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Model A1225 / Mid 2007 and Early 2008 / 2.4, 2.8, or 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo processor

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Hard drive max size and possible full rebuild with my 8 yr old?

We have the iMac 24" EMC2211 Model A1225.

1.) What is the biggest and most compatible hard drive that I can upgrade to. I have read conflicting answers. Please include model numbers if you can.

2.) Since we have the iMac opened up I was hoping to do a bunch of upgrades to teach my son about computers and have some father son time. Is there any other upgrades that you could recommend doing for fun? Please include model #'s of the new hardware if you can.

3.) Finally, this all started when the iMac stopped booting up. It would chime, show the apple logo and the progress bar would reach about 3/4 complete and then restart multiple times. What is your opinion of the actual problem. I have had two computer repair places tell me different things.

Thank you for any and all info. Mostly , this is for my son and I to spend time together, and create some cool memories, not to mention build some confidence in doing things for himself.

Respectfully,

Scott

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Your system only has a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) HD interface so you are limited to a drive that supports SATA II. This will limit you as the ultra large drives 4 TB ~ 8 TB are only SATA III (6.0 Gb). These drives tend to be just too big for most peoples needs. I would recommend you stick with a 1 TB. If you have a lot of stuff it might be smarter to get an external drive as that is more useful if your system dies or you upgrade. Here is what I would use for a replacement internal drive:

If you review the spec sheet you'll see the line: SATA Transfer Rates Supported (Gb/s) which lists the supported SATA speeds in our case here 3.0 Gb/s.

Unlike the newer iMac's this model uses a stuck on thermal sensor. You can see it here: iMac Intel 24" EMC 2134 and 2211 Hard Drive Replacement jump to Step31.

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Since we have it broken open I would like to put the 4TB version in. I noticed on the data sheet you linked that the 4TB as well as the 2 TB show "SATA Transfer rates supported (Gb/s) of 6.0/3.0/1.5... So, wouldn't the 4TB version of what you sent be compatible. Also, I was also considering putting in an optical bay enclosure. What would be your opinion on that. Again, this is more about doing as much as possible to this machine to teach my son. Heck, I would replace the LCD screen if possible, just for the learning experience.. Thank you for your time and any further info you can send my way..

Respectfully,

Scott

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Before you go too far here think about the systems life span and the systems limits. Getting parts for this series is starting to get more costly and Apple no longer offers OS support. The newest OS this system can run is only Lion (OS-X 10.7.5). This will impact on what apps you can run.

The other issue here is the systems RAM limit of 3 GB. While the the OS & the system hardware can support larger drives physically, the limitation of RAM would take too much to hold the drives index making the available RAM for the OS and apps too tight. Thats why I was recommending not exceeding 1 TB.

As for using the optical drive to host a second drive again that would use additional RAM on all ready tight system. In addition it's only a PATA drive so it's really slow.

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There were two machines with this EMC#

Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 24-Inch (Early 2008) Specs

Identifiers: Early 2008 - MB325LL/A - iMac8,1 - A1225 - 2211

RAM Type: PC2-6400 DDR2 Min. RAM Speed: 800 MHz

Details: Supports 800 MHz PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM (200-pin SO-DIMM).

Standard RAM: 2 GB Maximum RAM: 6 GB*

Details: By default, 2 GB of RAM was installed as two 1 GB SO-DIMM modules. No slots free.

*Apple officially supports 4 GB of RAM, but third-parties have been able to upgrade the system to 6 GB of RAM using one 2 GB and one 4 GB SO-DIMM module.

Standard Storage: 500 GB HDD Std. Storage Speed: 7200 RPM

Details: 750 GB and 1 TB Serial ATA hard drives also were available by custom configuration.

Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 24-Inch (Early 2008) Specs

Identifiers: Early 2008 - MB398LL/A - iMac8,1 - A1225 - 2211

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ScottLusk will be eternally grateful.
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