Mid 2007 24" iMac - Should I upgrade to SSD?

[lens42]

I have a Mid 2007 24" Intel iMac running El Capitan. It's gotten somewhat slow (though EL Capitan *did* seems to reduce the number and duration of beach balls).

My question is, at this point, is it worth it to do an SSD upgrade on a 9 year old (but still working) iMac? I'd probably get an Samsung 850 500GB SSD for about $150. Or should I just get a new machine.

It seems like reasons NOT to are:
1) The machine is now too old for the latest OS (Sierra), so El Capitan will probably be the last OS on this.
2) It's maxed out with 4GB RAM
3) It's 9 years old and maybe something else will die soon after I spend money on an SSD

Reasons *TO* SSD upgrade:
1) The machine still runs and the screen look fine to me.
2) I occasionally still use the optical drive to rip CDs (a new iMac would not have an optical drive)

Looking for any guidance on whether it's wise to put money into an 9-year-old iMac.

 

[flyinmac]

It's really up to you. But check out my signature for what I just did to my 2006 Mac Pro. Was a stock 2.66 Quad. So I say if it's still doing what you need, and you like the machine, and it meets your needs otherwise, then why not enhance it a bit.

 

[maflynn]

The question is, how long do you hope to keep the computer? If you feel its working well, why not.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you feel comfortable doing the internal work (others have tried and run into problems), $150 isn't too much to spend...

 

[theitsage]

If you can do the upgrade yourself, definitely go for it. Dust the inside and fans while you're at it. The most common issue (besides hard drive failure) is the GPU.

 

[prizm]

You should absolutely do it. My 2007 iMac screams now. If only Apple would allow me to upgrade to Seirra I'd be completely happy.

 

[ndolebay]

Of course, SSD is a life changer.

 

[tgara]

The question is, how long do you hope to keep the computer? If you feel its working well, why not.

This, although depending on what you are doing with it, I would consider getting a new machine. Yours cannot run Sierra, which included significant security upgrades over El Capitan. More than the other features, it was the security upgrades that persuaded me to install Sierra.

 

[zackkmac]

I did this on my 2008 24", and also bumped the processor from the (I think) 2.4GHz to a 3.06GHz while I was in there. Definitely worth the upgrade. I did get Sierra running on it, and upgraded the WiFi card to a Sierra-compatible one, but it needs an audio board from a 2009 model iMac which is about $10. So if you upgrade those as well then you could use the patch out there to install Sierra on it.