SATA NGFF M.2 SSD into 27" imac mid-2010

[Sunebralla]

Hello!

Because of the tight space inside my 27" mid-2010 imac, I'm looking into adding a M.2 (NGFF) SATA as an add-on SSD. Has anyone done that? What is the smallest converter from 22-pin SATA to M.2? I have been searching all over for an adapter cable but all I can find are the 2.5" drive bay adapters which defeats the purpose...

What I really want is a small adapter that accepts 22-pin SATA on one end and in the other end a slot for the M.2-card (B+M key).

greetings

.s

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hello!

Because of the tight space inside my 27" mid-2010 imac, I'm looking into adding a M.2 (NGFF) SATA as an add-on SSD. Has anyone done that? What is the smallest converter from 22-pin SATA to M.2? I have been searching all over for an adapter cable but all I can find are the 2.5" drive bay adapters which defeats the purpose...

What I really want is a small adapter that accepts 22-pin SATA on one end and in the other end a slot for the M.2-card (B+M key).

greetings

.s

Just remove the bare board from the drive bay and voilà....
The below link are just for the image. You shouldn't buy from that link.

Mua Khay Chuyển Đổi SSD M2 Sang SATA III (14 x 8 x 0.6 cm)

Khay Chuyển Đổi SSD M2 Sang SATA III (14 x 8 x 0.6 cm) giá cực tốt, hoàn tiền 111% nếu hàng giả, nhiều mã giảm giá hôm nay, freeship, giao nhanh 2h. Mua hàng nhanh chóng, thanh toán an toàn tại Tiki. Mua ngay!

tiki.vn

 

[Sunebralla]

Just remove the bare board from the drive bay and voilà....
The below link are just for the image. You shouldn't buy from that link.

Mua Khay Chuyển Đổi SSD M2 Sang SATA III (14 x 8 x 0.6 cm)

Khay Chuyển Đổi SSD M2 Sang SATA III (14 x 8 x 0.6 cm) giá cực tốt, hoàn tiền 111% nếu hàng giả, nhiều mã giảm giá hôm nay, freeship, giao nhanh 2h. Mua hàng nhanh chóng, thanh toán an toàn tại Tiki. Mua ngay!

tiki.vn

These are the kind of adapters I have seen and I think they are too big. It defeats the purpose of using an m.2 disk.

.s

 

[joevt]

These are the kind of adapters I have seen and I think they are too big. It defeats the purpose of using an m.2 disk.

There seems to be only 3 components on that PCB and all they do is convert 5V to 3.3V. If your SATA connector has 3.3V then you could just cut away most of the PCB (including those components) and just solder a wire from the 3.3V pins of the SATA connector to the 3.3V pins of the M.2 connector (or to the 3.3V copper area of the PCB that the 3.3V pins of the M.2 connector are connected to).

 

[The_Croupier]

In my iMac setup i have kept my ODD and HDD and added a SSD. Double sided taped it to the bottom left of the HDD, it doesn't protrude more than the PSU side wall, just use flat style SATA connectors.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

These are the kind of adapters I have seen and I think they are too big. It defeats the purpose of using an m.2 disk.

.s

That's the smallest adapter available.
What kind of size are you thinking of?
Where are you going to place the M.2 SSD?

 

[BrianBaughn]

You do realize that model iMac has a SATA speed of 3Gb/sec…

 

[Sunebralla]

That's the smallest adapter available.
What kind of size are you thinking of?
Where are you going to place the M.2 SSD?

I guess you are right, these are the available adapters. I had some thoughts about something without a pcb but if there is voltage regulation going on that's probably impossible. I was thinking of putting the m.2 disk on the bracket for the gpu-cooler, but I have not made any measurements to verify that it is possible, it might not be.

Conclusion is that a regular 2.5" ssd taped to the back of the computer casing is the way to go, like everyone else

.s

 

[Sunebralla]

You do realize that model iMac has a SATA speed of 3Gb/sec…

Yes, but I don't understand how this pertains to the question at hand.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I guess you are right, these are the available adapters. I had some thoughts about something without a pcb but if there is voltage regulation going on that's probably impossible. I was thinking of putting the m.2 disk on the bracket for the gpu-cooler, but I have not made any measurements to verify that it is possible, it might not be.

Conclusion is that a regular 2.5" ssd taped to the back of the computer casing is the way to go, like everyone else

.s

I have the iMac 27" 2010, too.
If you still want to keep the old and bulky 3.5" HDD, you can tape the 2.5" SSD to the cover right under the heatsink pipe. Salvage a thin aluminum HDD case from a dead laptop for an easy installment.
If you can let go the 3.5" HDD, you can use a cheap adaptor to place 2 x 2.5" drive to the 3.5" space. I bought two of them as they are quite cheap. (3$ each). You would need a SATA power splitter to power the 2nd drive. The logic board has 3 SATA port, one has been used for the ODD.

 

[joevt]

I guess you are right, these are the available adapters. I had some thoughts about something without a pcb but if there is voltage regulation going on that's probably impossible.

I don't think voltage regulation is required if the SATA port has 3.3V that the NVMe can use. I think most SATA ports have 3.3V. Some might not, which is why the adapters use 5V from SATA to convert to 3.3V to NVMe.