iMac, Firewire 800 and SSD, any suggestions, also which RAM....?

[Easer]

Hi All, first post here, I have en iMac 24 (primo 2009) that I look to improve a little, as money is too tight to buy a new one the next couple of years, and it is getting a bit slow on me....

This is the computer (https://support.apple.com/kb/SP507?viewlocale=en_US&locale=da_DK), it has an Firewire 800-port and as far as I understand (is no God-of-computers) it support up to 8 GB RAM....

My question is, does anyone have suggestions as to which concrete parts to buy, a set of RAM that will work with the computer, and what options do I have in terms of a SSD which will function well with Firewire 800, as far as I understand You buy two parts, an SSD and then some kind of connection-kit, is thát right....?

I´m looking for value, it does need to be cheap but not necessarily cheapEST, top of the line gear is not possible for me right now....

-All the best to Ya All....

Bjarke

 

[old-wiz]

I would go for an ssd. the iFixit website should have tutorials on installation.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you are confident and technical enough to open it up, install an SSD internally. But be aware that doing so is not "a simple task".

It's easy enough to boot from an external drive, but your fastest option is limited to firewire 800. Not really fast, but still usable. If you found a "low-to-midrange" capacity SSD (120gb or 240gb), and put it into a firewire800 enclosure, I would speculate that you'd see a noticeable improvement.

Not necessarily in boot speeds (which would be limited by the speed of the firewire800 enclosure and bus).
However, once up-and-running I believe the SSD would make things quite "snappy". Only with very large data transfers (such as copying a movie, etc.) would it slow down (again limited by the firewire bus).

 

[Easer]

-If the operation isn't more than opening up the computer and remove a disk and plug in a new one, then I think I can do that, would there be a considerable gain compared to having an external firewire 800 boot-disk....???
-I guess that it would be quite easy to find a ssd/connector set that fit with the SATA that the internal harddrive did connect to, but how about power, the ssd -I guess- use another power set-up....
-Hmmm, one COUL drill a hole in the cabinet and take power to the internal ssd via an USB-cable....?

-Buuuuut, maybe I should beware a little, I would be in deep s... if I all of a sudden haven´t got a computer, I have done things too fast before....;-)

Thanks both for the inputs, any suggestions to actual hardware with compatibility and a good value/quality ratio....?

Bjarke