Late 2009 iMac 27" Video Card Repair — 4850 — 3rd Bake

2nd bake lasted 2 years & almost 9 months. (New cards last about 3 years). I show the old K4 & K5 Pro thermal paste on my graphics card and test my 3rd bake. Expand to read requirements...

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💁🏼‍♂️ If your bake is successful, please register your "Completion" on my original iFixit Guide page clicking the following link and then scroll down to the "Conclusion" box and click on the blue "Give the author +30 points!" button. You'll need an iFixit account, but it's free & easy. https://bit.ly/2nCnNan

🛠 TOOLS to open/close iMac:
• 2 strong suction cups for front glass removal: https://amzn.to/2tkcmvJ
• Torx T10 for LCD removal (T9 works but T10 is best) & T9 for video card removal. The following kit contains more than needed for the iMac, but it's highly rated, has grippy handles and magnetic tips, and no 1 month+ wait from China: https://amzn.to/2UCaurK
or
Alternative kit, WRENCH style (cheaper): https://amzn.to/2wIgWWe
or
Alternative kit, BIT style (you'll need a handle): https://amzn.to/2vRkUeC

🔦 OTHER ITEMS needed or recommended:
• Thermal Pastes (2 types REQUIRED!)
K4 & K5 Pro Kit: https://amzn.to/38WkEZO
or
K5 Pro (for chips other than GPU): https://amzn.to/33OIDJ6
& Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (for GPU only): https://amzn.to/36NMQwu

• Anti-static wrist strap (connect wire to earth ground): https://amzn.to/2uSTy74
• Dust blower - Giottos Rocket Blaster Large: https://amzn.to/2OgHHXt
• ISO Alcohol 99% (to remove old thermal paste): https://amzn.to/2YsK8v3
• Swabs & Tissues (for cleaning off the old thermal paste)
• Microfiber cloth (for cleaning the screen/glass)
• Flashlight (to peer into the dark spaces inside the iMac)
• Aluminum Foil (make feet to raise up video card in oven)
• OVEN set to 200°C/400°F (without which, this repair is in vain)
• Time & Patience

► I used a Samsung EVO 850 1TB SSD to replace the stock Apple hard drive, but the 860 EVO or Crucial MX500 are equivalent. To use an SSD in late 2009 27" iMac, you'll also need a special mounting bracket and a separate temperature sensor:
• Bracket: https://amzn.to/37Zn4qg
• Sensor: https://amzn.to/3b3knWU
• EVO 860 (1TB): https://amzn.to/2RKem9M
or
• Crucial MX500 (2TB): https://amzn.to/3bxHybf

🔌 IF NEEDED: Replacement Ribbon Cables:
• BIG (Amazon): https://amzn.to/32Ygv7s
• SMALL (Amazon): https://amzn.to/33ZEvX4

💵 NOTE: Your price on Amazon (US only) is the same even if you don't click the "amzn.to" Affiliate links above, but if you do kindly click and purchase within 24 hours, Amazon may pay me a small commission on all qualifying items in your Cart (even items not linked above).

📷 4850 Card Photos (cleaned):
TOP: https://flic.kr/p/RjLLCd
BTM: https://flic.kr/p/RjLKGf

♨️ This was the 3rd time I baked this Radeon 4850 video card at 200°C (400°F). Bake for 10 minutes. My 1st bake was lasted 4 months even with a fan-control app that set all 3 fans to 1800rpm. Symptoms: it wouldn't boot fully and would freeze at the Apple logo screen with the progress bar only 50% finished, sometimes with screen artifacts. At times when it would boot to the desktop, there were artifacts that made using the computer impossible. I think my 1st bake failed due to my bad thermal paste job. CLEAN off ALL old paste on card and heatsink, and only apply new thermal paste that I recommend above.

‼️ CAUTION WHEN REMOVING CONNECTORS! Someone attempting the bake said he accidentally ripped off a connector from the logic board. To avoid that, SLOWLY remove all connectors and use very little force. If something seems stuck, it could be a locking-connector where you must squeeze the tabs on the sides of the connector to unlock it and then slowly pull to remove it.

😎 Fan Control Apps to keep your iMac running cooler (I'm using both on different Macs and can therefore recommend either):
• Macs Fan Control: https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control
• smcFanControl: https://www.eidac.de

🎥 All my BAKE videos: https://bit.ly/2UEOf4o
🎥 2015 MBP 15" Repasting Video:    • Repasting a 2015 MacBook Pro 15" [Thermals...  
🎥 I'm not alone in getting 2+ years of use after a bake. Mr. Tak Engle used my video as a guide and baked his mid-2011 iMac's video card once in Jan. 2018. I chatted with him in Jan. 2020 and he confirmed his iMac was still working fine 2 years later. The amazing part is he accidentally dropped it from off a bed onto a concrete floor during his disassembly, but the iMac still worked! His bake video is here:    • Baking a video card on mid-2011 27-inch iMac  

🔴🔴 See my pinned Comment for the latest updates on how my video card is doing.

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#Apple #Macintosh #iMac #VideoCard #JDW