External Windows 10 SSD Boot speed

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IkeaEraser

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Nov 21, 2016
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I intend to have an external SSD of 500GB as an external boot drive for Windows 10 so I could use it with my iMac and MacBook Pro.

What concerns me is the speed of the external SSD in booting up and running the programs on it. Is there a USB 3.1 external SSD capable of read/write not lesser than 500mbps that would match the speed of an internal 850 EVO SSD?

What restricts me from dual booting/running VMware Windows 10 on both machines when needed is that the iMac has 1TB 7200rpm HDD and the MBP, 256Gb.

My current solutions come to:
-Upgrading both computers to 1TB 850 EVO SSD so I could dual boot Windows on both. An additional snappy-fast medium would be needed if fast transfer of files are needed between the two.
-Convert an 850 EVO SSD for external use and plug it with USB 3.1(<5 Gbps)
-Buy a new Windows based laptop but that seems very excessive and preferably avoided.

What are your thoughts?
Is the difference between Samsung's T3 speed of 450~mbps and the 850 EVO speed of 550~mbps noticeable?
 
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Geekwad

Geekwad

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Sep 25, 2015
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The external interface is always going to slow you down. What would work the best is a BootCamp install (dual boot) of OSx and Win10 on both machines in smaller standard SSDs (say ~250Gb drives), and then have a large external for media for running between the two (or four OS's if that's what you're working towards).
 
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I

IkeaEraser

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Nov 21, 2016
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I am trying to avoid that route as it involved have Microsoft Licensing on both computers and an additional external media. Would a route that takes uses internal SSD's in an external enclosure, and creating a boot from there be more cost effective and less of a resource waste?
 
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I

IkeaEraser

Commendable
Nov 21, 2016
77
0
1,630


I am trying to avoid that route as it involved have Microsoft Licensing on both computers and an additional external media. Would a route that takes uses internal SSD's in an external enclosure, and creating a boot from there be more cost effective and less of a resource waste?
 
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Geekwad

Geekwad

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Sep 25, 2015
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It's always going to be slow as it's chugging all the data back and forth over a slow USB connection.

Trust me, it's worth the extra license for the speed and reliability to have it work correctly......a single Windows instance doesn't like being shuffled between different Mac hardware configurations.

Trusty 'ol surfin' Sandy here is a Macbook Pro with a Bootcamp install of Win10, and despite it being two generations older and half the price of my professional 4810MQ work laptop, generally runs better. Doing a BC install of Win10 on a Mac machine is the right way to do it.....unless going the VM route.
 
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I

IkeaEraser

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Nov 21, 2016
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Alright, You've convinced me. But for educational purposes, could you explain where the bottleneck would be? Samsung's 850 EVO has a theoretical max speed of 550~MB/s. USB 3.1 GEN 1 has a theoretical max speed of 5gbps (600~MB/s). Disregarding SATA 3 speeds as it is the fastest amongst the three, I see no bottlenecking issues.

 
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