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Best SSD for a late 2009 iMac

E

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
628
851
Rather than upgrade I've decided to turbo charge my iMac with an SSD in place of the Superdrive. There are plenty of threads on here about the upgrade procedure (most quite old now) but I was wondering if people had an opinion on which SSD suits my iMac best, bearing in mind I believe it has 3.0GB SATA connection in the optical bay. I will be going for a 256GB one.

I've read horror stories about OCZ reliability, the Crucial M4 seems good for the price if you update the firmware. Is it worth paying out any more for a faster one, and would I even notice any difference with 'only' a 3.0GB SATA connection?

Any help appreciated.
 
Last edited:
user418

user418

macrumors 6502a
Aug 22, 2010
671
13
Check out the Samsung 830 before you make a purchase. It's reliable and the read/write speeds are great.

Regardless of which SSD you decide on shop around a bit because the prices continue to drop and new deals pop up almost daily.
 
ECJ

ECJ

macrumors 6502a
Jul 5, 2006
559
193
Memphis, TN
I went the Crucial M4 route. I had no issues at all, and it recognized immediately. If I had to chose again, I would pick the Crucial M4 or the Samaung 830. Can't go wrong with either one.
 
DoNoHarm

DoNoHarm

macrumors 65816
Oct 8, 2008
1,138
46
Maine
ECJ said:
I went the Crucial M4 route. I had no issues at all, and it recognized immediately. If I had to chose again, I would pick the Crucial M4 or the Samaung 830. Can't go wrong with either one.
Click to expand...

I have the same computer as you and I've used the crucial m4 256 for 3 months without any issues. The computer is faster than the day I bought it and basically responds faster than I can move the mouse when I open a program. I wish I had done this a year ago. I'm actually now thinking of swapping out the optical drive with another SSD.
 
G

gibsonjv

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2009
22
2
Ohio
sinitry23 said:
Thanks for the links!

If i wanted to go the cheaper route, can I just purchase the SSD hard drive. Crucial M4 and mount it with 3m tape to where the super drive is located in the imac? I don't care for the bracket. Any opinions on this?
Click to expand...

Is it a huge risk to not use the bracket? Probably not. I am sure the drive performs the same with or without the bracket.

The only reason I used the bracket was ensure I wasn't radically changing air flow within the enclosure. There are quite a few pricy components in there and I'd like to keep them healthy for a couple more years.
 
Orlandoech

Orlandoech

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2011
3,341
887
sinitry23 said:
I think I am going to purchase the Crucial M4 SSD drive. Before I do so, would some please let me know if I need to purchase this micro SATA cable if I do not use the OWC data doubler kit?

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Micro-Power-Adapter-Cable/dp/B002RCQ6U2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342752096&sr=1-3&keywords=micro+sata
Click to expand...

If you plan on removing the mobo and adding it, then yes. If you want to swap the ODD for the SSD you can, but you will only get SATAII speeds. If you swap the stock HDD for the SSD you will have fan controller issues which can be regulated by software.

this is an indepth guide http://www.btobey.com/learn/imac-ssd-install.php
 
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