Is the 2007 iMac STILL a Decent Computer? - Review & SSD upgrade

Today we are putting an SSD into a 2007 iMac and doing a review. Join me as we stumble our way through the teardown, upgrade, then test out some games! You like Minecraft? I also give a review of my thoughts and feelings on the machine in a modern settings.
Leave a comment below in 4,000 words or less on what sort of machines you'd like to see us work on in the future!
Upgrade hardware:
-128gb Lexar SSD
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[@Firebrand55]

To get the keyboard battery out, drill a 15 mm hole down its length, insert the appropriate wood screw and pull it out. iMacs get hot when full brightness is selected....turn down brightness to reduce heat, ( mostly at upper left corner of screen ).

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

At the risk of sounding like a moron, it's not hazardous to drill into these watch-style batteries? I know I usually lol a bit when I hear about people cutting into their laptop battery cells once they've bulged but perhaps that's because the gasses are already leaking/accruing?

[@Toreonify]

I've ran GTA IV on lowest settings on my 2008 iMac with crappy HD 2400 XT, so yeah, LowSpecGamer style. But man, every Mac I've seen somehow manages to work good, even if slow at boot/launching times. Glad you've secured SSD properly and didn't just throw it in)

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

They really are great machines lol. People like to crap on Apple stuff, but I challenge anyone to find an older PC of the same age, at the same price point, that looks this crisp.

[@RikerJoe]

I have a 24-in early 2008 iMac that is still in service as a Mac OS X Server and media server. I’ve cracked it open twice over the years to replace the spinner HD with new ones when the old ones died. Next time will be replace with SSD and new thermal paste. I am running with the max 6 GB RAM. It’s a nice machine, by far the longest of my Macs still in regular use. Enjoy your videos, Dan!

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Hey Joe! Thanks a bunch. I am hoping to gain some utility out of the newer machines in the collection and media server sounds pretty doable. Might make a good video!

[@MarkHyde]

I'm sad cos my 2008 iMac has the 'Green line' fault, which developed over 12mths ago - but had a great many years of good service out of it - I keep a range of PCs/Macs from different eras. Found this channel just now. New sub!!

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

It's too bad it's not like a gameboy where the fault lines can be fixed by reseating a cable.

[@SavvyCrypto]

I just gave my 2007 to my daughter and with SSD it works well. I did have to add Opera operating system to run some programs. The ram is 4g on it and still gets the job done. My new old toy is a 2017 iMac 4K Retina with 1T HD drive. It is so nice.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

I WISH I had been gifted something this good (relatively speaking) when I was a kid. When it gets completely unsupported then it's time for her for learn about lightweight Linux!

[@o_o-_-8639]

I have a late 2006 model and I’ve installed windows 10 and Mac OS 10.7.5 and I’m trying to install 10.9 which it has at least FaceTime working…and despite the 3 gb of ram and the 2.0 ghz of the core 2 duo it works just fine and for full hd KZbin videos and other simple stuff it’s just fine…anyway have a nice day 🙂

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Honestly it really is still a fine machine. Sure it has some limitations with modern games but it runs pretty damn well otherwise. Thanks for the comment!

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

@@CanadianComputerCollector I have a 2009 that we put into 'production' when my other half needed to use GarageBand to do some basic recording at her job. Interface was class-compliant and worked straight away, I stuck 8GB of RAM in it and an SSD and it's a decent enough machine. These old iMacs are still useful!

[@sassbucket200]

I enjoy olives a little bit in two specific contexts, so I took a runny dump all over that Like button. Ya welcome!

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Hahahahahaha

[@scamperly]

Gross. Olives are disgusting.

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

I'll add that some of these iMacs are properly finicky with their RAM, as you discovered. I had two 8GB sticks for my 2009 and ended up putting the original 4GB stick in one slot with a new in 8GB in the other. It took two or three attempts and combinations to get it to boot. Managed to get 12GB booting. In the end I needed the 8GB stick for a 2009 MacBook Pro so I went back to 2 4GB sticks (the original one in the iMac and the one I had taken out of the 2009 MacBook Pro) and it booted straight away. I checked the compatibility of everything I had before I used it but even then it was a pain.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

That's strange. Did it register 12gb when you were running it? Or did it max out at all?

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

@@CanadianComputerCollector With the right slots it registered 12GB just fine. But it would only work if at least one of the original 4GB sticks was in there. It was really bizarre.

[@gabrielribeiro6609]

well done, noce video guy !!!!

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Thanks bud, this was one of my first. Check out my newer stuff!

[@futu1983]

Forgot to like but subscribed.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Thank you for that and the comment too, it all helps!

[@Guccimanny]

i ran into almost the same problem with the ram, however i put in one 2 gig stick and one original 1 gig stick. works fine. havent gotten around to upgrading to ssd, since im planning to replace the LCD, glass, and try and sort out the ram first.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Sounds like a solid project you've got there

[@joen3992]

It's overheating because you need to replace the thermal paste and run Mac Fan. My 24 inch had the Core 2 Extreme processor running El Capitan. I upgraded the processor to the T9300 and I'm running Mojave without issues. 4GB DD2-667 256GB SSD and on load never crosses 56C. I used the Arctic Silver paste also. I run the Half-Life games on Steam without a hitch. Good to go bro! Yes, I could run OCLP and get it up to Catalina but you'd be pushing the machine because it doesn't have Metal Graphics. It is a GREAT machine to run YT, social media and even Apple TV without issues....

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

That's pretty cool actually! Great work! I should see if I can breathe some life back into this thing. It recently stopped outputting video so it has been riding the pine for a bit.

[@fringpod]

Diggin' into daddy's own screws collection 😂

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Hahaha. Always good to have some of your own babay!

[@malawisupasoldier7478]

It would be good with windows or linux as a home computer for watching movies and using office suite and maybe lightweight art programs

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

For sure. I think the real shame in low end mac usage is the seemingly pro-active killing off of their own machines by Apple.

[@malawisupasoldier7478]

@@CanadianComputerCollector This iMac would be better for retro nostalgic gaming like spiderman 2000, Lego racers, re:volt, 1nsane, NFS underground, classic GTA trilogy, Scarface etc

[@freddiemt_]

*I'm literally using one right now*

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Nice! They're not terrible, but definitely getting a little long in the tooth (as are all dual core machines nowadays)

[@jearauz]

I have one like this one. I tried to replace d.the HDD with a SSD. When I put it black together, the screen looks with a lot of static when I turned it on. Someone can help me to pinpoint the issue. I would to reuse as a Linux machine.

[@danhutchinsonbackup]

12:14 at least it's running it better then my early 2009 iMac runs Roblox

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Dual core CPUs are always going to struggle with modern games unless they're super low res

[@danhutchinsonbackup]

@@CanadianComputerCollector my early 2009 iMac does run Minecraft ok ish

[@mucha991ify]

I have got exact same model of imac, I did install new ssd however cannot get into installing new mac os on fresh ssd. Any ideas ? All it shows me is folder with question mark.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Yes! You need to boot into recovery mode to gain access to disk a management. From there you’ll need to format the drive then go back to the install screen. Install media will also be needed, like a USB stick with a bootable MacOSX install would be ideal. From there you’re good to go!

[@strawberrymochiiz]

I appreciate your video some much. I was just thinking about how much faster can this 2007 iMac be with an SSD. I came across a 24" and 27" for free and both worked. I guess it works, but may not be worth it upgrading. It would be for KZbin and movies. The screen is very nice and it's well built.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

That's exactly how I felt. Shame to let something like that get recycled as it is so nice. One thing I didn't do, but you might try, is bootcamping Windows 10 onto it. Might run better and accept newer apps!

[@DavidEvansTeush-mc9co]

Plug a keyboard in the back. New wireless keyboard about fiveteen pounds

[@starxtahir9254]

Can imac 20" mid 2007 with 1 gb of ram runs Minecraft,cod,gta5?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Yo! I have some bad news. I do not think it would run anything beyond Minecraft, and Minecraft is likely to be a bit choppy. These machines weren't built to handle those heavy pieces of software. COD is for sure out. I would guess GTA 5 as well, but you likely can get Minecraft happening.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

There is no Mac OS version of GTA5, so you would have to install Windows. I am sure even if you upgraded to 4 GB of system ram, the graphics card memory is too little for GTA 5 but maybe not for GTA San Andreas. I think any 3d Windows video game of the last ten years would not run.

[@Jwrlddd999]

Am I able to get an adapter to connect a hdmi console into mine ?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Yes! There are decent FireWire to Hdmi adapters if I’m not mistaken

[@xxslaygirllllxx6559]

im using a 2007 24 inch imac but i upgraded the cpu so i can run catalina

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Nice! What did you put in there?

[@xxslaygirllllxx6559]

@@CanadianComputerCollector t9300

[@dross1705]

Who among us hasn’t hammered their keyboard, really.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Hahaha. Im glad to hear its more common than Id thought.

[@katnxaa]

S U S

[@Tamay.]

9:00 That timer is kinda wrong. 5 seconds are 3 seconds on the timer

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Weird. I'll have to see what happened there. #adobepremiere

[@haroldcampos9661]

I'm trying to play on windows os so I'm limited to 32-bit apps but I think you might have been able to play cuphead and others if you were successfully able to upgrade the ram! I had one of these already and found one in the trash also. It had belonged to a school domain but I was able to change pw on the admin accounts and start using it as local machine. I know osx is in the other 125gb partition but I have had no luck getting back to it. They have the 2 intel cpu's (you can upgrade them with like a t9600) and a gfx ati or nvidia gfx. i think I got ati in both of em. Nvidia one is needed I think for installing newer os (up to sierra) with hardware acceleration. The 8gb pc2-6400s ram sticks cost $80 for a set! And $10 for the 4gb set.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Nice! I imagine that was all on MacOS too right? I was thinking I should do a Windows review on a machine like this in the future. I wonder what the difference would be in performance.

[@haroldcampos9661]

Well I've since gotten more acquainted with it but my error was saying it had 2 cpu's. The windows system in mine at least reads the core2duo as two dual cores instead of one quad core or something. Anyway, you can trick it into installing 64bit windows by creating space for the partition by shrinking the one already there(mac is hfs not ntfs so do it inside of the macOs first unless you have specialty hfs+ drivers for windows), taking the drive out and starting the installation on a windows pc then when it restarts, press the power button off and stick the drive back in the mac and let it finish installing. I don't know if you can switch it to gpt type disc but if you already have dual boot and create a new one it will change your basic mbr to dynamic so you would need gpt for many partitions but i don't know yet if an imac especially an early 2008 can handle that. With the internal graphics and 64 bit you might get some mileage! Thanks for hearting my comment and replying! I also painted mine kustom canz sparkle purple pearl lol I might use partition master to clone the drive as a backup and experiment with gpt and creating a windows 11 64bit dual boot and label the volume as "BOOTCAMP" and see if all those features work or you can just do windows64 bit since none of the apps from the app store work in apple unless you have latest os.... and you need the nvidia and not the ati gpu for the hw acceleration to work in sierra which might be the latest this can handle (no high sieera, no mojave I think). I also have one that doesn't go into the mac os utilicty when you press ctrl+r it loads and gets stuck so I might have to downgrade, hope its not the gpu. I have one with el capitan and I might be able to get the settings partition to work by installing snow leopard, I also need to do that. It would be hilarious to have snow leopard and a 64bit windows with fully functioning boot camp and startup utility. The only way these are viable nowadays is to go windows!! Even with 64bit apple OS's you will have trouble in the apple store with compatability roadblocks... if gpt works you can have more than 4 logical partitions as a basic disk!

[@haroldcampos9661]

Sorry if I didn't answer your question, actually. I have two, I havent succeeded isntalling windows in one (has el capitan on it and system utility boot doesnt work, app store is a nightmare) but the one I found booted only into windows! I haven't even touched the macOs partition in that. I booted to the partition once and it has a pw but I'm not touching it. And it was connected to a domain network, meaning it didnt have a profile on the machine to log into but an online cloud-type one! I was able to un-hide the local (on-machine) administrator profile (after several nights of attempts) and from there I was able to create more local user profiles to use. One I labelled, 'dumbass' (that's me) to use instead of the administrator one. So that way when I'm using an app it can't change my machine settings without inputting the admin's pw (which I had to change before getting into the system). I also recommend a wired (over wireless) classic mac keyboard for all work on these. For example, If you press the 'option' key it will ask you what disk to boot from, etc. Windows keyboards don't even have an option key and wireless keyboards might not be able to load the drivers to do this, (you need to hold button and then power on device). Good luck!! I've had a lot of fun messing with these little all-in-one computers, and they're actually pretty tough!! They use EFI to boot. Efi boot partition is 32 bits, but I know you can definitely make a 64 bit windows partition work... with all that (including your ssd mod), and a t9600 and 8gb of ram I have no doubt this can game pretty good. Maybe even a light 'productivity' pc as long as you don't have tooooo much going on at once! Edit; Even with 4gb of ram these do suspiciously well as productivity pc's... in macOs. But now with chrome and edge's sleeping tabs, who needs it. Last word, 'gaming' might be relative but I can run persona 4 in a ps2 emulator in the 32bit windows 7 at 1.5x upscaled internal resolution and still get 60fps. I can download steam and play half-life2, a buncha J-RPG like Grandia2, Final Fantasy 9 maybe with HD mods or ARPG like YS Origin.. FFXI, whatever runs on your 32 bit machines. But also, some of the games I prefer are less demanding. 08 imac 20" yea. Kind of surprised your one cqme with only 2gb of ram. But I guess they all do. I just systematically upgrade them as soon as I get them. I think it's dual channel so you can run a 2gb + 4gb also as an option. And I think that's what they recommend, but people do 8gb total anyway and it seems to work but sometimes it only logs 6...? Don't really know the details about that!

[@auteurfiddler8706]

Are you running Mac versions of those games?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

I believe so. They were all downloaded!

[@hamdanahmad6261]

How do I use this IMac aaa monitor for my PS4 ?? Cuz ive got one of these laying around with a MacOS problem and i dont wanna throw it away neither do I wanna spend That much ona gaming monitor so I was looking to find a way to attach my PS4 to this Is there some sorta adapter or something cuz I can’t see a HDMI port here

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Hey dude! Sorry for late reply. I think it is possible for sure. I've used my 2013 imac as an input for devices, but it might not be that easy to output to one. Let me do some digging. I'm currently in the midst of collecting the pieces to convert one of these permanently into a display-only. So keep me in mind in the future!

[@hamdanahmad6261]

@@CanadianComputerCollector ahhh sure thing Id be waiting and on the lookout as well

[@auteurfiddler8706]

I have this same Imac. And wondered the same thing. There are some newer Imacs that can be used as a monitor, but not this one.

[@andrewdupuis1151]

i have early 2008 i mac i have windows 7 home on it

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Nice! How does it run? The hardware should handle that just fine.

[@scamperly]

Weird about those ram sticks. Wonder what the issue is. Anybody got any ideas?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Yeah I thought they'd clock down but no boot at all. I wonder if they are dead.

[@scamperly]

For anyone wondering, they were the wrong speed. We got 2 2gb sticks of 667mhz ddr2 in there so it's got 4gb now!

[@daktarioskarvannederhosen2568]

you remind me of sctv hoser doug mackenzie.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

This is excellent news hahaha

[@c-r]

No, I don't want to try the apple pie.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

#seinfeld

[@harleysrobloxgamingtv7182]

Does the 2007 iMac run Roblox?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

That's a solid question and one we really should be getting an answer to on future videos. Being old af I forget just how huge Roblox is. I effing looooooove Minecraft though so I guess my attention goes that way re: blocky builders instead.

[@R1-FOOTBALL.]

Why does my 2007 iMac freeze

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

I'm going to say it is likely overheating + age. That or someone barfed in it.

[@R1-FOOTBALL.]

U ARE SO RIGHT IT DOES OVERHEAT

[@R1-FOOTBALL.]

HOW CAN I FIX THAT SORRY CAPS

[@R1-FOOTBALL.]

1 more thing is there a way I can like ex I want a recorder but I need version 10 how do I make my 2007 model v10 without buying a new 1

[@materialdialectics]

Alllllgorithmmmmmmm

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Mlord

[@Tamay.]

I am getting one of these for free on my school they wanted to recycle it because its too old for them thats such a waste

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Yes!!! Save them. Always! This is going to be an old machine eventually, and when the rest are all recycled, you will have yours!

[@Tamay.]

@@CanadianComputerCollector Its saved, got an SSD now, it even runs minecraft still very good, I just use it for MacOS stuff, its my first mac, gotta test it all

[@orynellis1939]

does valorant work on this?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Haven't tried it but almost certainly not. CSGO struggles so I would doubt valorant gets playable frame rates if it even launches.

[@anaraluca1181]

The biggest fault is that it can be upgraded only with two memory modules. Apple asked a lot of money for this computers. Why they cheaped at building 4 slots into them? With 8 GB or RAM they could be cheaply upgraded into usable computers even for today.

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Unfortunately it's not all about ram. The dual core processors are getting pretty long in the tooth and the OS support is going away. Every year it gets harder to continue using them. I wish there was a good way to use these as a monitor as they're still beautiful displays and that will never change.