Haha, you must have been reading my mind. I actually just pushed buy and went for 250GB. She only uses 80GB of the 500GB she has now and has 1TB of cloud storage.
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Ordering iMac - 1TB Fushion or 256GB SSD?
- Thread starter LarryJoe33
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The 250gb SSD for the 2011 iMac? Or a new iMac with a 250gb SSD? Either way, let us know how you get on!
Bought the OWC kit for the 2011 iMac and went for a 250GB for $75 over a 500GB for $119. Both pretty cheap but why not save $50 if we are never going to break 100GB's.
All ordered. I love breathing new life into an old machine. It has 8GB of memory, I said 12GB earlier. I thought it had four slots and I added 8GB to the 4GB it came with, but I must have taken out the two 2's to fit the two 4's. Hmmm...I could swear it had four slots and I had 12GB, maybe one came unseated?
GF is sending me screenshots. I am at work if you are wondering why I just don't look.
Excellent - yes if she's only using 80GB then 500GB is probably overkill! I did exactly the same in my 2010 iMac - I had a 120GB SSD but was getting small so went up to 240GB the other week - just needed a bit more space for a Bootcamp partition. I have a 2GB external HDD for anything 'large'.
If you've got 8GB, you probably got 4x2GB. Either way, 8GB is probably fine for her use. If not, it's cheap and easy enough to go higher!
I am also a big fan of pimping out these old Macs, for myself and for my whole family - always put at least 8GB RAM and an SSD in them. My wife and my father-in-law both have 2010 unibody white Macbooks, my sister used a 2011 MBP until very recently (until she wanted something lighter so now has an iPad Pro), my dad has a 2010 Mac Mini, and I'm just in the process of fixing up a 2011 iMac just like your gf's for my mother-in-law. And I've done plenty of others for friends, etc. 10 years in computing (especially CPUs) really is not what it used to be - there is no way that in 2010 you'd have been using machines from 2000 for example!
Good plan. RAM is harder to fix after the fact, so get as much as you can built in to the machine on the front end.
You can get external SSD's for pretty cheap if you don't want to pay Apple for a larger internal SSD. In fact I did exactly this a few years ago. 256 gig internal SSD to save some money on Apple's ridiculous storage upgrade prices. I now have a 1 terabyte Thunderbolt 3/PCI Express external SSD that runs about 2,000 megabytes per second.
You are right about the memory. I just remembered I had 4GB in my MBP and upgraded to 16GB 2x8. I took the two 2's and stuck them in the iMac which only had 4GB at the time. The iMac has become a dog with a constant beachball, but I anticipate the SSD will solve that like it did for my MBP when I went to High Sierra.
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Thanks, but I am going to do it myself and upgrade the iMac with an SSD vs. buying. May as well try this first for only $75 bucks. It works pretty well. The wifi controller went last year, but easily fixed with a USB controller. The 5400 RPM HDD is 9 years old, besides being slow, I am surprised it hasn't **** the bed. It probably on it's way.
I have a USB 2.5" enclosure. I think this is going to be easy. CCC clone to enclosure from the iMac HDD, swap and boot. Hoping my kit comes quick. Also hoping the enclosure has enough juice for the SSD.
All set. Installation was pretty easy. The hardest part was putting the LCD screws back in and fighting with the magnets. I also did not disconnect the LCD and remove. I left it plugged into the main board and just reached in to remove the old HDD (two screws) and replace. Thanks to all the help. It’s like a new machine!
Thank you as well. It’s more fighting the magnets for the glass while trying to put them back in.
I've also replaced my iMac´s hdd for an ssd two years ago. Not sure how different are the internals of an 2011 iMac compared to mine (2008´s) but in my case was really straight forward and it took me around 30m. For me the important things are:
- Buy a solid enclosure for the internal ssd, in my case I´ve bought one from OWC I think, that is like a metal 3.5" frame that fits perfectly. It was a bit expensive (taking it to account what it is...) but once is installed is pretty solid. I´ve replaced the current 3.5", not using the optical drive.
- I did not buy any sensors, I´ve just pasted again the one on the old hdd onto the ssd. I had no issues regarding fans, only when the system is loaded, like before the upgrade.
- I strongly recommend to have someone to help you to hold the screen, so this way you don´t need to disconnect it from the main board (I read that this connectors are a bit fragile..). In my case there was sufficient room for the replacement.
- Buy a solid enclosure for the internal ssd, in my case I´ve bought one from OWC I think, that is like a metal 3.5" frame that fits perfectly. It was a bit expensive (taking it to account what it is...) but once is installed is pretty solid. I´ve replaced the current 3.5", not using the optical drive.
- I did not buy any sensors, I´ve just pasted again the one on the old hdd onto the ssd. I had no issues regarding fans, only when the system is loaded, like before the upgrade.
- I strongly recommend to have someone to help you to hold the screen, so this way you don´t need to disconnect it from the main board (I read that this connectors are a bit fragile..). In my case there was sufficient room for the replacement.
I paid $75 shipped for the whole OWC kit through Amazon Prime. 250gb SSD, sensor, tools, enclosure and a micro fiber cloth. Absolutely crazy, how do they make any money.
Yes a second set of hands would have been nice in hindsight. I had all intentions of removing the LCD, but after struggling with the first one and the tiny tabs combined with no fingernails and 50 year old eyes, I decided I had a better chance of breaking a connector trying to remove.
Some info in case you are still at it: If you have a solder tool, you can simply replace the HDD with any SSD if you solder the pin used for Apple's temperature measurement. Many have done this. Apple does the equivalent (by using a jumper connector on the logic board) on the SSD-only 2011 iMacs, it's the same solution.
As the SSD does not get hot anyway (unlike the spinning HDD needing 12V, too), there is no downside. The result of bridging the temp sensing to 0V is only that the HDD fan will spin around silent 1000RPM and not more.
Apple solution
DIY solution: bridge pin 11 to 10 or 12 (either one, on either side of the connector):
or
If you don't want to solder but get the same result, use a SATA Power cable splitter like this; they already have 10, 11, 12 bridged.
Next, since you are at it, add USB 3 into your 2011 iMac:
forums.macrumors.com
Enjoy the speed.
As the SSD does not get hot anyway (unlike the spinning HDD needing 12V, too), there is no downside. The result of bridging the temp sensing to 0V is only that the HDD fan will spin around silent 1000RPM and not more.
Apple solution
DIY solution: bridge pin 11 to 10 or 12 (either one, on either side of the connector):
or
If you don't want to solder but get the same result, use a SATA Power cable splitter like this; they already have 10, 11, 12 bridged.
Next, since you are at it, add USB 3 into your 2011 iMac:
USB 3.0 for iMac mid 2011
Hello folks, I have been following the thread about graphics card upgrade 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade for some time, and someone mentioned that he has upgraded to USB3. So I started my own USB3 project, and succeeded, at a cost of around US$ 20, plus around 3 hours work. I replaced the...
forums.macrumors.com
Enjoy the speed.
Last edited:
If you're on a budget, then get the Fusion Drive, which is TERRIBLE, but then you can buy an external SSD and literally tape it to the back of your computer and use that drive as your boot disk and with all your apps installed on it. That way you can get a 1 TB SSD for like a fifth the price that Apple charges, and IMO it's just as fast in day-to-day usage (I have an iMac at work with an internal SSD and an iMac at home with the "taped drive on the back"), except at the inconvenience of a lost USB port.
The fusion drive is terrible. They gimped it a few years ago so the SSD is pathetic and not even enough to host your apps and system. Back when it was a 128 GB SSD fusion drive it was OK, but then they totally crippled it.
I think the 3 TB fusion drive still has a 128 GB SSD in it, which would be another alternative to consider. I had a previous computer with a 128 GB +1 TB fusion drive and found it to be OK.
The fusion drive is terrible. They gimped it a few years ago so the SSD is pathetic and not even enough to host your apps and system. Back when it was a 128 GB SSD fusion drive it was OK, but then they totally crippled it.
I think the 3 TB fusion drive still has a 128 GB SSD in it, which would be another alternative to consider. I had a previous computer with a 128 GB +1 TB fusion drive and found it to be OK.
You didn't read the thread...
1. He already bought the machine
2. The 2011 has only USB 2, so the external SSD will be slow like hell.
Actually, he didn't buy the machine at all. On the advice of me and others, he installed an internal SSD into an old 2011 iMac - with great results! All's well that ends well.
Sorry, wrong wording. He bought the OWC upgrade kit. Anyway, the fusion drive wasn't any more option.
As others in similar situation might read the thread, I think it should be made known that several low cost options exist. I believe most want to keep investment into such old machine low and yet want to maximize usefulness for several years to come.
If anyone is interested, I have Linux Mint 20 running (no more MacOs). Fully working, no issues whatsoever. If anyone has questions, open a new thread.
I've read a suggestion on that which I intend to try when I get around to upgrading some 2011 iMacs. Cutting a plastic straw down to a shorter length and using that to guide the screws into the holes.
Another idea is to use an item to prop the screen up such as pencils into screw holes or an empty roll of paper towel. Need to be careful how you do it (don't prop the screen open too wide) to avoid damaging the connectors.
Hey thanks again for all the help. Just re-read this thread and my first shout out after successful completion should have went to you. Still running great. She’s had a full week of work using it and can’t believe how different it feels.
This really depends on the maximum performance that can be achieved using external drives. I think TB3 and the newer SSDs can make the need for large internal SSD unnecessary. What do others think?
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Some info in case you are still at it: If you have a solder tool, you can simply replace the HDD with any SSD if you solder the pin used for Apple's temperature measurement. Many have done this. Apple does the equivalent (by using a jumper connector on the logic board) on the SSD-only 2011 iMacs, it's the same solution.
As the SSD does not get hot anyway (unlike the spinning HDD needing 12V, too), there is no downside. The result of bridging the temp sensing to 0V is only that the HDD fan will spin around silent 1000RPM and not more.
View attachment 930207
Apple solution
DIY solution: bridge pin 11 to 10 or 12 (either one, on either side of the connector):
View attachment 930208
View attachment 930209
or
View attachment 930210
If you don't want to solder but get the same result, use a SATA Power cable splitter like this; they already have 10, 11, 12 bridged.
View attachment 930215
Next, since you are at it, add USB 3 into your 2011 iMac:
View attachment 930211USB 3.0 for iMac mid 2011
Hello folks, I have been following the thread about graphics card upgrade 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade for some time, and someone mentioned that he has upgraded to USB3. So I started my own USB3 project, and succeeded, at a cost of around US$ 20, plus around 3 hours work. I replaced the...
View attachment 930212View attachment 930213
Enjoy the speed.
SSD can get very hot.
Please put this is relation to the HDD. The HDD draws about 30W, SSD less than 5W. Ballpark figures, don't be nitpicking please.
Hot hence is relative. If you constantly write to you SSD for hours, sure it will get hot. But then again not that hot that you would have to blow the fan on max. Note that even after bridging, the fan will run with nearly 1000rpm.
So consider this please.
In addition, which PC or laptop (SATA models please) have a fan for the SSD or HDD? None. So 1000rpm is more than enough.
I am sure the SSD is not idle so it puts off heat. When its being written to its a lot of heat. There is a fan in all iMacs. The earlier statement "As the SSD does not get hot anyway" is incorrect.
I have provided power dissipation for HDD and SSD. Given the surface area of a HDD is maybe twice as much as SATA SSD, the SATA SSD will still have only one third the heat generated compared with the HDD.
If you call the HDD "hot", then the SSD will be one third hot. So depends where you draw the line to "hot", and what temp you think is acceptable.
Since nearly all SSDs are up to 70degC ambient, you can have lots of heat inside your Mac. Yes, the hotter, the sooner it dies. So where do you draw the line? You want 0degC for your SSD? Mine is around 40, from what I have observed. I'm ok with that. I live in Singapore. It has 10 years warranty, and I have backups (which everyone should have anyways).