Best SDD for iMac 7?

JoelChristopher · Mar 30, 2015

I've been looking at SSDs for my iMac 7 and I'm leaning towards two different models:
1) Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5"
2) Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 250GB

I'm inclined to the Samsung but I'm not sure if all its features are fully compatible with OS X. Does anyone know anything about this? Something about magician software for Rapid Mode not being compatible with OS X?

I'm also thinking about getting an SSD for my Macbook 6 (late 2009, white)

Samuelsan2001 · Mar 31, 2015

Either or

JoelChristopher said:
I've been looking at SSDs for my iMac 7 and I'm leaning towards two different models:
1) Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5"
2) Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 250GB

I'm inclined to the Samsung but I'm not sure if all its features are fully compatible with OS X. Does anyone know anything about this? Something about magician software for Rapid Mode not being compatible with OS X?

I'm also thinking about getting an SSD for my Macbook 6 (late 2009, white)

The 850 is a great drive but so is the MX, Rapid mode makes no practical difference for most use cases. iMac 7?? no idea what you mean, if it is older than 2011 it'll have only sata 2 speeds available but that again will make little difference unless copying lots of large files...

UniDoubleU · Mar 31, 2015

What OSX version will you be using? Since Yosemite, 3rd party SSD wouldn't work with TRIM by default due to kext signing. There's workarounds with TRIM Enabler, but it would lower your security a bit. It may or may not be a big deal as your primary SSD.

As for both choices, they have excellent reviews. But if the price difference is small then pick the Samsung as it is faster and uses newer technologies. Unfortunately Samsung Magician is a Windows exclusive software, so you might not get that extra speed but by default the Samsung is still the faster SSD.

JoelChristopher · Mar 31, 2015

Samuelsan2001 said:
The 850 is a great drive but so is the MX, Rapid mode makes no practical difference for most use cases. iMac 7?? no idea what you mean, if it is older than 2011 it'll have only sata 2 speeds available but that again will make little difference unless copying lots of large files...

iMac7,1 is the model name for a mid-2007 iMac. Thanks for the info. I didn't realize my machine was a SATA II. The 850 EVO specs show 540 read/520 write, will my old machine be able to utilize anywhere near those speeds considering it's sata 2 speeds? I'm just trying to figure out if its going to make much of a difference to upgrade to the SSD.

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UniDoubleU said:
What OSX version will you be using? Since Yosemite, 3rd party SSD wouldn't work with TRIM by default due to kext signing. There's workarounds with TRIM Enabler, but it would lower your security a bit. It may or may not be a big deal as your primary SSD.

I'm currently running OS X Mavericks. If I got the SSD, I'm not sure if it would be wise to move up to Yosemite or not. I like a lot of Yosemite's features. I have no idea what a TRIM Enabler is, I'll have to read up on it. I'm just interested to know if a new SSD is the best way to speed up my mid-2007 iMac. If it won't make much of a difference, then I won't buy one. I don't think a memory increase will make a big difference, and I'm undecided about whether to downgrade to Snow Leopard or not. From what people are saying, a new SSD will make the biggest difference, but I'm not entirely sure.

Samuelsan2001 · Mar 31, 2015

About 1/2

JoelChristopher said:
iMac7,1 is the model name for a mid-2007 iMac. Thanks for the info. I didn't realize my machine was a SATA II. The 850 EVO specs show 540 read/520 write, will my old machine be able to utilize anywhere near those speeds considering it's sata 2 speeds? I'm just trying to figure out if its going to make much of a difference to upgrade to the SSD.

----------

I'm currently running OS X Mavericks. If I got the SSD, I'm not sure if it would be wise to move up to Yosemite or not. I like a lot of Yosemite's features. I have no idea what a TRIM Enabler is, I'll have to read up on it. I'm just interested to know if a new SSD is the best way to speed up my mid-2007 iMac. If it won't make much of a difference, then I won't buy one. I don't think a memory increase will make a big difference, and I'm undecided about whether to downgrade to Snow Leopard or not. From what people are saying, a new SSD will make the biggest difference, but I'm not entirely sure.

SATA 2 gives about half sustained read write speeds, but it is the I/O speeds that really count in most usage, boot and app opening atc. I'd stay on mavericks if I was you none of yosemite's new features will work with this hardware as far as I can tell. Ifixits guide for HD replacement:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2111+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5211

It seems you only have sata 1 as well. Halve them again.

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP16?locale=en_GB

kepler20b · Mar 31, 2015

Unless you are compiling databases or constantly moving 60gb files, you will never see the real world difference in speed between the drives.

Both have a fantastic reputation for being dependable.

There is some evidence that suggests that if you do not get TRIM enabled onto your drive, you will suffer from a loss of performance. This loss in performance will most certainly be tangible when installing apps or writing new information to the drive. It likely wont change things like boot times or accessing documents that are already written.

JoelChristopher · Apr 1, 2015

Okay, I called Samsung and spoke with an SSD technician who said that my hardware (mid 2007 iMac) is too old for an SSD of any brand to make much of a difference. He said my iMac is running SATA I speed (1.5 Gb/s) whereas the Samsung SSDs are SATA III, and I wouldn't be able to utilize the speed. Additionally, I would need to enable TRIM. As an alternative, he suggested I buy a 7200 RPM hard drive to replace my old 5400 RPM Toshiba hard drive and that this would speed it up to the equivalent of SATA II (or at least something to that effect).

Is this true? An awful lot of people have told me upgrading my iMac to an SSD would in fact be a great idea.

Samuelsan2001 · Apr 1, 2015

I did point out the sata I in my above post.

JoelChristopher said:
Okay, I called Samsung and spoke with an SSD technician who said that my hardware (mid 2007 iMac) is too old for an SSD of any brand to make much of a difference. He said my iMac is running SATA I speed (1.5 Gb/s) whereas the Samsung SSDs are SATA III, and I wouldn't be able to utilize the speed. Additionally, I would need to enable TRIM. As an alternative, he suggested I buy a 7200 RPM hard drive to replace my old 5400 RPM Toshiba hard drive and that this would speed it up to the equivalent of SATA II (or at least something to that effect).

Is this true? An awful lot of people have told me upgrading my iMac to an SSD would in fact be a great idea.

Technically he is correct but only for sustained read/write speeds. The I/O speeds will still be much higher for boot and app opening.

To be honest with hardware that old the gains are going to be minimal, it will be better in either case just not that much better. In fact I'd suggest something like a seagate momentus with 7200rpm and a 8gb SSD cache as the best for speed and storage upgrade over Sata 1 connections.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Mom...F8&qid=1427895416&sr=8-2&keywords=momentus+XT

JoelChristopher · Apr 27, 2015

The 850 Evo Was the Ticket

Thanks everyone for your input! Just to give y'all an update, I bought a Samsung 850 Evo 250gb SSD along with a 2.5'' mounting bracket. Total cost = $108. The installation was fairly easy with the right tools. I had to use my old Snow Leopard install disk to format the SSD, then I upgraded to Yosemite. With the new SSD, it's like a whole new computer, much faster - booting, loading, data transfer, video streaming, etc... So far, I am very pleased. The verdict is still out on what my wife thinks as she is the Revit, Autocad, video and photo editing guru.

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