regular or fusion drive?

[Dave Gage]

[Michael Hancock] “The Fusion drive is an SSD and a regular drive. The OS monitors what programs and files you use most and keeps the on the SSD, speeding up the opening of programs, the read/write response of said programs, and should give you a snappier, faster, more responsive machine.”

I don’t know if the Fusion drive is precisely the same as the Seagate Hybrid HDD (I assume so), but I have had excellent results with it in my Early 2011, i7 MBP 17″ with 16GB of RAM. Here’s the one I got-
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/834410-REG/Seagate_ST750LX003_750GB_Momentus_XT_Solid_State.html

I bought it specifically to be able to edit away from home and not have to drag my external 2-drive RAID with me. I removed the MBP Optical drive and then moved my boot drive to it’s spot and then put the Hybrid drive in the original boot drive slot to take advantage of the 6GBs connection.

It’s worked out so well for me that I don’t use the external RAID any more. Based on what Michael said, I don’t believe as an edit drive, it’s taking full advantage of the SSD portion, but it still benchmarks and feels fast (at least fast enough for what I do).
—

Here’s some benchmarks:
(I used QuickBench 4.0, Large file test (2-10 MB), 5 cycle run, with the “Allow Cache Effects” box checked and 5ms set for the Read and Write Delays)

Seagate Hybrid 750GB in Voyager drive dock:
eSata: Write-92 MB/s, Read- 106 MB/s.

Seagate Hybrid 750GB internal MBP main slot- 6GB connection:
Write-273 MB/s, Read- 118 MB/s.
—

Internal 750GB 5400 Drive (in original main drive slot):
Write- 57 MB/s, Read- 57 MB/s

Internal 750GB 5400 Drive (moved to optical drive slot 12/23/12 — I don’t know why this drive benchmarks faster and feels “snappier” in the new slot, but it does.):
Write-90 MB/s, Read- 90 MB/s.
—

eSATA OWC Elite-AL Pro 2-Drive (1 TB) RAID 1:
eSATA 3GB: Write- 97 MB/s, Read- 99 MB/s.

Dave

[Kevin Patrick]

Here’s a link you might find useful.

It deals with partitioning a fusion drive. Personally, I like having the ability to put the OS/Apps on one drive and most of my data (especially non-speed sensitive data) on another drive/partition.

Partitioning the fusion drive will make it possible to have some control over what files will be kept on the SSD portion of the drive. You can keep FCPX Projects that you are actively working on on the SSD partition, leaving non-active projects elsewhere.

It appears that Apple approves of partitioning the fusion drive, since he is using Apple’s Disk Utility to do it.

https://macperformanceguide.com/Fusion-partitioning.html

[Kent Beeson]

thanks for the time and info

Thanks

K
http://www.effective-video.com

[John Davidson]

Alas, you have to get the 8 minimum. Throw the default RAM in a ziploc bag and maybe you can use it one day to help out a friend or salvage an older computer.

John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.

[John Davidson]

I would recommend a USB 3 drive in RAID for media, or even better thunderbolt, before using the fusion drive to edit media. It’s 5400rpm and big files will eat that up.

John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.

[Kent Beeson]

Woah, the fusion drive is only 5400rpm? Not 7200? Wonder why and is that an issue in anyway? I wouldn’t be placing raw footage on it just running apps. Then using external drives as you say for raw footage, etc.

Thanks

K
http://www.effective-video.com

[John Davidson]

Yeah, it’s ssd mixed with a 5400 rpm drive. It’s good though, don’t stress the specs so much as how it works in real world use. It keeps all frequently used apps in the SSD. It’s really good.

John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.

[Kent Beeson]

Very good – thanks for everyone’s help.

Thanks

K
http://www.effective-video.com

[Dave Gage]

[Kent Beeson] “Woah, the fusion drive is only 5400rpm?”

The Hybrid drive I mentioned in my last post is 7200rpm. I knew going in it likely wouldn’t be advantageous for editing, but for the price it was a good choice. Down the road when SSDs come down in price, I’ll move this Hybrid drive over as the boot drive and make the SSD the media drive.

Dave

[Gary Huff]

Considering that the iMac’s RAM is the only upgradeable component at the moment, I’d just bite the bullet and go for the pricey 768GB SSD option over the Fusion drive.