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Rip Those Macs Open

jido said:
When you open it, will you note if there is a blade SSD connector inside? Early teardowns showed it was missing.
Click to expand...


Sure thing. I'm not sure when I'm going to do it yet but probably in the next few weeks. Personally speaking, I'm not going to use the Blade option as I'm just going to pop in this SSD and replace the stock 5,400 HDD.

I'm just looking into CPUs right now. Obviously the i7 3770S is the main candidate as that's the model used in the BTO model. I'm also looking at the Xeon E3-1265L V2. Anyone care to chime in?
 
So has anyone successfully replaced the standard HDD in the 21.5 imac and replaced it with an SSD? I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread that it was done but an error was received.

I plan on cracking mine open and maxing out the ram to 16 GB and while I am in there I was thinking about inserting an SSD blade since I have the i7 version which has the open slot.
 
Ordered a 512GBB Apple blade ssd for the MacBook Retina like happyhacking showed in the images earlier in this post. I realized it would be overkill as I was planning a Raid 0 setup like ROG and happyhacking have done with the Samsung 840.

Anyone have an interest in this blade ssd for their setup? I'm just gonna order a 256GB one.

Please PM me if you are? Thanks
 
Well, I was going to leave it a week or two but all the parts arrived today. I couldn't wait and just decided to do it.

I had the top end 21.5 inch iMac with 8GB RAM.

It's now upgraded with the 3.1 ghz i7 3770S, 16GB Kingston LOVO HyperX Ram and an OCZ Vector 256GB SSD. It's fassssssssssttttttt!!! Geekbench Score is 13,711.

----------

jido. Sorry mate, but I didn't see the connector on the logic board...

----------
MetalCooper said:
So has anyone successfully replaced the standard HDD in the 21.5 imac and replaced it with an SSD? I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread that it was done but an error was received.
Click to expand...

Hi mate. Yes, I did mine today. Installed an OCZ Vector 256GB with no problems at all. No fan noise etc.
 
Anyone have luck. I want to replace the 1Tb fusion in my 2013 iMac 27" . Want to install 512 SSD Samsung. Is there a step by step available?
 
vki said:
Anyone have luck. I want to replace the 1Tb fusion in my 2013 iMac 27" . Want to install 512 SSD Samsung. Is there a step by step available?
Click to expand...

Many of us already did it, isnt that hard as you think, just remove the screen, then move a little the hdd side speaker, put the new ssd with a proper bracket, back the speakers, reseal the screen and finally do a internet recovery by using cmd+alt+R and you are done
 
happyhacking said:
Many of us already did it, isnt that hard as you think, just remove the screen, then move a little the hdd side speaker, put the new ssd with a proper bracket, back the speakers, reseal the screen and finally do a internet recovery by using cmd+alt+R and you are done
Click to expand...

How did you find resealing the screen? Were you able to get it back together as if it wasn't tampered with?

Also any tips is much appreciated
 
Raima said:
How did you find resealing the screen? Were you able to get it back together as if it wasn't tampered with?

Also any tips is much appreciated
Click to expand...

If you get the proper seal kit from applecomponents your imac will end as if it never been opened, and i was very suprised how easy was to reseal it with that kit. So opening this imacs is a win-win !
 
If anybody is interested, Individual Genuine Apple Tap Kits are available again below.

DSC_0433_zps9ac0a298A_zps8ed02940.jpg


21.5-inch iMac Tape eBay

DSC_0454_zps73da920bA_zpsfba0dd7a.jpg


27-inch iMac Tape eBay
 
happyhacking said:
Exactly as you described:

256GB --> 1 partition (RAID0_A with 203 GB), 48 GB unpartitioned (Spare Area To Avoid Write Amplification)

512GB --> 2 partitions (RAID0_B with 203 GB and NTFS Windows with 261 GB), 48 GB unpartitioned (Spare Area To Avoid Write Amplification)
Click to expand...

Hi can you advise why you leave 48 GB unpartitioned on each drive ?
 
The pictures are great. One question though, can someone post a picture for how the connections look like between the screen and the logic board? How are they disconnected?
 
Summarising these posts?

Hi guys and girls.
New to this site per se, but read through all of this thread the other day.

Firstly, great work on this thread, fantastic exploration and ideas coming out.

I am looking to rid the PC clogging up my desk and entering the mac world for the first time fully. My main use will be music production, with the odd bit of architectural/imaging software being used.

What I am wondering is if we could create a few concluding posts that sum up some of the ultimate ways in which these macs can be reconfigured, i.e., for those looking to simply replace a h/d, or those looking to add a second SSD drive.

Along with that I was also wondering if we could put together a price list along with these recommended adjustments so people can figure out what extra they're paying, or what they might be saving by improving their machines.

For example, I am wondering what my overall expenditure might be if I:
1. Buy the standard iMac 27", 3.2GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB h/d, 1GB DDR5 graphics. (Education store: £1,597.20)
2. Then upgrade the CPU to i7 3770s (£229 Amazon)(or eBay?)
3. Upgrade RAM to 16GB Kingston/Crucial (£60-80, Amazon/eBay)
4. Upgrade the h/d to a Samsung 830 SSD 256gb (~£200)
5. Plus the cost of the Opening Kits (£?)

Total cost: £2,106.20 (+ kits)

However I am assuming I can also claim back some of the cost by reselling the original CPU (~£120?), 8gb RAM (£?), 1TB h/d (£100?)

Reimbursing: ~£250

Therefore spending a total of: £1856.80 (+kits)

Does this sound best to get the best upgrade for this format (single SSD h/d, can use an external h/d for files)? Or is there a cheaper method? Would buying the 1TB Fusion Drive version work out better (keeping the 1TB h/d in there/ replacing the SSD; replacing the h/d w/ another SSD [having x2 SSDs])?

Would be great if we could provide the cheapest/best methods to tune up our babies!

Thanks for listening.
 
WahWah said:
Hi guys and girls.
New to this site per se, but read through all of this thread the other day.

Firstly, great work on this thread, fantastic exploration and ideas coming out.

I am looking to rid the PC clogging up my desk and entering the mac world for the first time fully. My main use will be music production, with the odd bit of architectural/imaging software being used.

What I am wondering is if we could create a few concluding posts that sum up some of the ultimate ways in which these macs can be reconfigured, i.e., for those looking to simply replace a h/d, or those looking to add a second SSD drive.

Along with that I was also wondering if we could put together a price list along with these recommended adjustments so people can figure out what extra they're paying, or what they might be saving by improving their machines.

For example, I am wondering what my overall expenditure might be if I:
1. Buy the standard iMac 27", 3.2GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB h/d, 1GB DDR5 graphics. (Education store: £1,597.20)
2. Then upgrade the CPU to i7 3770s (£229 Amazon)(or eBay?)
3. Upgrade RAM to 16GB Kingston/Crucial (£60-80, Amazon/eBay)
4. Upgrade the h/d to a Samsung 830 SSD 256gb (~£200)
5. Plus the cost of the Opening Kits (£?)

Total cost: £2,106.20 (+ kits)

However I am assuming I can also claim back some of the cost by reselling the original CPU (~£120?), 8gb RAM (£?), 1TB h/d (£100?)

Reimbursing: ~£250

Therefore spending a total of: £1856.80 (+kits)

Does this sound best to get the best upgrade for this format (single SSD h/d, can use an external h/d for files)? Or is there a cheaper method? Would buying the 1TB Fusion Drive version work out better (keeping the 1TB h/d in there/ replacing the SSD; replacing the h/d w/ another SSD [having x2 SSDs])?

Would be great if we could provide the cheapest/best methods to tune up our babies!

Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...

I went with fusion drive and I am planning to replace the 1tb hdd with a second samsung SSD in raid 0.
 
Can someone tell me where I can find a tutorial about how to install a ssd blade + disassembly guide?

(I got an Imac with standard 1Tb HD, in order to create a fusion drive installing a 256gb/512gb blade in it do I need just to open the Imac and that's all? Or I need some extra screw etc. in order to accomplish the labor?

Thanks a lot! :)
 
Adamx said:
Can someone tell me where I can find a tutorial about how to install a ssd blade + disassembly guide?

(I got an Imac with standard 1Tb HD, in order to create a fusion drive installing a 256gb/512gb blade in it do I need just to open the Imac and that's all? Or I need some extra screw etc. in order to accomplish the labor?

Thanks a lot! :)
Click to expand...

You need one on the screws in this link you get the screw and the re-seal kit from the same seller

itm/iMac-Late-2012-Genuine-Apple-SSD-Screws-Also-Retina-Macbook-Pro-/271165554801?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item3f22ba0071
 
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 1.35V/1.5V CT2C8G3S160BM

Did anybody try this RAM in 27" iMac together with stock ram - Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Memory Modules For Mac CT2C8G3S160BM ? I've ordered 1 kit from Amazon (not received yet) and I saw few people reporting incompatibility with existing stock ram or malfunctioning.
 
Tape

@Geux

What tape did you use? I tried to find the 4926 in the Netherlands but the one 3m dealer that actually did call me after leaving a message on his site told me it isn't "active" product......

(I can't PM because you've got to post 5 times and be at least a member for a day...)

Groeten uit (Greetz from) Udenhout ;)
 
happyhacking said:
64KB for stripe size
Click to expand...


Is there any reason the same RAID 0 setup like yours wouldn't work with a rmbp 512GB Blade SSD and a Samsung 840 pro 512GB? Just wanted to make sure before I went and both those parts. Thanks in advance and thanks for all your helpful replies :)
 
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