I was gifted a 24 inch IMAC yesterday, and I am looking to make some upgrades to the unit. The things I am looking at changing is the HD to SSD, the RAM (max amount), and maybe the wifi card. If anyone has any gotchas or words of wisdom or links they would like to share it would be a great help.
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2009 24 inch Imac
- Thread starter TyShawn
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Honestly, it sounds like you have a fairly solid plan. Pretty much any SSD will work well enough in there, and maxing out the RAM is never a bad idea.
You need to find out which 24-inch iMac you have.
System Information will show your Model Identifier. An early 2009 24-Inch iMac will be an iMac9,1
It will take DDR3, PC3-8500 SO-DIMMs. 2 x 4GB, for 8GB maximum.
The previous 2008 model (iMac8,1) takes DDR2, PC2-6400, maximum of 6GB.
So, you need to verify which iMac you have. It will make all the difference in the world
System Information will show your Model Identifier. An early 2009 24-Inch iMac will be an iMac9,1
It will take DDR3, PC3-8500 SO-DIMMs. 2 x 4GB, for 8GB maximum.
The previous 2008 model (iMac8,1) takes DDR2, PC2-6400, maximum of 6GB.
So, you need to verify which iMac you have. It will make all the difference in the world
Simply go to About This Mac, and under memory it will show which. For instance an early 2009 might say "4 GB 1066 MHz DDR3". They take 200-pin modules for DDR2 or 204-pin modules for DDR3. Max will be 6 or 8 GB, again depending if yours has DDR2 or DDR3.
Ok I am finally getting around to swapping the hard drive out. Th ought I read somewhere about a thermal sensor issue once the HD is swapped out could someone speak to that or is it a simple swap format install and enjoy the boot in speed?
I thought I saw those threads, but for some reason when I did my search it didn't pop up like it did before. Thank you for the reply.
*Update*
It looks like the Early 2009 (mine) is an easy swap, and the late 2009-2010 require the mod (software or hardware).
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What SSD did you buy ? Is it installed yet?
Report your experience here please https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/early-2009-imac-upgrade-recommendations.2016769/#post-23977808
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I did exactly what you did with my 2009 24" IMac.
There is a thermal sensor attached to the hard drive, and when you do an SSD upgrade, the fans spin at full speed as they think the hard drive is overheating. I know you can do one of three things:
1) You can buy a kit from OWC (it is bundled with an ssd and a lot of tools) - so EXPENSIVE; https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/KITIM09HE2TB/
2) You can "short out" the hard drive temperature wire and it may stop the fans from running full speed; http://blog.macsales.com/19617-diag...ed-issues-after-upgrading-the-main-hard-drive
3) You can install a program called SSD fan control, allows you to manually control the fans. This is what I did personally on my 09" and it works great. http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/
Thanks for your report
But that is for LATE 2009 models (iMac 10,1 & 11,1 : 21,5" or 27"). You don't need that on an early 2009 model (iMac 9,1 ; 20" and 24").Which model do you have ?
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I wasn't thinking very well when I posted my earlier answer ... I forgot that I have indeed done this swap on an early 2009 (9,1). I simply removed the (outboard) thermal sensor from the hard drive and stuck it onto the SSD. Works fine, no fan problems, no need for kits or fan control apps.
Later models didn't use a separate outboard sensor and that's when you have to get into some trickery.
Later models didn't use a separate outboard sensor and that's when you have to get into some trickery.
Sorry! I misread your post and assumed you had a late 2009! With the early 2009 you will be fineThanks for your report
Which model do you have ?
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Those machines can still be useful beasts. I have an early 2008 24" iMac that I still use on a daily basis. 6GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and 10.11 make this machine absolutely fly!