External HD recommendation

[Todzilla]

Hi!

I've got a 2019 16" MBP with a six core i9 processor, 16G of RAM and 1TB SSD.

I'm running out of room with all the DP projects I've been doing.

I have to get an external drive. What do y'all recommend as the most cost effective solution that'll be plenty fast for big DP project (up to 40 tracks 88.2/24 bits) and maybe video editing?

Do I need to go Thunderbolt 3? or is that overkill?

Thanks

[bayswater]

Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but why not just get a big cheap USB3 spinner, and move all the DP projects that aren’t active to that, freeing up the space you need for the project that you are working on? It takes very little time to move projects back and forth.

[HCMarkus]

What Bays' said but, if you need a speedy external, it's either Thunderbolt or USB3.

For the fastest I/O and Trim support you can roll your own TB drive using a TB case + PCIe SSD or get a Samsung X5 or the equivalent SanDisc TB External.

If you are not worried about Trim support, one of the USB3 drives, like Samsung T5 or T7.

[mikehalloran]

What Bays' said but, if you need a speedy external, it's either Thunderbolt or USB3.

For the fastest I/O and Trim support you can roll your own TB drive using a TB case + PCIe SSD or get a Samsung X5 or the equivalent SanDisc TB External.

If you are not worried about Trim support, one of the USB3 drives, like Samsung T5 or T7.

Does SanDisk have a TB3 external? If so, I'm not finding it. This, however, is USB 3.2 and more than fast enough.

https://www.westerndigital.com/products ... 1-1T00-G25

[HCMarkus]

Does SanDisk have a TB3 external? If so, I'm not finding it.

I thought they did! Maybe not.

Here's a $79 TB enclosure if you want to build your own:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3 ... 1cQAvD_BwE

There are a bunch of similar USB3/PCIeenclosures listed on Amazon.

[mikehalloran]

…

Here's a $79 TB enclosure if you want to build your own:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3 ... 1cQAvD_BwE

I like these. Although TB3, they appear to have their max speed throttled to 2-Lane which makes them about half as fast as an X5. This is no surprise, however, given that there's no room for a heat sink so 2-Lane will run cooler. Still plenty fast enough. Unless I needed to put a 4TB SSD in it, I'd stick to as 'slow' blade such as the Crucial P2 since a 'fast' blade like the 970 EVO cannot run any faster.

After what Bob Ludwig went through trying to get an 8TB blade to work in his MacPro 6.1, I'd never try one of those in this. The PCIe bus in 6.1 is also 2-Lane only and he couldn't keep an 8TB going 24 hours before it would crash and burn — I guess burn & crash is more accurate. Like this OWC enclosure, the MP 6.1 can handle the right 4TB, however.