2011 iMac, Will I still have fan issues if I get a hard drive from another iMac?

[fendert]

Hello all! This is my first post!

I want to upgrade a couple things on my iMac. I have the base model mid 2011 21.5 inch with the 2.5ghz i5. The stock hard drive is a 512gb HD, and I want to upgrade it to a 1TB, and also replace the optical drive with a SDD drive.

I know about the fan issues when replacing the HD but what if I put in a bigger HD that came out of an iMac from the same year? would I still have the same fan issues? Shouldn't that HD have the correct firmware on it?

I've never taken apart an iMac, but I'm a very competent DIY'er

 

[pdafan]

I read from OWC that you need to get the same brand of HDD as your original iMac HDD to avoid the fan thermal sensor issue. E.g. WD 512GB to get WD 1TB.

 

[eddieaus]

OWC sells a hard drive cable for 2011 iMac which fixes the fan issue. you can replace it with any hard drive you want. it's very simple to install, check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuK256K2zSQ