iMac mid 2010; optibay or dual drive kit?

[Lolito]

Hello everyone!!!

I´ve done plenty of optibay installation in MacBooks, but not in iMac, although I have opened a few for other repairs.

My question is that I have to install an SSD in a Mid 2010 27" iMac, and researching on the net, I´ve found these dual hardrive kits, that come with a sata cable and a power cable, and you just glue the ssd with tape in the location of the optical drive. Another easier method is installing a 12,5mm optibay.

My concerns:
1.- Why are there these two possibilities? will the optibay work properly just with the sata connection and no extra power?

2.- Can I use the regular 9,5mm Optibay used for macbooks, or do I really need to purchase the one of 12,5mm?


Thanks a lot in advance!!!

 

[MkVsTheWorld]

I think you've got a few things mixed up. Here are the options for adding drives to the iMac:

-You can use the Data Doubler Kit (optibay) to replace the DVD Drive for a hard drive. But, you'll likely be stuck to using SATA 3G SSD drives or have reliability issues with SATA 6G SSD drives. OWC and iFixit sell a kit for this.
-You can add an SSD, which is glued behind the DVD drive. This allows you to use a 6G SSD drive at native performance. You get to keep your DVD drive in place. OWC and iFixit sell a kit for this.
-You can upgrade/replace the original HDD with a larger 3.5" HDD or a 2.5" SSD with an Adaptadrive adapter. There's a special cable that you need for this that only OWC sells.

From my experience, opening/closing the iMac 2009-2011 is challenging. I'd only use quality parts for the upgrade so you don't have to open it up again later down the road. From my experience, the third option was the easiest.

 

[Lolito]

thank you so much for your answer. I researched a bit more, and now your answer confirms my suspicious things...

I will do option 2 then, right away. I have to check if the 2010 imac supports sata 3 though, but anyways, the option to keep the optical drive in place is great, and the required cables can be found really cheap on ebay, it's just a sata cable and a sata power splitter. And double side foam tape ;-)

I know it is annoying to dissasemble, specially the lcd panel without breaking the cables behind, but i´ve done it a few times already in other imacs, so won't be too hard.

Thank you and best regards,
Manuel.