019 13" MBP (8gb ram, 128 GB SSD, i5 1.4ghz) to use for live music production/performance, running multiple audio tracks and multiple midi inputs at once. I was super worried about the 8gb ram, but it performed like a dream. Whatever they did with this new processor makes this thing super smooth.

That said, the only reason I didn't get the 16gb ram is because it would have been a custom order with a two week wait and I needed it ASAP. If I could go back, if I'd had the time, I would have gone with 16gb. Monitoring CPU and memory usage through performances, I can see it pushing up into the upper third of its capabilities. Still very much within its limits, but I would've liked to have the extra leeway. Zero issues with overheating, I hardly ever even hear the fan running. And I'm a huge fan of the keyboard. Sooo smooth and responsive.

I was also super worried about the tiny 128 gb SSD. I got the 1TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, which uses USB-C, and ran all of my sound patches and tracks straight from the hard drive. The data transfer rates are pretty much the same as an internal SSD and I've actually found that I love having all of my big data files on a separate drive now. So the tiny internal drive hasn't been an issue at all and it encourages to be pretty minimalistic as far as what I'm actually keeping on the local drive.

I think the machine with the stats you're looking at is going to be MORE than capable of what you need, and I think the pros of the MBP is still very much worth the extra cost. It's an incredible computer that I expect to have for years to come. And just for reference, my laptop before this was a 2010 MacBook Pro with SSD and 8 gb ram that still runs like an absolute champ, so that should speak to how long these things can last.

​

Good luck!!

Hi /u/TaurusKing,

in the following I am going to explain the differences of the Mac minis 2018 to you. As a first step, I think it makes sense to look at how they perform, compared to each other. To that end, I am going to use their respective Geekbench scores measuring CPU performance in the following:

Mac mini 2018, 3.6 GHz Intel Core i3-8100B Quad Core:

4680 Points (Single-Core Score)

13949 Points (Multi-Core Score)

source: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/435

Mac mini 2018, 3.0 GHz Intel Core i5-8500B Hexa Core:

5149 Points (Single-Core Score)

20239 Points (Multi-Core Score)

source: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/436

Mac mini 2018, 3.2 GHz Intel Core i7-8700B Hexa Core:

5652 Points (Single-Core Score)

24242 Points (Multi-Core Score)

source: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/434

-----

As you can infer from the numbers above, there are vast performance differences between the individual Mac minis 2018. The i5 and i7 machines are much more powerful than the i3 machine, as the i5 and i7 machines both have 2 more physical cores in their respective CPUs: They offer 6-Core chips instead of the 4-Core chip in the i3, hence the large gap in Multi-Core performance. The Multi-Core Score is the more relevant score to look at, as modern programs are - for the most part - designed to make use of multiple cores in a CPU. Thus, a higher Multi-Core score directly translates into better general performance. There is also a performance gap between the i5 and the i7 version of the Mac mini 2018, but this gap is much smaller, albeit still considerable.

The tasks you mentioned...

> I work with photoshop at weekends a lot, but my main activity is study medicine (Microsoft word and PowerPoint daily, so lots of new data coming every day + Google Chrome and lots of tabs in it).

...are not very processing-intensive, so the i3 version of the Mac mini should do just fine. However, I don't recommend to buy the i3 version for two main reasons:

• As programs and macOS itself get more and more demanding, better performance ensures that the machines ages well and is still up to the task for years to come.
  
• The price / performance ratio of the i3 version is not that great: The i3 version is $799 at the Apple website, while the i5 version is $1099. Yes, the i5 version is $300 more, but take a look at the large performance gap between the devices. In my opinion, the i5 version has the better price / performance ratio in the long run.
  
  Next you say something about your storage needs:
  
  > 1Tb of storage is completely needed,
  
  Well, there are different strategies to achieve this. The first one is to pay Apple a ludicrous $600 for upgrading the SSD from 256 GB (default in the i5 version) to 1 TB:
  
  
• https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/3.0ghz-6-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-4.1ghz-256gb#
  
  This is not a sound strategy. The Mac mini is a desktop machine, meaning it is confined to one place in your home. You won't carry this thing around with you. Therefore, it makes more sense to keep the 256 GB internal SSD in and add a bigger external SSD for a far cheaper price. Look at this SSD for example:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ
  
  At the time of this writing, it is $218 for the 1 TB version, and $428 for the 2 TB version. As you can see, there is an extremely large gap between Apple's SSD upgrade prices. In my opinion, for a desktop machine, it doesn't make sense to opt for greater internal SSD storage, mainly for price reasons. Also, the 1 TB / 2 TB external SSD is there on top of the 256 GB internal SSD. Furthermore, you can plug the external SSD into your MacBook Air if need be, so file transfer becomes easier than it would be with a larger internal SSD in the Mac mini 2018. Some know-it-all might tell you now that internal SSDs are faster, and I agree with that because it's a fact, but at the same time the read / write and transfer speeds are more than sufficient for everything short of huge video project and massive game titles.
  
  Note that the internal SSD cannot be exchanged later on, as it soldered in (not a concern really, external storage exists).
  
  Next you talk about your memory needs:
  
  > I'm guessing something like 16gb of RAM...
  
  Yeah, 16 GB RAM it is. 8 GB RAM should work fine for the stated purpose of the machine, but for . the sake of future-proofing it I think you should opt for 16 GB RAM at least. However, as with the SSD, the price for the RAM upgrade is ludicrous at the Apple website. $200 for 16 GB RAM upgrade? Are they serious?
  
  The RAM in the Mac mini 2018 - contrary to its SSD - is user-serviceable, so you can extend its RAM capacity at any given moment. The Mac mini 2018 supports up to 64 GB RAM (2 x 32 GB RAM modules). It has two RAM slots, so two RAM modules in total fit in.
  
  This is the RAM specification you need for the Mac mini 2018:
  
  PC4-21300 2666 MHz DDR4, 260-pin
  
  These are RAM modules which work flawlessly in it:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Adamanta-Upgrade-2666Mhz-PC4-21300-Notebook/dp/B07H9K5L5L
  
  Here you get 32 GB RAM (2 x 16 GB modules) for $195 as of the time of this writing, which is roughly the same amount of money Apple charges you for 16 GB RAM(!). And this is not even accounting for the resale value of the 2 x 4 GB modules the Mac mini comes with by default.
  
  That being said, while the RAM in the Mac mini 2018 is user-serviceable, the upgrade is not trivial. So, if you are not technically inclined and also don't want a repair service to perform the upgrade for you, then yes, buy the Mac mini 2018 with 16 GB RAM. I just wanted to let you know that there are cheaper ways to receive the same or better results with the machine.
  
  My recommendation:
  
  
• Mac mini with i5/i7 CPU (get the i7 if you go down the external SSD and / or RAM-upgrade-on-your-own route)
  
• 256 GB SSD (if you go the external SSD route) / 1 TB SSD
  
• 16 GB RAM (if you pay Apple's RAM prices) / 32 GB RAM (if you perform the upgrade yourself or let some repair technician perform it for you).

> Web development (VSCode/PhpStorm, GitHub)

All Mac compatible.

> Handful of tabs at any given time (5-15)

You'll be fine since MacBook Pros come with 16GBs of memory minimum now. As someone who frequently has a bunch of Firefox and Safari tabs open at the same time for days at a time... I can confirm.

> I know there's the bootcamp option, so I was thinking to dual-boot Windows 10 with macOS, but someone mentioned Parallel's to me and I'm not sure I see the value of that over dual booting

The biggest advantage of Parallels is that it gives you the ability to dual-boot simultaneously, you could literally have Windows open in a window as opposed to restarting the system and using one OS at a time.

From the way I see it, it looks like you'd be able to use MacOS as your main, and if you used Parallels, you could just have Windows open at the same time for anything macOS can't cover (though I'm sure what it can't do for you would be relatively little). By the way, I remember hearing that a lot of the trackpad gestures and Touchbar don't work in the Windows boot in Bootcamp, just so you know.

As for the drive size, I think macOS and Windows are less than 30GBs each, so 256GBs for that alone would be fine, but keep in mind how big the apps you'd use are, along with how big the files associated with them are. Check how much storage you're using on your Surface right now, and you'll be able to tell whether your need 512GBs or not. Either way, you might want to consider getting one of these anyway (and maybe one of these).

Speaking of which MacBook Pro to get, one thing I want to point out is that you might want to consider how much GPU power you need. Now I don't know how much VMs might tax a GPU or if you're using anything that's GPU accelerated, but you could save some money by considering a 2015 MBP. The difference in CPU performance wouldn't be that bad and I'm pretty sure the SSD is about the same, but the big thing is you'd save hundreds of dollars if you don't need a beefy GPU. Though new models do have a much better trackpad, speakers, and Touchbar (which is great for TouchID at least), so also keep that in mind when considering which model to get.

By the way, I'm not sure if it applies to refurbished models, but try to see if you can get an AppleCare+ plan.

> I've added your lens to my purchase list and I will be buying it soon.

Glad I could help!

> would you place [the BMPCC 4K] above something like the GH5?

Yes. I am a GH4/BMPCC shooter who has rented the GH5 and seriously considered upgrading to the Panasonic, but decided to to get the $1295 BMPCC 4K instead [Referral Links].

Here's why:

• the BMPCC 4K delivers 13 stops of dynamic range (advertised) - while, according to Panasonic, the GH5 needs the $97 V-LOG upgrade to get 12 stops
  
• the BMPCC 4K records 12-bit Blackmagic RAW internally - while the GH5 is limited to 10-bit h.264/h.265 compressed
  
• the BMPCC 4K has a 3.5mm mic jack plus a built-in mini-XLR mic input with phantom (you can adapt a pro mic with a $19 cable) - the GH5 has a 3.5mm mic jack, but needs a $398 adapter to record directly to camera with a phantom powered pro mic
  
• the BMPCC 4K can record RAW externally to inexpensive SSD drives via USB-C - the GH5 needs a relatively expensive HDMI recorder to record externally to compressed 10-bit.
  
  The GH5 is a great camera, and I'll miss its electronic viewfinder, articulated LCD, 180fps slow motion, 20.3MP still photos, 4:3 anamorphic mode, waveform, vectorscope and in-body image stabilization - but at $1295, the Pocket is a much better value for the money.
  
  Although Blackmagic cameras have a steeper learning curve than consumer DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, and color grading in post is pretty much mandatory - in my view, they are the best pure filmmakers' cameras in this price range and well worth the money.
  
  Again, hope this is helpful!

So for your working purposes, the best equipment may already be sitting in your house (if not cheap alternatives to them). Let me explain…

A) The best, cheapest hard drive you could have with ample size?

____a. If you have a 256GB or 512GB SSD sitting in one of your unused computer (I don’t think everyone has access to this, as not everyone works in an IT-based industry), then a simple USB 3.0 -> SATA converter cable, priced at a mere… $10.99 might save you a few extra dollars. This is IF you decided to go this route. Traditional external SSDs, nominally 2.5-inch or smaller, are very fast, with speeds of 6Gb/s or faster, so this could be an option. (This also has yet to be outlawed by the Wii modding community [or as far as I know--they're just as reliable, if not moreso than traditional SSD portables.])

____b. Otherwise, a simple $59.99 SSD – 250GB Portable may be sufficient and cost efficient for ya!

B) The emulators the Wii can handle are as follows:

____a. Nintendo systems leading up to Nintendo 64: Wii64

____b. Nintendo portable systems leading up to Nintendo DS: DeSmuMe Wii

____c. Sega systems up to Sega Saturn: Yabause Wii

____d. Sony systems—Sony PS1: WiiSX

____e. Atari Systems leading up to the Atari 7800: Wii7800

____f. …and a variously-mixed set of arcade/personal retro-gaming computers from the 70s – late 80s. Check the list here.

C) As for Nintendo Gamecube cards, there is this one, which is 512MB! And it only costs $13.99!

D) Personally, seeing that read-write speeds degrade over time, I would recommend (if you’re not using your external drive, partitioned like I mentioned in THIS post, like mine), then getting a decently fast SDHC card, may help: See this 128GB cheaper-end SanDisk, that is MORE than capable of holding plenty of games/apps for your Wii.

E) Also, if you have any troubles, I wouldn’t mind helping you out while getting any/all of this setup! You can just message me if you have any snags or anything, and I’d be more than glad to help!

…and trust me, I know the feeling. I don’t really mod my Wii much, except for when my USB Loader GX tends to act funny, and then I’m scrambling the internet looking for an update to inject into my FAT32 partition! Bahahah! #AncientWiiProblems

File and data discipline is fundamental but, as you mention, a simple brainfart or moment of distraction can REALLY screw you over.

Its both inexcusable and gutwrenchingly horrible to lose the only digital record of your work. X10 when it's a client or one of a kind session.

I come from film and pro audio, both places where its even MORE critical - with often higher stakes, more files/data volume and bigger organizational hurdles to deal with.

First, I assume you're not shooting a dual card camera. If you are, set it to parallel recording/capture and you have your first buffer.

ORGANIZATION, PROCESS, HABIT & MINDSET is the only sure fix.


ORGANIZATION/PROCESS

Have a system. Get a bunch of media (esp. if SD, CFast I'll give ya a pass lol) and a small pelican card case or similar. One that holds like 8 or 12 cards. Better lots of 8 GB cards than 1 or 2 256 GB cards unless you're shooting 4k video regularly. Even full size RAW + JPG gives you PLENTY per 8 or 16 GB card.

Thats your pocket case. For on location/shoot/walkabout. The little flat pelican style is like 20 bucks, about the size of a large iphone/galaxy note .

Get a bigger one too, that holds your whole vacation/tour/expedition worth of storage media vertically in slots too. They can handle like 24 or 30 or 40 SD or CF cards, are waterproof, shockproof, and fit great in your shoot bag.

Label the cards - if you use say four 8 GB cards on a typical shoot, label and COLOR CODE them A1,A2,A3,A4. and have a B set and a C set if need be. A single shoot uses one set, in the small case. the bigger case holds 4-6 shoots worth of card sets.

This 2 case method is your physical means of managing data.


Use your own file name and numbering conventions.

Shoot new folders with each major shift in the shoot - lighting, pose series, angles, lens change etc.

Shoot to new card with every location/model/costume change.

[big case with multiple sets of smallish cards] -->
[one labeled set per shoot ] -->
[One card per portion of shoot/scene/model/concept etc] -->
[Folders for subsections of card - poses/angle/lens change maybe] -->
That set goes
[Pocket case > camera > pocket case ] one card at a time.

That alone would help a lot. But take an extra 15 seconds every few minutes as you chat with you model or walk around looking at angles/light and take simple notes to save tons of headache later.

Keep a pocket notebook to note a newfolder and file number ranges at each natural lull or break in the shoot.

3 or 4 lines at most
A couple words about model/pose/light/lens
card ID folder and file

It becomes habit and automatic very quickly. You'll develop a shorthand and wont even notice. But you'll never have to poke around looking at fiel names or folder dates to figure out which is which.

Helpful especially when you have multiple models, or shotlist to get, or specific areas of interest like on a hike or museum tour etc.

BACKUP/NOTES

I keep a shoot log too. Where I note things before or after that seem important to remember, or ideas to try later, and a few general thoughts on the shoot, ths light, how I feel about it etc.

If theres a 15 minute break, I'll usually make a few notes , transfer cards to big case if need be, change batteries, refill contact/biz cards if need be. Hi

I keep a session bag which contains necessities - spare cables, release forms, pens, batteries, label/gaff tape, small tools, spare lens/body caps, etc ... i use lens bags/soft cases to organize that stuff in a few sections. marked with label tape and checked before and after each day's shooting. Everything has a place and it's just automatic by now.

I use a clipboard which opens to hold releases, onesheets, docs, small straps, biz cards, contact cards, and that stuff, in a directors vertical over shoulder bag.

End of day or shoot:

• transfer data (but don't wipe cards- we have new ones ready to go anyway)
  
• digitize releases/receipts/shooting log/notes.
  
• charge batteries, preliminary ingest/metadata
  
  On the road, I use Western Digital SSD wireless drives as intermediaries when there's is a lot of pics , just plug in a card - they scan the SD, backup and upload to cloud, and sync with your laptop later. Even act as charger and local wifi hub if need be. Nifty.
  
  But honestly if it's more casual or I'm using a van or hotel room as a base I'd just as soon go right to my computer. I use [Sandisk](SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable External SSD - Up to 550MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.1 - SDSSDE60-1T00-G25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078STRHBX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_1HXVDbFCB836Z) Extreme SSDs to maintain my LR Catalogs anyway until I get back to studio so I'll often just keep a couple on hand if it's not too remote.
  
  But, digitize and backup RELIGIOUSLY. The other half is HABIT,- which will happen IF you make a point to do it regularly EVERY time for a couple weeks. And once you see how organized and easy it all is to bring into post and manage, data wise.
  
  It's not SAFE until it's on cloud storage, local offsite archive, local storage and your machine . But once it exists on your cards (you didn't wipe them, right?), your SSD and computer
  
  Use multiple catalogs per trip/client/assignment. Marry like catalogs when you get situated back home. If you should 100s of shots, marry them monthly and create a new annual masters.
  
  If you shoot 1000s, maybe keep quarterly master catalogs
  It's a lot easier to name a catalog after clients, or types of work- wedding/product/travel/senior photos/concerts - and then keep a set of micro catalogs per month or quarter. Marry them every so often, but only with similar types.
  
  You dont want client product shots, personal family pics, travel or landscape shots and local band promo or concert shoots all living in one giant catalog. Keep submasters that you can easily search, sort, backup and mirror.
  
  To do this, you have to be disciplined, but it becomes automatic after a while. Be religious about naming conventions, keywords and metadata. Consistency is key.
  
  But do it it little steps - notes, card sets, session closeouts, catalog ingest and merge, master catalogmanagement. All in the right time and moment.
  
  I have almost 400k archived images in monthly/quarterly/annual archives, all sorted by type of work. Curated, culled and edited from probably 10x that number of captured shots originally.
  
  I can find anything I need in less than 10 minutes in the studio. 20 without coffee on a bad day. Because its consistent and hierarchical. All I need is a client or job or location name, a year or season and I can pull it up without a single beachball of doom or cursor of shame to be found. Try that with 400k records of anything in a single catalog. Can't be done.
  
  Good shooting. Make this automatic so you can focus on seeing, working with light and mood and subject and all the reasons you got into it.
  
  Cheers
  
  Edit: goes without saying you need to learn to rate, curate, and kill your darlings ruthlessly. I dont even shoot recklessly. I try alternate framing, bracket a good bit and also do lots of focus stacking with macro work - hence the ridiculous numbers. It's still pales against even a single days shooting of 4k RAW cinema footage (at 250 mb/sec give or take) lol

What are you planning to use it for? I'm just curious because a lot of times we get used to having a lot of storage, but when we delve into it we realize we could easily get away with much less. With so much being focused on cloud services/streaming you might find 256gb isn't really a problem. Of course it all depends on what you're doing!

In terms of external storage, I would personally go for the Samsung T5 drives. Those are the drives I have been looking at recently and, if I had a need for one, that would be the drive I would get. I think the size is great, they look great, they're fast, and the price is reasonable. You can check them out here if you're interested: Samsung T5. Definitely scroll through the pictures and look at how small they are, it's really kind of amazing!

awesome. thanks so much for the detailed response. it really helps to ease some of my concerns. i think i might want to put in a 4-8 TB HD as well as the SSD. i have quite a bit of media, and having an "all in one" machine (instead of swapping external hard drives constantly) would be ideal.

I was thinking this HD:

https://www.amazon.com/Red-8TB-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B01BYLY4DM/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511478568&sr=1-3&keywords=8+tb+hard+drive

A SSD (500 or 1TB) and another stick of RAM. I would probably still be good with the current power supply setup, right?

EDIT:

Maybe this drive, since the other one is set up for NAS...or would that still be ok even without a NAS setup? I need to research a bit more :)

https://www.amazon.com/Desktop-Drive-5400RPM-Cache-WD60EZRZ/dp/B013HNYVCE/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511479745&sr=1-6&keywords=8%2Btb%2Bhard%2Bdrive&refinements=p_89%3AWestern%2BDigital&th=1

EDIT EDIT: i think i might buy this external:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-easystore-8tb-external-usb-3-0-hard-drive-black/5792401.p?skuId=5792401

and shuck it to add to this pc...seems way better price wise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6VCQ64DkfM

Photographer here, so I may not be working with as much data as everyone else here--although I'm am still dealing with 500-3000 raw files a week--and I agree with /u/tonydaazntiger319, it'd be better to get into the habit of backing up onto physical drives. Last year I moved from using external WD drives to a proper HDD backup and so far it's worked brilliantly.

I use a [Dual Hard Drive Dock] (https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Dual-Bay-Function-Tool-Free-FD2002/dp/B00N1KXE9K/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499287048&sr=1-1&keywords=dual+hard+drive+dock) and each year I buy two [3TB Seagate HDD's] (https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST3000DM008/dp/B01IEKG4NE/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499287170&sr=1-2&keywords=3tb) titled "2017". I have one drive off-site at a friends house and each week I grab it and bring it to my place and use Carbon Copy Cloner to create an identical copy.

I need to start looking into a cloud backup solution (any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, now that amazon isn't offering their unlimited prime backup) so that I have three copies but I never delete files off of my computer until they are backed up on both drives. Works great for me and is pretty cheap when you consider the cost of lost data. Hope that helps:)

If you don't need speed go for something like this WD Drive. This will be the best bang for your buck if you don't mind the speeds and you can't go wrong with a WD Drive.

Then if speed is a must you are going to pay a premium for an external SSD.

Samsung T5 This is hailed as one of the best consumer grade external SSD's you can buy at the moment.

VectoTech Rapid 2TB SSD This seems to be below the average asking price for a 2TB SSD with great reviews.

I have the Wise 1tb SSD and it works really well even at 4k 60fps, and has an amazing form factor for small rigs. However for $20 more you can get a 2TB Samsung T5 which will work as well:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA2T0B/dp/B073H4GPLQ

Small rig has the best bang for your buck full cage:

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-cage-for-blackmagic-design-pocket-cinema-camera-4k-2203.html

As for batteries the Core Powerbase edge is in my mind one of the best batteries you can find, it has a small form factor, decent capacity at 48wh, and has amazing versatility with dual d-tap, a 7.4v output, and dual usb output:

https://www.coreswx.com/product-category/small-form-batteries/powerbase-edge/

However there is a new battery from Soonwell that has dual d-tap, a usb, and twice the capacity at 98wh for $50 less than the Core Powerbase, it hasn’t been widely tested yet tho:

https://www.soonwell.com/broadcast-battery

It’s all up to you and how much you have budgeted for accessories.

Some points:

• The power supply is overkill. Something in the 500W range would be plenty. Check this out to make sure you choose a good one: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
  
  
• I've never personally dealt with this but what I hear is "enterprise hard drives" tend to be louder and overcosted. Here's an alternative: link
  
  
• The SSD is super small and will barely fit the OS + maybe a couple of programs. Also, you can get 250 gigs for the same price. Here's a decent one, but there are even cheaper choices out there without much loss of performance or anything.
  
  
• In general, you could find better deals on a lot of the parts, and with the money saved you could make the jump to a 1070 instead
  
  And here's what an example build can look like:
  https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gvxQLD

Hats off to you! I love Windows 10, but I wish Microsoft had less market share in operating systems.

You don't fear updates, though? I would think updates would be scarier on Linux. For those who don't know, Linux isn't an operating system, it's a kernel. It's the core of an OS. Linux distros, or distributions, are packages of compatible software that make up an OS. Ubuntu isn't an OS, it's a bundle of software. The Linux kernel, the GNOME desktop environment, and a bunch of programs that come from a bunch of different places. Everything's so modular in the Linux world. I'd be worried about something getting updated and all of a sudden something isn't compatible until it, too, is updated.

I don't want to dissuade anyone from trying Linux, though! It can be quite the learning experience. If you can afford to do the following, I highly recommend giving it a shot. I would get a 500GB Samsung T5--it's a portable SSD--and put Linux on it. Ubuntu is the easy one, though its interface kind of favors macOS. That's the GNOME desktop environment. If you want a more Windows feel, you want KDE. Linux Mint is a popular KDE distro, but I like Ubuntu, so I'd reach for Kubuntu in that case (it's Ubuntu with KDE) or you could just add KDE to regular Ubuntu. Me, I prefer GNOME. Anyway, you should be able to boot off the SSD, and it should have desktop class performance. I mean, you could also dual boot, but I don't like messing with MBR (Master boot record) or whatever they're called now, and partitions. Never had good luck with those.

On RAM I get the feeling there's some variants of the R14 but I found this CNET page:

https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-aspire-r-14/specs/

Says 1 memory slot and 1 memory slot free. I don't know if that means 2 total or just the one. I mean how can it have memory and one slot "free"? I'v probably putting more thought into this than CNET did. Anyway it's max memory is 12 gigs. So unless you have a different variant you should be able to upgrade the RAM.

A 120 gig hard drive should be able to handle the OS and games this thing will run without much issue. Unless you really have to try and run GTA V or something. My GPDWin only has 64 gigs of internal storage and I have maybe 20 games installed. They're little games that can "run on a potato" though.

The specs on the CNET page mentions a USB 3 port. So you could use this USB 3 SSD drive and get - well not SATA speeds - but still pretty fast.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XNN2WQM/

Not to say $100 on this old laptop is that worth while but it is fast drive and it would add some space.

Also-also - and I'm just assuming you're using windows 10 here - if you have had this laptop for a year or two and upgraded to the latest 10 version as prompted you may want to think about wiping out the hard drive installing windows fresh. You'll free up so much storage this way.

I think the problem you were having was that the computers you tried had Hard Drive Disks and what you need is a Solid State Drive which are much quicker. If you still have that laptop it's a pretty quick fix and SSDs are physically much smaller than HDDs so it would be easy to fit in the same slot. You only need about ~35gb right now for the full blockchain but I'd get 120gb to future proof yourself which shouldn't be too expensive.

You could also maybe just get an external USB SSD (preferably USB 3.0 which your laptop hopefully supports) and save it there which would be much easier and only slightly slower. I recently bought this Samsung T5 portable SSD which is currently on sale at amazon but if this seems expensive to you then the internal SSD is much cheaper and probably the better option for you.

Unless you’re editing SD or HD with a very small bitrate I wouldn’t recommend a spinning HDD. SSDs are so cheap these days that I would highly recommend getting something like this instead. Perhaps that’s where the confusion comes from. The only time I’d recommend spinning drives is if you’re putting them in an array; otherwise you’re going to be bottlenecked significantly by drive speed. Bus powered single disk spinning drives are good for transferring projects and temporary storage, but not do much for editing. An SSD like the one I linked on the other hand can be just as fast or even faster than a RAID with spinning drives, and both are 5-10 times faster than a single disk, bus-powered 7200 RPM drive. Plus they are a lot lighter and smaller.

If I had to guess, the reason people were telling you to edit off of the internal drive is because of speed. The SSDs in modern MacBooks and MBPs are much faster than most off-the-shelf SSDs, so if you’re working with something like uncompressed 4K you may see an improvement there. However, I regularly edit projects using multiple angles of 4K and up to 6 channels of audio in multicam clips, and my little bus-powered drive is more than fast enough for that. Actually, it’s fast enough that the computer itself is slowing me down more than drive speed (13” fully specced 2016 MBP, for reference).

I recommend this laptop : https://www.amazon.de/Aspire-Ryzen-2500U-Win10-A315-41-R3U6/dp/B07VVF4F86/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me= (EUR 440)

This has :

• 1080p display
  
• 4 core, 8 threads
  
• Fairly good integrated graphics.
  
• 8GB RAM, expandable to 16GB.
  
• 1TB HDD
  
• Expansion slot for M2 SSD. Recommended cheap 240GB SSD (like this)
  
  If you want a slightly better spec'd version of the same thing then buy this
  
  Price : 495 EUR. Differences:
  
  
• Comes with SSD instead of hard drive.
  
• Slightly better graphics, doesn't matter for non gaming purposes.
  
  I'd recommend buying the former and adding a SSD to it. You will appreciate getting a quad core, 8 thread CPU. Everything is becoming bloated and it helps to have the hardware to keep up with it.
  
  Hopefully this recommendation helped.

I sat down and developed a system a little while back and it's been working well for a few years now.

I use Lightroom for all the images I care about being able to edit. That includes film scans, digital from my camera, and phone DNGs. It all goes into LRs date folders on import with a few smart collections to separate out these three types and I try to make sure as much as possible is geo-tagged on import. I track film exposures with an app that also syncs the information to the scan files as well, so most images have all the expected information and makes it easier to search and see how I've been shooting.

I do custom collections for any big trips/events/work projects that I might want to have quick access to. Then I also have a Favorites section which I basically treat as my portfolio. I don't change the names of files and mostly let LR handle all of that. Having images in LR means I actually get around to editing everything because it's on my phone and always with me.

I don't have a ton of HD space, so I only keep the current year's images on the computer and use 1:1 previews/smart previews so I can still edit/look at the older photos. My LR catalog and the current year's photos are stored within a Dropbox folder so I have an offsite backup as well.

Once a year or so I move all the full files over to an external drive, which is set up so that I can just plug it in and Lightroom pulls direct from the drive. During this process, I also zip each year folder and keep a copy on Dropbox just in case something happens to the drive.

Lastly, all the images are exported as they're edited into Google Photos as low quality so I can reference/share them easily with family if I want to and have a full archive of all images pretty much always available. The sorting and searching in there is also great.

Writing this out makes this seem like a ridiculous process, but it works surprisingly seamlessly and sort of just gets out of its own way. It's also comforting to know any one thing can spontaneously combust and I'll always have some version of my images.

WD 256GB My Passport SSD External Portable Drive, USB 3.1, Up to 540 MB/s - WDBKVX2560PSL-WESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C4TLLJL/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_L-VODbTCDH5RG

This is the one I use. It doesn't have alot of room but I only have DayZ on the SSD and it runs 100x better. The price was really nice for me too since DayZ is really the only game I needed to improve. Also it was very simple to install, just plug into the USB port on the PlayStation and set it up on the system. The only downfall to this device is the connections from the SSD to the PS4 are a little loose so if it isn't kept still it usually disconnects and you have to reformat it, which only takes about 1 minute. Other than that I've been extremely happy.

I think the WD Blue is a NAND drive where if OP gets a Samsung EVO, same size same price he gets a NVME drive which is faster. Plus the warranty is better on the Samsungs.

However, you can get a WD Black NVME 256 GB on sale at Amazon for $100.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-256GB-Performance-SSD-WDS256G1X0C/dp/B01MS6BYJD/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520553798&sr=8-3&keywords=western+digital+m.2

The Samsung EVOs are $120:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-EVO-Internal-MZ-V6E250BW/dp/B01LYFKX41/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520553666&sr=8-4&keywords=samsung+250gb+ssd+m.2

The WD Blacks have a 5 year warranty and Samsung EVOs have a 3 year warranty.

Thanks for posting this!!! I love playing D2, but what I hate most is getting into the game.... getting to the tower.... getting to a match/strike/planet... Even going from the main part of the tower to the place where Ikora and Drifter are takes some real long *ss loading times, while other guardians pass me by. (I have a standard version of the Xbox One and a wired connection)

​

Some questions, because I'm a noob:

1. Do I need to move D2 and other games I play regularly from my Xbox harddrive to the external SSD in order for this to work? I guess so, but I want to make sure.
   
2. Does this also work for games I own on disc (and not a digital edition)?
   
3. If for whatever reason the SSD crashes, does progress in D2 goes to waste? I would think not, but I want to make sure.
   
4. I guess a portable SSD would have the same benefits? https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36?keywords=Samsung+Portable+SSD&qid=1540305358&s=Electronics&sr=1-3&ref=sr_1_3
   
   Thanks for any help!

I don't see the point for a Gazelle, it's just a Clevo gaming laptop that leaves its GPU slot blank and doesn't pay for the OS like Windows laptops. And it's toooooooooo overpriced.

I would suggest HP Pavilion Power as it is more than $300 cheaper while having more RAM -- 12 GB RAM is clearly better than 8GB especially for heavy CS/CE/whatever use.

Normally I would stay away from the particular configuration with AMD Radeon graphics because it isn't competitive against Nvidia cards; but I guess graphics doesn't matter in this case.

It weighs only 4 lbs, similar to a Macbook Pro 15 while the Gazelle is 5.5lbs. IMO 5 lbs is a threshold that most people would feel uncomfortable when carrying that for a long time, so lighter is always better. HP Pavilion Power also has an above average battery life at 8 hrs. Its build quality is average without known issues that affect a lot of models. It only has an HDD but adding an SSD like this would be easy.

On another extreme, you might find Dell XPS 15 with i7-7700HQ or HP Spectre x360 15/Lenovo Yoga 920 with i7-8550U interesting. They are high-end performance laptops that may stretch your budget a bit but they are absolutely worth the money.

Hey guys, I'm getting a P3D and have a question about Sentry mode/Tesla Cam recording. I've bought a JEDA Box because I wanted to keep a Wireless charger + a SSD for recording.

Would it be better to go for a portable SSD like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078SWJ3CF?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&th=1 , or a SD card with a reader like this: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Endurance-128GB-Micro-Adapter/dp/B07B984HJ5/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title ?

I'm just trying to find the best solution + disk size needed if I wanted to keep it installed for a while. I live in TX so the car may be outside during the summers if that affects the temperatures of the devices, not too sure what to go for.

If you can afford like $75 do yourself a favor and buy an external ssd. It’s easy to install and it will halve or better all your load times. Menu opening is almost instant. It’s the best $75 I’ve spent. It makes every game better.

Edit - $90 atm. This is the one I have.

I believe that what I bought does not need a separate enclosure purchase? This is what I got:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073GZBT36/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Thanks for all the advice, I'm really excited already! I loved the game the first time, and I'm already having fun this second time, even though I'm only like level 24 or so. The bug where harvest points disappear for like 3-4 seconds when I first hit them is really starting to bug the crap out of me though. Hoping this fixes it.

Grab a portable SSD from like samsung, they aren't that cheap, but they are super portable, durable, and fast. They aren't as high capacity as spinning drives, though.

Something like this, $100 for 500gb: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36

Or you can build an external SSD yourself, take a bare ssd like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073SBZ8YH/ and put it in an enclosure like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYF1LLI

HDD is better "dollar value," SSD is dramatically better performance for load times, general feel, etc. But if value is most important, you can get 3TBs for < $100, easily.

If you don't need space, this is the best 250 GB SDD for < $100.

Or both: SanDisk SSD PLUS 120GB + Seagate 1TB BarraCuda for roughly $98.

>You said in order to take advantage of thunderbolt you need a drive faster than usb 3. Are you talking about the drive in the computer or the external harddrive ?

I'm talking about speed of the drive inside the external enclosure. Since USB 3 is fast enough to transfer everything from hard drive speed to SATA SSD speed, paying extra for Thunderbolt is only justifiable by something faster than either of those. Usually means NVMEe SSD, or a RAID of SATA SSDs.

The LaCie 2TB you linked to has a number of Style choices. As far as I can tell, all except the "Thunderbolt SSD" version are simple hard drives. The other choices only have to do with what ports are on the case, not the drive inside since they're all just hard drives. Based on the pictures, the ones that say "Thunderbolt USB 3.0" and "Thunderbolt USB-C" are regular hard drives with two ports or cables on the case, one being Thunderbolt and the other being either USB 3 (type micro B Super Speed) or USB 3 (type C, as on the latest Macs). These connections are more for convenience than speed, since they're not going to make much speed difference with just a hard drive in there.

The Thunderbolt SSD option is priced much higher because it does have a SATA SSD in it.

While they both use hard drives, the LaCie is priced higher than the WD/Seagates mostly because of the fancy case. The $60 drives are marketed as backup drives and are probably not very fast; they only claim up to 120MB/sec. They are not intended as primary fast storage for photo/video work. But the LaCie is aimed at professionals who capture photo/video out in the field and need to offload it from their cards and edit. The LaCie is a ruggedized case, shock and water resistant while the $60 drives come in a simple enclosure that you absolutely would not want to drop or get wet. You would be able to safely use the LaCie on assignments where you would not want to use the $60 ones.

If you are always going to leave the little drive on the safety of your desk, go ahead and buy the $60 but don't expect it to be fast. If you buy the LaCie with a hard drive in it dont expect it to be much faster, and if it is never going to move from your desk then you wasted money on the ruggedized case.

If you want an external drive that takes full advantage of Thunderbolt speed, it is going to have to be something like the Envoy Pro EX. It contains a similar NVME SSD to the one inside a MacBook Pro, so the spec sheet says it is capable of speeds up to 2600MB/sec. That is well beyond what USB 3 can deliver, and ridiculously faster than what the LaCie spec sheet says (510MB/sec for SSD and a poky 130MB/sec for hard drive), so the Envoy really does need Thunderbolt. But they are priced accordingly for that level of performance and I won't be able to afford one any time soon.

I know you are trying to buy something fast and so that goes back to the Samsung T5 I already mentioned before. It has a good SATA SSD and a fast USB 3 type C port, so it is a middle ground between the cheap slow hard drives and the super fast unaffordable SSDs. And it ought to serve Lightroom well enough. Notice that you can get a 1TB T5 for a lot less than a 1TB LaCie Rugged, that's because the T5 is a regular non-rugged case if that's all you need.

If high capacity and low budget are too important then you have to forget about SSD and just get a nice cheap 2TB USB 3 hard drive. If you get one with a 7200RPM hard drive inside it will be a little faster than the usual 5400RPM, but still nowhere near as fast as any SSD.

I have a Samsung T5 500GB. It works pretty well and uses USB 3.1 type C, which means it also works fine with USB 3.0. From what I can find it's one of the best external USB 3.0 SSD for the money. I personally used it for virtual machines when I was in college. It was faster than internal storage, and it never got hot. The T5 comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB flavors. The 500GB seems to be the best price per gigabyte right now.

Here's a link to it on amazon so you can check it out:

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB

lol, why do you need 4TB? You can‘t play so many games at the same time, so use uninstall... 1TB is fine and better internal than an external.

But if you want...

WD My Passport SSD 2 TB, tragbare SSD Festplatte, USB C / 3.1 Gen 2 Ready; Kennwortschutz und Software für automatische Datensicherung, schwarz/silber metallic https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07CFY9SHX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9-UiDbR6YK3M9

Cloud storage should be perfectly fine if you're encrypting your data - there are many free and open source solutions to facilitate encryption which will protect data against intrusion (i.e. your PC's operating system would be a more likely vector for data breach than an encrypted file with a long password on private cloud storage space).

That being said, you should be using encryption on your data with any storage solution (if you aren't already).

If you have less than 256GB of data, you should be able to get away with an external SSD or USB flash drive (recommend keeping at least two separate, encrypted drives in two separate physical locations to guard against theft/fire/etc) so you're probably not looking at spending too much to ensure security and business continuity.

Hello, I switched what you mentioned and here is my new build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor | £225.18 @ PC World Business
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | £34.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Motherboard | MSI - Z370 GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | £185.58 @ Amazon UK
Memory | Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | £138.92 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Samsung - 860 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | £64.43 @ SmartTeck.co.uk
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £34.74 @ Aria PC
Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card | £398.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Case | NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | £77.99 @ Aria PC
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | £87.99 @ Ebuyer
Case Fan | Corsair - Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans | £17.97 @ Amazon UK
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | £1266.78
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-27 01:00 BST+0100 |

I still have a few questions I hope you don't mind answering.
Why is the i5-8600k just as good or better than i7-7700k yet almost £100 cheaper on amazon?
Also is this the correct 860 evo ssd? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078WQJXNF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1_1_5?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1 partpicker directs me to some weird more expensive one. Thank you.

I bought a Samsung off amazon for like 120. Maybe coulda done better shopping around but i trust the name and it’s working great.

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 250GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA250B/AM) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H552FK?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

The Samsung T5s have great reviews.

Seagate has a couple interesting offerings too:
Seagate Fast SSD & Seagate Game Drive for Xbox
(it appears the only difference is the enclosure/Xbox branding and 2-months Game Pass i.e. no additional optimizations etc.)

Also a neat option (what I ended up doing)... upgraded SSD in my workstation, picked up an enclosure for $15, plugged it in, win-win. Works like a charm (and it's even tax-deductible! ; )

It can be a bit tricky to find one that works best with Xbox because sometimes the formatting is wonky - and fair warning I have not used an external SSD with Xbox, this is really only experience using SSDs with my PC - both internal, external, and internal with an external case. Something like this one would be fine, but the problem you have to balance is storage versus speed. If you want to run one game really nicely, like Anthem, maybe a smaller hard drive is better. You'll only really need 100GB at most unless this game doubles or triples in size over the years. A search on Amazon for "External SSD Xbox" should lead to a handful of usable ones.

​

https://www.amazon.com/2TB-Passport-Portable-Storage-WDBKVX0020PSL-WESN/dp/B07C4TLLJL?ref_=Oct_MWishedForC_3015429011_1&pf_rd_r=8Z7Q0NJV50N7Z9J7W82A&pf_rd_p=9bc9d775-b810-58dc-aff0-248ecaa49afc&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=3015429011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

Im on Xbox so I don't know if this will help you but I got one of these. WD 256GB My Passport SSD... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNN2WQM?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf. Plugged it into my USB 3.0 and it works great.

You do understand that just because I can spend £2000 on games, that doesn't mean I can/want to spend £2000 instead of £100 for an equivalent mechanical drive to store them and gain next to imperceptible performance gains?

I'd rather just buy £2000 worth more games.

In an ideal world, sure, I'd install all executable files on my 10TB of SSD storage, and I'd have M2 drives for fun, 256GB of DDR4, and quad Titan Xs, plugged into Dell 4K 120Hz 30" monitors. But it's not an ideal world, and money is a factor.

A 2TB SSD still costs ~£500 here. I can get double the storage for one fifth of the price.

And yes, I said 2TB+, because mine is spread over two computers, one at nearly 3TB, the other at.. fuck knows. This doesn't even include all the GOG install files that I keep locally.

Basically anything would be better than the built in internal drive. MS really went cheap on the internal.

​

I just use a standard USB 3.0 4TB external Seagate drive, and even that shows noticeable improvement over the internal.

​

An SSD would be ideal, but as you said it will be more cost prohibitive. I don't know how many games you have, but Samsung makes a really solid external SSD that's 1TB (also comes in 500gb), that may be a good solution too.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539277187&sr=1-4&keywords=samsung%2Bssd&th=1

​

I have one that I use only for keeping a music sample library, which can take forever to load with a slow drive, but I imagine it would work wonders for games.

I'm building a new high end pc from the ground up. Should I be taking advantage of any of these sales? I feel like the mouse and power supply are automatic purchases but I'm a newbie so I wanted to see if I can get any help here first. Sorry if this is filling up the discussion post.

SSD

I read that the crucial's aren't good because once you reach 75% capacity it dramatically slows your pc down? Also, don't know if external SSDs are recommended but should I bite on that SanDisk?

Samsung 1TB 860 EVO

Crucial P1 1TB m.2 SSD

SanDisk 1TB Portable External SSD

Power Supply

Corsair RM850x, 850 Watt Gold Certified Fully Modular Power Supply

Cooler

I don't even know if I will need a coouler, and if I want to go liquid cooling route, and I don't care about RGB, but for a high end pc I'm assuming I should buy?


Corsair H115i RGB Platinum AIO Liquid CPU Cooler

Mouse

This seems like the best deal on a mouse no?

Logitech® MX Master 2S Wireless Mouse

RAM

Was actually looking for 32GB RAM, should I pass since if I go AMD mobo route, having to use more than 2 will cause a slowdown right?

Ballistix Elite 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 3600 MT/s

If you're using it for storage and not editing, you probably won't notice a difference between an SSD and HDD, and you'll probably be better off with just a mechanical drive to save large amounts of data. I would recommend getting a USB 3 external hard drive to maximize compatibility. The 8TB Seagate version is actually a really good deal right now, at less than $0.02/GB.

Now if you want to edit DIRECTLY from the external drive, you're better off with an external SSD like this. You'll pay a lot more for that performance, at more like $0.35/GB, so give some thought to how you'll be using it.

Everyone has their opinions about what hard drive lasts the longest and is the best quality, but honestly they're all very similar these days. The fact of the matter is any drive from any company can fail at any time, and you need to have backups to protect against that.

works!

Just picked up https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36 at Best Buy and oh boy.

I'm always the first person into staging and have to wait for other people to join in. When I'm dropping in I can see the items on rooftops while I'm still in the air which helps with deciding on where on the roof I want to drop.

Other factors are that the skins in the game selection load near immediately (the gray placeholder is only there for about 1 second). Also if you hold down the PS button to go to party settings / friends, the lag is gone.

Here are the times from my PS4 Pro:

First # is seconds with default PS4 Pro HD, second is with external SSD (T5 Samsung)
Game loading time from PS screen: 36 / 27
Blackout loading into staging: 24 / 11
Multiplayer loading map into specialist selection: 10 / 5

I recommend an external SSD to everyone. Set up time is 30 seconds to connect and select in PS4 devices, then it took 11 minutes to move COD to the SSD.

Here is the best external SSD from a reputable company (ADATA) for a good price that I've found after browsing Amazon for a few minutes. 256 GB is more than enough to hold D2 with all expansions and it's only $62. You won't even need to buy an enclosure for it like some of the other recommendations for internal SSDs, just plug, transfer, and play!
https://www.amazon.com/ADATA-USB3-1-Ultra-Speed-External-ASD600-256GU31-CBK/dp/B06XRT23D5/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1537219323&sr=1-2&keywords=external%2Bssd&refinements=p_72%3A1248879011%2Cp_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A14027458011&th=1

For best speed just buy smaller Samsung SSD's. They are pretty good: https://smile.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073H552FJ/

I have also this 64GB usb stick: https://smile.amazon.com/Patriot-Supersonic-Magnum-Flash-Drive/dp/B004ZNA3UA (not available anymore), which typically writes ~150MB/s and reads ~200MB/s. Newer models probably are even better.

I also have a 256gb MacBook Pro I picked up this Samsung external SSD. I like this for portability. It stores my sample and get libraries. I store the main plugin locally on my Mac. Just make sure what you get is usb 3.1 like this.

Edit: or you can have fun and build a network storage solution. You can go with hdd or ssd based systems. You can also expand it the larger your libraries grow.

If you want a external SSD through USB that's a pretty good option. I did some research for you and they are really easy to find. How much storage will you be looking for?

​

250G: https://www.amazon.com/VectoTech-Rapid-250GB-External-Portable/dp/B01JKMZ6UW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536396809&sr=1-1&keywords=vectotech+rapid+250gb+external+ssd+usb+3.0+portable+solid+state+drive&dpID=31CP0cvS09L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

500G: https://www.amazon.com/VectoTech-Rapid-500GB-External-Portable/dp/B01JKMZ8IC/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536396857&sr=1-4&keywords=500gb+external+ssd+usb+3.0+portable+solid+state+drive&dpID=31CP0cvS09L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

1TB: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536396769&sr=1-3&keywords=external+solid+state+drive+1TB

2TB: https://www.amazon.com/VectoTech-Rapid-External-Portable-Solid/dp/B01JKMZ5N0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536396821&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=vectotech+rapid500gb+external+ssd+usb+3.0+portable+solid+state+drive

These are all external so you would just plug them into your laptop. I don't know if you have another hard drive tray build into your laptop? Unless you want to switch out your current hard drive.

Hope this helps :)

100% but do research. Most people that tell you this doesn’t work for them have simply gone about doing it incorrectly. Xbox (OG at least) requires the external to have at least 256gb. I picked this WD ssd about a month ago, and the difference in gameplay is night and day... There still are issues, and yes, cqc can still be a pain at times, but the game is definitely smoother and the load times are certainly quicker.

WD 256GB My Passport SSD Portable Storage - USB 3.1 - Black-Gray - WDBK3E2560PSL-WESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNN2WQM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fQyMAbD85Z76G

I was in the same boat. Here were my considerations...

• Fast write-speeds: to capture continuous video write to the disk
  
• Large Capacity and inexpensive stick: fewer read/write per sector makes it more reliable/longer lasting
  
• Large and expensive SSD)
  
• Endurance/commercial type for more read/write cycles and hotter/colder temps
  
• Small form factor: not so big/rigid to avoid possibility of breaking while in tight area
  
• WiFi capability: to get the data on/off without physical transfer
  
  and what i ended up deciding...
  
  Based on the feedback so far, I'm leaning toward the Sandisk Ultra Fit.
  
  In order of importance, my decision factors...
  
  
• The small form factor will reduce the chance of me hitting it accidentally and possibly breaking the port.
  
  
• It is fairly cheap at $19 for 64GB version. This allows me to store at least 1 day of video at least 2000 miles of driving (over a month of driving) and reduce the number of re-writes.
  
  
• The write-speed is not a factor, but USB 3.0 should be more future proof if Tesla changes the system, or if i re-purpose the drive to another task. If you want the older version with 2.0, it is even less expensive.
  
  
• Endurance doesn't seem to be a popular concern, so ignoring it for now. I am slightly concerned with operating temperature [32°F to 113°F (0°C to 45°C)] and storage temp [14°F to 158°F (-10°C to 70°C)], but we'll see how it goes this winter. Those more further north than me can report in if they have success or failure.
  
  
• I also ignored the WiFi capability because if i need to unplug the device, there is no reason to use it. I'm still curious if SD based cards like the Toshiba Flash Air W-04 would have a different behavior. I bought one for my digital camera, so i'll give it a try in the Tesla too. The cost is significantly higher, but if i can access dash cam videos from my cell phone and before getting home and without unplugging, that would be a big plus. (also need to find the right SD to USB adapter.)
  
  Thanks for helping me think it out.
  
  discussion here
  
  edit, changed recording time to distance driven, as it records while moving, not 24/7

I edit video, create in 3D and do music production. It really helps. This is on top of massive photoshop and other visual work. (I’m a designer at an ad agency.)

This thing is smaller than a credit card. Goes everywhere with me.
WD 2TB My Passport SSD Portable Storage - USB 3.1 - Black-Gray - WDBKVX0020PSL-WESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CFY9SHX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Pbe7CbX17WP58

AppleCare is worth it in my opinion. For one you have peace of mind, and two when you go to sell it you'll get a higher resale value.


Not sure why you think you need a lot of storage for coding... I'm a designer and front-end dev and it's not like you're constantly editing large 4k videos. I have the 512GB internal drive and supplement with a 500gb external SSD (https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-500GB-Extreme-Portable-SDSSDE60-500G-G25/dp/B078SWJ3CF) which is only $110 and works great. Definitely cheaper than upgrading your internals.

Warning:

Never pay someone using PayPal friends/family.

Do not trade with NNNerdy or jasonjXgl.

Always have a seller comment on your thread prior to making the transaction. This shows that the user hasn't been banned. You can check the ban list for a full list of banned users.

Title: [SG] [H] Parting out a rig [W] PayPal or BT

Username: /u/quadlt

Original Post:

Item | Price

-----|:----:
Intel Core i5 QJEF (i5-6500) LGA 1151 | £90
BIOSTAR H170Z3 motherboard | £60
KINGSTON 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2133MHz | £90
CoolerMaster GOLD+ V850 PSU | £80
Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD | £50
DeepCool Captain EX120 WHITE AIO Liquid Cooler | £40
Raijintek Asterion Plus case | £60

Condition: All in perfect working condition.

Timestamps: https://imgur.com/a/r4wW2

Postage and Payment: Postage costs included in the price EXCEPT for the case as I would have to check how much postage would cost. Payment by PP or BT (preferred)

Any additional information: No retail boxes have been retained.

The CPU appears to be a QS sample of i5-6500. Since I was not using the rig myself I cannot comment on the reliability of it but the person who I'm selling this for has assured it's stable and performs the same as the regular chip.

The PSU is missing some cables as far as I can tell. I will include the main ATX and 4+4 PIN cables as well as 2 SATA cables with 3 connections each and one MOLEX cable with 2 connections. Also will include 2 molex to 6 pin and 2 SATA to 8 pin connectors for the GPU.

Any questions, please ask.



I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Definitely go with the 15". The performance difference is measurable and you want the RAM, 8GB doesn't cut it for very long in my python coding experience. I currently use the exact same 13" model you linked, only reason being my university has pretty small desks otherwise I would've gone with the 15".

As for the difference between the 2016 and 2017, there is a small spec bump and you'll get better battery life. Plus if you pair it with an external SSD then you won't have to compromise on storage either. However if that sounds like something you're averse to, the 2016 model isn't bad at all.

Yes :) here they are:

Handle: link

Mounting plate: link

Manfrotto Quick Release Plate : link

Follow focus: link

Rods(16" & 6") link

Handlegrip: link

Lens support: link

Shoulder pad: link

Rod clamp: link

Cold Shoe mount: link

To hold the battery I used this rod clamp: link and this plate: link

Battery: link

To connect the battery to the BMPCC 4k I used these cables and the charging cable from the camera to make an adapter: link to cables

Magic arm to hold the monitor: link

Samsung SSD 500gb: link

SSD holder: link

Monitor: link

HDMI cable: link

BMPCC 4k cage: link

I'm using the Sigma 18-35mm (Nikon) and the Viltrox 0.71X Lens Mount Adapter: link

I think that's it :)

RPMs do matter! I recommend getting a Samsung T-5, solid state USB3. You can get em for like 100 bucks for a 500gb. So worth it. It's my go-to work drive these days and I love it.

If I buy an external ssd like this one https://www.amazon.com/ADATA-USB3-1-Ultra-Speed-External-ASD600-256GU31-CBK/dp/B06XRT23D5/ref=mp_s_a_1_10/141-8678199-2727339?ie=UTF8&qid=1550080637&sr=1-10&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65 it would be ok ? and i saw there will be reduction for two player ships tomorrow because it is valentin’s day. Is it true ? I really thank you for your answers 😀

I got this one and so did my brother: WD 256GB My Passport SSD Portable Storage - USB 3.1 - Black-Gray - WDBK3E2560PSL-WESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNN2WQM?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

I liked it because it was plug and play ready

Good to know, thanks.

Can't you just install Solidworks in a Windows VM through Virtualbox or VMware Player? That would eliminate the need for your windows partition. Use NTLite or something to create a super slimmed down ISO of windows 7 or something, so it doesn't take up a ton of space. Since you only need windows for 1 thing, it would make sense to do this.

You could even just store your VM on a small external usb SSD like THIS so it takes up no space at all.

This is what I did to use Xamarin

Do you have the game installed on an external drive? If not pick one of these or these up. The internal drive only spins at 5400 rpm so it only has a theoretical read speed of 145Mbps. Which isn't great since you need to install your games anyway.

But if you do already own an external drive and it's installed to it, then you might actually have an overheating issue. Buy a can of compressed air from your local store and blow it out from the top where the fan is and then on the sides. Then take a vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment and give it a good scrub on the sides and top.

I had overheating issues since I own a day one edition xbox one and I do like the "intercoolers" that clip on the top because of where it sits in my tv center it blows the hot air out the front away from the intake on the sides.

I tend to use a standard internal 3 TB 7200 RPM HDD (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEKG4NE/) in an enclosure (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/). This isn't the most portable set-up but it's cheap and works rather well if you can find a place to plug power for the enclosure.

Alternatively, I'm looking to get an SSD and a non-powered enclosure for portable backing up. So something like this:
(https://www.amazon.com/Tool-free-Inateck-External-Enclosure-FE2004/dp/B00JQTO8TU/) and any SSD. Within your budget, you probably won't find one for 500 GB though this is close enough: (https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-240GB-SDSSDA-240G-G26-Newest-Version/dp/B01F9G46Q8/).

If you want to go further down in size, you can opt for an M.2 SSD and enclosure set-up.

Hope this helps!

They are pricey but I like the Samsung T-5 SSD:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ

The SanDisk SSD is also a good - but also pricey - option:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078STRHBX

If price is an issue, the Western Digital Elements drive USB 3.0 spinning drive is good (2TB is only $10 more than 1TB):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078STRHBX

Instead of two 1TB/ 2TB toshiba get two of these: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST3000DM008/dp/B01IEKG4NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475258553&sr=8-1&keywords=3tb+hd

I just bought one and they are pretty fast. Solid 150MB/s file write when moving game files, read is very quick and can load big games like GTA V in a respectable time.

LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler -- Just get an air cooler, these "budget" liquid coolers can be louder and more expensive. It really isn't worth it if that is the case with this one.

Samsung 850 EVO 120GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive -- Forget the m.2, get a 240GB 850 evo ssd, 120 is pretty damn small. Leave yourself enough space to put core application on the SSD. You could also put your favorite game on it to speed up loading times.


These are just my personal suggestions.

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 1TB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA1T0B/AM), Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BMwjDbF915ATZ

Does something like this work? And would it require a thunderbolt adapter or just AS good to use USB 3.0?

Thanks for your help!

many thanks for this! i am in the UK, so no microcenter :(

I really don't want to have to update the bios's for all the computers. I'm sure it would be a big hassle. Also, I can't seem to find the B450m pro4 matx on amazon. I am also unsure if i'd get that ssd - what are your opinions on this one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-WDS240G2G0B-Internal-Green/dp/B078WYS5K6/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=nvme%2Bssd&qid=1566391735&s=gateway&sr=8-21&th=1

otherwise, looks good. if you have any further advise on the CPU that would be much appreciated :)
are b550 motherboards expected anytime soon?

It does have to connect via USB so long as you get an "external" and not "internal" hard drive. I'm pretty sure some USB ports on the normal PS4 are better than others (like that support 3.1 transfer), you'll probably want to research that. The regular usb adapter connects to the actual ssd via USB-C in my model (samsung T5 https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA250B/dp/B073H552FK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526491528&sr=8-1)

I absolutely love the SanDisk "Extreme Portable External" USB line. I have a couple, and they're super fast, and well priced.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078SWJ3CF

There is Acer Swift 3 and a Asus Zenbook with similar specs but its price is like $999 plus the Acer Swift just looks and feels more premium and she can get an external HDD or even SSD for photo and video editing plus the MX 150 gpu can handle almost every games at medium with good frames.

$109 for the Ext. Which im told has a WD Blue drive inside.

$167 for the Int. Which is the same WD Blue drive??

It might be easier to load most of your games onto one of these. Save you installing and uninstalling all the time. Sure you'll lose the speed of the SSD but if you don't mind waiting and spending $90 that could be your answer. Save your SSD space for games you play all the time and most likely won't uninstall

I have a problem. I want to buy programs like Komplete 11 and spitfire 's Albion collections. My Computer and about 139GB of SSD left and 789GB of HD. Some of the programs I want to buy are:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Komp11--native-instruments-komplete-11 AND this is an example of one of the packs of spitfire https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/ranges/albion/albion-ii-loegria/

What would you recommend me doing? Should I buy an external SSD like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073GZBT36/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520801512&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ssd+external+drive&dpPl=1&dpID=318I0KrjRKL&ref=plSrch

and put the programs in it? Or buy more SSD for my computer? NEED HELP ASAP!

https://cdn2.techadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/reviews/3675893/au-feature-compact--and-light-71968123.jpg

Is that too big? That’s the Samsung T5, not as small as a flash drive but still not huge, it’s one of the best external SSD’s you can get. It uses a USB-C cable so you don’t have to carry around any dongles. Just grab a 256 GB or 512 GB model and you’ll be good to go.

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wrJACb5R5MDYG

Another option would be the Samsung X5 but it’s larger and costs more than the T5. The upside is that it has similar performance to the SSD that’s built into your MacBook whereas even though the T5 is quick it isn’t as fast as your built in SSD.

Ryzen looks pretty good.

Might suggest to up your hard drive to a 3TB for about $90. Link

You could also switch your card to something a little cheaper like this or this MSI one

Alternatively, you also choose the updated EVGA cards like the FTW2 ICX or the non DT version

Im actually doing a build which has the same price range. If you want a more upgradable, better performing one (because it has a better gpu) follow this one. For the record, for those games hes never gonna need more than 240gb ssd, and that cooler isnt necesarry (one comes in the cpu box)

All of them are on amazon because pcpartpicker doesnt stock

CPU + Cooler

mobo

ssd

gpu

Psu https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07G67GMWX/ref=ox_sc_act_image_7?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

8gb ram
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07B4FRMGV/ref=ox_sc_act_image_8?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

Case
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MSE3M3W/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

Extra fans (you'll want them for cooling)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B071G9SLLV/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A16G2RYKO3IO8J&psc=1

This will run even the newest games at high to ultra at 1080p60 without a problem, and will be very upgradable

Got a Samsung T5 500 for under $100 for my X1X (highly recommend in other subs and I love it). Don't need a case or anything, and no power pack. Load times are much better than the internal HDD, minimum of 30% of the normal time it takes for stuff to load on games I have tried (PoE, Dark Siders 3, HMCC, MHW, etc). I have only been keeping the games I know I play alot on here, and move the rest to a different external HDD.

​

Edit - Amazon link to T5 500GB

Get a quality USB SSD for dashcam+sentry mode recording. You'll want one big enough to hold a decent amount of sentry mode footage bc the software doesn't currently clean up old footage and your drive will eventually fill up and become corrupted requiring a reformat. Only the last hour of dashcam is stored unless you choose to save the last 10 minutes by clicking the icon.

You also want enough space to account for wear leveling and read/write speed impact from low free space. If you Google there is a guide to the best tested SSDs that meet the performance requirements.

I ended up going with this in 500GB: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078SWJ3CF

I bought this one recently. Its a little expensive, but its an official one made for xbox one by seagate, so decided to spend the extra money to get it as i had gift cards i needed to use anyway.

If you want one thats much cheaper that should work just as good, get this one:

Drive: https://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-Performance-Internal-SP256GBSS3A55S25/dp/B075RJS55D/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1548282759&sr=8-3&keywords=ssd+256

Case: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-free-Enclosure-Optimized-EC-UASP/dp/B00OJ3UJ2S/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283038&sr=8-4&keywords=ssd+enclosure

Decent price: But i'm pretty sure that's an affiliate link. So someone is gonna share the profits if anyone buys here. Here's the direct link for anyone who wants to click

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073GZBT36/

Yeah, the laptop has all 3.0 USBs so all good there! Thanks for the information though, I had my eye on the western digital drives.

Are there any that you’ve used personally and or would recommend? As for a USB 3.0 cable, I assume not all are made equally.. any reasonable priced / quality ones you recommend?

Edit: oh jeez please justify me spending $300 on this 2tb SSD. Is this a good deal or am I insane. https://www.amazon.com/1TB-Passport-Portable-Storage-WDBK3E0010PSL-WESN/dp/B07CFY9SHX?th=1

That's a good idea, thanks for the tip! This one got really good benchmark scores:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA250B/dp/B073H552FK/

Appears to be an older model (ST3000DM001) and there is a newer model (ST3000DM008) with better Amazon reviews. But it's still a good deal on a 3TB 7200RPM HDD.

Edit: It may serve best as a secondary drive though, as /u/LasVegasWasFun pointed out that the Newegg reviews don't inspire confidence.

So hard drive technology hasn't really changed all that much over the past few years. Things of note right, HDD is slower than an SSD and that's slower than an M.2

1 minute that fills up 250 gigs makes no sense to me, what camera are you using, I can shoot in DNG RAW on a 500gb ssd and still have like an hour of footage? I don't even think REDs RAW is that heavy?

I'm kinda confused on the whole post. I'm from an IT background. everything depends on what you want to do with each hard drive. If you want to edit straight from the external drives SSDs are the way to go, if you're looking for storage, HDD is way cheaper and you can get like 8TB drives nowadays.

B&H isn't as fast as Amazon, you can just wait till you get to the states and get a hard drive like same day if your in a big city or get it in like 48 hours if you pay for expedited shipping.

So, to finish, it sounds like you need a good SSD so check out the Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 2TB I can't recommend them enough to me they are really reliable during my travels and stuff. And I record to them directly from my BMPCC4k.

I’ve got the 2015 13” MBP with 16gb ram. I use this external ssd to hold the media while I’m working on a project. I don’t use proxy files and I’m impressed with the speed of rendering. Granted I’m an amateur with videos rarely longer than 30 minutes and my 4K media is only 8bit, but this set up works great for me. I second the notion to prioritize ram.

I'm still advocating for getting the SSD over an SSHD so I'm not really doing a 180 degree turn. I just got tired of trying to convince you of the technicals.

I laid out reasons for preferring it besides just absolute performance increases - future proof for next systems and will see an even larger increase in performance when you get a SATA3 capable system.

Your reasons make sense from your point of view, and are fairly logical sure, but both decisions are valid. I think it is more logical to get an SSD, you prefer to save money and are content with 80% of the performance (at best).

Ok. To me, the cost difference is a complete non-factor. I get that won't be the same for everyone.

Here, you wanted a reasonably priced SSD which is also rated as the best SSD to get for an xbox one (the system I use).

I don't need 2TB of storage. Plenty of games are still under 20-30GB. Hell, by the time this drive is full and I need to upgrade, the price on the 1TB will have dropped to be close to this 500GB model.

>Is the rate of data transfer and reading not the same across SSDs if they're using USB-C?

There are different types of flash memory. Different memory/drive controllers.

Different thunderbolt/usb C controllers and the difference between Gen 1 vs Gen 2 USB 3.1.

There can be a lot of fine print to read with these drives.

All of these will factor into the speeds of the drive. Even the capacity has traditionally impacted SSD speeds- with bigger drives being faster.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-portable-ssd/

The internal drive is a super fast NVME (~2.8Gb/s).

If you get a normal portable USB-C/sata based drive which will be cheaper you will not be nearly as fast as the internal drive (~500mb/s). You will still get decent SSD speeds though, which may be good enough for you. If you want it to be 'similar' you'd need a thunderbolt/NVME based SSD.

Basically, compare the Samsung T5 (1tb $220) with ~500mb/s vs X5 $500 1tb with a similar 2.8gb/s as the internal drive.

Once you understand the numbers and things involved, you may start to think that the upcharge for 256 or 512gb internal drive isn't so bad.

Something like this should work, right?

Yes, I know that 3000MHz ram will increase the performance of APUs. Hence I asked if I could just overclock it to 3000MHz on the motherboard or not.

I chose the CX 450 for the purpose of overclocking GPU & RAM. Also chose it because it has 80+ Bronze rating.

Eh, the xeons that are any worth of PC gaming go on the lga 1366 socket, for which motherboards are more expensive than my whole build, and are rarely even available for purchase.

-Samsung T5 external 250GB+ $119

-MyDigitalSSD OTG v2 240GB+ $90

-Samsung 860 EVO 250GB+ $80 + $20 enclosure w/ USB 3.0

Any of these will work great. T5 is the best performing, the OTG is probably the cheapest overall considering enclosures. The first two are plug and play, the third one you need the enclosure to use.

I have both of the first two.

Some considerations:

-You can use a regular USB stick of the 240GB+ class, but it will corrupt and die out sooner than a purpose-built SSD (about 10x the life expectancy). USB sticks are a little slower on read/write as well.

-Getting an external HDD like a mypassport will not load you in as fast as an SSD but will still slightly improve performance on an OG/S if you can't swing the extra ~$40 (I have one of those too and don't recommend it for this game)

Loading areas like that one can happen bc of your internet, but I'm not sure that they 100% are. I used to get hung up right there for around 30sec all the time, but once I bought a external USB 3.0 SSD hard drive and moved Destiny 2 to it, I don't even pause right there anymore. On rare occasion I may drop a frame or something but it's barely noticeable. (On Xbox)

Here's the external ssd I bought. It works awesome as I'm on a launch Xbox and load into areas before my friends that have a Xbox X.

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM), Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IKNkDbEHAFGZ5

I keep pretty much all of my Ableton files on a Samsung 1TB SSD because I like to be able to move from my home machine to my laptop. This workflow has been pretty solid so far. The only issue, albeit minor, is that a lot of the installers automatically assume you want to put the VSTs on the main HD. So, I end up having to move things to the external after the install completes. Not a deal breaker, just something to be aware of.

Here's the Amazon link to the drive I have, but I am sure there are deals on other sites.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ

thats still lower than the samsung endurance microsd rated "operating temperatures ranging from -25°C to 85°C"

My car has reached well over 158F (70C) during a hot summer day here in CA

FYI, theSandisk Extreme Portable SSD, one of the more popular ones people are using have the specs of: Non-Operating Temperature (from 20 degree celcius to 70 degree celcius), operating temperature (from 0 degree celcius to 45 degree celcius (113F))

The other popular external SSD is the Samsung T5, which has operating temps of 0-60C and non-operating of -40C to 85C

Which one shall I choose out of these two? My HDD is the same make as the second link, HyperX. But Corsair seem to be a better brand. Is it worth paying roughly £20 more for a bigger GB size? Or shall I stick with the better company?

http://www.ebuyer.com/710446-corsair-force-series-ls-f120-120gb-sata3-2-5inch-ssd-cssd-f120gblsb

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-240GB-2-5-inch-Height-Adapter/dp/B00KW3MT7W/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1450460738&sr=8-6&keywords=sata+6gb%2Fs+240gb+ssd

Is it less than ~256 GB? Put it on a USB stick, then put that in a bank safe deposit box or somewhere safe.

And you can get very tiny 3-4 TB USB-3 plugin hard drives that you can store safely. SanDisk now makes inexpensive rugged portable SSDs..

I think USB ssds will be your best bet, like others have said.

https://smile.amazon.com/SanDisk-1TB-Extreme-Portable-SDSSDE60-1T00-G25/dp/B078STRHBX?keywords=samsung+t5&qid=1540753905&s=Electronics&sr=1-4&ref=sr_1_4#customerReviews

https://smile.amazon.com/G-Technology-0G06053-G-Drive-Portable-Storage/dp/B0765QBGZZ/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MTHGV28YAM7CSGJ0S8CC

https://smile.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ?keywords=samsung+t5+1tb&qid=1540754048&s=Electronics&sr=1-3&ref=sr_1_3

any of these should do the job, and obviously there are larger and smaller sizes depending on what you need. it's not gonna be as fast as an internal ssd, and i think you'll need at least usb 3.0 to get good speeds (im not sure where the bottleneck is, if 3.1 gen 2 will actually make a difference), but it'll still demolish an internal hdd and probably any economical nas based solution

The optimal Storage solution for dashcam functionality would be a usb SSD like this one for example.

SSDs can withstand way more write-cycles than normal usb sticks due to their more advanced controllers (only relevant if you don't use the entire drive's capacity) and higher binned flash chips.

Um that Seagate is a SAS drive... so it probably won't work for you. And it's most probably used/refurbished.

Get this: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000DM006/dp/B01IEKG402/ref=lp_1254762011_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1491382919&sr=1-3

Or look for new seconds hand HDDs, like something people take out of their new computers because they're replacing them with SSDs or something.

And instead of two 2TB drives get a single larger one, they get cheaper per gigabyte.
like this 3TB seagate is only $23 more then 2TB: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST3000DM008/dp/B01IEKG4NE/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1491383170&sr=1-4&keywords=wd+green

I appreciate the help. What are your thoughts on this Seagate HDD?
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01IEKG4NE/ref=twister_B01IK57UNQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

and what SSD would you recommend, i want the build to be around the $1500(pre tax)

With a newer Motherboard something like this takes seconds to install.

WD Black 256GB Performance SSD - 8 Gb/s M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive – WDS256G1X0C https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS6BYJD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0G7VAbFCFJVP9

If it helps, I'm glad I spent the extra ≈$80 on an external SSD for the performance. But I agree that it's strange that the burden is on the consumer to rectify the producer's cost.

I bought the smallest Western Digital My Passport SSD and it works great.

This is the one I used. Works like a charm.

Load times are consistently and considerably better than before when I didn’t have a ssd. I highly recommend it to all who don’t have a Xbox One X already.

I mentioned to another poster that I don't want to recommend a specific one since I'm not really super savvy about the latest SSD tech, but:

1. the big brands should be good (Samsung, Western Digital, etc.) and 2) if you don't mind small capacity and a little risk, you can do something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XRT23D5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   (that's what I got)
   
   I usually would make sure the SSD has a fair amount of reviews and more than a 4* rating. Personally at $40, I was willing to take a risk that this was a crappy SSD, since it's mostly for Destiny anyway.

It might be in your best interest to invest in an external SSD: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542422582&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=external+ssd&dpPl=1&dpID=318I0KrjRKL&ref=plSrch

Maybe put your games and files you don't need a lot of on that and only keep essential school stuff on the internal SSD in the laptop.

As for needing Windows. Mac has a great tool called boot camp that allows you to boot Windows on the machine. You could even use your portable SSD to keep the Windows image on it.

There is no reason to buy a brand new laptop. If push comes to shove, build a PC to use at home, it'll be much cheaper than any laptop you can buy. This allows you to stay mobile, have enough storage, and do your work (and game!) while saving you money! If you're interested, I can spec you out a desktop build.

Also, what kind of programming are you doing? You mention Visual Studio, but even that is available on Mac now.

Thanks for the great input and knowledge! With that being said.. will this provide what I’m looking for?

This drive is currently working for me, but it does require the dongle with power.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ

I have a 1TB WD my passport (spinning disk not ssd), and that one does not work for me, even with power.

I use an external SSD and it works great. It still has the fast boot times and write times. The downside of using something like a flash drive is the slow boot/write/read times.

This is what I use.

Also what I like about this option is if in the boot order I set the external SSD, if it's unplugged it'll always choose the next option (so for me it's windows).

I'm just copy and pasting my comment for you. :)

If you're willing to spend money but don't want to reduce available space due to limited slots this was what I bought to upgrade from having 2x 2Tb external hard drives.

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_1E8SCbJVJBRNQ

Considering it costs 100$ just for a 500Gb, I definitely wasn't about to buy a 2Tb. So instead I bought this too.

Silicon Power 4TB Rugged Portable External Hard Drive Armor A60, Shockproof USB 3.1 Gen 1 for PC, Mac, Xbox and PS4, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GFDRFSR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qJ8SCb6H93SBR

For another 100$ I bought this 4Tb, for 30$ more you can buy 5Tb. Easily beats paying 350$ for a 2Tb SSD as long as you just put games that need the boost on the SSD and dump the rest on the regular external.

On PlayStation you can do an external or internal SSD. Internal is going to be a bit faster because it's not limited by USB, and it also gives an advantage outside of games because the PS4 OS will be on the internal drive so navigating PSN menus etc is faster.

For ease of use and storage space, most people go with an external Samsung T5.

$89 500GB: Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM), Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_2SVWDbH9TPBBJ

If you want the performance at the cheapest price and you're not worried about storage space, this Sandisk 500GB internal SSD is the best option at $65: SanDisk Ultra 3D NAND 500GB Internal SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s, 2.5"/7mm, Up to 560 MB/s - SDSSDH3-500G-G25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072R78B6Q/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_qnVWDbC2C83DW

I have the Sandisk but the Samsung 860 internal is on sale right now at $70: Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_SUVWDbF7JK7ZW

There are 1TB and higher available in all of the above as well.

> And do yourself a favor and make sure you’re offloading to an SSD RAID (to dump the mags as quickly as possible and do QC), and then also a pair of backup drives are AT LEAST RAID 0 arrays running a pair of 7200 RPM drives.

> Although honestly 8K is the point where you kind of do need SSDs all the way around for any projects that are going to last more than a day or two.


NVMe SSD pricing has fallen through the floor in recent months.
Especially for 8K I just wouldn't bother with hard drives anymore.
Just buy a bunch for NVMe SSDs. Make sure they use TLC flash, not QLC.

I also do not recommend RAID 0. Use RAID 1 if you really want to, but remember, RAID is not a backup

As soon as you offload footage from a Mag, immediately make a second physical copy.

My personal recommendation would be to grab a bunch of these NVMe SSDs (as many as you would need for duplicate copies of all your footage):

https://www.newegg.com/hp-ex920-1tb/p/N82E16820326778

And put them inside these 10Gbps USB enclosures:

https://www.amazon.com/SSK-Aluminum-Enclosure-Adapter-External/dp/B07MNFH1PX/

This way at least storage transfers will not be a bottleneck in your workflow.

Alternatively, these are pricier and slower, but the Samsung T5 is a favorite of mobile editors:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ/

This is the one I went with. Load Times are dramatically improved. I play with some EU guys (Midwest US here) I load into every planet, event, mission, strike a good minute or two before they do. I used to be able to get up and make a drink while loading into the tower before landing. Not anymore

Hello, I've never built a PC and I've done some research and I believe this combo of components are compatible.

I should add this build is for fluid simulations not gaming. The fluid sims don’t take advantage of many cores especially not hyperthreading. They write very big file caches hence the SSD. Later I will add a video card or two for rendering the fluid sim animations. I will need to add A LOT of ram too down the line. Probably mad it out at 64 gb and that’s one reason I chose the I5 8500 versus the i7 8700. Lots of cores don’t help me and saving money for more RAM.

Any issues?

MOBO: ASUS Ultra Gaming

https://www.amazon.com/Z370-AORUS-Ultra-Gaming-Motherboard/dp/B075LC78QK/ref=sr_1_4?m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&s=warehouse-deals&ie=UTF8&qid=1523302014&sr=8-4&keywords=h370

Processor: 8th Gen Intel I5-8500

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-8500-Desktop-Processor-BX80684i58500/dp/B07938SNBB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523302000&sr=8-1&keywords=i5+8500+processor

SSD: WD Black 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe

https://www.amazon.com/Black-256GB-Performance-SSD-WDS256G1X0C/dp/B01MS6BYJD/ref=sr_1_2?m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&s=warehouse-deals&ie=UTF8&qid=1523302156&sr=8-2&keywords=wd+black+performance+ssd

RAM: 16GB 288 pin (one stick) DDR4 SDRAM 2400

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232258&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Memory+%28Desktop+Memory%29-_-N82E16820232258&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4-qRtfmt2gIVyrjACh1bHgjKEAQYASABEgJmu_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Ordered a lot of new gear for the studio, but I'll just add everything I ordered to get the camera ready to go.

For lenses I'm using ones I've already had (Canon 17-35mm 2.8/Canon 85mm 1.8/Canon 70-200mm 2.8) I'm still looking for a 50mm that I'd like to stick with.

Body -
Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2

Power -
I went with gold mount, because I've had issues in the past with V-Mount connections being unstable.

Juicebox Gold Mount Battery & Charger (95Wh)

Blackmagic Design Gold Mount Battery Plate for URSA/URSA Mini

D&O - Dual Channel Anton Bauer Gold Mount Battery Kit

Storage -

SanDisk 512GB Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 Memory Card

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 2TB - USB 3.1 External SSD

SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 Reader/Writer

Shoulder Mount -

CAMTREE Hunt Professional Shoulder Mount Cage Kit for Blackmagic URSA Mini

Not sure if I would recommend the shoulder mount. The cage doesn't seem to sit very snug against the body. I'm still configuring though.

I do the same thing but with a gigabyte aorus gaming box Rx580.

I use an X1 Carbon 6th gen with a double monitor setup. I can recommend this. The 7th gen is lighter, stronger, and faster. It has two thunderbolt three port that unfortunately share bandwidth. I use a samsung t5 2tb ssd for all my games and I get no stutters. Overall my setup costs me about 1500. I got a good deal on the X1 since I got it from costco and it was on sale for 1100.

Today, with the x1 carbon 7th gen, it would be: (i7-8565u quad Core, 16 gb 2133 ram, 256 gb ssd): USD 1500
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/X1-Carbon-Gen-7/p/20QDCTO1WWENUS0/customize?
The samsung ssd is : USD 280
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H4GPLQ/ref=twister_B074T4VYCV?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
The razor core x is: 400
https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Core-Thunderbolt-External-Enclosure/dp/B07CQG2K5K/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=Razor+core+x&qid=1566830545&s=electronics&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzVVY3RzU3U0hNVzdCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDU0OTEzMUVRUFNGS0RNUUVUVSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzg3MTMxRlJYSEs3VzFCMk9MJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Total is 2180 USD or about 1960 Euro

I sold my RX580 Gaming box and bought a 2060 Gaming box.

Definitely faster loading times on certain games. How effective of an upgrade it is will depend on the game. Regardless the SSD speed boost will be bottlenecked by the USB 3.0 port. You can buy any 2.5" or 3.5" SSD you prefer and find a cheap USB 3.0 enclosure for it. If you prefer a more direct and packaged solution, with portability to boot, I highly recommend this bad boy. It's natively a USB-C drive but includes a USB 3.0 adapter.

With Prime Day, Amazon is selling a 1TB Samsung T5 SSD for $149. Pretty good deal.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P2xlDb8VJ5HG2

I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36/. $89.99. Works great and the performance increase is huge.

It's onlly 500GB, but I figure I'll just get a smaller sized one for cheap now and wait for the prices to continue to come down and eventually get a huge TB sized SSD for way less money than they are at now.

This is GREAT! It's small, durable, 1TB and fast! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078STRHBX/?coliid=I1C3LI5BMCA5ZC&colid=3C272EN14AC&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Alright, and I can just use the stock fan for the CPU?

Also, I was thinking about the Kingston 256GB for SSD (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KW3MT7W/?tag=pcpapi-20). Would that be a good option?

USB C external hard drives are lightning quick. You find some really small ones.. Samsung has great drives.

1 TB Portable SSD in a compact size

I would've honestly hiked up the price if it was 512 GB.

Don’t know about cheapest but this is the one i use. Ready straight out of the box via USB (no enclosure needed) and currently on offer on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XNN2WQM?ref_=Oct_CARAsinC_430547031_0

1. I only see short delays around 3 or 4 seconds.
   
2. I haven’t noticed any issues with the dashcam recordings. I am using a 500G SSD which might be an overkill but I have room to grow. Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM) which got great reviews.

This is the one I’ve been using for close to a month now. Doesn’t require any assembly and works great. Had to hard reset my Xbox and then setup was easy. Buildings, furniture, and loot all render before I hit the ground.

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD 250GB SDSSDEXT-250G-G25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WGPCW5L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_20fNAbPZGM3R3

Would recommend some the Sandisk extreme series, great speeds as they are SSD based so more durable:

​

​

USBs are not designed to run operating systems, so flaky results are frequent. An external SSD, however, performs flawlessly. I use one connected to my Lenovo X230, and am very pleased with how well my Linux Mint works on it. This is the particular model I have been using for over six months now, without any problems whatsoever, including wifi:

https://www.amazon.com/ADATA-USB3-1-Ultra-Speed-External-ASD600-256GU31-CBK/dp/B06XRT23D5/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2GTW8D5SEBH2G&keywords=external+ssd+hard+drive&qid=1562964877&s=gateway&sprefix=external+sdd%2Caps%2C415&sr=8-15

Not in school, but I do carry a laptop bag everywhere I go, so here are a few things I always have on hand:

• Highlighter, ultra fine Sharpie and extra ballpoint pen
  
• Moleskine notebook and Field Notes notebook
  
• Leatherman Skeletool Multitool
  
• Apple earbuds (I also have headphones, these are a spare)
  
• AmazonBasics 16,100 mAh battery with a lighting and micro USB cable
  
• Samsung 500 GB Portable SSD (much better than a USB memory stick IMO, but I have one of those, too)
  
  That's not including the gear I keep in a backpack in my truck with more tools, emergency gear, etc.

Something like this I guess;

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073GZBT36?th=1

I'm not really up to date with stuff like that. Some people would recommend building an ssd yourself with a cheap enclose for example.

I had picked the Crucial MX500 because I wasn't sure the 850 evo was worth the extra 18€. If you want a Samsung SSD anyway, get the newer 860 EVO.

I understand that RAM is a bit expensive but there is an actual benefit to having dual channel memory. It's fine if you don't want it, but you should know this to make an informed decision.

A Solid State Drive meant for computer use, while sharing a lot with a USB flash drive, is going to have a smarter controller and be rated for much higher read / write duty cycle.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073GZBT36/

I would say the Samsung T3 external SSD, but that is now EOL. The newer T5 seems a bit too expensive at 1TB for about $165.

If you want fast write speeds then you will want external SSDs like the Samsungs above or this one, otherwise a normal external HDD should be fine.

What you're describing/asking is how I have my steam games setup and it works flawlessly.

Now I strongly recommend you use a hard drive with fast writing speed otherwise you're going to experience a lot of stuttering on more demanding games. I bit the bullet and opted for a 1tb extenal SSD, the Samsung T5 and it handles every game I've thrown at it as if it were running off my laptop's ssd.

Only other step to do is to select your game library path in steam, choosing it as default (if you prefer) and that's it. Hope that helps!

Yep, have the same one, works great. For everyone else a non-affiliated link is here.

Anyone have a Samsung T5 Portable SSD (or something similar)? I have a USB-C to Lightning cable, and I've been hoping that Files would be able to mount it if I directly connected it. Doesn't see it up to Beta 3. Thanks!!

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM), Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iH9oDbTNABKDA

500gb ssd card from Samsung that is just about the size of a credit card but thicker. Used it for a month and it is running strong and nowhere near full.

Easily over 1.5TB, since I also do video.

If you're saying that Seagate external HDD is several years old I'm assuming it requires a power supply? Is that why you're not able to take it anywhere?

External SSDs are much more portable these days and can be used anywhere. I use a 1TB Samsung T5 which is a popular choice. No power supply required and they're easy to toss in a bag. I've encountered no issues. You'll be spending just shy of $200 but it's well worth it (most portable SSDs at that storage capacity are similarly priced, anyway).

It kind of sounds like you're a creepy stalker. I do exactly all of the above - sure its security-wise to format every now and again, but its mainly for the snappiness.

Since it sounds like you've also got your ducks in a row, I am considering shelling out 100$-200$ or so for a small NVME Solid state drive, to add to my 1tb SSD + 4tb HDD. Is it excessive, or will Win10 actually feel even faster than it already does on my SSD?

Problem Solved!!! https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36

Move your game to this SSD and good things will happen :)

You should have no issues at all. I just picked up the USB-C SSD below and it works perfectly with my PixelBook.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078SWJ3CF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The only thing is that the file managers won't show the drive until you give them access to the drive. The same is true for any external disk.

Saw this posted on RFD, daily promo for August 17th, shipping is $9 but seems like there might be stock in stores.

Pcpartpicker: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/j28H99/seagate-barracuda-3tb-35-7200rpm-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm008?history_days=120

Seems like one of the lowest prices for this drive, DirectCanada had it at this price a day ago for a brief period as well, but I guess no one noticed.

CanadaComputers selling it on Amazon.ca for same price as well but with nearly $12 shipping: https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST3000DM008/dp/B01IEKG4NE

Pricematch at BestBuy possible (116.98/Online Only) ? http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/seagate-seagate-barracuda-3tb-3-5-7200rpm-sata-3-0-desktop-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm008-st3000dm008/10587604.aspx?

Be aware that WD Reds are not that expensive if you shuck them, 8TB Reds around $150, while 6TB Blues are $172 per Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/WD-Blue-6TB-Hard-Drive/dp/B013HNYVCE)

m.2 is a form factor, in itself it doesn't give you any kind of performance boost. If it's higher write/read speeds that you want, you're thinking of PCI-E SSDs. Those come in two variants, one being a PCI-E card kind of affair, such as Intel 750 series. The other form factor is M.2. Note that being an M.2 SSD is not the same as being a PCI-E SSD, there are also M.2 form factor SATA SSDs.

If you want the top speeds, you'll want an NVMe SSD. For these, Samsung 960 EVO is a popular choice. Cheaper, but with slightly less performance, you can get a Western Digital Black SSD.. If it's just the form factor you're after, go for something like Crucial MX300.

I believe Apple doesn’t offer upgrades to different sizes only replacement of the exact size that came with your laptop. Also that SSD May be attached to the logic board meaning it would be an entire logo board replacement to upgrade it. You can get usb-c SSD for a good price on amazon. I recommend the Samsung t5 $180 for 1tb and it’s small and requires only 1 cable.


Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 1TB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA1T0B/AM), Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_zqOVDbHM15NK3

I understand it does not change the amount of storage. I can see where my comment could have made it seem like I did. I was however under the assumption that lower drive speeds are more reliable.

Heres the WD one thats 5400 RPM:

https://smile.amazon.com/Blue-Desktop-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B013HNYV42/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1487083620&sr=8-5&keywords=3+tb+hard+drive

Or for the same price there is a seagate that is 7200

https://smile.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST3000DM008/dp/B01IEKG4NE?sa-no-redirect=1

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA500B/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

I just installed this on Sunday to compare how long load times take. I mostly play Destiny 2. Based on its performance I'm obligated to say that its been a great buy. Game boots up quick, and going into menus to change gear is a lot more responsive. Obviously not $1500 pc speed, but for less than $115 you can't go wrong.

WD Black 256GB PCIe NVMe Internal Solid State Drive (WDS256G1X0C) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01MS6BYJD/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_rLiGAbMCJNWE8

I have a multi tier system

• project drive
  
• transfer and backup drive
  
• archive storage
  
• off-site back up
  
  For the project drive I use a t5 Samsung SSD or the SSD in my MacBook pro
  
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_t2kRAbDGD94FY
  
  For transfer and extra backup I'm using a Seaget backup plus 5tb. I don't need it to be fast, and I sometimes use it as time machine backup while I travel
  
  www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXF3C7Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_G1kRAb37YX6ZE
  
  For archive I use a owc Mercury elite setup w 4 x 8tb digital red drives I shucked from Easystore USB drives on sale from Best buy. I got a refurbished OWC for $200, and keep this plugged into an old Mac mini
  
  https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/
  
  https://www.howtogeek.com/324769/how-to-get-premium-hard-drives-for-cheap-by-shucking-external-drives/
  
  Im considering adding a fast desktop drive for editing big projects and this is one that is top of my list
  
  LaCie 2Big Dock RAID Thunderbolt 3 12TB https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075C7R97S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_u4kRAb4DJXZ3Y

Samsung drives tend to be pretty popular.

Thank you very much! Easy to understand.

I'm contemplating on buying this one. It is on sale and it ships to Japan for extremely cheap. It has an "C to A cable" connector, so I think I only need to use this "C to A cable" (USB 3.1 to 3.0 cable, so the "A" will go to my PS4 OG, and "C" will go in the product)?

External is more expensive, if you want to keep it cheap and don't mind somewhat longer loadtime in games use a external HDD, but a good one such as Western Digital Black, also not all External HDD are the same there are Desktop grade drives which use faster ones that spin at 7500RPM and then the smaller ones that run at 5400RPM, the bigger ones need external power from wall.

Anyway here are some options:

• Samsung SATA 1TB M.2 is about $285
  
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYOKOJI/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=
  
  
• Samsung SSD uses Type C, up to 540MB/s read:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511396127&sr=1-1&keywords=external+ssd&refinements=p_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A6797521011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011
  
  
  
• Sandisk (cheaper, but slower and uses normal USB 3.0)
  
  https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-500-Portable-SDSSDEXT-1T00-G25/dp/B01MZI4Y51/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511396127&sr=1-5&keywords=external+ssd&refinements=p_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A6797521011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011
  
  
• Western Digital Black 4TB Portable HDD
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0040HBK-NESN/dp/B0713WPGLL/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1511396681&sr=8-17&keywords=western%2Bdigital%2Bblack%2Bexternal%2Bhard%2Bdrive&th=1

Yeah I think I'll go with the MSI then. Thanks for bringing it up! When you're referring to buying a 250 gb ssd, are you referring to an external drive like this or something I would install in the laptop itself like these?

Best Buy has them (US). Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-500-Portable-250GB-SDSSDEXT-250G-G25/dp/B06WGPCW5L

Short USB cord comes with it. Connect it with your XB turned off. Start up XB, format for games in XB, and transfer PUBG to the SSD in Manage Game menu.

500GB SSD, $50 off.

Better than flash drives, doesn't overheat. Very small form factor (a bit more square than a credit card).

Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 500GB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA500B/AM), Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073GZBT36/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZWolDb3KPTTTN

I was looking at this -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KW3MT7W/ref=s9_al_bw_g147_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=0W3M4HDHZNXFXP5N9VDD&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1977159162&pf_rd_i=565132

Anyone know if that's a good deal? It looks like one. I don't have an SSD at all.

So I'm currently running a Samsung 850 Evo 500gb and a crucial mx300 750gb for the storage in my drive. I'm reluctantly looking at getting a 2 or 3tb hard drive to throw in there to just settle storage issues for games. Initially I was looking at Wd blacks, but their extra cost and noise made it hard to choose.

Currently, I'm looking between the Seagate Firecuda 2tb for 132

https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-ST2000DX002-FireCuda-Gaming-Hybrid/dp/B01IEKG2HM/ref=pd_cp_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZXB9PKGAP3G66JEQZ7VK

OR the 3tb seagate barracuda for 99

https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-ST3000DM008-BarraCuda-Cache-Internal/dp/B01IEKG4NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482742430&sr=8-1&keywords=ST3000DM008&th=1

5 year warranty on the Firecuda is the biggest thing, but if I already have 2 ~1tb of game storage on ssd is the sshd drive going to be useful at all?