Are these iMac mid 2007 upgrades possible?

[lucas2205]

Hello,

I've recently got an imac mid 2007 24inch which was a present from my grandad. These are the specs (from everymac.com):
The iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 24-Inch (Aluminum) features a 2.4 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor (T7700), with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip, a 4 MB shared level 2 cache, an 800 MHz system bus, 1 GB of RAM (667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, PC2-5300), a 320 GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive, a vertically-mounted slot-loading DVD+R DL "SuperDrive", ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics acceleration with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory, a built-in iSight video camera, and built-in stereo speakers underneath the 24" glossy TFT Active Matrix LCD (1920x1200 native) display designed to "bounce sound off the desk below".

It has 2gb of Ram though (1+1). I was thinking of doing the following upgrades:
6gb of ram (4+2) as 3+3 isn't possible
1tb sshd
Intel core i5 and use its integrated Intel 5000 graphics

I know that it's possible to have 6gb of ram but not sure about the storage upgrade and definitely not sure about the processor upgrade (not sure if the current socket is compatible with the core i5)
I would like to know if these upgrades are possible and, if yes, would it be hard to do and if it's too hard to do I would be ready to bring it to a professional.

Any help would be appreciated,
Lucas

 

[ApolloBoy]

The SSD upgrade is totally doable but jumping from a Core 2 Duo to an i5 is impossible considering the sockets are totally different, among other things.

 

[prisstratton]

The RAM upgrade is reasonably simple, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+RAM+Replacement/8966

The HDD upgrade is a little more complex and you will have to decide if it is within your capability, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8968

The processor in your iMac is upgradeable as it is listed as being a ZIF socket (as opposed to being soldered), but you could only add another processor in the same class (definitely NOT an i5). I do not know what specific chip set was used in your system, but your processor upgrade path would be fairly limited and realistically speaking I do not think you would see much benefit in trying to do this.

You will see the most advantage from upgrading your RAM and MOST definitely from the installation of an SSD.

Hope it helps.

 

[lucas2205]

The RAM upgrade is reasonably simple, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+RAM+Replacement/8966

The HDD upgrade is a little more complex and you will have to decide if it is within your capability, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8968

The processor in your iMac is upgradeable as it is listed as being a ZIF socket (as opposed to being soldered), but you could only add another processor in the same class (definitely NOT an i5). I do not know what specific chip set was used in your system, but your processor upgrade path would be fairly limited and realistically speaking I do not think you would see much benefit in trying to do this.

You will see the most advantage from upgrading your RAM and MOST definitely from the installation of an SSD.

Hope it helps.

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly what I thought. One last question: I'm going to get a 2tb seagate sshd (8gb ssd) and I'm going to freshly install osx on the ssd part (if that's possible). My question is : would a ssd make my imac a lot faster than using an sshd and installing osx on the ssd part or is it pretty much the same? I've watched quite a bit of videos on how to replace the hard drive and I should be capable of doing it myself. And also is it possible to overclock the current core 2 duo or would it overheat to much?

 

[prisstratton]

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly what I thought. One last question: I'm going to get a 2tb seagate sshd (8gb ssd) and I'm going to freshly install osx on the ssd part (if that's possible). My question is : would a ssd make my imac a lot faster than using an sshd and installing osx on the ssd part or is it pretty much the same? I've watched quite a bit of videos on how to replace the hard drive and I should be capable of doing it myself. And also is it possible to overclock the current core 2 duo or would it overheat to much?

If you want the most performance then go with the SSD.

I do not have any personal experience with hybrid drives, but from what I have read you do not get to choose what gets installed where. The system see’s it as one drive.

I would not bother trying to overclock the system. You will not find any software tools that can help you and any serious overclocking requires tweaking the BIOS, but there is no BIOS on a Mac…..and even if there was you would likely find that the CPU is locked. Any gain you MIGHT be able to get would be minimal at best and you would not notice the difference in performance and would more than likely just make your system unstable.

I would respectfully suggest that you upgrade your RAM, install a SSD and be happy with your gift.

 

[lucas2205]

If you want the most performance then go with the SSD.

I do not have any personal experience with hybrid drives, but from what I have read you do not get to choose what gets installed where. The system see’s it as one drive.

I would not bother trying to overclock the system. You will not find any software tools that can help you and any serious overclocking requires tweaking the BIOS, but there is no BIOS on a Mac…..and even if there was you would likely find that the CPU is locked. Any gain you MIGHT be able to get would be minimal at best and you would not notice the difference in performance and would more than likely just make your system unstable.

I would respectfully suggest that you upgrade your RAM, install a SSD and be happy with your gift.

OK thank you very much for your help. Also, whenever I use a voice recorder using the integrated microphone on my imac, when I play the audio back all I here is very loud crackling and if I shouted loud enough, I can barely hear my voice over the crackling. Same thing if I use Skype. Is there a way to fix this or, if not, can I replace the microphone without having to buy a external one?

 

[prisstratton]

OK thank you very much for your help. Also, whenever I use a voice recorder using the integrated microphone on my imac, when I play the audio back all I here is very loud crackling and if I shouted loud enough, I can barely hear my voice over the crackling. Same thing if I use Skype. Is there a way to fix this or, if not, can I replace the microphone without having to buy a external one?

Well, you are going to be taking it apart to replace the HDD and in step 6 of the tear down guide (referenced earlier), it talks about disconnecting the microphone cable connector. You could trace it back and replace it at the same time.

Microphone part, here:

http://www.ifixmaccomputers.com/imac-24-inch-mid-2007-intel-microphone-and-cable

 

[nandor690]

The RAM upgrade is reasonably simple, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+RAM+Replacement/8966

The HDD upgrade is a little more complex and you will have to decide if it is within your capability, guide here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8968

The processor in your iMac is upgradeable as it is listed as being a ZIF socket (as opposed to being soldered), but you could only add another processor in the same class (definitely NOT an i5). I do not know what specific chip set was used in your system, but your processor upgrade path would be fairly limited and realistically speaking I do not think you would see much benefit in trying to do this.

You will see the most advantage from upgrading your RAM and MOST definitely from the installation of an SSD.

Hope it helps.

You would be looking for cpu's with socket pga478 or ppga478 and the FSB (front side bus) has to be 800. the 7,1 iMac won't boot with a cpu with a 1066 FSB (I tried) So that leaves you with 2-3 processors to upgrade to. the X7900 core 2 extreme, X9000 core 2 extreme and T9300 core 2 duo. There may be a few more but those were about the best I found. The X9000 and T9300 support sse4.1 instructions so you could install macOS on those (using a patcher tool to build a bootable usb for nonsupport Macs), but not the X7900 because it doesn't support the right instructions.