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Increase storage on iMac 2011 - best option?

P

PaulKemp

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 2, 2009
569
127
Norway
I have a 2011 iMac with only a SSD disk (250GB). I need to somehow increase the storage space. I could go with USB 2.0, but that is too slow. I could also get a Belkin thunderbolt extender that makes a usb 3.0, but thats just ridiculously expensice. So.
  • Whats my best options?
  • Does a guide to take out the dvd-rom and replace with a 3.5mm normal HDD exist?
  • Are there cheaper alternatives to get USB 3.0 on a 2011 iMac than the Belkin and similar accessoires?

I appreciate any help.
 
why not get an external FW800 drive ?
WDC makes a great fw800 drive, I've used them and get about 80-90 mb read & write.
 
If you can afford the Belkin adapter, then you can almost afford a real Thunderbolt drive. Prices should drop reasonably fast on them.
 
There's enough room in the iMac for the SDD, dvd drive as well as a standard 3.5" HDD.

I would recommend buying your own HDD and hiring someone to install it internally for you. Keeps things neat and gives you the full speed of the drive.
 
Tankmaze said:
why not get an external FW800 drive ?
WDC makes a great fw800 drive, I've used them and get about 80-90 mb read & write.
Click to expand...

This is a option, however i feel this is to slow when the rest of the system is SSD. For booting a windows drive, virtual machines etc, this is not fast enough.


DisMyMac said:
If you can afford the Belkin adapter, then you can almost afford a real Thunderbolt drive. Prices should drop reasonably fast on them.
Click to expand...

This is also a option, however its still expensive. I feel we have been waiting for a thunderbolt price drop for quite a while already. Any good options that have large amount of storage?

SR20DETDOG said:
There's enough room in the iMac for the SDD, dvd drive as well as a standard 3.5" HDD.

I would recommend buying your own HDD and hiring someone to install it internally for you. Keeps things neat and gives you the full speed of the drive.
Click to expand...

This is the best option. Either hire somebody (Apple store to keep warranty) OR do it myself. The 1kk$ ? = Are thre any good guides for this? Or is it iFixit that's my best option?

----------------

edit:
Found guide
http://www.btobey.com/learn/imac-ssd-install.php

The guide is to install a SSD when you already have a 3.5mm drive. Its the opposite of what I actually want. I want to add a 3 gb drive in there. The process is probably the same though. Has anyone done this process?
 
Last edited:
PaulKemp said:
This is the best option. Either hire somebody (Apple store to keep warranty) OR do it myself. The 1kk$ ? = Are thre any good guides for this? Or is it iFixit that's my best option?
Click to expand...

to be fair, a 7200 rpm 3.5 HDD installed in the imac would be the same speed as you would using an external 7200 rpm FW800.

and plus apple use custom connector for the HDD in the imac, so unless you short circuit the pin, the fan would run full blast.
 
Tankmaze said:
to be fair, a 7200 rpm 3.5 HDD installed in the imac would be the same speed as you would using an external 7200 rpm FW800.

and plus apple use custom connector for the HDD in the imac, so unless you short circuit the pin, the fan would run full blast.
Click to expand...

That may be. But i was hoping to end up atleast around 130 r/w with a internal sata 3 disk.

And I would rather add a internal disk than to use a external one. If its possible that is.

Also, I would add this as the 2nd drive. Are we certain that the fan issue affects the 2nd drive as well?
 
Last edited:
When you want to connect a regular HDD (not an SSD) speed is roughly the same wether you go internal or FireWire. So in that case I would recommend a FireWire drive.

IF you install a HDD internally you will have problems with the temperature sensor and the fans ramping up. If you short circuit the cable to disable the temperature sensor you may have problems with the temperature actually rising and the fans NOT ramping up, so the computer may overheat.

Also take note that you cannot install windows on an external drive.
 
PaulKemp said:
That may be. But i was hoping to end up atleast around 130 r/w with a internal sata 3 disk.

And I would rather add a internal disk than to use a external one. If its possible that is.

Also, I would add this as the 2nd drive. Are we certain that the fan issue affects the 2nd drive as well?
Click to expand...

well on my 3.1ghz imac model, the internal HD got 90mb read and write max using the blackmagic test. so it's not that much actually.

but if you still want to add HDD without doing it yourself maybe you can ask the AASP (apple authorized service provider) in your area to install it for you.
in my country Indonesia, the AASP can install the harddrive for a roughly $30 fee. good luck.
 
Since you don't currently have a internal hard disk with any fan control ... I don't see where adding a hard disk would cause any fan speed issues whatsoever. :)

There are several guides to installing both a 3.5" hard disk and SSD disk in the 27" iMac and the extra SATA channel is available on the motherboard (you will need a SATA data cable and power Y-cable) so adding a standard disk drive of your choice should be fine. I assume your SSD was a oem factory original, but I have not seen how they mount that in the iMac. If your SSD is mounted in the standard 3.5" disk mount location, I would probably elect to put the heavier hard disk rigidly mounted in that location, then mount the lightweight SSD using any of the documented methods of your choice (even simple double-sided sticky tape).

Working inside the iMac is somewhat more involved than working in a conventional PC tower chassis. If you are not very comfortable with that environment, you may want to enlist the help of a technical friend (or pay Apple techs a lot of money to do it for you). Just go slow and be very careful and follow the guides through each step and it should go fine.

Here are some more installation guides (in addition too iFixit):
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_mid27_2011_ssddiy/
http://www.btobey.com/learn/imac-ssd-install.php


-howard
 
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