Upgrading to SSD Question about SATA

I have an iMac 5,1 White Intel Core 2 Duo. I want to upgrade to a solid state hard drive. I currently have 250GB Hard Drive SATA. When I buy the new SSD should I get SATA, SATA II, or SATA III regarding which ones are compatable?

the 5,1 has a 1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) interface. This is SATA. SATA II is 3.0Gbps, SATA III is 6.0Gbps. As far as I am aware, the spec is that SATA III will downstep to all previous interface speeds, but if you can get a 1.5Gbps SSD cheaper, that would be a no brainer.

Ok You've givin' me good information. I think I will opt for a SATA. I don't want the new drive to have to down step just in case that is not as nice.

SATA III is backwards compatible, but i dont think that your imac will support SATA III anyways. (correct me if im wrong anyway). Either way if your just doing regular day to day computer usage, there is not really any point in forking out the extra cash for a STAT III because you wont notice the difference.

If anyone wants to know there are still adapters to put 2.5" drives in a 3.5" bay. Most of the 2.5" SSD are way cheaper than the 3.5" Honestly, I haven't done it for myself yet but it's what I plan on doing to this Mac.

I tend to disagree about substituting a 2.5" drive for a 3.5" simply because experience over the years has shown that the larger drives outlast the smaller ones. But that's up to you and there does seem to be a better selection of 2.5" drives available.

chscag said:

I tend to disagree about substituting a 2.5" drive for a 3.5" simply because experience over the years has shown that the larger drives outlast the smaller ones. But that's up to you and there does seem to be a better selection of 2.5" drives available.

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Yea, but even in the Enterprise level drives, 2.5's are taking over.

Do the 2.5" drives not last as long because they are usually in portable computers and get ruined by all the bumps and movin' around. To be honest. We really are talking about the size of the drive now days.

Just a heads up, I have seen many older Intel Macs that had serious issues with a SATA 2 drive installed. WD and Seagate has a Limit jumper that sets it for the older SATA 1.5 instead of 3.0 and that solves it. We have a user here with a older Mini that ran into that very issue so I told him to put on the jumper. I am not sure if SSD's have that Limit Jumper on them.