alanpro

Q: Upgrade iMac 27" late 2009 video card?

I have a late-2009 iMac 27" with a Radeon HD 4850 - 512 mb.

 

Would it be possible to upgrade the graphics card to the ATI Radeon HD 5670 Video Card 512MB GDDR3?

 

Also, my iMac has 8gbs of ram, where can the ram sticks be purchased and can Apple replace it?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7), iMac 27" late 2009 model

Posted on Apr 30, 2011 9:43 AM

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Q: Upgrade iMac 27" late 2009 video card?

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  • by liadesign,

    liadesign liadesign Jan 17, 2014 8:52 AM in response to alanpro
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 17, 2014 8:52 AM in response to alanpro

    If the card can not revive, may make sense to buy a new Nvidia.

    Is it possible to put the card Nvidia, SSD in my iMac 2009.

    How much memory can be added at me now 16 GB

    Wants to give more life to this beautiful car.

     

     

    I plan this year to take a new Imac or MAC PRO

  • by ge2kaslt,

    ge2kaslt ge2kaslt Jan 17, 2014 12:06 PM in response to alanpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 17, 2014 12:06 PM in response to alanpro

    So my story so far. 4850 card died, bought 6770m, it runs cooler,its cheap, and performance almost the same as 4850. If you want gaming machine get ps4 or xbox one, it will be cheaper than to get new imac

  • by liadesign,

    liadesign liadesign Jan 17, 2014 6:09 PM in response to alanpro
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 17, 2014 6:09 PM in response to alanpro

    I work in Adobe Premiere and After Effect

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Jan 17, 2014 7:13 PM in response to liadesign
    Level 6 (14,087 points)
    iPad
    Jan 17, 2014 7:13 PM in response to liadesign

    If you can afford to go and purchase a Mac Pro, then get a Mac Pro.

    If you can't afford the entry price for a Mac Pro, consider high end iMac.

  • by sr.matto,

    sr.matto sr.matto Mar 2, 2014 8:36 PM in response to liadesign
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 2, 2014 8:36 PM in response to liadesign

    liadesign,

     

    Are you saying that your HD 6970 worked for two years and then went bad?

     

    Thanks

  • by advantageTechy,

    advantageTechy advantageTechy Mar 3, 2014 9:04 AM in response to ge2kaslt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2014 9:04 AM in response to ge2kaslt

    I use my machine for many uses, from 3D drawing to flying flight sims like X-Plane. The drivers for NVidia when it comes to Max just plain suck. You computer will most likely require an AMD card. If you want a computer for gaming, I would sort of agree with ge2kaslt, but I would not buy one of those game boxes for it. I would go the PC route as I have done for this. Fully upgradable for future expansion and it handles anything I throw at it. Graphics and FPS also seem to be better than what the boxes can give. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac, but the machine I built will run circles around the new Mac Pro and is somewhat cheaper.

     

    As for my iMac that needs a replacement gpu, I will get a new one and just give it to my daughter for her school work.

  • by Eliadar,

    Eliadar Eliadar Apr 26, 2014 12:08 PM in response to Peter Elespuru
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2014 12:08 PM in response to Peter Elespuru

    Would something like this work on a late 2009 macbook pro if done properly? I know the internal setup of the imacs of this time are basically laptop setups. So just wondering if a similar process would be possible in a macbook pro with some careful decconstruction.

  • by Oladunk,

    Oladunk Oladunk Apr 28, 2014 11:19 AM in response to ge2kaslt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 28, 2014 11:19 AM in response to ge2kaslt

    Hey guys!!

     

    My 4850 512mb card just broke down Does anyone still have a card lying around? contact me at oh@nor-reg.com ,it doesn't have to be a 4850. Maybe a 5670, 6770 or something else... or maybe you guys know a good place to buy a new one?

     

    I was actually thinking of buying one at applecomponents.com, welovemacs.com or macpalace.com, but they have a lot of bad reviews.... What to do???

  • by grahamkracker,

    grahamkracker grahamkracker Apr 28, 2014 5:49 PM in response to Oladunk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 28, 2014 5:49 PM in response to Oladunk

    Sorry Oladunk, I don't have a working card for you. I did successfully replace my bad 4850 about six months ago with a replacement 4850 from welovemacs.com. So far, so good. I started to order from macpalace.com, as they had the best price, but got a funny feeling when they wanted me to order over the phone and not use Paypal. Good luck with your repair!

  • by puddytat,

    puddytat puddytat May 27, 2014 12:23 PM in response to Oladunk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 27, 2014 12:23 PM in response to Oladunk

    Although it is more expensive, if you have a local Mac repair place order the card (and install the card), then you have a more secure guarentee than if you just purchase direct from the online vendors. This way, you also have a local shop who will be accountable should the card stop working after the 30 days window that the online dealers provide. It is worth getting a quote from your local shop to do the install.

  • by B_Baygan,

    B_Baygan B_Baygan Sep 7, 2014 4:17 AM in response to liadesign
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 7, 2014 4:17 AM in response to liadesign

    Did your new GPU card die after two years? If so then it has to be some other hardware problems such as logic board. Or as simple as temperature problems.

  • by jahelin,

    jahelin jahelin Sep 30, 2014 9:35 AM in response to B_Baygan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 30, 2014 9:35 AM in response to B_Baygan

    so has there been any developments with the replacement options? Increasing number of these GPUs seem to be dying...like mine yesterday. The problem seems to be that there are no exact apple versions available and finding a working replacement model from the new line up of GPUs is difficult since the laptop GPUs are not commonly sold at retail.

     

    I have considered following:

    ATI mobility radeon

    HD 4850 (difficult to find and prices compared to new ones excessive)

    HD 5870 (maybe some available, but not specifically sold as apple compatible)

    HD 6970 (nowhere to be found, at least not with a reasonable price)

     

    Nvidia

    Quadro K4000M (some can be found, but the apple support for the M version remains an issue)

    Geforce GTX 675 and 680, 770  (did not find any, but I assume that these would work since they are in more recent iMacs)

    Geforce GTX 780M (some could be found but still expensive and the power consumption about twice as much as in the original 4850, and does not come with a heat sink, so probably would cause heating problems)

     

    So if there are any better suggestions on what to try I would be glad.  My budget limit is 200€.

  • by jahelin,

    jahelin jahelin Oct 18, 2014 4:58 AM in response to jahelin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2014 4:58 AM in response to jahelin

    so has there been any developments with the replacement options? Increasing number of these GPUs seem to be dying...like mine yesterday. The problem seems to be that there are no exact apple versions available and finding a working replacement model from the new line up of GPUs is difficult since the laptop GPUs are not commonly sold at retail.

     

    I have considered following:

    ATI mobility radeon

    HD 4850 (difficult to find and prices compared to new ones excessive)

    HD 5870 (maybe some available, but not specifically sold as apple compatible)

    HD 6970 (nowhere to be found, at least not with reasonable price)

     

    Nvidia

    Quadro K4000M (some can be found, but the apple support for the M version remains an issue)

    Geforce GTX 675 and 680, 770  (did not find any, but I assume that these would work since they are in more recent iMacs)

    Geforce GTX 780M (some could be found but still expensive and the power consumption about twice as much as in the original 4850, and does not come with a heat sink, so probably would cause heating problems)

     

    So if there are any better suggestions on what to try I would be glad.  My budget limit is 200€.

  • by jahelin,

    jahelin jahelin Oct 18, 2014 5:08 AM in response to jahelin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2014 5:08 AM in response to jahelin

    So i found 6870m from an alienware laptop. The hardware switch was fine, but I am stuck with a black screen despite zapping the pram, starting in safe mode or forcing osx boot.  Any clues on how to proceed with the problem solving. I was not expecting any driver problems under mavericks and now little concerned if there is a software issue or hardware issue.

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Oct 18, 2014 1:11 PM in response to jahelin
    Level 6 (14,087 points)
    iPad
    Oct 18, 2014 1:11 PM in response to jahelin

    Most, if not all, GPUs from Windows PCs are, usually, NOT compatible with Macs.

    The GPU chip itself needs Mac code/instructions burned or programmed into the chip for it to be recognized on Mac systems and for the OS X video drivers to work.

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