What is the best SSD HD for 27" iMac (mid 2010), OWC 3g or 6g vs samsung 850 EVO

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Level 1

4 points

What is the best SSD HD for 27" iMac (mid 2010), OWC 3g or 6g vs samsung 850 EVO

I am planing to upgrade my hard drive on my iMac 27" ( mid 2010 ) , iMac 11,3, processor : 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 . I cannot make up my mind about what is a better SSD hard drive for my iMac. I read reviews and it's confusing, did anyone recently replace his hard drive on a similar iMac? what is the best SSD hard drive for my iMac model between WOC and Samsung. I asked WOC they said I need to get the OWC Mercury Electra 3G, but I see in Samsung SSD hard drives Specs saying 6G but compatible with 3G.

I read reviews that I should trust WOC but I also saw some youtube videos about replacing hard drive with Samsung 850 EVO SSD.

Can someone technically help me make a decision regarding the best performance SSD HD for my iMac?

Thanks

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Aug 30, 2016 7:39 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 13, 2017 5:18 PM in response to efakhour

I'm sure many would appreciate seeing this thread fleshed out a bit.

I was looking at OWC but at least one of their drives got a fair-to-middlin' review because of the no-TRIM design. I don't know much about SSD drives, so I would greatly appreciate some help here as well.

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Answer 2

Feb 13, 2017 6:20 PM in response to efakhour

Temp sensor for 2009-2010 iMacs...

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD09/

2.5 to 3.5 adapter...

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/

Major problems can occur when putting a SATA III SSD in a SATA II computer.

The drive won't downshift.

Several are known to work, Samsung 850 Evo, and Crucial M500, I believe...

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Answer 3

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,502 points

Aug 31, 2016 3:31 AM in response to efakhour

OWC recommends 3Gbps SSD's for any Mac using the Nvidia MCP79 SATA controller due to a conflict between it and SSD's that use Sandforce. OWC's drives have a Sandforce controller, Samsung's don't. If you have the MCP79 and buy from OWC get their 3Gbps drive, if not get a 6Gbps drive as they are cheaper and easier to find.

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

95,050 points

Aug 31, 2016 5:58 AM in response to efakhour

Unfortunately, replacing the HDD in the 2009, 2010 or 2011 iMac's is not a straight forward endeavor.

see > http://blog.macsales.com/10146-apple-further-restricts-upgrade-options-on-new-im acs

If you replace the main drive with anything but the original make and model drive, then you will need to use an external temperature sensor. Additionally if you replace the main HDD with a 2.5" SSD, then it will also require an adapter tray and a different SATA cable.

Another good option for some, is to put the SSD into the optical drive bay using a data doubler kit and use the original HDD for storage and/or backup.

Once you decide which way to go, OWC has the upgrade kit available at the bottom of the following link.

see > https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2010/DDR3_21.5_27

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