Best External Drive Solution for Mac Studio

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Level 2

159 points

Best External Drive Solution for Mac Studio

I just purchased a Mac Studio, which has, so far, been amazingly fast. I only got the 1TB internal drive because the larger ones are so expensive. I really need at least 4TB, so I bought an 8TB external HDD to use for all of my work files.

The trouble is, I've had many very noticeable lags when I'm working with files from that drive while I'm using Adobe software. I haven't seen this issue while working with the internal SSD drive, so that suggests it's the external HDD that's the issue.

The external drive is an Oyen Novus 8TB HDD connected with USB 3.1 (plugged into one of the Thunderbolt ports on the back of the Mac Studio). It's a 7200RPM drive.

Is there a better, faster storage solution that won't break the bank? The lag I'm experiencing almost negates the awesome speed of the Mac Studio. Not quite, but it certainly takes the umph out if it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Mac Studio

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 3:52 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

K Shaffer

Level 8

35,314 points

Aug 15, 2022 5:35 PM in response to ndelc

Because of research toward this issue, & time expended

in ASC; may as well share the same result again, here in

a copy-paste from earlier reply:

Great workaround:

4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro SX Thunderbolt Portable NVMe SSD

to use OWC Envoy external enclosure w/ SSD inside;

their premium series; & use their fast USB-4 TB cables.

https://eshop.macsales.com/search/?q=Envoy+OWC

There are fast hardware + enclosures that also sustain

boot-capable clones. ~Whether or not that Mac could.

Other examples not as costly exist at OWC linked page.

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Answer 2

Aug 15, 2022 4:27 PM in response to ndelc

<< It's a 7200RPM drive. >>

A rotating magnetic drive can produce one burst of data at around 150 M Bytes/sec, then drops down to closer to 50 M Bytes/sec steady-state.

The internal SSD drive in a Mac studio is fast -- I would guess 2500 M Bytes/sec, (which is the top speed of a Thunderbolt-connected SSD) but that is completely a guess.

The bigger issue is that if you have Sources and Libraries and Finished video all on one Rotating magnetic drive, in addition to slowness of that drive you have too many things contending for the drive mechanism, and making it seek to different sections of the drive for different kinds of files. This slows the drive way down.

A cheap way to get some relief is to get another cheap drive, and use it for a single type of files, like sources. With many sources and many destinations, your work will progress somewhat faster, without breaking the bank.

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Answer 3

ndelc Author

Level 2

159 points

Aug 16, 2022 8:24 AM in response to K Shaffer

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking into them. I've always had good luck with OWC. Even if I go with the fastest drive they have, I'm assuming it still wouldn't be as fast as the internal drive, correct?

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Answer 4

Aug 16, 2022 10:02 AM in response to ndelc

in most case, the connection method has almost nothing to do with drive speed. Connection method provides a PIPE for the data transport, and as long as the pipe is bigger than what has to flow through it, the PIPE does not restrict the flow, so is not a bottleneck.

You can buy SSD drives as crazy-fast as 7,000 M Bytes/sec sequential access speeds, However, ThunderBolt connected anything is limited to about 2500 M Bytes/sec transfer speeds.

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Answer 5

ndelc Author

Level 2

159 points

Aug 16, 2022 10:54 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks for your reply and for all the info. I spoke with the sales dept. at OWC and they tell me that the OWC Envoy Pro FX would actually be faster than the internal drive the Mac Studio ships with, which I was very surprised to hear. Sounds like that may be the best way to go.

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