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Which SSD should I buy for an Upgrade??

H

houssein31

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2013
147
0
I have a 2012 21.5 inch iMac with a 1T HD and I want to change it to a 512gb SSD. Im going to get it done at the local best buy, but they told me that I have to provide the SSD chip.

Im looking on amazon, and there are so many different type and they range for 200 to 300$. Why are some more expensive than other (even if they have the sae 512gb capacity)? Are the more expensive ones faster?

Any suggestions for a particular model I should buy?

Thanks in advance
 
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Wow ... no way I would let Best Buy Geek Squad open up my iMac! :eek:

The easy way would be to get a Thunderbolt 2.5" enclosure, insert a SSD of your choice, and simply velcro it to the back of the iMac stand. No need to risk opening up the iMac at all. I would use a Samsung or Crucial SSD myself as I have had good experiences with them, and get something in the 256 - 512GB size.

My iMacs all have internal SSD only, however I have done the above for my Windows SSD using the LaCie "Rugged Thunderbolt" drives which have 512GB Samsung 840 EVO SSDs inside.
 
Which SSD should I buy for an Upgrade??

Opening a 2012 iMac is not for the faint of heart. it has a glued display instead of a magnet held display glass. I wouldn't let the GeekSquad open it that's for sure.

As suggested, get a TB enclosure and put your SSDS in it. It's your best solution.

Choices for the best bang for the buck, get a Samsung 840 EVO or a Crucial mx110.
 
illusionx said:
Opening a 2012 iMac is not for the faint of heart. it has a glued display instead of a magnet held display glass. I wouldn't let the GeekSquad open it that's for sure.

As suggested, get a TB enclosure and put your SSDS in it. It's your best solution.

Choices for the best bang for the buck, get a Samsung 840 EVO or a Crucial mx110.
Click to expand...

Will putting in an external SSD make it as fast as if I changed it internally??
 
I also wouldn't let the Nerd Herd touch my mac. I second the Samsung 840 EVO in an external Thunderbolt enclosure or even a USB 3.0 one if money is a little tight. There may be a little bit of a bottleneck with using an external enclosure but nothing that the average user will notice.
 
houssein31 said:
Will putting in an external SSD make it as fast as if I changed it internally??
Click to expand...

Your "user experience" will be the same. :)

My 2012 iMac is the 27" and the internal mSATA blade SSD benchmarks at around 450 MB/s whereas an external thunderbolt 840 EVO benchmarks at around 375 MB/s. Putting that 840 EVO 2.5" SSD internal will not appreciably increase the benchmark speeds.

You could use a 840 Pro or 850 Pro for better benchmark performance ... but at higher cost.
 
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houssein31 said:
Will putting in an external SSD make it as fast as if I changed it internally??
Click to expand...


The sata 6gbs SSD would be the bottle neck. Otherwise, there wouldn't be performance lost with a TB enclosure vs internal sata.

Using a usb 3.0 enclosure will be limited to usb 3.0 speed, but it will be faster than your internal 5400rpm HDD for sure.
 
There are two new Crucial models: a budget one (BX100) and a high performance one (MX200), any information on how they compare to the Top Pick and Step up? Currently the BX100 500 GB is just 9$ less than the MX100, it does not seem worth the difference, but it will probably go down I guess...
 
But I dont understand, the Geeksquad guy told me they coud do it...You really think they're gonna mess it up?
 
hfg said:
Your "user experience" will be the same. :)

My 2012 iMac is the 27" and the internal PCI blade SSD benchmarks at around 450 MB/s whereas an external thunderbolt 840 EVO benchmarks at around 375 MB/s. Putting that 840 EVO 2.5" SSD internal will not appreciably increase the benchmark speeds.

You could use a 840 Pro or 850 Pro for better benchmark performance ... but at higher cost.
Click to expand...

It's not a PCIe blade. 2012 iMacs only have mSATA blades.
 
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