2008 iMac Upgrades

Crunchy Dragon · March 8, 2018

Hello,

I've got a 2008 iMac lined up for me(once the current owner gets all their data off of the drive) and I was thinking of what kind of upgrades I could do to it. I'll likely only be using this for OSX-exclusive software such as Logic, Garageband, maybe iMovie. I did some reading about this model, and found that it can support up to 6Gb memory, despite Apple only shipping them with up to 4Gb.

My main concern is storage and CPU. According to everymac.com, the 2008 iMac uses Penryn-based Core 2 processors. Popped over to Wikipedia to find out what processors support that socket(Socket P), and found that Intel released the Core 2 Quad Q9000 and Q9100 for that socket. My question was this: would either of those CPUs be compatible with this iMac?

Another question was would it be possible to upgrade the GPU at all?

Thanks in advance

Docretier · March 8, 2018

9 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Hello,

I've got a 2008 iMac lined up for me(once the current owner gets all their data off of the drive) and I was thinking of what kind of upgrades I could do to it. I'll likely only be using this for OSX-exclusive software such as Logic, Garageband, maybe iMovie. I did some reading about this model, and found that it can support up to 6Gb memory, despite Apple only shipping them with up to 4Gb.

My main concern is storage and CPU. According to everymac.com, the 2008 iMac uses Penryn-based Core 2 processors. Popped over to Wikipedia to find out what processors support that socket(Socket P), and found that Intel released the Core 2 Quad Q9000 and Q9100 for that socket. My question was this: would either of those CPUs be compatible with this iMac?

Another question was would it be possible to upgrade the GPU at all?

Thanks in advance

Does the iMac even have a socket to replace the cpu? I would imagine it would be integrated since it’s an aio or probably glued in the socket. Even if you could remove it, it might not support any other CPU’s.

Radium_Angel · March 8, 2018

If it's the all-in-one iMac, then no GPU upgrade possible and I'd be *very* careful about the CPU, their BIOS (which you can't access) may not see it, the power supply may not handle it, and the cooling may very well be insufficient for it.

Apples are *not* designed to be upgraded.

You can add RAM, although what each application will see is iffy, and updating the hard drive is a massive PITA because you have to disassemble the case and damn near break it apart once you get into it to find the hard drive.

Given the age of that system (10 years on now) it's probably not worth attempting anything but a RAM update.

Signed

a 2007 iMac owner who struggled with the same questions.

Crunchy Dragon · March 8, 2018

1 minute ago, Radium_Angel said:

If it's the all-in-one iMac, then no GPU upgrade possible and I'd be *very* careful about the CPU, their BIOS (which you can't access) may not see it, the power supply may not handle it, and the cooling may very well be insufficient for it.

Apples are *not* designed to be upgraded.

You can add RAM, although what each application will see is iffy, and updating the hard drive is a massive PITA because you have to disassemble the case and damn near break it apart once you get into it to find the hard drive.

Given the age of that system (10 years on now) it's probably not worth attempting anything but a RAM update.

Signed

a 2007 iMac owner who struggled with the same questions.

Thanks for your input. According to the list of E-series Core 2 Duos that Intel designed specifically for these iMacs, I should be able to go up to an E8435 3.07Ghz chip, the TDP is the same as the stock 2.4Ghz chip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#"Penryn"_(Apple_iMac_specific,_45_nm)

I am aware that Apple products aren't designed to be upgraded, but this isn't going to be useful for a whole lot more than a fancy paperweight if I don't upgrade it. If I have to, I could probably get by on 4Gb of memory. I would like to get a newer hard drive, possibly even an SSD just to speed it up since just a RAM increase isn't going to help too much and I'd like a snappy response time in applications and boot time.

I'm still entertaining the idea of looking around for a newer Mac Pro or one of the earlier Mac Pros(the ones that were actually a desktop form factor).

Radium_Angel · March 8, 2018

There are a ton of videos on YouTube about how to open the cases to upgrade things....good luck. You'll need it, and do let us know how it turns out, I may take a swing at mine...

Crunchy Dragon · March 9, 2018

5 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

There are a ton of videos on YouTube about how to open the cases to upgrade things....good luck. You'll need it, and do let us know how it turns out, I may take a swing at mine...

Haha will do.

So far, I'm thinking of a CPU upgrade, RAM upgrade(hopefully I can get by on 4Gb), and maybe a hard drive upgrade; having an SSD would be nice in a machine that old...

Still haven't ruled out a Mac Pro, but the cheapest one I found on my local listings was a 6 year old affair(the type I'm looking for actually), but it was listed at $1100 with hardware that wouldn't be worth more than ~$600.

Dang Apple branding...