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Do new iMacs have SATA3 ?

Apple's iMac technical specifications Web page for the new systems just states the hard drives use "Serial ATA" connections, but does not indicate the generation of SATA controllers used. After updating the systems with the latest firmware release, however, the systems are showing capabilities up to 6Gb/sec throughput for the hard drives, though the optical drive apparently is still at 3Gb/sec.

OWC is currently benchmarking the systems with the new update, which could show the previous 3Gb/sec notation might have been a false labeling, or that it actually did increase the speed of drive bus in the new systems. If the latter is in fact the case, then users will likely see a marked increase in speed, especially if they have upgraded their systems with SATA III-capable SSD drives.
 
syqwin said:
Thanks a lot.

btw, you got a sata 2 WD caviar black 1TB drive, feel free to upgrade to a sata 3 drive :D
Click to expand...

Bad advice mate. Cav Blacks are the fastest HD's out there. A drive like Barracuda XT which is SATA 3 is slower! Bandwidth doesn't mean throughput just means your pipe is wider! :eek:


Firmware Update Enables 6Gb/s in 2011 iMacs.
Thursday, May 5th, 2011 | Author: OWC NewsFeed

Well… that was quick! Just two days after they were released, the 2011 iMacs have a firmware update.

While iMac EFI Update 1.6 is described as including “fixes that improve performance and stability for Thunderbolt,” it would also seem that an unadvertised benefit is that it also unlocks the full 6Gb/s, SATA 3.0 capabilities of two of the internal drive bays.

Unfortunately, the optical bay remains at 3Gb/s.

We’ll be doing some testing and posting some numbers to show the speed differences, and posting them as soon as we get them, so hang tight.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, it appears there’s also an update for the 2011 MacBook Pros, which includes “fixes that resolve an issue with Turbo Mode in Boot Camp, and improve performance and stability for graphics and Thunderbolt.” No word on if it addresses any issues with 6Gb/s SATA in the main hard drive bays of the 17” model. :cool:
 
I was going to ask if there was any chance that Apple would provide a SATA 3 SSD with new BTO iMac's but it doesn't look like Toshiba or Samsung have come out with one yet......perhaps down the road it will be silently added.?
 
I managed to upgrade my 27" last night with a SATA 3 Vertex 3 SSD. Not many words to describe ... oh boy ... this thing is fast. Photoshop opens in 2-3 seconds, apps like Pages and Numbers open as fast as if they were minimised.

The ports are definitely SATA3 as I am getting readings of 480-500MB/s from the SSD.

Another interesting find includes a total of 4 SATA ports on the main board, which I presume, 2 are SATA3 and the other 2 are SATA2.

Internal cabling layout and screw location differ greatly from the previous generation 27" so if you are planning to do this on your own and not very confident in your skills, perhaps best to wait until iFixit does a proper teardown of the 27" model. I found out that taking lots of photos, especially where every connector goes in, can be very useful during reassemble.
 
maxinc said:
I managed to upgrade my 27" last night with a SATA 3 Vertex 3 SSD. Not many words to describe ... oh boy ... this thing is fast. Photoshop opens in 2-3 seconds, apps like Pages and Numbers open as fast as if they were minimised.

The ports are definitely SATA3 as I am getting readings of 480-500MB/s from the SSD.

Another interesting find includes a total of 4 SATA ports on the main board, which I presume, 2 are SATA3 and the other 2 are SATA2.

Internal cabling layout and screw location differ greatly from the previous generation 27" so if you are planning to do this on your own and not very confident in your skills, perhaps best to wait until iFixit does a proper teardown of the 27" model. I found out that taking lots of photos, especially where every connector goes in, can be very useful during reassemble.
Click to expand...

You're a brave man
 
maxinc said:
I managed to upgrade my 27" last night with a SATA 3 Vertex 3 SSD. Not many words to describe ... oh boy ... this thing is fast. Photoshop opens in 2-3 seconds, apps like Pages and Numbers open as fast as if they were minimised.

The ports are definitely SATA3 as I am getting readings of 480-500MB/s from the SSD.

Another interesting find includes a total of 4 SATA ports on the main board, which I presume, 2 are SATA3 and the other 2 are SATA2.

Internal cabling layout and screw location differ greatly from the previous generation 27" so if you are planning to do this on your own and not very confident in your skills, perhaps best to wait until iFixit does a proper teardown of the 27" model. I found out that taking lots of photos, especially where every connector goes in, can be very useful during reassemble.
Click to expand...
could you describe the procedure please? did you mount the SSD under the optical drive? did you have to add any wires?
 
maxinc said:
I managed to upgrade my 27" last night with a SATA 3 Vertex 3 SSD. Not many words to describe ... oh boy ... this thing is fast. Photoshop opens in 2-3 seconds, apps like Pages and Numbers open as fast as if they were minimised.

The ports are definitely SATA3 as I am getting readings of 480-500MB/s from the SSD.

Another interesting find includes a total of 4 SATA ports on the main board, which I presume, 2 are SATA3 and the other 2 are SATA2.

Internal cabling layout and screw location differ greatly from the previous generation 27" so if you are planning to do this on your own and not very confident in your skills, perhaps best to wait until iFixit does a proper teardown of the 27" model. I found out that taking lots of photos, especially where every connector goes in, can be very useful during reassemble.
Click to expand...
If possible could you post a video of your iMac starting up and starting the apps you mentioned?

This is a bit OT but I wanted to share.

As I live in South East Asia a reseller offered me a $220 discount for a BTO'd 2011 Core i7-2600 iMac with 2GB of VRAM but it will take them 30-45 days to ship. :( If I scuttle the $220 I can get the same config straight from the online Apple Store by next week.

It is driving me crazy seeing all this happening today. :D
 
Uhu said:
could you describe the procedure please? did you mount the SSD under the optical drive? did you have to add any wires?
Click to expand...

I used this guide as a startup but I had to adjust as the cabling and screw locations seem to differ from previous generation.

http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?p=594347

SSD sits behind the video card's heat-pipe, next to the ODD, held in place with velcro. For power I used a Y-splitter from the existing HDD just in the tutorial. SATA cable was a bit tricky as I had to raise the mainboard to see the actual connectors. Probably easy to take the PSU out first as well.

I used a SATA 3 with a 90 degree connector that came with a ASUS mainboard (black and white connector) as was supposedly be special SATA3 wiring ??? Anyways, I had to relocate the main HDD cable to SATA1 instead of SATA0 to accommodate the new 90degree. This was due to the positioning of the connectors on the mainboard. This turned out ok since the SSD now sits on SATA0, HDD on SATA1 and ODD on SATA2.

Is definitely doable but it requires delicate hands and lots of patients.
 
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maxinc said:
Another interesting find includes a total of 4 SATA ports on the main board, which I presume, 2 are SATA3 and the other 2 are SATA2.
Click to expand...

WRONG. 3 PORTS ONLY

What probably threw you is Apple's use of micro sata ports with a stat power port beside it that made you think that was 2 sata ports.
 
AlienSexGod said:
WRONG. 3 PORTS ONLY

What probably threw you is Apple's use of micro sata ports with a stat power port beside it that made you think that was 2 sata ports.
Click to expand...

You are perfectly right. I rectified the other thread. I didn't remove the board completely and from the angle I looked underneath it, it looked like 2 SATA ports side by side where in fact there was only 1 + the stat power port you mentioned.
 
maxinc said:
You are perfectly right. I rectified the other thread. I didn't remove the board completely and from the angle I looked underneath it, it looked like 2 SATA ports side by side where in fact there was only 1 + the stat power port you mentioned.
Click to expand...

Cool mate :)

You just got us all excited till we did a disassembly on a i7 2Gb DDR2 model !
 
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