iMac 2009 CPU upgrade?

[MacCustomiser]

I have a late 2009 Imac lying around gathering dust ... I had decided to upgrade it, so I upgraded the ram to 16gb and put in a 512gb ssd- now I want to go further. I know that it has a core 2 duo, but would I be able to put in an i7? And if not, what it the best processor I could put in? I know that the only difference between 2009 and 2012 IMacs is the software, so if I could upgrade the software, could I put in a 2012 processor?

 

[Lunder89]

I have found the specs on the processor of the 2009 iMacs (E7600). And if you need to upgrade the processor, these are the specs the processor have to match.
Socket: LGA775 (Can't find any store here in Denmark that still sells them, so you might need to search for used ones)
Frontside bus (FSB): 1066 MHz
TDP (Thermal Design Power, or max possible power consumption): Can't get over 65 watts.

As far as I can find, all of Intels Core ix series are ruled out, they all operate on different sockets. And going just one Core 2 Duo series up (E8 series) changes the FSB, which could spell problems.
I would say that computer has the fastest possible processor.

 

[Guy Clark]

An i7 CPU would not be compatible however I have successfully upgraded the CPU on a 2009 iMac from an Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz to 3.33GHz however it should be noted the performance gain was minimal.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

As Guy Clark points out don't bother.

As the song says "You have gone about as far as you can go."

 

[haruhiko]

Most consumer PCs' CPU is practically not upgradeable unless you also change your motherboard and RAM with it. Intel always changes the socket or other requirements and make CPU upgrade a non-starter.

 

[tpivette89]

If what your machine came with from the factory was a Core2Duo CPU, then the farthest you can go is the 3.33ghz version. Core2Duo only.

 

[Glockworkorange]

I think you're as far as you can go.