iMac 2007 To CPU or RAM?

[THEROC]

Hello People
I have an old iMac bought in 2007...can't afford to buy a new Mac so I gotta do what I can to keep using this and even though it's old, it has seldom failed me.
I'm running Yosemite as I had to upgrade to run a program for uni (SPSS). It's getting a little old and can understand it gets slower but maybe I can save it. I was hoping to add more RAM and its running 2GB at the moment and it can only have a maximum, I believe of up to 4GB in 2 slots so...if I was to add more RAM I would need to buy 2x 2GB of RAMS and insert...that seems easy but is it going to be cheaper? Perhaps around $300 AUD. I can't afford to have it done for me but I'm clever enough to do it myself...Have done if for a PCs looooong time ago. That was where I was heading...

Until someone told me to upgrade my CPU, which never crossed my mind. I'm not sure what's involved in upgrading the CPU and though I could learn, I think, it's still looks a little daunting.


So can anyone please advise me which would be a better option for someone on a budget and also how easy is it to change the CPU. I would hate to stuff it up.

Much Appreciated.

 

[lazydog]

Hi
I'm using a 2007 iMac too and it works really well with Yosemite, but I do have 4 GB and I upgraded the hdd to a 512GB SSD. The SSD made a huge difference... before that the hdd would clunk away endlessly and it was getting really annoying to use. With the SSD it's a pleasant machine to work on, probably on on par with a 2011 Macbook Air I'd say.

So I would say upgrade the ram to at least 4GB and stick an SSD in it first before doing anything else. Upgrading the ram is very easy, putting an SSD in is harder but there's lots of video out there to help. By the way Apple say 4GB max but I believe some 2007 iMacs can go to 6GB with 2 + 4 sticks.

b e n

 

[toddzrx]

So I would say upgrade the ram to at least 4GB and stick an SSD in it first before doing anything else.

Couldn't agree more. 4GB of RAM and and SSD will make a huge difference, and while I'm not current on Aussie exchange rates and such, I hope you can get those items under your budget. The RAM in particular should not cost that much. SSD prices have dropped quite a bit in the last 2 years, so I hope you can afford at least a 128GB one, or maybe a 256? If nothing else, get one big enough for the OS, all your apps, and maybe all your non-media (movies, TV shows, pictures, music) data. That's how I run my iMac and I don't miss the SSD speeds when I'm just listening to music or working with Photos.

 

[THEROC]

Hi
I'm using a 2007 iMac too and it works really well with Yosemite, but I do have 4 GB and I upgraded the hdd to a 512GB SSD. The SSD made a huge difference... before that the hdd would clunk away endlessly and it was getting really annoying to use. With the SSD it's a pleasant machine to work on, probably on on par with a 2011 Macbook Air I'd say.

So I would say upgrade the ram to at least 4GB and stick an SSD in it first before doing anything else. Upgrading the ram is very easy, putting an SSD in is harder but there's lots of video out there to help. By the way Apple say 4GB max but I believe some 2007 iMacs can go to 6GB with 2 + 4 sticks.

b e n

Thank you to both of you guys for the advise.

By the way, I actually have 4GB of RAM...not sure why I always thought I had 2.

I have put the SSD under consideration too and will investigate SSD's. I am quoting this cause at the end you say I can have up to 6GB with '2+4 sticks'. Is that 2 sticks of 4GB? If so that would be 8GB though like you said, I have been told a while ago that it can only handle 6Gb so does that mean there is RAM at 3GB each?

Anyway once again thanks for the replies.

 

[lazydog]

Hi

Sorry for the confusion. That would be one 2GB stick and one 4GB stick giving a total of 6GB. I haven't upgraded to 6GB myself as 4GB sticks are relatively expensive and ever since upgrading to SSD I've been more than happy with the performance. Having said that I do have the 2.8GHz cpu in the iMac though.

b e n

 

[THEROC]

Hi

Sorry for the confusion. That would be one 2GB stick and one 4GB stick giving a total of 6GB. I haven't upgraded to 6GB myself as 4GB sticks are relatively expensive and ever since upgrading to SSD I've been more than happy with the performance. Having said that I do have the 2.8GHz cpu in the iMac though.

b e n

Hey Lazydog
Thanks for that...I have a 2.4GHz Intel core 2 duo. Would an extra .4 make much of a difference? HDD 250gb SATA Disk and as said, 4 GB RAM

 

[lagwagon]

The .4 would not make a big difference at all. Replacing the old hard drive with an SSD is and will be the biggest performance increase you can buy. (Aside from buying a whole new iMac of course.)

 

[g33k]

Shame the Ram is so expensive, in the US RAM is dirt cheap. Strange. SSD's will change yo' life.

 

[lazydog]

Hi Theroc

I would agree with the others in so far as the biggest changer will be the SSD. The extra 0.4GHz would make a difference, but not as much as the SSD. Without the SSD I would have thrown my iMac out the window out of frustration at how slow Yosemite was running at times.

b e n

 

[Ebenezum]

If you are serious about running Yosemite I would recommend updating RAM to 6 GB (2GB+4GB) and installing SSD.

Even with these upgrades I don't recommend installing Yosemite on such old Mac. I previously had iMac 2008 with 6GB of RAM and SSD which made it tolerable with Yosemite.

Unfortunately Yosemite works slowly on older Macs and I suspect Apple hasn't spend enough time optimising it for older Macs.

Have you checked if SPSS work with Mavericks? If it works I would recommend installing Mavericks instead of Yosemite since it is much faster on older Macs...

 

[lazydog]

Hi Ebenezum

I have to say my experience is quite different. I guess it all depends on how you use your iMac and for what tasks etc, but mine is working well for me, in fact too well as I don't have an excuse to upgrade to a lovely retina. Doubtless if somebody lent me a current 27" for a few of days mine would suddenly start looking and feeling a lot slower than it is.

b e n

 

[THEROC]

If you are serious about running Yosemite I would recommend updating RAM to 6 GB (2GB+4GB) and installing SSD.

Even with these upgrades I don't recommend installing Yosemite on such old Mac. I previously had iMac 2008 with 6GB of RAM and SSD which made it tolerable with Yosemite.

Unfortunately Yosemite works slowly on older Macs and I suspect Apple hasn't spend enough time optimising it for older Macs.

Have you checked if SPSS work with Mavericks? If it works I would recommend installing Mavericks instead of Yosemite since it is much faster on older Macs...

Hey Ebenezum
When I had to install SPSS I was advised it would only work on Mavericks or higher. I bought Mavericks and then I upgraded to Yosemite. I wasn't happy with mavericks either so Yosemite was just the same. Mind you, my system is slow but it still works which I'm happy with but I wouldn't mind it working on 'real time', meaning I don't want to wait to wait till it decides to load up what ever I'm doing. I also have to be careful that whatever I upgrade to wont jeopardize my version of Final Cut pro 6. Yosemite still has no issues with that. I do prefer to work with Yosemite than Mavericks though...Cheers!