Imac running off an external SSD?

GSXRMovistar

GSXRMovistar

GSXRMovistar

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Does anyone here run an imac off an external SSD? I have a 2011 imac with the standard 1TB drive which now runs like a dog after several O/S upgrades.

Rather than opening the whole lot up to install an internal drive I was thinking about hooking up an external drive and creating a fresh O/S build on it.
 
I created a 10.10 install from scratch on an old mac mini. It's a bit long winded but if it's USB it's not probably going to have the speed of SATA.
 
Yep it'll work, Thunderbolt 1 is up to 10Gbps, so will not bottleneck a SATA SSD.

Thunderbolt Adapter + SSD or a Thunderbolt External SSD will likely be an expensive adaptation to an aging iMac though.

I guess it depends what you're using it for but the overall price of selling the Mac and putting the money + extra towards a new one with fusion drive might not be a massive difference?
 
He could probably keep the thunderbolt drive for the next imac too though. I am not convinced by the new fusion drives as yet though. Although more expensive a separate SSD + HDD still provides a much larger improvement in overall performance in most reviews I have read.
 
slightly different case but I have run a macbook (OS X 10.9) with an external USB3 (UASP supported) SSD. It performed very well with no issues that i noticed. Thunderbolt should be even better in theory
 
Cheers guys, I know going the external route will be more expensive but it's a lot less interruption/time than having to take it all apart and completing the build in one go.
 
OP: it works a treat. Had my 2011 27" iMac setup with the Seagate Thunderbolt sled, a Crucial M4 and a hacked Seagate case to put the drive itself in (plus the required Thunderbolt cable).

TRIM needs sorting with TRIM Enabler after every OS update, but there's no other issues really. USB3 will work too (if you had it) but doesn't pass TRIM commands to the SSD and thus gets a little sluggish over time, depending on drive choice.

I've wiped the internal HDD and use that as simple storage, with the OS installed to and booting from the SSD on the Thunderbolt sled.... could open my iMac to install internally, now the warranty and AppleCare have expired but - frankly - there's no need since my current solution works.
 
Has anyone done this with FW800?

I've got the 2010 iMac so no Thunderbolt, but don't fancy tearing the iMac apart to fit an SSD.
 
Drive has arrived and seems legit, so just over £200 for a 500Gb thunderbolt SDD (LaCie 9000491) seems like a bargain to me. Now to build a fresh O/S!
 
All weekend I've been running my 2011 iMac with an external USB mechanical hard drive. It's obviously a bit slower booting than the internal SSD but once it's booted, it's perfectly usable and I've had no issues whatsoever with it. I'm doing exactly what you've described, building a fresh OS and once I'm done, I'll SuperDuper! it onto the SSD.
 
Its been a few weeks of running off the external SSD for me and its been fantastic and ridiculously quick making it feel like a new machine.

Plug in SSD, Install fresh O/S, migration assistant to move apps/data, good to go.
 
i'm tempted to go down this route myself with my 2011 imac...

so i take it 'migration assistant' is different to using time machine? I'd have to do a fresh install of the OS (not even sure i have the dvd any more??) and then use MA to copy stuff over?
 
I opened up my last 2011 iMac and replaced the internal SATA drive with an SSD.

Soooo much easier than people make out to disect these units.

Also, remember TRIM Enabler, for any third party SSD, to increast the lifetime of the SSD.

I had 24 iMacs in a suite, all of which had TRIM Enabler installed, one turned out to be a duff installation and didn't work, and killed the SSD within two months of high use.



EDIT: Read up on doing with this Yosemite if you're right up to date.
 
samurl said:
I opened up my last 2011 iMac and replaced the internal SATA drive with an SSD.

Soooo much easier than people make out to disect these units.
Click to expand...

+1

The HDD failed in my iMac so upgraded to an internal SSD. Was expecting it to be a pig of a job but had it all done in about an hour. It surprised me how easy it was.
 
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@antc - Have a read on Cindori about its features and benefits. It appears to make a fair bit of difference on my suite, and I could see the difference between the enabled and disabled mac units.

@Ranger07 - Glad to hear I wasn't the only one that went ahead and butchered these little beauties :p After my 22nd Machine, I would do it with my eyes closed.

@antc - if you're honestly thinking about this as a long term solution (hanging an external drive off the side of the imac.

Have a good think and check out some YouTube video's on replacing the internal drive. The same principle applies as the iPhone in theory, Suction cup to lift the front glass away, several hex style screws to remove the fascia and screen, you also need to remove the ram cover, disconnect the camera, and you're pretty much there, you will at this point see the HDD and it's connections. Reverse procedure to complete. You can check the solid state with the front glass off, it is magnetic so will pop back on if it's too close, just lean the Screen back in position and boot up.
 
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