> 1) install maximum RAM (6GB on mine, from Real World Computing) Whoops: make that _Other World Computing_.
On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 2:03 PM, Bruce Walker <bruce.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > I just successfully upgraded my 2008 vintage 20" iMac with a 250GB SSD > and I can confirm that it's a worthwhile effort. Big apps open > immediately and Lightroom is super snappy. > > But the upgrade process is not for the faint of heart -- you must > remove about 20 Torx T-9 screws from the case and the LCD panel after > pulling the plexi display screen off with suction cups. Have a vacuum > cleaner ready for all the accumulated dust! :) > > > I feel that the most bang-for-the-buck older iMac upgrades are, in > order of increasing complexity/cost: > > 1) install maximum RAM (6GB on mine, from Real World Computing) > 2) move all external data to reside on FW800 drives (no USB2 drives > other than for backup) > 3) upgrade internal drive to 256GB SSD > > 256GB SSDs are well-priced right now; mine was $159. The 512GB and > larger SSDs are still very pricey and once you go there you might as > well consider a forklift upgrade and get a new iMac. > > > I researched SSDs a lot before getting mine, a Samsung 840. I'd > recommend one of: Samsung 830 or 840, Plextor M5 or Crucial m4. Avoid > the popular OCZ drives as they lose mucho performance when they exceed > half-full. (Generally avoid drives that use a Sandforce chipset; > that's many of them. Look for something like the Marvell 88SS9174 > chipset instead.) > > Make sure you have a SATA-USB2 adapter ready when you do the SSD > upgrade. First open the iMac up and swap the harddrive out for the > SSD. After reassembly install Snow Leopard (10.6) and all the updates > (10.6.8). Then attach the original drive externally using the > SATA-USB2 adapter and run the Migrate tool. That will bring over all > your user data and apps and you're up and running again. After some > 4-5 hours of copying. Longer if you accidentally bump the adapter > causing the drive to unmount and have to start over. :-( > > Mac OS X 10.6.8 (latest Snow Leopard) has SSD TRIM support. I have no > plans to upgrade to Lion or beyond as they removed PowerPC (Rosetta) > app support (I have some drivers and utilities that need Rosetta to > run) and made some other annoying changes I'm not prepared to deal > with now. I hear that the lack of Save-as... is a royal pain in the > butt. > > > On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 2:36 AM, Larry Colen <l...@red4est.com> wrote: >> It occurs to me that I could probably seriously improve the performance of >> my computer by upgrading the harddrive. It currently has the stock 320GB >> 3.5" Sata, with all of the data on a motley collection of external drives >> (USB 2.0, and both types of firewire). Also, the internal optical disk has >> been getting flakier and flakier. >> >> The biggest initial upgrade would probably be to replace the main drive with >> a SSD. This would tremendously speed up access to the lightroom catalogs, >> which I do keep on the main drive. The biggest SSD I found easily was 512, >> but apple lists 768GB. Another possibility would be to pull the optical >> drive, replace it with an external USB optical drive, and drop a big spinny >> drive in there, so I'd have my current working raw files close to my >> machine, and not over a slow USB2 connection. >> >> I might also be able to do something with a RAID box on the Firewire 800 bus. >> >> Thoughts, comments, reality checks, clue by fours? >> >> specs on the machine: >> Hardware Overview: >> >> Model Name: iMac >> Model Identifier: iMac7,1 >> Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo >> Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz >> Number Of Processors: 1 >> Total Number Of Cores: 2 >> L2 Cache: 4 MB >> Memory: 6 GB >> Bus Speed: 800 MHz >> Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03 >> SMC Version (system): 1.21f4 >> Serial Number (system): YD82006VX89 >> Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-001EC20A47C7 >> >> ATA Bus: (this might seriously limit an internal spinny drive) >> >> MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875: >> >> Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-875 >> Revision: DB09 >> Serial Number: fE01CC5D >> Detachable Drive: No >> Protocol: ATAPI >> Unit Number: 0 >> Socket Type: Internal >> Low Power Polling: Yes >> Power Off: No >> >> SATA Bus: ( I don't know if I can add a second drive to this bus) >> Intel ICH8-M AHCI: >> >> Vendor: Intel >> Product: ICH8-M AHCI >> Link Speed: 3 Gigabit >> Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit >> Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported >> >> WDC WD3200AAJS-40VWA0: >> >> Capacity: 320.07 GB (320,072,933,376 bytes) >> Model: WDC WD3200AAJS-40VWA0 >> Revision: 58.01D02 >> Serial Number: WD-WMARW0399396 >> Native Command Queuing: Yes >> Queue Depth: 32 >> Removable Media: No >> Detachable Drive: No >> BSD Name: disk0 >> Medium Type: Rotational >> Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table) >> S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified >> Volumes: >> Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes) >> Writable: Yes >> BSD Name: disk0s1 >> Macintosh HD: >> Capacity: 319.73 GB (319,728,959,488 bytes) >> Available: 33.67 GB (33,669,283,840 bytes) >> Writable: Yes >> File System: Journaled HFS+ >> BSD Name: disk0s2 >> Mount Point: / >> >> -- >> Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > > > -- > -bmw -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
