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Adding SSD & RAM after Purchase - iMac 2011

New Apple said:
Custom check (and fee) is pretty random (too much mail to check)
i was prepared to pay the tax+go pick up elsewhere, but was lucky :), another time for another product -too big envelope- i had to pay extra

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do you have the 27'' 2011 ?
cos i think you can even order online (for example) the BTO including 2 hd (hdd+sdd) KEEPING the ODD in place

older and smaller models i have no idea.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have the 27in iMac, mid-2011. I would need to find an authorized service center that would do it. The big one in my area won't do it. The only way they'll do it is to take out the optical and make the optical an external drive. :-/
 
xiaomei said:
I bought 32GB ram from amazon.co.uk, 2x Corsair CMSO16GX3M2A1333C9 and I paid little over £130 and it's working perfectly fine on my Imac 27 2011 i5.
Click to expand...

Well spotted! I just ordered 16GB from crucial, and paid 106 euro with shipping. Much better deal on amazon with the 32GB!

Cheers!
 
I just bought a 2011 27" imac about a week ago and went through this same thing.

I got the $1699 model and was pretty damn disappointed by the performance how it came.

However, got up to 12gb mem and put in an SSD and its a whole new machine. Love it.

Putting in memory is an absolute no brainer. Putting in the SSD really isn't that difficult. I replaced my hdd with one, didn't add it, so that made it much easier imo. The hardest part was getting the lcd screws back in imo haha, those magnets that hold the glass on kept stealing my screws

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SBacklin said:
Yeah, I have the 27in iMac, mid-2011. I would need to find an authorized service center that would do it. The big one in my area won't do it. The only way they'll do it is to take out the optical and make the optical an external drive. :-/
Click to expand...

Do you really need a huge internal hdd for storage? IMO just replace the system drive with an SSD, and if you NEED storage add an external drive for that. I personally don't need more than 180gb so I just roll with an SSD
 
ttudboz said:
Do you really need a huge internal hdd for storage? IMO just replace the system drive with an SSD, and if you NEED storage add an external drive for that. I personally don't need more than 180gb so I just roll with an SSD
Click to expand...
No, I don't but, after all the reading I've been doing and seeing about the fans spinning and such, I figured it would be easier to just add the drive. However, I'm still trying to find out if the method I've come across (installing the SSD behind the optical drive) is officially supported by Apple or would Apple have a fit when it came to warranty and AppleCare? As mentioned before, one authorized service center said they couldn't (or wouldn't) replace the main drive and the only way to add the SSD is to remove the optical and make the optical an external drive to "make room" for the SSD. So I'm just trying to find out what's up. Lol
 
Hi, I've just done a similar thing 2 months ago on my iMac 2010. Bottom line is that it may not be that cheaper to go to a reseller.

My 1TB HDD failed so I took it to a reseller in Islington, London (MR Systems - ask for Lenny). They were very good but I paid just over £500+ WD 2TB Black, Kingston 128GB SSD plus labour. Compared to adding these in to the iMac on the Apple Store today it was slightly more and by the time I lugged it across London I question if it is worth it. Also the Apple SSD will be 256GB so even better (relative) value for money.

Btw the fan noise can be addressed by a sw utility called HDD FanControl. I can confirm it works fine. There are other similar tools as well that seem to have satisfied users, just check on the forums. Nice of Apple to add that proprietary sensor to a standard HDD, this sort of thing was half the reason for moving from the Dark Side yet they're becoming just as bad... :-(
 
Im ugrading the SSD I have in my iMac now, late 09 model. I have a Corsair Force 2, and Im going to a Samsung 830 256gb SSD. Did I make the right choice?
 
OK...I've got a Crucial 512GB drive and have the install kit ordered (connection cable, suction discs, screwdrivers, tweezers, etc). I am not worried about the installation process itself...but what about after the install (or before) to get it operating correctly?

1. Since I'll be leaving the current HDD in place to serve as extra storage and just adding the SSD, how will I get the iMac to know to boot from the new SSD?

2. What about formatting and getting the SSD to begin its life as if it were taking up where the current HDD left off. In other words, I'd like for the SSD to have all the data, OS, etc. so that when I first boot up, it will be as if there was no gap. I have a transfer cable that will allow me to hook it up as an external HD, so I think I will initially connect the new SSD as an external drive, format it, then do a clean install of the Mountain Lion OS. After that, I will use migration assistant to transfer data from the original HD to make it ready to pick up where the old drive currently exists. And once I see it is working correctly, THEN I will do the permanent installation. Is this the approach I should take? Or should I just use Carbon Copy and make an image of the current HDD and restore that image to the SSD and go that route?

3. Of course, before I begin any switch, I will do both a backup of the current HDD to an external HD using time machine...as well as make an image of the current HDD to that same external HD using Carbon Copy.

4. So, based on what I've put above, is there anything I'm overlooking or one method that is better than another (ie. use carbon copy rather than clean OS install with use of migration asst)?
 
PNGento said:
OK...I've got a Crucial 512GB drive and have the install kit ordered (connection cable, suction discs, screwdrivers, tweezers, etc). I am not worried about the installation process itself...but what about after the install (or before) to get it operating correctly?

1. Since I'll be leaving the current HDD in place to serve as extra storage and just adding the SSD, how will I get the iMac to know to boot from the new SSD?

2. What about formatting and getting the SSD to begin its life as if it were taking up where the current HDD left off. In other words, I'd like for the SSD to have all the data, OS, etc. so that when I first boot up, it will be as if there was no gap. I have a transfer cable that will allow me to hook it up as an external HD, so I think I will initially connect the new SSD as an external drive, format it, then do a clean install of the Mountain Lion OS. After that, I will use migration assistant to transfer data from the original HD to make it ready to pick up where the old drive currently exists. And once I see it is working correctly, THEN I will do the permanent installation. Is this the approach I should take? Or should I just use Carbon Copy and make an image of the current HDD and restore that image to the SSD and go that route?

3. Of course, before I begin any switch, I will do both a backup of the current HDD to an external HD using time machine...as well as make an image of the current HDD to that same external HD using Carbon Copy.

4. So, based on what I've put above, is there anything I'm overlooking or one method that is better than another (ie. use carbon copy rather than clean OS install with use of migration asst)?
Click to expand...

Well I would have told you to use the external thunderbolt as a boot drive but putting the ssd in the machine is possible.

before you put it in the imac use your oem hdd to partition the ssd.(have the ssd in an external case) then restart the imac with your finger on the options key. you will get a choice of normal osx or recorvery osx. pick recovery and install to the external ssd.

then go to perferences and pick the ssd as your booter. boot with the ssd while it is outside your imac. run the machine with the ssd for a day . then do the switch. Be careful the imac has a lot of cables that can be broken. good luck.

Once you do the switch you can run the machine with the ssd for a bit. Holding on to the oem hdd as a temp backup.

I advise this method due to the difficulty factor of moving the ssd in and out of the imac. It is nice to know your ssd works and can boot before you drop it in the mac.
 
Adz76 said:
I was looking into this a while back when I was in the market for a top spec iMac similar to what you are looking at. The best option is to do as you said and buy the iMac from Apple with the CPU and GPU upgrades you want. Whilst thats in the post search out what SSD you want ( size and make ) and get that from Amazon ( Don't think Newegg is in the UK yet ) You can also buy your Ram from there too, I bought from Crucial who have an Amazon shop but there are other places too.
Once you have all new hardware delivered you want to search for an Apple Authorised Repair agent, ( via Apple's website ) these are outlets with Mac qualified agents that can do any upgrade/ repair whilst still maintaining the warranty. When I looked into it Apple would only open my machine to repair something and supply and fit any problem component. They wouldn't fit a secondary drive that I supplied , so I researched it and this is the only other option which gets you the hardware you want fitted whilst keeping a full warranty intact.
Last point, check which apps will use 32GB RAM, photo editing apps may and audio editing but outside of this not much else will so depending on what you will use and how often you use it, you may never need the other 16GB. Its £125 for 16 and x2 for 32 so I'd start with 16 and see how you go.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I was going to get the SSD afterwords and have an Apple authorized store/re-seller install it like was suggested above. Three stores I called told me it would not be a good idea for multiple reasons. I even called other computer stores who told me it would not be a good idea. The labor cost is very high. I ended up getting the stock SSD from Apple and maxed out all the options for the 27 inch. I love it.
 
ttudboz said:
Do you really need a huge internal hdd for storage? IMO just replace the system drive with an SSD, and if you NEED storage add an external drive for that. I personally don't need more than 180gb so I just roll with an SSD
Click to expand...

I really DON'T need the extra HD...I would be very happy to just replace the current HD with the SSD...but has anyone figured out how to overcome the fan issue where it would run full-bore if the original HD were just removed?

TIA
 
^ Yes, I'm using a free program called SSD Fan Control and it lets you change the fan speed. I don't know what it's supposed to be at, but I'm been having it at 1100 rpm and it's been about the same temperature as when the HDD was in and just as quiet.
 
What SSD would you guys recommend right now for mid-2011 iMac?

My budget is about 400 euros tops. Of course I'd rather spend less - I'm looking for best value for the money :) I'm looking for at least 256GB but 512GB wouldn't hurt.

Crucial M4 SSD with 512GB storage is about 400 euros at the moment. Does this drive offer good performance compared to others? I'd rather get a drive with smaller capacity if this drive is noticeable slower than some other.

I have checked some specs and SSD drives have varying speeds from 400 to 600 Mbit/s. If I install SSD with 600Mbit/s speed in my iMac would I actually notice the difference compared to a slower drive?
 
Nihilius said:
What SSD would you guys recommend right now for mid-2011 iMac?

My budget is about 400 euros tops. Of course I'd rather spend less - I'm looking for best value for the money :) I'm looking for at least 256GB but 512GB wouldn't hurt.

Crucial M4 SSD with 512GB storage is about 400 euros at the moment. Does this drive offer good performance compared to others? I'd rather get a drive with smaller capacity if this drive is noticeable slower than some other.

I have checked some specs and SSD drives have varying speeds from 400 to 600 Mbit/s. If I install SSD with 600Mbit/s speed in my iMac would I actually notice the difference compared to a slower drive?
Click to expand...

This is a good drive.
You can buy from crucial.com direct, $25 (US) via UPS shipping, takes about a week.
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT512M4SSD2
M4 512Gb $425.82 US
M4 256Gb $211.11
M4 128Gb $111.99
Great prices!
 
LRO said:
My question was if I was to just go for the 2TB drive, could I then buy a crucial 512GB SSD and put that in with an Apple Dealer as an ADDITIONAL drive? Or do I only get it as 2 drives if I buy with apple. I'm sure they'd let me swap the one drive but I want both?

If I went for the basics I would only be spending £1800 on the initial purchase (i7 3.4, 2GB GPU) rather than £3500 which is a massive difference!

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

I got about the same Mac as you did about a month ago. I picked up 16 gb of ram from other world computing for $150. I bought 2x8gb instead of 4x4gb sticks so I could eventually buy two more 8gb sticks and go to 32gb.

I talked to a local apple certified service place and they said they would install a SSD (while still keeping my main HDD) for $90. I just had to supply the SSD. So I'm thinking of doing that with a 512gb SSD as well.
 
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