SSD upgrade for iMac 2010 21.5" 3.06ghz i3

Hey everyone,

I am planning to do the SSD upgrade for my iMac, I have done a LOT of reading and watching of YouTube videos. However I want the best bang for my buck on the actual drive, so I want to ensure the technical details are going to work well with my setup.

I am looking at the Samsung 850 EVO 500gb SSD drive, will this work as a replacement in my computer with my motherboard etc...I am unsure how to find the SATA type of my computer (SATA I, II or III) so that is my main concern. Not sure if it's all backwards compatible etc...

Specs for my iMac: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-i3-3.06-21-inch-aluminum-mid-2010-specs.html

If the Samsung 850 EVO is not the best option please feel free to recommend one

Also what type of thermal sensor wire do I need so my fan won't run at full speed?

Your computer has a SATA II interface (3 Gb/s). SATA III is rated got 6 Gb/s. The Samsung 850 is a SATA III SSD, but your iMac will talk to it at SATA II speeds and that's fine, the drive will "downgrade" to the slower speed without any problems.

I did a similar upgrade on my 2009 iMac with a Sandisk Ultra II that did wonders for my iMac.

As far as the thermal sensor goes, you'll want this one from OWC which works with 2009-2010 iMacs and this is what I used and it worked fine.

Do not use a Samsung EVO in a 2009/2010 Mac. Do a search of the threads and you will find Samsung do not play nice with Macs. Whilst at OWC suggest you look at their SSDs as they are Mac specialists.


https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/imac-21.5-inch/2010

Thanks for the help everyone! Can anyone point me towards a tutorial on installing a fresh copy of osx El Capitan on my SSD when I get it? The tutorials I've seen allow you to restore a time machine backup off an external HD, but I want to start fresh.

Go into the App Store and download a nice frech copy of El Capitan. Install it to an +8GB thumb drive using Diskmaker X. The thumb drive will be bootable, isntall the SSD, pop in the thumb drive, boot and hold down 'C'. Format the SSD Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and run the Installer. Hook up your external drive with TM, and transfer things over.


http://diskmakerx.com