Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

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Dom
So I'm looking to upgrade my girlfriend's mid-2011 2.5 GHz (Core i5) iMac next week, I'm going to replace the mechanical drive with a 256GB SSD and add another 2x2GB sticks of RAM, bringing the total from 4GB to 8GB.

@amey @Soul you guys mentioned you've done the HDD/SSD swap; I have a couple questions if you don't mind?
1. Did you guys buy the suction cups? Care to point me in the direction of some that'll do the job?
2. Did you replace the optical drive or the hard drive?
3. Did you require a 2.5>3.5 drive adapter? Any recommendations? The reviews for those on Amazon are terrible.
4. Will I require any additional cables or can I reuse the existing one(s) from the mechanical drive?
Cheers for any help!

PS. I'll be following this guide: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2428+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5954

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alasdairw in reply to @Dom
1. Don't need suction cups, its just magnets holding the screen on so get your fingernails out.
2. personal choice. I know on the 27" iMacs theres a bit of dead space behind the main board which you can use so you'd have an SSD, HDD and disc drive, but its a pita and I don't think you can on this one
3. You'll need an adaptor as the SSD probably won't come with one
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/TRIXES-Mounting-Adapter-Bracket-Holder/dp/B00HFSMHDI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1417041772&sr=8-5&keywords=2.5+3.5+adapter
4. If you're just swapping HDD for SSD no additional cables, with optical drive you'd need an extension i'd imagine and some re routing and you have to set up the SSD as the main drive.

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Dom in reply to @alasdairw

Thanks! Will get on and order an SSD and adapter today then.

Anyone got a preferred drive for these machines? If not I'll go by best Amazon review.

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