I am considering upgrading my system with an ssd, however, I would like to have extra storage.
My thought was to use the old WD 250gb HDD as storage in the DVD bay.
The HDD is a WDC WD2500AAJS-40VWA1
And the dvd is the OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A
The ssd would go into the regular bay.
Is such a thing possible or even worth while? Not sure what the speeds would be going to the HDD
Thanks for your time.
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Well this gets into the data rate between the different ports:
Now the rub! Your current HDD is a 3.5" drive, the optical drive carrier is designed to support a 2.5" drive so moving the HD won't work as its too big! Putting the SSD into the optical drive carrier doesn't really improve performance as about 1/3 of the speed of your SATA port.
So I recommend you find FireWire case to house your internal drive. Here's one of the few FireWire 3.5" enclosures still available! AKiTiO SK-3501 Super-S3 3.5" Enclosure without Drive, 1x eSATA, 2x FireWire 800, 1x USB 3.0
Maybe a better idea is to go with a new HDD but get a hybrid SSHD like Seagate FireCuda 3.5". It gives you the speed on booting up as the onboard SSD cache will zip! And yet, you still have the storage depth of a traditional HD. The price isn't bad either! Here's the IFIXIT guide to replace it: Reemplazo del disco duro del iMac Intel 20" EMC 2133 y 2210. Here's the IFIXIT SSHD: 1 TB SSD Hybrid 3.5" Hard Drive. Do make sure you transfer the thermal sensor to your new drive.
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One last point:
Your system's SATA port is only SATA II (3.0 Gb/s). You will need to be careful what SATA drive you put in. If you review the FireCuda spec sheet I posted you'll see it supports SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) we call this type of drive 'Auto Sense' as it will play in any system. Not all drives (HDD, SSHD or SSD) offer this ability! Make sure you review the drives spec sheet and it clearly states it supports your systems speed. Many drives are 'Fixed Speed' only supporting one speed in most cases it's SATA III (6.0 Gb/s)
Dan,
Thank you for your answer. Very good info there and it clears things up.
I did read one review of an aftermarket caddy, and the reviewer had a tough time with the ssd being recognized till they found a small switch on the caddy. The reviewer moved the switch to the middle(sata II perhaps) and the system found the ssd. Maybe this will help someone else?
I know that I can also use a 2.5" sata HDD with a sata to pata caddy, but, this is getting to be more $$ than I can afford for a 10 year old mac.
I will consider the options here.
Thank you.
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so, just to confirm, you want to move the original HDD into the optical bay, and then put a new SSD into the machine in place of the HDD?
- de Aiden
Hello,
That is correct.
If I understood some information on other sites, while the DVD connection is slower than the Sata in the main bay, it should be okay for retrieving/storing files? Or am I mistaken?
I have no idea as to which hard drive caddy if any will work.
Thanks.
- de Curious66