Installing SSD in Early 2008 iMac

[caaalebbb]

Hi, I'm looking to replace my iMac's hard drive as the current one is painfully slow.

I'm keeping all my media (the majority of my data) on an external HD so that I can use it with my Macbook or iMac. Consequently, I don't need much hard drive space at all, so I was going to buy a SSD and maybe add a second HDD to replace the DVD drive.

I'm going to get one of these SSD (with the adapter):
Crucial MX100 128GB - $70
Crucial M550 128GB - $85
Crucial M500 240GB - $90

Is there a relevant difference between the MX100, M500, and M550? If there are speed differences, given that my iMac is SATA II and not SATA III, are the speed differences really relevant?

Additionally, is this OWC kit on Amazon sufficient (or overkill) for the iFixit replacement project?

Also, if I choose to swap out the optical drive for another hard drive, is the PATA Optical Bay Hard Drive enclosure the only other thing I'll need to buy (aside from another HDD) for that project? Also, does it matter whether that HDD is a 7200RPM or 5400RPM HDD?

 

[caaalebbb]

Will these work fine as PATA/SATA adapter enclosures?

HP Pata IDE to SATA 12.7mm Universal 2nd HDD or
DBPOWER Universal 12.7mm 2nd HDD Hard Drive SATA to IDE/PATA Caddy

They are both nearly $30 less than the iFixit one! But will they work?

Also, is PATA significantly faster than the USB? In other words, in terms of speed, is it worth having an internal storage HDD rather than an External USB HDD?

 

[candrews13]

+1 I basically want to know if there's any point in choosing the M550 over the M500, since my 2009 machine only supports 3GB/s SATA whereas M550 supports up to 6GB/s. Perhaps going for the newer M550 means you are getting better components etc. so I'm just interested in what other people think.

 

[rainydays]

+1 I basically want to know if there's any point in choosing the M550 over the M500, since my 2009 machine only supports 3GB/s SATA whereas M550 supports up to 6GB/s. Perhaps going for the newer M550 means you are getting better components etc. so I'm just interested in what other people think.

There is very little reason to get the M550 over the other two. Most people will not notice the difference.
The MX100 is the successor to the M500 so if there price was about the same I'd say the MX100, but considering the price of that M500 you should go for that. There is not a huge difference in performance and the extra storage space is sure nice to have.

Regarding 5400 vs 7200 rpm it depends on what you will use it for. If it will be pure storage space for movies and music I'd recommend the 5400 since they are usually a bit more quiet. If you are going to use it for working with video or audio I'd say the 7200 no doubt.

 

[bjmoose]

SSD is nice but...

In an old mid-2007 24" iMac I have, the SATA II limitation is pretty obvious. There's no rotational lag, no wake-up delay, but it's clear the interface is nowhere near the speed the SSD could achieve. Go with slower but bigger, you may use the space, but the speed is pre-determined by the interface.

 

[candrews13]

There is very little reason to get the M550 over the other two. Most people will not notice the difference.
The MX100 is the successor to the M500 so if there price was about the same I'd say the MX100, but considering the price of that M500 you should go for that. There is not a huge difference in performance and the extra storage space is sure nice to have.

Regarding 5400 vs 7200 rpm it depends on what you will use it for. If it will be pure storage space for movies and music I'd recommend the 5400 since they are usually a bit more quiet. If you are going to use it for working with video or audio I'd say the 7200 no doubt.

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was leaning towards anyway, since I can't get the full potential out of the M550 there's no point spending the extra £40 at least. I'll have a look at the MX100 and see if the prices are similar and I might just go for it instead.

One last thing, would it be alright to take the standard HDD out of my iMac and just use Velcro to secure the SSD to the chassis of the computer?

 

[rainydays]

One last thing, would it be alright to take the standard HDD out of my iMac and just use Velcro to secure the SSD to the chassis of the computer?

It should be fine to do that. They are very light and there are no moving parts.
Though I'd personally use a 3.5" mount since they are so cheap. But velcro should be fine.

 

[candrews13]

Thanks again, one last thing before I go and buy one, what all needs transferred from the HDD to the SSD during installation? iFixit shows a couple of sensors and some EMI foam which they remove but don't say whether to transfer it to the new drive again.

 

[caaalebbb]

It should be fine to do that. They are very light and there are no moving parts.
Though I'd personally use a 3.5" mount since they are so cheap. But velcro should be fine.

Are those 9.5mm adapters that come bundled with those Crucial SSDs sufficient? Or is a more substantial adapter recommended (e.g. SABRENT 3.5-Inch to SSD / 2.5-Inch HDD Bay Drive Converter, or SABRENT 2.5 to 3.5 Inches Internal Hard Disk Drive Mounting Kit?) Which mounts seem to fit the best (with the 2008 iMacs)?

 

[mdelrossi]

deleted wrong forum

 

[Ray2]

Are those 9.5mm adapters that come bundled with those Crucial SSDs sufficient? Or is a more substantial adapter recommended (e.g. SABRENT 3.5-Inch to SSD / 2.5-Inch HDD Bay Drive Converter, or SABRENT 2.5 to 3.5 Inches Internal Hard Disk Drive Mounting Kit?) Which mounts seem to fit the best (with the 2008 iMacs)?

The one's packaged don't do what you need. They are spacers. I used the AdaptaDrive sled. Its more than worth its cost as it makes the install a snap by pushing the 2.5" form factor forward to mate with the connector.

As others have said, with your/my iMac, it does not matter which Cruicial you get. I went with a MX100 as it was less than the 500/550's.

Replacing the optical is a more difficult task than swapping the internal. Sounds like you've thought this through. If you have not, probably should.

I am delighted with the added performance. I also bumped ram to 6gb (OWC kit) when I did it. I did the ram first and candidly can't say I noticed any difference in photo editing/Aperture, my heaviest task. But the ssd completely changed the nature of the iMac.

 

[Hexley]

Your 2008 iMac has a SATA 3Gbit/s link so you should consider buying any of the Crucial MX100 SSD and the 1TB Crucial M550 SSD.

 

[caaalebbb]

Ooooo! I got the 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD installed and I am very very happy! It's so nimble!

 

[Hexley]

Ooooo! I got the 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD installed and I am very very happy! It's so nimble!

Could you post blackmagic disk speed test results? Curious on how the MX100 handles a SATA 3Gb/s link

 

[caaalebbb]

Could you post blackmagic disk speed test results? Curious on how the MX100 handles a SATA 3Gb/s link

~224 MB/s write
~266 MB/s read


I'm also buying either a 750GB WD Black 7200RPM or a 1TB HGST Travelstar 7k1000 7200RPM to replace my optical drive via a PATA-SATA enclosure.

I don't do alot of sequential writing and reading – but the quick access speeds are sure noticeable in day-to-day applications. I'm so happy with SSD that I'm buying the 128gb MX100 SSD for my old Macbook.

 

[strat71]

Hi Caaalebbb,im considering the MX100 also.What Mac do you have and are you running with a negosiated 1,5 or 3gbit link ?

Ahh ! okay I was too fast,i see its a early 2008 imac,but can you run at 3gbit with mx100 in that ?