# Is it time to upgrade Late 2009 27" iMac?



## Niagaramark

My trusty 27" iMac is starting to lag performance wise (beach balls, slow to open programs). I'm willing to put $300-$400 into some upgrades (SSD?), but don't know what kind of ROI I can expect performance-wise. Looking at newer gen iMacs but having a tough time justifying the investment in a new unit unless it brings significant performance improvements. Any suggestions on how to breathe new life into my 2009 machine?

Here's what I'm running as my daily work machine:
Late 2009 27" iMac
2.8 Ghz i7
12 GB Ram
1 TB HD (about 30% full)
OSX 10.8.5

Primary tasks include graphic design (Photoshop, InDesign Adobe CC apps) and some light video editing in iMovie etc.


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## CubaMark

If performance is degrading with the same apps that you've always used (no major upgrades), then you should be able to spruce it up a bit without doing anything drastic. Perhaps a re-install of OS 10.8.5 and/or reinstall of your apps. Or a cleaning out of caches, deleting preference (.plist) files and re-setting parameters... a good run of Onyx to clean things out.

Your iMac can also easily (with 12gb RAM) run Yosemite (10.10). For me at least - and user opinions vary widely - 10.10 was a massive improvement over 10.8 and 10.9. But I'm also using a newer laptop with an SSD for speed (and 8gb RAM).

It's also possible that your HD - now 6 years old - could use an upgrade to something newer / faster (if it's a 5400 rpm drive, go to a 7200rpm or an SSD). The SSD would be the fastest option, if you can swing the $$ for the equivalent amount of storage.

EveryMac.com has the following warning (and more details here) on problems with upgrading the internal HD (to a larger HD or an SSD), to do with the temperature sensor:

_OWC also discovered that the "Late 2009" -- and subsequently introduced "Mid-2010" -- models use a "connector that seems to use the drive's internal sensors" rather than an external sensor like earlier 20-Inch and 24-Inch Aluminum iMac models.

This means that the most straightforward way to upgrade the hard drive is to "replace the drive with another model from the same manufacturer that [OWC or another third-party has] confirmed works properly with this thermal sensor cable". OWC provides a list of compatible drives. Readers have shared reports that taping an external temperature sensor to a hard drive or SSD that does not have an internal sensor will work in these models, but this method could be risky when data is important._​


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## CubaMark

Proprietary cable can put the brakes on upgrading Late ’09 iMacs. | Other World Computing Blog

*UPDATE:* No longer is swapping out brand for brand even necessary! 

OWC has just released the Complete HDD Upgrade Kit with in-line OWC Digital Thermal Sensor for all Apple 2009-2010 iMac 21.5″ and 27″ Models. 

You can now upgrade your iMac with any brand 3.5″ SATA hard drive. No software hacks necessary and it’s AHT diagnostic compatible.​
*CM: *_This runs about $40-$60 for the kit, plus the cost of whatever drive you wish to install_

(OWC)


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## pm-r

You've got a potentially faster 27" iMac than my mid-2011 2.7GHz i5 20GB RAM iMac (Mavericks 10.9) that shows very little speed loss, at least for my use.

From a suggestion a member supplied some time ago, and my apologies for not recalling their name, their method has worked for several Macs I've used it on.

Bacisally, clone you existing volume to a backup drive, and CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) is strongly suggested, boot from the clone, (that tests that everything works), then use *Disk Utility* to nuke and erase the old drive volume.

But also wipe the volume with a zero-out, or one pass secure erase. CRITICAL!!! Do not skip this step!!!

Then use CCC to clone back the clone to the clean boot volume and set it to be the Startup Disk, and boot from it and you're done.

But also use *Disk Utility* to do any possible repairs first and maybe run the basic default Onyx, but I find that's overkill.

I'll buy you a few beers if you iMac isn't sustantially faster after doing the above. 

Plus, you'll have a good *bootable backup* if you keep using CCC.


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## bmovie

I have the same machine, except mine is 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo with 8GB of ram, running Yosemite, recently my HD crapped out on me and what I ended up doing was putting an SSD in place of the optical drive and upgrading the 1TB to a 2TB drive in the drive bay....I love the response i get from opening up apps and the reboot. 
so I would recommend getting an SSD drive and use that to boot from.
Now I just have to get the same amount of ram as you.


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## Niagaramark

Sounds like I should be able to get some more mileage out of this unit.
The HD was replaced in late 2012 by Apple under warranty (WD 7200RPM). Screen was also replaced in summer of 2012.

I've had problems running full 16 GB ram (kept crashing) so I've pulled out 4GB and things have run fine for a few years now.

SSD is looking like a good performance boost. I should probably check out CanadaRam or another Canadian supplier for pricing and recommendations.

With Adobe's newest CC suite now available, it looks like I need to upgrade my OS. Hope the upgrade doesn't result in a performance slump? I'm a few versions behind on my OS.


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## pm-r

bmovie said:


> I have the same machine, except mine is 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo with 8GB of ram, running Yosemite,…
> … … …
> Now I just have to get the same amount of ram as you.



Hmmm…??? Not even close comparison between a C2D and i7 core iMac at close to the same speed. The i7 will be almost twice as fast, even if you stuff the C2D to its maximum RAM limit!!!


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## pm-r

Niagaramark said:


> Sounds like I should be able to get some more mileage out of this unit.
> The HD was replaced in late 2012 by Apple under warranty (WD 7200RPM). Screen was also replaced in summer of 2012.
> 
> I've had problems running full 16 GB ram (kept crashing) so I've pulled out 4GB and things have run fine for a few years now.
> 
> SSD is looking like a good performance boost. I should probably check out CanadaRam or another Canadian supplier for pricing and recommendations.
> 
> With Adobe's newest CC suite now available, it looks like I need to upgrade my OS. Hope the upgrade doesn't result in a performance slump? I'm a few versions behind on my OS.



Your iMac would probably speed up a bit and would appreciate the 16 GB RAM if it could use it properly, and memory usually has a lifetime guarantee.

Have you tried using *Rember* to test it?
Rember | Kelley Computing
or contacted the seller.

Otherwise contact canadaram.com for RAM that usually just works.


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## bmovie

Niagaramark said:


> Sounds like I should be able to get some more mileage out of this unit.
> The HD was replaced in late 2012 by Apple under warranty (WD 7200RPM). Screen was also replaced in summer of 2012.
> 
> I've had problems running full 16 GB ram (kept crashing) so I've pulled out 4GB and things have run fine for a few years now.
> 
> SSD is looking like a good performance boost. I should probably check out CanadaRam or another Canadian supplier for pricing and recommendations.
> 
> With Adobe's newest CC suite now available, it looks like I need to upgrade my OS. Hope the upgrade doesn't result in a performance slump? I'm a few versions behind on my OS.


I have had no issues with performance running Adobe cc
I just need more ram
I know it's not an i7 but it's my work horse 
An ssd is a great upgrade
Check out canada computers for the ram and ssd


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## CubaMark

I had intended, but forgot, to add the CanadaRam.com links for upgrades in SSD / HD. Always good to go with a Canadian supplier, and CanadaRam - besides being a longtime ehMac member & supporter - has always given me good service. They also keep OWC units in stock, if you'd rather get your thermal sensor kit from a Canadian source.


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## rgray

Niagaramark said:


> My trusty 27" iMac is starting to lag performance wise (beach balls, slow to open programs). I'm willing to put $300-$400 into some upgrades (SSD?), but don't know what kind of ROI I can expect performance-wise. Looking at newer gen iMacs but having a tough time justifying the investment in a new unit unless it brings significant performance improvements. Any suggestions on how to breathe new life into my 2009 machine?
> 
> Here's what I'm running as my daily work machine:
> Late 2009 27" iMac
> 2.8 Ghz i7
> 12 GB Ram
> 1 TB HD (about 30% full)
> OSX 10.8.5
> 
> Primary tasks include graphic design (Photoshop, InDesign Adobe CC apps) and some light video editing in iMovie etc.


Before you spend any money on hardware, this question.

How old is your basic OS install before updates and upgrades? When is the last time an OS was "clean" installed?

Your machine may benefit from a full bore "nuke 'n' pave" erase-and-write zeros erasure to remap bad sectors, followed by a fresh install of the OSX level of your choice, with fresh installs of software (and NOT-installs of cruft you didn't use anyway). Fresh settings all round and documents copied back, no clones or TimeMachine restores allowed. You want to get to fresh everything. Then the setup of your machine will be the best it *can* be and you can bet a decent read to properly evaluate its peformance.

You might be surprised how much this process can pick up lagging performance.


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## pm-r

Hmmm…????


> "_Fresh settings all round and documents copied back, no clones or TimeMachine restores allowed. …_"
> 
> Just wondering how the OP will accomplish that, especially with "*no clones or TimeMachine restores allowed*"…??? or why???


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## rgray

pm-r said:


> Hmmm…????
> 
> Just wondering how the OP will accomplish that, especially with "*no clones or TimeMachine restores allowed*"…??? or why???


Because clones and TimeMachine just reload a lot of unnecessary cruft and can perpetrate (and perpetuate } issues.

How to do it? 

I can't believe this is being asked!!!! 

Just make a plain, vanilla copy of the user folder(s) and recopy selected documents, media libraries and so on into their respective places (Document, Desktop, Pictures, etc., etc.) in the new install after eliminating all the useless garbage we all have hanging around. There is really no need to perpetually save everything other than to assuage one's OCD predilections....

A colossally simple 'olde skule' solution!!!! 

Clones have their place when you need to get up and running fast after a disaster. TimeMachine is great for reverting to older versions. But when it comes to cleaning house, they lack the selectivity required to do a good job!!!

IMHO.... Just my $0.02Cdn.... YMMV.....


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## pm-r

I don't know if there would be any improved difference between using the Finder, which you seem to be suggesting, and/or using Carbon Copy Cloner to select individual folders to do the same thing. And some users seem to muck things up when they start copying some files and folders, like their photos and music and other media etc. it seems much too often.
Anyway, to each their own I guess… 

PS: CCC intentionally does NOT clone back most of the "_unnecessary cruft_" which is documented in its FAQ and as suggested and recommended by Apple, which interestingly doesn't even heed their own advice with what Time Machine does, or how it does it for that matter.


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## hexdiy

With all due respect, PM-R, both Time Machine/ Migration Assistant and any kind of clone will copy back "unnecessary cruft" like *malware and adware* to your cleanly installed system. That is why rgray has a very good point in propagating a "nuke-n-pave" followed by a meticulous manual reinstall for hard cases.
I myself am running a very unclean system, but have not experienced issues. When they emerge, however, I will solve them the hard way.


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## rgray

^^^^
Thank you.


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## pm-r

hexdiy said:


> With all due respect, PM-R, both Time Machine/ Migration Assistant and any kind of clone will copy back "unnecessary cruft" like *malware and adware* to your cleanly installed system. That is why rgray has a very good point in propagating a "nuke-n-pave" followed by a meticulous manual reinstall for hard cases.
> I myself am running a very unclean system, but have not experienced issues. When they emerge, however, I will solve them the hard way.



I won't disagree that a Nuke 'N Pave can sometimes be beneficial, but I dare say it's overkill and much too time consuming for the average user to do, AND have everything work as they want. It was sure easier and easier to do in the Mac System days, but not so with OS X and it gets worse with every updated version.

Yes, a clone will include any *malware and adware*, but I would haver thought a user would get rid of any such crap before doing any backup. 

One reason that CCC was suggested for cloning is it will omit a lot of surplus stuff that will get rebuilt when everything is cloned back. For a complete list see:
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/some-files-and-folders-are-automatically-excluded-from-backup-task

Anyway, I know the CCC clone and zero-out the drive and clone back definitely works to speed things up as a ehmac.ca member suggested some years ago. It still works. 

And one gets a new mapped out HDD and new file directory with very little file fragmentation and everything working as one wants.


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## hexdiy

Indeed, PM-R, thanks for the link. As rgray has already stated, A bootable CCC clone is *the* fastest way to get your Mac up and running again. I've already experienced a case where the HDD seemed to carry a corrupt system, but CCCloning the apparently dead HDD to a new one did the trick. That very same system has been running steady for 3 years on end now...
But thanks to the great Time Machine, any user will auto-backup all of the crap collected on his system.
The thing is: with stubborn issues that cloning or Time Machine trick really won't cut the chase. When a "spring cleaning" is effectively the order of the day, nothing will do but a "nuke-n-pave" and manual reinstall. Period.
Hope I don't live to see the day with my own Macs, though


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## Moscool

My 2 cents: 12 Gig isn't that asymmetrical? - I've maxed my iMac to 16 (pretty cheap upgrade)

Also, if you don't want to open up your machine, prices have dropped for external SSD drives. Not sure if your machine is Firewire or Thunderbolt but that's definitely an option.

The decision for a full clean install is yours: I do one perhaps every 5 years. I you're using aps which log your licenses by machine, then don't forget to de-authorise them prior to cleaning up/reinstalling.


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## HenriHelvetica

CubaMark said:


> If performance is degrading with the same apps that you've always used (no major upgrades), then you should be able to spruce it up a bit without doing anything drastic.


+1 with CM's statement. 

You have a unit that is screaming for a new SSD, and you can max the ram out to 32GB. 

I would roll with such a upgrade 1st, along with a fresh coat of OS install. 

w/ 12GB of ram, I'm not sure what your config is. I'm assuming 2x2 and 4x2. I might toss the 2x2, and add 2x8 sticks, bring you to 24GB. And that will not require wholesale changes at the RAM level. *Projected cost: $100-$150*. 

Then getting a SSD will also be a must in this case. On the cheap? I'll say a 256GB unit. if you want to keep it @ just apps and some extra, and use an external for data. 
Or go to 512GB?? Either way, SSDs have never been cheaper. Projected cost: *$125-$250 ish*.

I don't think it's worth getting a new unit. 

With the extra savings, you could scoop a 2nd 2560 monitor for a few hundred bucks, or get gangster and get a 4k monitor. , and turn your get up into a Ravishing Retina™ setup. Granted, you don't have the craziest vid card, but it's worth a try. 



H!


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## tech4tall

> I have the same machine, except mine is 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo with 8GB of ram, running Mac OS X Yosemite, recently my HD crapped out on me and what I ended up doing was putting an SSD in place of the optical drive and upgrading the 1TB to a 2TB drive in the drive bay....I love the response i get from opening up apps and the reboot.
> so I would recommend getting an SSD drive and use that to boot from.
> Now I just have to get the same amount of ram as you.


The CPU is strong enough. My advice is to extend RM to 16G and replace the HD with a brand new SSD, which will definitely boots the performance. No need to buy a new one if everything is ok except lag.


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## wonderings

tech4tall said:


> The CPU is strong enough. My advice is to extend RM to 16G and replace the HD with a brand new SSD, which will definitely boots the performance. No need to buy a new one if everything is ok except lag.


I agree. An SSD will make a HUGE improvement. When I sit at a mac running a regular hard drive, it feels so ancient and slow now in comparison.


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## chas_m

Not every old model of Mac is well worth the investment in upgrading -- my 2009 MBP wasn't because of graphics card limitations. However, if graphics aren't a high priority, the RAM/SSD upgrades can certainly inject a lot of new life into older machines. I was going to give my 2007 BlackBook to a writer friend once I upgraded the drive to an SSD, but she went and bought herself a newer MacBook Air, so she's all good.


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## monokitty

Personally, I wouldn't upgrade any Mac entering vintage stage - unsupported by Apple, and service/replacement parts no longer available. The 2009 era iMac officially becomes vintage Nov 30th.


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## fjnmusic

monokitty said:


> Personally, I wouldn't upgrade any Mac entering vintage stage - unsupported by Apple, and service/replacement parts no longer available. The 2009 era iMac officially becomes vintage Nov 30th.



Holy crap. That means my 2006 era iMac is officially antique. And yet I still use it everyday. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## pm-r

fjnmusic said:


> Holy crap. That means my 2006 era iMac is officially antique. And yet I still use it everyday.



Yup, you and a lot of us users now have to take the brunt off Apple's more ruthless description in that they used to label older devices as "_vintage or legacy_", now they get a bit nastier and brutal and label them as "_*Vintage and obsolete products*_".

Obsolete!!! Gheese!!! Give me a break…!!! 
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Sure seems odd especially when I look around our computer room and see a 2007 24" iMac and a 2007 15" MBPro, both working very well thanks Apple!! 

As does my friends vintage Shelby Cobra — and *VERY well* I might add!!!


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## hexdiy

Same here. As you all know my internet & daily writing & experimenting workhorse is a 2006 1.83 GHz Core Mono MacBook running Snow Leopard. This way I don't incur malware on my MacBook Pro, which is meant for heavy AV lifting. And if I get malware onto the MB, there's always Time Machine.


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## Niagaramark

Ready to finally move forward on this upgrade. I picked up a 250GB Samsung EVO SSD after Christmas. Plan is to take the iMac in to a local Apple Authorized shop to install the SSD in place of the dead Optical Drive. My 1 TB Seagate Barracuda HD (that Apple replaced in late 2012 under warranty) is throwing off a high-pitched whine, so I will swap that out for a new 2or 3 TB hard drive to hold data files etc. Any recommendations for a replacement HD that will play nice with the temp sensor that I read about? I've had great luck with WD drives. Thinking a 7200 rpm drive is required?


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## pm-r

I've always preferred and had good luck with the WD Black 7200RPM Drives. Fast, cool, quiet and are basically enterprise type HDDs and come with a 5 year warranty, at least the last time I checked and bought one.

I'm not sure if your iMac model has a special HDD temp sensor/connector, but there's always *Macs Fan Control* which I use regardless and provides a better temp control that I prefer.



EDIT:
I believe your iMac is a late 2009 model, so it looks like you're affected like me and my 2011 27" iMac needing a cable temp adapter with a "non-Apple-standard" HDD:

OWC In-Line Digital Thermal Sensor Solves iMac Hard Drive Compatibility Issue | Other World Computing Blog

OWC In-Line Digital Thermal Sensor Now Available for 2009-Present iMac Hard Drive Upgrade – Compatible with Capacities up to 6TB! | Other World Computing Blog


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## Niagaramark

Thanks pm-r. I think it was a WD drive that initially came with my iMac. Wonder if there is a series of WD drives that has the connector for the special temp sensor that Apple uses.


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## pm-r

Niagaramark said:


> Thanks pm-r. I think it was a WD drive that initially came with my iMac. Wonder if there is a series of WD drives that has the connector for the special temp sensor that Apple uses.



If there was, and I believe there were various brands Apple used, but each one as I understand, used their own style of connector, so not standard. And I don't think we can buy them via Apple or through an Apple Dealer.

So even if you still have the cable with the WD/Apple temp connector, no WD drive will be available to the general public.


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## monokitty

You can use the temp sensor from the optical drive for the 3.5" HDD replacement to solve the temp sensor issue. Of course, you need to buy this sensor as the optical drive needs its own, too.


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## Niagaramark

Wow. Finally made the upgrades and this 2007 iMac feels like a new machine! Added a 250 SSD and new 2TB WD HD. Created a Fusion drive and clean install of El Capitan. Still have to bump the RAM from 12 to 16 GB. I have one defective 4GB Corsair chip that Rember keeps finding errors in. Time to start migrating apps and data --I promised myself I'd get everything organized (remove duplicate files etc.)! We'll see how long this New Year's resolution lasts....


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## pm-r

Niagaramark said:


> Wow. Finally made the upgrades and this 2007 iMac feels like a new machine!
> …
> Still have to bump the RAM from 12 to 16 GB.
> ....



Huh…???  
How you gonna do that when those iMacs have Maximum RAM: 6 GB*
Apple iMac Specs (All iMac Tech Specs) @ EveryMac.com

We have a 24" 2007 2.4GHz iMac my wife uses, and 6GB is definitely its limit.


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## Niagaramark

See, the machine is too fast for me now! 
Late 2009 27" iMac running like a top! 
I actually do have a 2007 and 2006 iMacs as well and wish I could spark some new life into them but you are correct, they suffer from the low ram limits... Still good for word processing though!


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## pm-r

Niagaramark said:


> See, the machine is too fast for me now!
> Late 2009 27" iMac running like a top!
> I actually do have a 2007 and 2006 iMacs as well and wish I could spark some new life into them but you are correct, they suffer from the low ram limits... Still good for word processing though!




OK, but I thought from what you said in your post #33 above you were tweaking a 2007 iMac… "_Finally made the upgrades *and this 2007 iMac* feels like a new machine!_ 

We have our mid-late 2007 24" iMac and late 2007 MBPro 15" still running and still pretty fast for our limited use, and the MBPro works pretty well with a SSD installed, even though it only has a 1.5 Gb/s SATA bus. The conversion was done more for battery savings rather than speed, but still nice to have.


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