iMac Late 2009 21.5" GPU upgrade

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Level 1

30 points

iMac Late 2009 21.5" GPU upgrade

I have a 21.5" iMac, 3.06 GHz Core 2 duo with an SSD and 8GB RAM. The video card is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400 with 256mb VRAM. Is it possible, with this model, to upgrade or replace the GPU at all? This one can't handle Final Cut Pro at all. I'm using El Capitan.

Otherwise, I'll keep using my MacBook Pro with the Radeon R9, but I'd like if this had a better GPU.

Thank you in advance,

Luke

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), 16GB RAM, 15", 512GB SSD.

Posted on Mar 3, 2016 6:35 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 3, 2016 6:54 AM in response to LukeLindblom

The GPU is not upgradeable with any iMacs.
The only way to help this along is to upgrade to a new iMac. Adding more RAM may allow you to run a software rendering, because you'd have more memory to dedicate to your application.
Running an iMac for 7 years. Pretty impressive!

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Answer 2

Matt-Boy

Level 1

39 points

Oct 10, 2016 6:56 AM in response to LukeLindblom

I don't know why people are saying it is not possible. The GPU is a card mounted to a heat sink that can be unplugged and removed (if you feel comfortable cracking open your iMac).

I have the 27" late 2009 iMac and just finished removing the AMD HD4850 and replacing it with an HD6770 that was pulled from a 2011 iMac. Got it on eBay for $60.

The important part is that it is an iMac card. You can't just buy any generic PC card. The other part is that it has to physically fit in the tight iMac innards. If you are interested, go to iFixit.com to the section on your machine and read over the guides and the comments sections to find out what GPU models people had success with.

I should mention again that you should feel comfortable open up an iMac, which is not a trivial operation.

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Answer 3

LukeLindblom Author

Level 1

30 points

Mar 3, 2016 6:56 AM in response to dialabrain

Thank you for the fast answers. I can't mark them both as correct, unfortunately. I thought there were some 2007-early 2009 24 inch iMacs where you could replace the GPU. Thank you!

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Answer 4

LukeLindblom Author

Level 1

30 points

Mar 3, 2016 6:52 PM in response to Timothy Fink

I actually really like my iMac. It can even be upgraded to 16GB RAM, even though I have 8GB. I have surround speakers, a cinema display, a wireless mouse, a bluetooth keyboard and the magic trackpad. I even have the original box:) I was just wondering if I could upgrade the GPU, but apparently not. It's not really a video editing machine anyway, my MacBook Pro is for that.

Thank you for the answers.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

136,385 points

Mar 3, 2016 6:55 AM in response to LukeLindblom

It's not possible.

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