Mid 2009 (EDU) iMac SSD Upgrade...

[Mark0]

Hi, I recently acquired a 20" Mid 2009 iMac as a back up computer and would like to upgrade from the standard HDD to an SSD. Being an Education-only model it has 2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 8Gb RAM and a 160GB 7200rpm HDD.

I have read tutorials, seen videos etc about how to change out the HDD for the Early 2009. My Mid-2009 is essentially the same set up, albeit with a reduced specification as mentioned previously.

Given I am very careful with such things, I would be doing the changeover myself and would fully expect to preserve the stick-on temperature sensor that is inside these models on the 7200rpm HDD and re-use it on the SSD.

My question really is this: will the temperature sensor work ok on an SSD or will there be a variance in temperature compared to the standard spinning HDD that would cause the fans to speed up and become noisy?

I have seen people who have done hard drive changeovers on Late 2009 models etc using software to manually control the fans but I am not keen on this approach.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Mark

 

[mossy]

I swapped out my 2009 27" i5 iMac HD for an SSD. I am not 100% sure about your model - but the HD on my machine had the sensor built inside the HD housing. When I started up the machine after fitting the SSD, the fans started spinning at full speed. I use HDD Fan Control and it worked out just fine ever since. iFixit was where I got all the instructions. Very cool actually.

Just to let you know also. If you do not intent to use the CD drive, you can take that out and stick your SSD in that area. You can buy a conversion kit online (Amazon/iFixit or someplace else). You could then use the old HD as a Time machine backup.

I actually had it set up that way for a year - but was in a pinch for a CD drive one day and swapped it back in (and replaced the main HD with the SSD).

 

[Mark0]

Thank you for your reply. As far as I know, the 27" was a Late 2009 model that had the temperature sensor built into the drive. A special temperature cable is needed to work with any new drive being installed. OWC sell these but they won't work with my model as it is based on the Early 2009 model - where the cable is stuck onto the outer casing of the HDD. It can be removed carefully then stuck back onto a new HDD with no problems.

However, I have only seen videos etc where the swap is using a 7200rpm HDD being replaced with another 7200rpm HDD. The temperature sensor gets stuck onto the new drive and there are no problems.

I am wondering if the SSD will encounter any problems because I am not sure if they run warmer or cooler than a conventional spinning HDD. In other words, will the readings confuse the Mac and make the fans turn on full?

I have also read about the DVD drive conversion. I'd like to retain mine for my son so he can watch DVD's etc in the future.

Thanks again,

Mark.

 

[mossy]

As far as I know an SSD will run cooler than HDD as there are no moving parts inside the SSD.
If there is a bad block at some stage in the SSD then I suspect in might run hotter then, but if the thermal sensor is positioned correctly then all should be good.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4991958?start=15&tstart=0
Some information here relating to the positioning. You might be able to research a bit more about the positioning.

and

http://guides.crucial.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2267+SSD+Installation/628
another guide (you have probably seen already)

All you can do is try and then run some tests. Use https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ I think there is a trial.
For example:
Turn up the brightness to 100% and play a hd movie or a game (something that will push the processor) and see if the fans kick in. You can keep an eye on the temperatures with istat as you go and make sure that when the temperature rises that the fans kick in.

 

[Mark0]

Thank you for the information. I'll look into it more