Hello,
I've done a fair bit of searching but all of the information I can find on adding a hard drive to the 2011 iMac relates to replacing the main drive. I would like to add a secondary drive for Bootcamp purposes. I loathe windows but I do want to play a game that isn't available (yet) for mac... so Bootcamp is the best option. Here's my setup:
2011 3.4 Ghz 27" iMac BTO
256G SSD (Apple) Main drive
No secondary drive
I originally ordered it this way because I store all important things on a networked linux server w/ RAID. I didn't envision needing more internal storage, or I would have just ordered the iMac with the secondary drive already installed. Now I have a need for that space. Windows plus the game require 40-ish Gb of storage... and I'm not going to carve out nearly 20% of my apple SSD for this purpose. I /think/ I've read that the BTO iMacs with the SSD-only option can accommodate a second drive easily. As in - the cables, bay, etc are already there, just empty. I'm sure that if this is possible, someone has already done it... I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3.5" drive that I can install this weekend if the iMac will let me. My questions are these:
1.) Is there a secondary bay w/ power and SATA connection available in my BTO SSD-only 27" iMac?
2.) If there is, is that bay 3.5" or 2.5"?
3.) Is there any reason to believe that this secondary drive addition will cause the high-speed fan issue that so many people have been freaking out about?
4.) Would I be better served with a Firewire 800 external enclosure for Bootcamp purposes? Obviously SATA would be better, speed-wise... but would the external-enclosure's ease of installation justify the degraded performance?
Thanks in advance!
I've done a fair bit of searching but all of the information I can find on adding a hard drive to the 2011 iMac relates to replacing the main drive. I would like to add a secondary drive for Bootcamp purposes. I loathe windows but I do want to play a game that isn't available (yet) for mac... so Bootcamp is the best option. Here's my setup:
2011 3.4 Ghz 27" iMac BTO
256G SSD (Apple) Main drive
No secondary drive
I originally ordered it this way because I store all important things on a networked linux server w/ RAID. I didn't envision needing more internal storage, or I would have just ordered the iMac with the secondary drive already installed. Now I have a need for that space. Windows plus the game require 40-ish Gb of storage... and I'm not going to carve out nearly 20% of my apple SSD for this purpose. I /think/ I've read that the BTO iMacs with the SSD-only option can accommodate a second drive easily. As in - the cables, bay, etc are already there, just empty. I'm sure that if this is possible, someone has already done it... I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3.5" drive that I can install this weekend if the iMac will let me. My questions are these:
1.) Is there a secondary bay w/ power and SATA connection available in my BTO SSD-only 27" iMac?
2.) If there is, is that bay 3.5" or 2.5"?
3.) Is there any reason to believe that this secondary drive addition will cause the high-speed fan issue that so many people have been freaking out about?
4.) Would I be better served with a Firewire 800 external enclosure for Bootcamp purposes? Obviously SATA would be better, speed-wise... but would the external-enclosure's ease of installation justify the degraded performance?
Thanks in advance!