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iMac + SSD question

D

domyue

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 1, 2010
6
0
I've tried looking this particular question on forums, to no avail.

I've got a mid-2010 (11,3) 27" iMac.
I want to keep the current HDD + optical bay where they are.
I want to simply add an SSD by using the 3rd sata port, then direct the boot to this SSD.

Therefore I avoid touching the temp sensor on the main HDD, which stays plugged in as it is. That's the theory - does anybody know if this will work?? I'm trying to avoid the full fan speed issue that accompanies me swapping the hdd for the ssd.

Any help / opinions will help a lot - thanks so much! :D
 
domyue said:
I've tried looking this particular question on forums, to no avail.

I've got a mid-2010 (11,3) 27" iMac.
I want to keep the current HDD + optical bay where they are.
I want to simply add an SSD by using the 3rd sata port, then direct the boot to this SSD.

Therefore I avoid touching the temp sensor on the main HDD, which stays plugged in as it is. That's the theory - does anybody know if this will work?? I'm trying to avoid the full fan speed issue that accompanies me swapping the hdd for the ssd.

Any help / opinions will help a lot - thanks so much! :D
Click to expand...

rEfit boot manager ?
 
Well I'm told that I can just tell the mac setup to recognise a particular sata device as the boot drive.

So by having an additional SSD into the extra sata slot and by leaving everything else as it is, I was hoping to avoid the full-speed fan issue. That's the main thing I was hoping to get clarified.

Thanks again
 
domyue said:
Well I'm told that I can just tell the mac setup to recognise a particular sata device as the boot drive.

So by having an additional SSD into the extra sata slot and by leaving everything else as it is, I was hoping to avoid the full-speed fan issue. That's the main thing I was hoping to get clarified.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it and I am not familiar with this series of iMac but logically, if you can attach an SSD, even if it doesn't allow you to setup OS X on it, you can clone the primary HDD and recover on the SSD. Then boot using rEfit from SSD.

Haven't tried that tho.
 
You can choose your startup disk in system preferences so no need for another program.

Does anybody have any more ideas/opinions on my starting question please?

:confused:
 
I have the 2011 imac and have added the SSD and left the original HD in place the same as you want to do. If the original HD is left as is, there will be no fan issues. You can boot to the SSD if it has the OS installed and you select it as the boot volume. This is exactly how mine is configured.

iMac 12,2, Original HD left in place. SSD added to extra SATA connector, ODD left in place. Operating System on SSD. Boots (very quickly I might add) from the SSD. I originally had an OWC SSD. Currently using a Crucial M5 SSD. SSD located behind ODD. No fan issues. No other issues, either.
 
Last edited:
I've got a 2011 iMac 27 that came with a 1TB HDD, which now has a 2TB HDD (in place of the 1TB) and a 512GB SSD sat behind the Superdrive connected to the spare SATA port. It's not a difficult job, although it is a bit fiddly as access to the SATA port need you to almost remove (all screws removed and prized away at the top) main board. HDD replacement is even easier as you just need to take out the screen, and I've had no issues with the fan.

Don't think the 2010 model is that different internally, so don't see why you couldn't do the same.
 
Thanks that's really useful.
To get access to the third sata port, you have to take out so many screws?
What guide did you use to get to that port?

Thanks again
 
I used OWC's excellent videos. The one for the 2010 27" imac is here. You can watch the video and see step by step what it will entail. When I did it, I had a laptop that I watched the video on and stopped at each step as I performed the surgery on my iMac.

Everything went without a hitch. Just take your time, be gentle, and don't take any shortcuts, and you'll be fine.
 
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