Upgrade Graphics Card in My 24" 3.06GHz iMac

[josepht]

Can I upgrade the graphics card in my 24" iMac 3.06GHz to the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS or am I stuck with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO that it came with?

[Eric5h5]

You're stuck with it, sorry.

--Eric

[Catch Them]

I thought most of the standard 3.06Ghz 24" came with the nivida 8800?

unless you did a CTO of the standard 24" 2.8 -> 3.06 with the ATI?


In that case, the chipsets installed directly to the logicboard and not a replaceable part.

[Samarium]

You can't upgrade. :(

[josepht]

I thought most of the standard 3.06Ghz 24" came with the nivida 8800?

unless you did a CTO of the standard 24" 2.8 -> 3.06 with the ATI?


In that case, the chipsets installed directly to the logicboard and not a replaceable part.

That's what I did and now I regret it.

[vampyr]

That's what I did and now I regret it.

Don't regret it... you are running a slightly faster video card with the ATI.

Do me a favor and take a look at your system information for your display.

See if you can tell me what your PCI Express says... mine says PCI Express x1, and I have the 8800GS. I think yours should say PCI Express x16?

[minik]

Well, they are all MXM-II graphics modules and detachable.

[Luap]

Well, they are all MXM-II graphics modules and detachable.

Yes & no.. From what I have read, the socket format is MXM. So yes, they are detachable. But Apple being Apple, their version of it doesn't conform to the more usual MXM standards. So you cant use just any MXM card. However, perhaps the Nvidia 8800GS would go. That would seem logical.

But then again, look at the innards of an iMac, particularly the gfx card area, and you'll see what a sod of a job it would be to change it. To me it looks like it would need a pretty thorough strip down.

In theory, its doable. But I can see why no one has been brave enough to try it yet.

I actually find the ATI 2600XT in my iMac performs quite decently. But ATi doesn't produce the most dependable gfx cards, as many late iMac owners will testify. So if for no other reason, i'd prefer an Nvidia too, given the choice!

[PcBgone]

That's what I did and now I regret it.

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose a faster processor over the better video card? I have 2.8ghz machine but I chose the Nvidia over the processor.