I need to increase to 512MB of vRAM for Photoshop, on an Imac version 10.9.5 processor 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. What are my options?

Same here... I also try to keep them as long as possible, before passing them on to other family members.

I have had numerous Apple computers starting with a 1994 Macintosh 128k back in 1995, a Performa 6200CD and an iMac G3 to name a few. Most of them lasted me for more than 10 year, but mostly because they were only used for pleasure and not relied on for work.

Most recent example: I just retired an Early 2006 Core Duo iMac that I bought back in Jan of 2006. I used it for 5 years and the grandkids have been using it for more than 3 and half years.

The problem today is that software and hardware are changing so fast, that it is real tough to relay on a system in the work environment for more than three or four years.

That is why I still suggest putting the $100 dollars into a cookie jar and start saving up for a newer system.

🙂

You can install an extra 2 GBs of RAM to bring your iMac to the max.6 GBs RAM.

You replace one of the 2 GBs RAM modules for a 4 GBs RAM module per my previous thread and link to the RAM you need.

SInce you have been approved for a $2000 line of credit, if you do not have a lot of your own extra cash to add to this amount, I would opt for the baseline 27 inch screen iMac. Instead of the standard 1 TB hard drive, I would, also, opt for the optional 1 TB or, if yiur can do this, the 3 TB Fusion drive.

The fusion drive is a hyoid/combo Flash storage drive and standard regular hard drive.

You can install your system and applications on the Flash Storage part of the drive for faster response times and store the rest of your data on the standard hrd drive portion of the fusion drive.

Plan on purchasing additonal, cheaper RAM at a soon, but later date after purchase, from cheaper third party online Mac RAM sellers OWC or Crucial memory,

Install, at least, another 8 GBs of RAM for a total of 16 GBs of RAM.

RAM is user installable only in the 27 inch screen model iMacs and the 27 inch screen models can take up to 32 GBs of RAM, max.

Also, if you do intricate and precise design work, I prefer to forego Apple's Bluetooth peripheral/input devices and stick with wired USB input devices,even for the keyboard.

If you can come up with some additonal extra cash of your own, I would opt for the faster, top end iMac, again, with purchasing the optional fusion drive instead of the normal, standard hard drive.

If you do not do any medium to heavy video work forget about the i7 CPU and 4 GB VRAM GPU options in the high end iMac.

You will not really need that extra horsepower.

Also, plan during the first year of ownership of a brand new Mac to save up for and purchase then register for the addditional, 2 year extended AppleCare warranty.

It is completely worth the extra costs for a total of 3 years of warranty coverage against any mInor or major hardware component failures.

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/imac

Go to your battery settings and switch it to High Performance you'll get your 512MB

It would be good if you read the entire post before replying to 5 month old post.

The OP owns an iMac and not a MacBook laptop or Mac Mini

And a MacBook's GPU probably gets it VRAM by using an integrated GPU ( instead of a discreet GPU in desktop Mac models) that steals actual RAM resources from the total, physically installed RAM in a MacBook. This setup is probably the same in the Mac Mini units, too, but this doesn't work with desktop Macs with separate, discreet GPU modules/chips.