Best SSD for iMac 7?

[joeljen10]

I've been looking at SSDs for my iMac 7 and I'm leaning towards two different models:
1) Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5"
2) Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 250GB

I'm inclined to the Samsung but I'm not sure if all its features are fully compatible with OS X. Does anyone know anything about this? Something about magician software for Rapid Mode not being compatible with OS X?

I'm also thinking about getting an SSD for my Macbook 6 (late 2009, white)

 

[Willo34]

I am not sure about an SSD as far as the iMac 7 goes. I do however know what you can do as far as your white MacBook 2009 is concerned. The Samsung SSD's work on your MacBook, both the 256 and 512gb versions. Here are the links to both Samsung SSD's, you can't order them from here i think, but there is all the info you need (click on 'Toon alle Apple apparaten waarvoor dit product geschikt is' to make absolutely sure its compatible with your machine)
SSD 512GB Samsung 840 Pro
SSD 256GB Samsung 840 Pro

 

[harryb2448]

Suggest you also consider OWC and Crucial SSD's, both Mac Specialists. Samsung may be good in Korea but no for me.

 

[TattooedMac]

The Samsung EVO's are a really good SSD. I have used one in a Ext Enclosure as a Beta 10.10 to run on my iMac, and have put the 840 into my sons, Macbook.
They are a really solid SSD, with nice fast read/writes taken with BlackMagic Disk Speed test

 

[joeljen10]

I called Samsung and spoke with an SSD technician who said that my hardware (mid 2007 iMac) is too old for an SSD of any brand to make much of a difference. He said my iMac is running SATA I speed (1.5 Gb/s) whereas the Samsungs are SATA III, so I wouldn't be able to utilize the speed. Additionally, I would need to enable TRIM. As an alternative, he suggested I buy a 7200 RPM hard drive to replace my old 5400 RPM Toshiba hard drive and that this would speed it up to the equivalent of SATA II (or at least something to that effect).

Is this true? An awful lot of people have told me upgrading my iMac to an SSD would in fact be a great idea.

 

[lclev]

I get what the tech was saying. Basically he is saying that you will not see the speed increase you would expect because the bottleneck will be the slow SATA I connection in the 2007 iMac. What he is hoping to avoid you calling back saying the drive is slow when you run a speed test.

Think of SATA I as a one lane gravel road and SATA III as an eight lane highway. You can go much faster on the highway - and data can travel faster on one too!

He probably is correct to say a 7200rpm hard drive will give you the best speed for our money on your older system.

If you want to put an SSD in your iMac you can, but you may not get the increase you expected but you will see an increase.

Lisa

 

[joeljen10]

He probably is correct to say a 7200rpm hard drive will give you the best speed for our money on your older system.

If you want to put an SSD in your iMac you can, but you may not get the increase you expected but you will see an increase.

Nice! I like your analogy. So I guess the question is: Which would most likely give me better speeds, an SSD or a 7200 RPM HD? My biggest problem is slow booting and application loading speeds. I'm more concerned with best performance than with cost, unless I'm paying hundreds more for a nominal difference

 

[joeljen10]

Does anyone have any experience with an SSHD (hybrid)? Would it be more advantageous to get one of these?

 

[harryb2448]

Go with the SSD of your choice as the hike between 5400 and 7200 is not that great and much more heat with the faster speed. I have used SSDs in SATA I and there was a decent speed increase. Suggest you give the hybrid a miss. Do a search on Google to see problems.

One other thing did you mean an i7 or model 7.1? According to Mactracker the first i7's were released in late 2009 so maybe the machine is later than you think?

 

[lclev]

I agree with Harry, go with the SSD. You will see a nice boost in loading speed regardless of what version of SATA your computer has.

The jury is still out on the hybrids. There are just too many reported problems with them.

Lisa

 

[chscag]

The jury is still out on the hybrids. There are just too many reported problems with them.

Nope, the jury is back. Avoid the hybrids! The jury, however, is still out on Fusion Drives which also have had many reported problems. Stick with a pure SSD or if you can't afford a large enough one, go with a 3.5" 7200 RPM hard drive.

 

[joeljen10]

Thanks everyone for your input! Just to give y'all an update, I bought a Samsung 850 Evo 250gb SSD along with a 2.5'' mounting bracket. Total cost = $108. The installation was fairly easy with the right tools. I had to use my old Snow Leopard install disk to format the SSD, then I upgraded to Yosemite. With the new SSD, it's like a whole new computer, much faster - booting, loading, data transfer, video streaming, etc... So far, I am very pleased. The verdict is still out on what my wife thinks as she is the Revit, Autocad, video and photo editing guru.

 

[harryb2448]

Ring back the Samsung so called tech and let him know.

 

[pm-r]

I'm coming in a bit late here, but the tech and anyone should have checked and found out in the beginning that that iMac sure seems to be capable of 3 Gb/s, which is not SATA 1!!!
A quick check here would have shown that:
Apple iMac Specs (All iMac Tech Specs) @ EveryMac.com

And BTW, nothing slow with a faster SATA SSD in an older Mac that is only 1.5 Gb/s SATA speed as I have one in my old mid-late 2007 MBPro. Works fine and fast but mainly installed for battery savings.

 

[chas_m]

For a company that copies Apple hardware rather slavishly, they sure don't seem to know much about it.

 

[joeljen10]

I'm coming in a bit late here, but the tech and anyone should have checked and found out in the beginning that that iMac sure seems to be capable of 3 Gb/s, which is not SATA 1!!!
A quick check here would have shown that:
Apple iMac Specs (All iMac Tech Specs) @ EveryMac.com

And BTW, nothing slow with a faster SATA SSD in an older Mac that is only 1.5 Gb/s SATA speed as I have one in my old mid-late 2007 MBPro. Works fine and fast but mainly installed for battery savings.

Not sure I follow what you're saying in that last paragraph

 

[pm-r]

I was just saying that that a 3 Gb/s rated SSD worked well and fast in an older Mac that only had 1.5Gb/s SATA speed, and certainly faster than the 5400RPM HDD it replaced.

And contra to what you were told…"..called Samsung and spoke with an SSD technician who said that my hardware (mid 2007 iMac) is too old for an SSD of any brand to make much of a difference."

 

[joeljen10]

I Gotcha.