SanDisk Extreme Pro® SSD

[Rumba]

I would like to update my iMac 27" Mid 2010 internal HD and add the SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB SSD. I know it is possible to install and update a new HD but not sure if the SSD will work and the mechanics invovled in doing the install. I am comfortable with installing the HD but not sure what I will need for the SSD to work. OWC offers a video on installing their SSD but I would rather go with the SanDIsk. I also understand that the Trim is no longer an issue with the new update to OS X 10.10.4.

Any help would appreciated.

Thanks -  Robert M. Bruno

Sorry for the double post! Forgot to click the Email me button.

[SSD_Support]

Hi Rumba,

I watched the OWC video to install the SSD and well, it seems to be quite a task. If you are able to do that, rest must be easy. Anyway, before you make the purchase, please do check the make and model of SATA controller from within System Information in Utilities Directory to make sure that it is not Nvidia MCP 79 as it is known to have incompatibility with several SSDs from different make. 

There is no known incompatibility or issue otherwise and you should be able to use it. The SATA controller specifications below do not talk about the generation of SATA ports, but if it is SATA III[6 Gb/s], you should get read/write throughput around what is published on sandisk.com, otherwise it will be halved or about quarter of what Extreme Pro is marketted with:

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP588?locale=en_US

Hope it helps.

[vinejar]

I am also interested in replacing my internal 1TB /7200rpm (SMART status Failing) on a iMac 27 Mid 2010, checked the SATA controller it is a intel series 5 chipset 3 Gigabit, AHCI version 1.3 supported.

I am happy with a 240/250 GB SSD but unsure which model would suit best. Because of the SATA II limitation what benefit would i see with a higher end EXtreme Pro SSD over a cheaper model?

Because the SATA is II can you just half the SATA III performance spec for a SSD interfaced to a SATA II controller ? Will it not run at the 3 GB limit ?

Without the sandisk software tools for Mac how can i update the SSD's firmware using a bootable USB stick, my CD/DVD drive has stopped functioning ?

I am interested in sandisk because of TRIM support on both the SSD and OSX 10.10.4.

My aging iMac has 12GB RAM, i would like the sweet spot on price/performance on the disk subsystem.

 Sorry for double post (email me on reply issue) got me too!!

[drlucky]

I am happy with a 240/250 GB SSD but unsure which model would suit best. Because of the SATA II limitation what benefit would i see with a higher end EXtreme Pro SSD over a cheaper model?

The higher end SSDs have higher IOPS than the lower end SSDs so you would see a little snapper response from the OS but the over all throughput would still be limited to SATA II speed due to the SATA interface of the computer. 

Because the SATA is II can you just half the SATA III performance spec for a SSD interfaced to a SATA II controller ? Will it not run at the 3 GB limit ?

Overall throughput will be limited to 3Gb theoretical. You will probably see close to 300MB/s

Without the sandisk software tools for Mac how can i update the SSD's firmware using a bootable USB stick, my CD/DVD drive has stopped functioning ?

SanDisk provides a downloadable DMG that can be put on a USB drive for FW update http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16966/

I am interested in sandisk because of TRIM support on both the SSD and OSX 10.10.4.

10.10.4 now supports TRIM for third party SSD but this is not limited to just SanDisk SSD. here is some more info on enaleling TRIM for third party SSD http://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/01/os-x-trim-ssd/

[Rumba]

Thank you for your suggestions.

[Rumba]

Thank you for your help.

[kkay2000]

Shouldn't it be faster. i.e. double of 495 Mb/s read since it's in RAID 0 configuration?  

[kkay2000]

Very useful info.  Thanks, Dr. Lucky.

[Supatra]

Thank you for your suggestions.