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Woo Hoo! There IS a Z68 chipset in the new iMac!
- Thread starter eoren1
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Thanks for the link. Very interesting. This bodes well for the "missing" SATA III issue as well. Some here, including me, were speculating that perhaps the delay for the SSD is due to Apple planning to include the Z68 chipset. Looks as though they did include it and the wait is related to it.
What I want to know, is if a third party SSD install will still work with the Z68 as if it was preinstalled...
The SSD mount point looks to be a lot easier to get at compared to last year, since you only need to remove the optical drive this time around and the SSD mounts right behind the optical drive.
I ordered just the base 1TB drive since I didn't want to wait another month for it to arrive. So hopefully adding in a third party drive will work the same way.
EDIT: Just thought of something. If we configure an iMac without a SSD, will it still have the Z68 chipset? I'm assuming yes since I don't think anyone has a SSD 2011 iMac just yet.
The SSD mount point looks to be a lot easier to get at compared to last year, since you only need to remove the optical drive this time around and the SSD mounts right behind the optical drive.
I ordered just the base 1TB drive since I didn't want to wait another month for it to arrive. So hopefully adding in a third party drive will work the same way.
EDIT: Just thought of something. If we configure an iMac without a SSD, will it still have the Z68 chipset? I'm assuming yes since I don't think anyone has a SSD 2011 iMac just yet.
I've been on the fence about whether to get the 2011iMac i7 or wait for a Mac Pro update. I've been waiting for so long and this bit of info is pushing me over the edge slightly. I do want to find out exactly how 1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive will actually work first though.
Seems like the access to the mount does not matter since you have to take the whole board out to get to the sata ports on the back
I'm now leaning toward waiting for Lion until I buy my iMac...that and no funds right now 
Hoping they introduce SSD caching as a feature of Lion and do a minor update specifically for smaller SSD drives at that point.
Would be very curious to see if video encoding is taking advantage of Quick Sync in the chipset - should offload a lot of CPU power....
Hoping they introduce SSD caching as a feature of Lion and do a minor update specifically for smaller SSD drives at that point.
Would be very curious to see if video encoding is taking advantage of Quick Sync in the chipset - should offload a lot of CPU power....
SSD is made for booting, so yes! of course you can
So if this the case . . . when thunderbolt external ssd's become available, the OS would be loaded onto the external ssd? Or am I getting more confused??
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We are talking about internal storage; you're talking about external storage.
Currently TB does not allow booting. You can boot of a FW or USB drive, but it would be slow
curtisinoc said:SSD is made for booting, so yes! of course you can
So if this the case . . . when thunderbolt external ssd's become available, the OS would be loaded onto the external ssd? Or am I getting more confused??
We are talking about internal storage; you're talking about external storage.
Currently TB does not allow booting. You can boot of a FW or USB drive, but it would be slow
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Booting from an SSD connected to the logic board is different than booting from an SSD connected by thunderbolt. The former is already supported, the latter is supposedly not by Apple's hardware yet but will be eventually.
Can someone explain what this means?
I'm reading up on it, but I'm super confused. Does this make the hard drive go faster when an SSD is also installed? Is that what this does?
I am waiting on my 4-6 weeks delivery of the high end iMac, and I'm curious what this means for my purchase.
Thanks
I'm reading up on it, but I'm super confused. Does this make the hard drive go faster when an SSD is also installed? Is that what this does?
I am waiting on my 4-6 weeks delivery of the high end iMac, and I'm curious what this means for my purchase.
Thanks
Well, check out that link at the top of this topic.
Since the new imacs have the new (not yet released really) chipset, they will be able to utilize the new drives that intel is going to be releasing. Some think that the ssds in the new imacs will indeed be these new intel models and that is why there is a delay on those BTOs with the ssd options.
Part of the new chipset feature is being able to have a hybrid drive (counts the hard disk drive and ssd as one 'disk.'
I guess we won't really know everything for certain until someone receives their ssd equipped BTO machine
Since the new imacs have the new (not yet released really) chipset, they will be able to utilize the new drives that intel is going to be releasing. Some think that the ssds in the new imacs will indeed be these new intel models and that is why there is a delay on those BTOs with the ssd options.
Part of the new chipset feature is being able to have a hybrid drive (counts the hard disk drive and ssd as one 'disk.'
I guess we won't really know everything for certain until someone receives their ssd equipped BTO machine
Well, check out that link at the top of this topic.
Since the new imacs have the new (not yet released really) chipset, they will be able to utilize the new drives that intel is going to be releasing. Some think that the ssds in the new imacs will indeed be these new intel models and that is why there is a delay on those BTOs with the ssd options.
Part of the new chipset feature is being able to have a hybrid drive (counts the hard disk drive and ssd as one 'disk.'
I guess we won't really know everything for certain until someone receives their ssd equipped BTO machine
So you're saying the chipset is in the machine but it won't really be relevant unless the machines are also provided with specific hybrid drives. Meaning just because there's an SSD drive and a HDD in there doesn't mean they''ll automatically become a hybrid.
If that's the case, then I'm doubtful this is in the new machine. I don't think Intel would release a new technology and it would be the same price as the other hard drive combinations. I'm sure it'd be more expensive.
I guess some of us could upgrade in the future.
Can someone explain what this means?
I'm reading up on it, but I'm super confused. Does this make the hard drive go faster when an SSD is also installed? Is that what this does?
I am waiting on my 4-6 weeks delivery of the high end iMac, and I'm curious what this means for my purchase.
Thanks
SSD is separate than the hard drive. It will have your operating system and applications on it while the hard drive will store the files. SSD will not affect hard drive performance, they are two separate entities in the cpu. SSD speeds are much faster than hard drive so boot times, application launching and other processes will be much much faster.
There are two key advantages for Z68
One is the hybrid drive. The thing is you only need 18 gigs of space on the SSD to boost the effective speed of the mechanical drive. That's what doesn't make any sense here...why is Apple only offering a 250 gig drive???
The second benefit is Quick Sync which offloads the CPU when it comes to video encoding and greatly speeds up the process. Not clear whether Apple will enable this function.
Seems they went to some effort to delay the iMacs for Z68 and are the first one to deliver the chipset to customers. You would think they would announce that aspect of it and offer a 20 gig ssd option to take advantage of the hybrid abilities.
One is the hybrid drive. The thing is you only need 18 gigs of space on the SSD to boost the effective speed of the mechanical drive. That's what doesn't make any sense here...why is Apple only offering a 250 gig drive???
The second benefit is Quick Sync which offloads the CPU when it comes to video encoding and greatly speeds up the process. Not clear whether Apple will enable this function.
Seems they went to some effort to delay the iMacs for Z68 and are the first one to deliver the chipset to customers. You would think they would announce that aspect of it and offer a 20 gig ssd option to take advantage of the hybrid abilities.
Apologies if this has been answered before. How does this affect people like me who just ordered the top-line 27-inch BTO with just the HDD, planning to add an SSD myself?
Will I be able to add an SDD to it and take advantage of the new Z68 chipset? Or is this only available to those who order the SSD+HDD config from Apple?
Thanks.
Will I be able to add an SDD to it and take advantage of the new Z68 chipset? Or is this only available to those who order the SSD+HDD config from Apple?
Thanks.
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