SSD for iMac9,1

[poiihy]

Planning to install ~128GB SSD in iMac 9,1. Looking for SSD around $40-50. What do you recommend and what else should I know?

Also, after I install an SSD, should I install a fresh installation of macOS 10.12 with the new APFS? or should I restore the existing 10.11.6?

 

[redheeler]

Also, after I install an SSD, should I install a fresh installation of macOS 10.12 with the new APFS? or should I restore the existing 10.11.6?

Although iMac 9,1 is not officially supported by Sierra, you can install it (see this thread). However, as of now it's not even possible to use APFS for a bootable partition.

 

[poiihy]

I found a sandisk 120GB SATAIII SSD at best buy for $45; it apparently comes with a "free item" of $20 so in theory it discounts it to $25, and it can be purchased in store.
It's SATA III but the 9,1 uses SATA II i think, so will that be a problem? I heard someone used a SATA III in a SATA II mac and it only ran at SATA I speed.



There's also a similar PNY:


[doublepost=1475357006][/doublepost]

Although iMac 9,1 is not officially supported by Sierra, you can install it (see this thread). However, as of now it's not even possible to use APFS for a bootable partition.

Is sierra worth it with an SSD or should I stay with the captain? Is it much of a hassle to tweak? Are tweaks needed for each OS update?

 

[redheeler]

It's SATA III but the 9,1 uses SATA II i think, so will that be a problem? I heard someone used a SATA III in a SATA II mac and it only ran at SATA I speed.

SATA III SSDs should run fine at SATA II speed. Certain Macs have chipset issues which cause this to happen with some SSDs but I don't think iMac 9,1 is one of those.

Is sierra worth it with an SSD or should I stay with the captain?

It depends how badly you want the new features. Siri, picture-in-picture, Photos.app update, better Disk Utility/optimized storage, etc. I've been running Sierra on several Macs and it has been working fine.

 

[poiihy]

It depends how badly you want the new features. Siri, picture-in-picture, Photos.app update, better Disk Utility/optimized storage, etc. I've been running Sierra on several Macs and it has been working fine.

I'm not really interested in any of the new features... I'm only interested in better performance. So probably best to stay with the captain.

 

[poiihy]

I just finished installing the new SSD...
I got this PNY 120gb from Fry's http://frys.com/product/8727761
And this mounting bracket: http://frys.com/product/8057424

I thought it would only take 10-20 minutes but it ended up being 2 hours...
That mounting bracket turned the project into a nightmare... first the screws wouldn't screw in the damn holes; I kept trying to get the damn screws in but instead hurt my hand and lost a screw... so I decided i could just use zip-ties to hold the bracket in place...
but then because the damn mount holds the device in the center, the connectors were farther away and the data connector couldn't reach it.
So because the SSD is so lightweight and has no moving parts... I got creative, left out that POS mounting bracket and held it in place using the connectors and two bits of wire... should've done that in the first place.

It works and OS is installing now.
I'll post pics later

Hopefully there will be significant improvements to kill my doubts of having done this at all...
[doublepost=1475478464][/doublepost]Well installation failed... failed to verify or something like that... trying again (to boot the installer)
nope, "File system verify or repair failed" again... i guess i'll have to try to reinstall from scratch, tomorrow, it is late

 

[poiihy]

Installed from original os, migrated data, and it's working fine now
180MB/s write 260MB/s read with nothing else open

Anything else I should know? Do I need to enable TRIM?

 

[poiihy]

pic