no-budget decision: tb+slow drive or usb3 and fast drive?

My tiny hobbyist' set-up needs some new drive...
in use: a MacMini i5/16GB, offering usb3, firewire, tb.-

What I know so far:
any transfer via usb 'stresses' the CPU => advantage fw/tb
now digging' through amazon …

• usb3 is cheap (advantage usb) and you get, e.g. from Transcent a 2TB drive with 32MB cache + 7.200rpm for <90€.

• WD offers a 2TB, 7.200rpm, 16GB cache, fw-connected, for 120

• and: you get a tb connected drive from Buffalo, but 5.200rpm, 8GB cache, just 500GB, for twice the price of the usb-drive ...

(• a LaCie Raid is beyond budget … says my household Treasury Secretary)


In theory, usb3 ist fast enough for my needs - is it?
Doesn't a 5.200rpm drive 'brake' a super-fast tb-connection?
Is cache really of importance (video=huge files)?

Amateur-league here ...........

No matter what you get, always go with 7200rpm drives for video editing. A slower drive will not "break" Thunderbolt, but the data speed will be limited by the drive. A single 7200rpm drive in a Thunderbolt enclosure won't do much, as the drive isn't really fast enough to do much more. Now, a RAID Thunderbolt enclosure would definitly be fast enough to make Thunderbolt worth while.

USB 3.0 is fine for most HD video work, in general. But it all depends on the format/codec of your footage, how much compositing and effects you're doing, how big your productions are.

Certainly as Ben says 7200rpm is always best, on portable drives, with the small platters used in laptops, 5400 is quite adequate, but not for a full size drive.

BenB wrote: …USB 3.0 is fine for most HD video work, in general. But it all depends on the format/codec of your footage, how much compositing and effects you're doing, how big your productions are.

I'm used to convert all my AVCHD 1080/50p stuff on import to 'optimized'; 'speed' or time is no issue here - if it takes a night long, it does take a night long.- I'm no newsroom, … 

My bread-and-butter projects are:
I record with 4-6 diff. cams a 1h long game per week. I like to edit that down to 10-15 minutes. Just amateur soccer reports: basic editing, cut-aways, tons of slow-mo; screen-graphics (I created my own Motion designs); audio… just atmosphere.- Color grading? Almost zero.

Very basic; … like this

plus a few bigger 'jobs', a 2h concert for a friend, 3 cams but no need for multi cam edit.
or, some 'birthday movies', stills with Ken Burns, home recordings on some music soundtrack.

___________

so, to summarize:
TB starts to make fun only with a Raid0…
faster spin is important
fw or usb3 … for my single-source stuff doesn't matter.

ok, in one corner, we have any 80€ usb3 drive with 7.200rpm
and on the other side some cozy LaCie Little Big Disk or G-Raid or WD MyBook Duo – in the 400+ range… 

pffff - … I guess, in January I stay with usb3, and will ask Santa in 12 months about the 'bigger & badder' solution..

Thanks, senseis, … if anybody else like to share his insights or recommendations?

This is not related to your OP. I just had to say I watched your video and really enjoyed it. I like what you did around the 2 minute mark in the video. I really understand about the "household Treasury Secretary" I have one too. Thanks for the topic and sharing your work.

Dave

BRW, USB 3.0 far out performs FW800. I think USB 3.0 would do you just fine.

BenB wrote: BRW, USB 3.0 far out performs FW800. I think USB 3.0 would do you just fine.

… and look, HOW fine:



yesterday, a friend borrowed me some usb3 drive (Intenso, 3TB for 70€, sales offer from some super-market… afaik with internal 5.200rpm); compared to my WD/fw800 I used with my old MacMini/c2d as working-horse, this is a dramatic difference!

I don't dare to imagine, what would happen with some real fast, TB-connected Raid!!

ok, Sirs, final call of the German jury:
It will be a cheap usb3 drive .... !!

THANKS everyone for helping a beginner..
And appreciate, Dave, you like my tiny reports ... it's fun making them, and it's even more fun to get feed-back from my boys! :lol:

Karsten Schlüter wrote:
I don't dare to imagine, what would happen with some real fast, TB-connected RAID

you'd be in the red most of the time

I have decided to follow Bens advice and buy a good USB 3 for my new Mac Pro. That is a good start. As a hobbyist like Karsten my needs are not like those who have to work with blistering speed. After been using my trusted Mac Pro since 2006 the nanoseconds I will get with for example Pegasus is not worth the money. I also think that my brain is the main hinder for speed

I have decided to follow Bens advice and buy a good USB 3 for my new Mac Pro. That is a good start. As a hobbyist like Karsten my needs are not like those who have to work with blistering speed. After been using my trusted Mac Pro since 2006 the nanoseconds I will get with for example Pegasus is not worth the money. I also think that my brain is the main hinder for speed so the Icelandic jury votes for USB 3