iMac mid 2007 graphic card replacement.

joecarl wrote:

Hello. I have a very difficult question. I have an iMac 2GHz mid 2007 which has an ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128mb. I know I can replace it with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256mb but this model is very difficult to find for being an Apple specific product, I found it in eBay though, but prices are ridiculously high. The real question is: Since this card use PCI express... can i use newer graphic cards (easily findable) which fit in the PCI express slot?

Thanks in advance.

Nope!

Also please do not post private information such as email addresses, street addresses, phone numbers, serial numbers etc... I have asked the moderator to remove yours.

Sorry, but no.

For your iMac model these are the only two GPUs that can be used in your iMac because these are the only two GPUs the hardware architecture( I.e. the logic board) were designed to support.

No ither options are available to you.

Again, sorry.

MichelPM beat me to it, but also in my case years of experience answering the same question. IMHO it's probably best to consider buying an newer machine. If cost is a factor then you may want to consider one of Apple's refurbished machines. They are sold at a discount, are virtually identical to a new machine, come with the same warranty as a new machine and are eligible for AppleCare. In short there is no downside. If you interested you have to get them through Apple's on-line store.

I don't know where you are located on the planet however if you happen to be in the US the link is:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

If you find something you like act on it quickly because inventory changes daily.

If you simply are not interested please disregard this.

Macs (any Macs) are not PCs that you can just tinker with and put any ole' hardware into that will work.

For starters, dedicated GPUs for Macs have a ROM chip on them that are flashed with Apple's own boot ROM.

Unless the GPU says it will work with Macs, it will not work because the necessary boot ROM is absent or the wrong boot ROM. I think (but not sure with iMacs) if the ROM chip isn't on the GPU, the Boot ROM code for the GPU is on the BOOT ROM chip on the iMac's main logic board.

What will happen with a non-Apple GPU, is eiher the iMac will not boot and will exhibit a series of beeps, the computer will try to boot, but it won't, or it will boot but the Mac will be unstable and be susceptible to frequent unexpected shutdowns called Kernel panics that are the result of incompatible hardware.

In response to your other question about two other ATI cards, the XT card, I assume, means Extreme or Xtreme.

There is an XT version and a Pro version of this card. The XT card is, probably, for Windows PC while the Pro version is,usually, associated with for use in Macs.

You need to be using THE exact card.

I am not going to spend my time looking for empirical evidence for you because you simply won't believe seasoned Mac users advice here.

I am not the only experienced Mac user that will tell you the exact same thing.

Besides, changing out the GPU in iMacs is NOT a user upgradable component.

I am a seasoned Mac conputer upgrader, like many here, and I would not even attempt working on an iMac if you are a newbie or novice to upgrading Macs.

I know what I know about iMac upgrades and tear downs from both videos and schematics of iMac internal assemblies and components found online.

iMacs are very difficult and tedious to work on and if you brick this iMac during the tear down OR reassembly process, you may get some help here, but an Apple store will not be able to help you once you attempt this.

You are on your own with doing this GPU replacement.