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iMac 27" SSD Upgrade - Important Tip!

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wfj5444

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2008
265
3
I am also pretty disappointed this isn't an option on an iMac.

An SSD would significantly increase the speed of the system overall. Always upgrade the slowest component. (Well not counting the optical drive). Best bang for you buck.
 
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parallax7d

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2009
1
0
Could you do me a favor and pop off the glass when the computer is running? Would you mind commenting on any apparent shimmer on the LCD? I'm going to guess it has very low shimmer even compared to the Apple Displays.

thanks!
 
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sentros

macrumors member
Oct 29, 2009
55
0
Finland
I had a few questions regading SSDs. Now I'm sorry if these questions are a bit noobish, but I am a bit unexperienced in the mac world.

I'm thinking of replacing the optical drive with an Intel X25-m, but I'm not sure if it is supported by mac os x. And by that I mean that I have no idea, if it needs some kind of drivers to work(?). I mean, from what I've read about for example hackintoshes, is that they are very sensitive to hardware, meaning that they work on only specific platforms. So it would be wise to use an SSD that is used in for example MBA because it would be supported by Apple. But seeing as how it's pretty damn slow I'd like to put in something a bit faster.

Now I saw that the OP had put in a OCZ manufactured drive and as far as I know, none of the Apple sold products have a drive like that in them. And if the OP got that drive working am I to assume that an Intel made equivilent would work too?

edit: nvm, found a thread with some guy succesfully putting an Intel X25-M to his mac mini
 
C

Cockroach

macrumors 6502
Oct 5, 2006
267
15
London, UK
Hard drives are generic devices that don't need specific drivers. It's things like graphics cards and wireless cards that don't work on Hackintoshes.

FWIW, I have a X25-M (G2) in my MacBook that I intend on moving to an iMac when I get one.
 
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sentros

macrumors member
Oct 29, 2009
55
0
Finland
Cockroach said:
Hard drives are generic devices that don't need specific drivers. It's things like graphics cards and wireless cards that don't work on Hackintoshes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! Oh btw does anyone have confirmation if the optical drive on the new iMac is connected to SATA-300 or SATA-150?
 
J

jzn21

macrumors newbie
Nov 12, 2008
12
0
Today I went to the Apple Service for a HD Swap. I can do it myself but I wanted to keep the warranty. I gave the guy my own selected HD (samsung hd103si) because it's the most quiet drive currently on the market.

After 20 mins of waiting the guy calls me with a problem: the conncetor of the old drive was 2 pins and the connectors of the new Samsung counted 4. Than I told hum to short it. I had to sign a contract that they are not responsible for any damage cause by this joke.

I said the guy this will be a problem in the future because the SSD's are coming.

Anyway I am satisfied with the drive, but I guess that I still lost my warranty even when it's done by a authorized tech guy because when the mac is broken they can always say "it's because a broken temp sensor"?

Am I right about loosing the warranty?
 
M

MooCow34

macrumors newbie
Aug 17, 2008
13
0
wfj5444 said:
I am also pretty disappointed this [SSD] isn't an option on an iMac....
Click to expand...

Well yeah, but in the UK a decent SSD costs around £160+, so I imagine the upgrade cost would be £300+ to UPGRADE. Early SSD pc upgrade options were in excess of £300 but that was a while ago. Mac upgrade options are never cheap though.

I think they want to be able to ship significant storage, so I guess it becomes an option if they provide space for an SSD AND a full size drive. I can't see an SSD getting hotter than a mechanical drive, maybe it can, but I don't think heat is the issue.
 
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chp5592

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2007
134
0
Boot with SSD in firewire 800 enclosure?

How would the speed be if you put an SSD in firewire 800 enclosure and boot from it? I figure although 800 mbits/sec is much slower than SATA which is max at 3 gbits/sec (probably SSD exceeds 800 mbits/sec transfer rate), but it would still be faster than a traditional hard drive.

If this is viable, you could boot from your SSD/firewire, don't have to open up your new iMac, and use the internal hard drive as data drive.

I have been eyeing the second generation intel SSD with 80GB which would be big enough to hold the OS and applications...

If someone had an SSD to test this, that would be great!
 
53x12

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
NATO said:
I put an OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD drive in my iMac, it was picked up straight away by the OS X installer disc.

I would agree with zeigerpuppy, iMacs aren't that hard to upgrade so long as you're careful, slow and methodical (carefully organising the screws you remove so they go back in the right place etc).

And yeah, the iMac is a totally different beast with an SSD - start-up times are practically non-existent, application launching is instantaneous. Very impressive stuff, I wouldn't go back to a traditional HDD for a boot volume ever again.
Click to expand...

NATO, any chance you did some benchmarking with the new SSD in the iMac?
 
300D

300D

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2009
1,284
0
Tulsa
rgarjr said:
where's all the pics on the SSD transplants..
Click to expand...

You will need to do something similar to this.
macmini-090406-4.jpg
 
300D

300D

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2009
1,284
0
Tulsa
motegi said:
Not if its replacing the current drive.
Click to expand...

Why would you want to castrate its storage capacity?

And don't say "USB/Firewire hard drive", a HD will saturate them and performance will be choked, an external blu-ray drive can't come close to using all USB's bandwidth.
 
M

motegi

macrumors regular
May 14, 2009
197
0
sydney.au
Actually exactly that. External storage for me is a perfect solution. 160GB of storage for apps, games and current projects files, and then a couple TB of raid5 redundant storage and media.

Movies and music will stream perfectly from the external devices. The only time you will notice is if you work from the drive (how many gb's do you need seriously?) or when you are dumping to it, which if you're being honest wont be all that often.
 
300D

300D

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2009
1,284
0
Tulsa
Then you have an ugly and loud box sitting near your imac vs a slim silent blu-ray drive.
 
S

sanjuvarma

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2009
85
0
motegi said:
Actually exactly that. External storage for me is a perfect solution. 160GB of storage for apps, games and current projects files, and then a couple TB of raid5 redundant storage and media.

Movies and music will stream perfectly from the external devices. The only time you will notice is if you work from the drive (how many gb's do you need seriously?) or when you are dumping to it, which if you're being honest wont be all that often.
Click to expand...

Hi - I notice you've already upgraded your iMac i7 to an Intel SSD. I was hoping you would help me clear a few things:
1) Is the X25-G2 better than the OCZ Vertex Turbo for the iMac? Doesn't your X25 have far lesser write speeds than the OCZ VT, and almost the same read speeds.
2) How did you mount your 2.5" Intel to the HDD bracket? Did u get the retail version of the X25 with the bracket/enclosure and put it in your iMac?
3) What do u think about this -- http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...ata_ii_3_5-ssd ---- It's the 3.5" version of the OCZ Vertex Turbo I feel. But the read/write speeds for the 120G is just amazing. This also will eliminate the need for brackets/enclosure for the iMac 27" too. Not sure of the heat dissipation problems, but it can't be worse than a HDD.

Thanks
 
S

sanjuvarma

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2009
85
0
sanjuvarma said:
Hi - I notice you've already upgraded your iMac i7 to an Intel SSD. I was hoping you would help me clear a few things:
1) Is the X25-G2 better than the OCZ Vertex Turbo for the iMac? Doesn't your X25 have far lesser write speeds than the OCZ VT, and almost the same read speeds.
2) How did you mount your 2.5" Intel to the HDD bracket? Did u get the retail version of the X25 with the bracket/enclosure and put it in your iMac?
3) What do u think about this -- http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...ata_ii_3_5-ssd ---- It's the 3.5" version of the OCZ Vertex Turbo I feel. But the read/write speeds for the 120G is just amazing. This also will eliminate the need for brackets/enclosure for the iMac 27" too. Not sure of the heat dissipation problems, but it can't be worse than a HDD.

Thanks
Click to expand...


My bad -- that link to OCZ website is broken. This is it -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=07R0ETM2YRS5FAD25YPF
 
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