I can't tell you yet, but I fully intend to test it soon. Might take me a month or two to get my hands on one.
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iM 4,1-14,4 iMac 21.5" Late 2009 (10,1) - CPU Upgrade E8600
- Thread starter AphoticD
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Howdy everyone. I have gotten a hold of a q9505s (basically a q9550s with 6mb of l2 cache instead.) and have installed it this morning. I cannot believe it, but disaster struck, the ribbon cable to my LCD ripped while I was reinstalling the screen, so now I have no worldly idea if it is working or not. I need to get a new ribbon cable for my screen. Sorry for the delay, but it could take some time. With no ram installed, it makes the beeping noise, asking you to install ram. When I turn it on I get full speed fans. I wonder what the path forward will be. No matter what I need to repair my late 2009 iMac's screen. Any ideas on the whole thing? Should I be stuck at fanspin?
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New Update, I've replaced the vertical sync cable. Long story short, the q9505s does not work. Max fanspin, black screen, no backround boot or drive activity.
Okay, good news, the QX6700 Seems to be working. Screen turns on, everything goes well, I can even get it to boot into windows. But it only shows as 2 cores... Looking for a solution now. As of this instance? It only works as a 2 core 2.66 cpu so not sure how great of an idea it is to be putting one in a machine. But it does indeed work.
the 2 Core thing is not too surprising, as the EFI Firmware only has APIC tables for 2 cores, this is why im curious if a X5270 would work in an iMac10,1 as thats the fastest Dual Core Wolfdale CPU intel made 
(there is also the E8700 but good luck finding one!)
there are ways to patch the APIC table situation maybe, I know the Thinkpad T61 guys did so via grub at first, then modifying the BIOS directly
(you can with some fairly advanced mods shove a Core 2 Quad into a T61 )
(there is also the E8700 but good luck finding one!)there are ways to patch the APIC table situation maybe, I know the Thinkpad T61 guys did so via grub at first, then modifying the BIOS directly
(you can with some fairly advanced mods shove a Core 2 Quad into a T61
)
So I realise this thread is for a core 2 duo 2009 model iMac but I was wondering if an i5 model 2009 27" iMac would have more options available to it as far as upgrading the CPU is concerned?
Would the slightly higher chip sets on the i5 or i7 models allow some Quad core processors to work - providing that the new CPU's are not TOO far in advance of the original ones...?
Would the slightly higher chip sets on the i5 or i7 models allow some Quad core processors to work - providing that the new CPU's are not TOO far in advance of the original ones...?
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Thank you all for the information in this thread. I was going to make the same upgrade as the OP but after reading through I've decided to attempt the Xeon X5270 (found one for £30). I'll have to get an LGA 771 to 775 adaptor and cut the 2 plastic tabs on the socket to install it.
I'm aware that the TDP of the X5270 is slightly higher at 80W compared to the E8600 at 65W. I only hope that clearing the decade-long build up of dust from the case and fans will enable this increase in TDP!
Microcode injection was mentioned above. I have experience with hardware upgrades, but if anyone feels like giving me tips on this microcode injection stuff then please do
I plan to make the upgrade within the next 3 weeks or so subject to parts arriving, will update as and when, thanks again.
I'm aware that the TDP of the X5270 is slightly higher at 80W compared to the E8600 at 65W. I only hope that clearing the decade-long build up of dust from the case and fans will enable this increase in TDP!
Microcode injection was mentioned above. I have experience with hardware upgrades, but if anyone feels like giving me tips on this microcode injection stuff then please do
I plan to make the upgrade within the next 3 weeks or so subject to parts arriving, will update as and when, thanks again.
Have recently upgraded my aging iMac Late 2009 with an E8600 shipped from China for £10. However although the CPU was recognised as 3.33MHz my memory was only 1066MHz and therefore was recognised as such.
For £30 I was able to get 4x 1333MHz 4GB sticks delivered, and if I put 2x in they work and are recognised as 1333MHz. Unfortunately as soon as I try to put more in, I get the “no RAM” single beep.
Swapping sticks around shows that each module works independently & it only seems to be an issue when I put 2x sticks next to each other in the same stack; two on either side of the Apple logo is fine for 8GB total.
Have tried googling to no avail, so is there a trick to getting more 1333MHz memory in a Late 2009 iMac with an E8600, or is 8GB my limit?
For £30 I was able to get 4x 1333MHz 4GB sticks delivered, and if I put 2x in they work and are recognised as 1333MHz. Unfortunately as soon as I try to put more in, I get the “no RAM” single beep.
Swapping sticks around shows that each module works independently & it only seems to be an issue when I put 2x sticks next to each other in the same stack; two on either side of the Apple logo is fine for 8GB total.
Have tried googling to no avail, so is there a trick to getting more 1333MHz memory in a Late 2009 iMac with an E8600, or is 8GB my limit?
Unfortunately, the X5270 did not work for me. The mac started up and chimed, the Apple logo appeared, but the progress bar did not, well, progress. See pic.
![Apple logo.JPG]( "Apple logo.JPG")
I attempted to boot into safe mode, reset NVRAM/PRAM; SMC, and disk utility was not accessible. The only moment of hope I had was when connecting the old Macintosh HDD externally, the option to choose boot drive came up. However, every drive selection resulted in the same screen. It was worth a try, but it appears that the E8600 is the ceiling in this case.
I attempted to boot into safe mode, reset NVRAM/PRAM; SMC, and disk utility was not accessible. The only moment of hope I had was when connecting the old Macintosh HDD externally, the option to choose boot drive came up. However, every drive selection resulted in the same screen. It was worth a try, but it appears that the E8600 is the ceiling in this case.
did you inject the appropriate microcodes into the firmware? without it it might not boot properly espically being an E0 stepping CPU they have some anomalies that need Microcode to fix, infact im suprised it even POSTed without microcode!
you can use @dosdude1's tools to dump the BootROM and inject microcode into it from here
http://dosdude1.com/apps/@redvers76 from what I gather only 2 slots will function at the higher 1333MHz speed; https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ddr3-ram-for-late-2009-imac.1536121/
There is also some indication that RAM modules over a certain size won't work but I can't remember precisely where I read that, perhaps https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/can-the-late-2009-27-imac-handle-32gb-of-ram.1327771/
May I ask what brand you purchased? I plan on getting 2x4GB of the same, seeing as they work at 1333MHz for you.
@LightBulbFun thanks for your response; unfortunately the iMac is not expendable at the moment as it's my mum's only computer. From what I've read about microcode injecting, there's a good chance of bricking it... I've just upgraded the machine with a 1TB SSD and OWC in-line sensor and it's ticking along nicely... I DO need to get back in there to install the arriving E8600 (and because I seem to have incorrectly inserted the bloody CPU thermal sensor cable upon reassembly with the original CPU
). Regarding the X5270 I think I've isolated the appropriate tools from the link you kindly provided, but I wouldn't even know where to start using it. Unless there's a fairly safe way to use the microcode, I'll probably end up going the safe route and install the E8600.I will be honest, I just bought random ones from CEX (UK second hand reseller) so cannot confirm exactly which ones they are; I think they ended up being Samsung ones... I just returned two and left it with 8GB at 1333 rather than 16GB at the slower speed
I chucked a Q6600 in and it posts and boots into snow leopard but only picks up 2 cores and has constant hangs and freezes, Q9400 turned on but didn't post. ended up putting E7600 back in, will upgrade to E8600 unless i can find out how to inject microcode without a flasher.
Newer OSX versions would crash on install or boot.
Q6600 with microcode update might work?
Okay, I know this clip isn't for an iMac 21.5 2009 but I wonder if it might be of some use to the people on this thread:
Curtis Gross has successfully tested some Intel Xeon CPUs in a 2011 iMac and he goes into detail about the possible CPU options in that range including chips with lower TDP. Is it possible that there are Intel Xeon chips with the LGA 1156 socket that would be compatible with a 2009 iMac?
Curtis Gross has successfully tested some Intel Xeon CPUs in a 2011 iMac and he goes into detail about the possible CPU options in that range including chips with lower TDP. Is it possible that there are Intel Xeon chips with the LGA 1156 socket that would be compatible with a 2009 iMac?
yeah LGA1156 Xeons will work in LGA1156 iMacs a few people on this forum have done it
only downside is in about this mac they show up as a Core i3 but thats purely cosmetic
I know, but I thinking about method microcode. Because CPU is very cheap. For example Yorkfield-6M (Q9505S) TDP 65W & Harpertown (Xeon L5430) TDP 50W
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