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iMac Vertex 3 "My Upgrade"

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superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
Hi Guys, I was debating back and forth on waiting the 1-2 weeks for the SSD equipped iMac or order the stock HD and upgrade myself. Being I just sold my Macbook Air and needed something fast I decided to take on the SSD upgrade myself.

I ordered the i7 3.4, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, 2GB GPU model. (MacMall, no tax and only $112 for AM overnight delivery)

I read over Charged PC's guide and then started the procedure. Since I am new to iMac's this was a 2-3hr job for me but I was very precise on each step. The hardest part I had was positioning the board to fit back in after I installed the Vertex 3. I used Velcro strips to hold my SSD in place, I was not patient enough to wait for a bracket to arrive.

It booted right up, I installed OSX Lion (Developer Edition), I then divided the 240GB Vertex 3 into an equal partition and installed WIN7 64. Both OS's are flying now. I tried to use a Mac with a stock HDD and after using SSD's for over a year in all my devices I no longer could live waiting minutes to open apps on reboots.

This upgrade is definitely not for everyone and was not easy in my opinion.

Just thought I would share my small project with everyone, if not for this site I would have never even had the motivation to try and do the upgrade myself.

Parts I used:
Suction Cups http://goo.gl/Q84km
Sata Y Splitter http://goo.gl/gUudX
18" Sata cable straight edges, like this: http://goo.gl/XM7cc
Velcro http://goo.gl/J0ikE
Vertex 3: http://goo.gl/4pvfz
16GB RAM: http://goo.gl/cULrc
Gloves, so no fingerprints: http://goo.gl/MmeXe
 
Last edited:
Badger^2

Badger^2

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2009
1,962
2
Sacramento
Nice.

Not sure why you ordered with 8 gigs of ram (unless MM gave you a deal and didnt charge you Apple prices) and suction cups from the dollar store work fine -- and as for gloves, meh, just keep your fingers off the damn glass. You even have a 3/4" buffer to touch (where the edges are black)
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
Badger^2 said:
Nice.

Not sure why you ordered with 8 gigs of ram (unless MM gave you a deal and didnt charge you Apple prices) and suction cups from the dollar store work fine -- and as for gloves, meh, just keep your fingers off the damn glass. You even have a 3/4" buffer to touch (where the edges are black)
Click to expand...

Yes, I had to order a few iPad's and some other equipment so MM threw in 8GB Ram. I took it out to replace with 16GB.

I'm a big fan of those gloves when working inside iMac's. (I'm strange). And the suction cups, I never thought about visiting a dollar store to find them, haha.
 
D

dilgit

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2010
245
0
Well done!! Congratulations! I assume you installed the SSD along the HDD and not instead of the HDD? On Monday, I'll have a technician do the same on my new imac 2011.
What about heat issues?
How Is your imac's fan responding to the change?
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
dilgit said:
Well done!! Congratulations! I assume you installed the SSD along the HDD and not instead of the HDD? On Monday, I'll have a technician do the same on my new imac 2011.
What about heat issues?
How Is your imac's fan responding to the change?
Click to expand...


Thank you, I left the stock hard drive as is and just added the SSD. I will double check the temps but everything was running cool and normal after the install. Good luck with your install on Monday. What SSD are you adding?
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
nightfly13 said:
Hmm other guides suggest a straight-to-90 degree SATA data cable. Any input here?
Click to expand...

I tried the 90 degree data cable and for me and the cables I had it would not work because of the position of that port on the motherboard. I had to use a straight cable. I took a bunch of pictures during the install, I'll see if I have any close ups of the cabling/ports and post if I do.
 
D

dilgit

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2010
245
0
superpalmtree said:
Thank you, I left the stock hard drive as is and just added the SSD. I will double check the temps but everything was running cool and normal after the install. Good luck with your install on Monday. What SSD are you adding?
Click to expand...
I'm installing the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD Sata III. I would very much like to see a photo of how you attached the SSD with velcro.
Hope everything goes fine for me.
 
Last edited:
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
dilgit said:
I'm installing the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD Sata III. I would very much like to see a photo of how you attached the SSD with velcro.
Hope everything goes fine for me.
Click to expand...

I was very happy with the Velcro results. At first I was thinking Velcro seemed a bit "cheap" but it looks great and will hold as good as screws. I'll try to post some pictures.
 
olindacat

olindacat

macrumors regular
Apr 15, 2011
241
46
Greenwich
superpalmtree said:
Hi Guys, I was debating back and forth on waiting the 1-2 weeks for the SSD equipped iMac or order the stock HD and upgrade myself. Being I just sold my Macbook Air and needed something fast I decided to take on the SSD upgrade myself.

I ordered the i7 3.4, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, 2GB GPU model. (MacMall, no tax and only $112 for AM overnight delivery)

I read over Charged PC's guide and then started the procedure. Since I am new to iMac's this was a 2-3hr job for me but I was very precise on each step. The hardest part I had was positioning the board to fit back in after I installed the Vertex 3. I used Velcro strips to hold my SSD in place, I was not patient enough to wait for a bracket to arrive.

It booted right up, I installed OSX Lion (Developer Edition), I then divided the 240GB Vertex 3 into an equal partition and installed WIN7 64. Both OS's are flying now. I tried to use a Mac with a stock HDD and after using SSD's for over a year in all my devices I no longer could live waiting minutes to open apps on reboots.

This upgrade is definitely not for everyone and was not easy in my opinion.

Just thought I would share my small project with everyone, if not for this site I would have never even had the motivation to try and do the upgrade myself.

Parts I used:
Suction Cups http://goo.gl/Q84km
Sata Y Splitter http://goo.gl/gUudX
18" Sata cable straight edges, like this: http://goo.gl/XM7cc
Velcro http://goo.gl/J0ikE
Vertex 3: http://goo.gl/4pvfz
16GB RAM: http://goo.gl/cULrc
Gloves, so no fingerprints: http://goo.gl/MmeXe
Click to expand...

Nice to hear that the ChargedPC tutorial was good. I had them upgrade mine but it is in NYC and I'm on Maui and won't see for another 10 days....
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
SSD TEMP: I did notice the temps for my SSD are very high, but the drive itself is cold and I know it's not actually hot. I read somewhere that the Y Power Splitter may be the reason. Here is a screen shot.

2011-06-18_1257.png
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
Does anyone know which HHD's can be swapped for the stock drives in the Mac and not upset the fans? I think this is honestly a bit crazy that replacing a HD causes the iMac to go nuts. I have an extra 2TB WD Green drive I would like to swap with the stock 1TB Black.

Ideally I would like to swap the 1TB black with a 120GB Intel 510 series SSD. But then I would need to rely on fan software / shorting wires to defeat the loud iMac fans.

I guess I just need to be content I have 1 SSD in and everything is running perfect! I'm thinking the less I mess around with the insides the better.

Would love to hear from other people that did the install themselves and what they thought about the process.
 
Last edited:
Fallinangel

Fallinangel

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2005
200
20
I really don't think that anybody can say for sure which brand or type of drive is going to work flawlessly. I've read user testimonials that the Caviar Black drives work just fine. On the other hand, many users have fan problems with the Green ones. I wouldn't rely on those reports though.

It is indeed crazy that Apple has castrated the very few upgrading options that the end user had with their iMac line. It's a major fail if you ask me, even if they tried to garantie a good heat management or something similar.

Your thread is great, OP. Keep the information about your setup coming and thank you.
 
D

dilgit

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2010
245
0
Fallinangel said:
Any news on your homemade SSD update so far?
Click to expand...
My technician installed the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD Sata II for me, in addition to the original 2TB HDD on my iMac 27" 2011. Since installation, the imac is super fast but I have two annoying issues:
1. The fan is working non stop.
2. I sometimes get the "beach balls" that freeze the imac for q few seconds.

Any ideas how to resolve these issues? superpalmtree? Anyone?
 
A

AbeFroman77

macrumors 6502
May 29, 2010
334
1
I really want to buy a 2011 iMac and it's already annoying I can't use it as my monitor for my gaming PC. Now I can't even install an SSD without any problems like fan or temp issues for the HDD it comes with and the installed SSD. I want an SSD but not the SSD Apple uses.
 
M

Mashuri

macrumors member
May 9, 2011
35
1
dilgit said:
My technician installed the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD Sata II for me, in addition to the original 2TB HDD on my iMac 27" 2011. Since installation, the imac is super fast but I have two annoying issues:
1. The fan is working non stop.
2. I sometimes get the "beach balls" that freeze the imac for q few seconds.

Any ideas how to resolve these issues? superpalmtree? Anyone?
Click to expand...

Download the 0002 firmware for your SSD and that should take care of your beach ball problem. Also, I assume you have TRIM enabled, yes?

Not sure why your fan is causing problems. I never had that issue. I hooked up my SSD myself using a SATA power splitter. I haven't looked at the temps but my system has been whisper-quiet.

EDIT: It occurred to me that your tech may have messed up one of your fan connections. Something to consider.
 
S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
dilgit said:
My technician installed the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD Sata II for me, in addition to the original 2TB HDD on my iMac 27" 2011. Since installation, the imac is super fast but I have two annoying issues:
1. The fan is working non stop.
2. I sometimes get the "beach balls" that freeze the imac for q few seconds.

Any ideas how to resolve these issues? superpalmtree? Anyone?
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your issues. Is the fan noticeably loud or just there? On my install I have not heard any extra fan noises at all. Good luck.
 
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