Hi all,I have a 3.06GHZ Core Duo 22" Imac with an ATI Mobilty Radeon 4670HD Video card. I gotten FSX to run run pretty good with the PMDG J41, Carenado CaravanHD etc.. As long as I don't use any clouds more than a few :( I got REX2 Extreme and only use the 512 clouds and still take a huge hit. I tried *******'s shader3 mod which is supposed to help those with ATI cards and performance. It helps a little, but not enough. Well to be honest I'm very frustrated now. Tim from Real Environment mentioned to me that my video card was hurting me and I think he is 100% correct. It is a 512MB card, however it still isn't making the cut in FSX. Is there anyone out there that knows if I can upgrade this card? The Darn Imacs are built smart for space, but to work on them...well I'm not even going to attempt it and ruin this machine as I use Bootcamp and run Windows 7 32bit natively. On the OSX boot, I use it for Video production. I got this machine so I could get the best from both worlds. Even though the ATI card is a PCIe card, it still is a special type card that would be in a laptop. I would be so grateful if anyone can shed some light on this subject so maybe I can get a better card and have the store who I purcased it from install it for me. (if they are able or willing to..I pray) I've built my own systems for years and regret not doing it this time, but I was really getting this to replace my other editing system in a emergency situation as it was not Intel based to run Final cut Pro 7. I have a mac pro tower still here collecting dust, but that is my old one that I'm looking to sell. I hope I gave enough information to get the ball rolling. Thanks for reading through my long winded, ranting request for assistance. :)Warm regards, Jeff

Hi all,I have a 3.06GHZ Core Duo 22" Imac with an ATI Mobilty Radeon 4670HD Video card. I gotten FSX to run run pretty good with the PMDG J41, Carenado CaravanHD etc.. As long as I don't use any clouds more than a few :( I got REX2 Extreme and only use the 512 clouds and still take a huge hit. I tried *******'s shader3 mod which is supposed to help those with ATI cards and performance. It helps a little, but not enough. Well to be honest I'm very frustrated now. Tim from Real Environment mentioned to me that my video card was hurting me and I think he is 100% correct. It is a 512MB card, however it still isn't making the cut in FSX. Is there anyone out there that knows if I can upgrade this card? The Darn Imacs are built smart for space, but to work on them...well I'm not even going to attempt it and ruin this machine as I use Bootcamp and run Windows 7 32bit natively. On the OSX boot, I use it for Video production. I got this machine so I could get the best from both worlds. Even though the ATI card is a PCIe card, it still is a special type card that would be in a laptop. I would be so grateful if anyone can shed some light on this subject so maybe I can get a better card and have the store who I purcased it from install it for me. (if they are able or willing to..I pray) I've built my own systems for years and regret not doing it this time, but I was really getting this to replace my other editing system in a emergency situation as it was not Intel based to run Final cut Pro 7. I have a mac pro tower still here collecting dust, but that is my old one that I'm looking to sell. I hope I gave enough information to get the ball rolling. Thanks for reading through my long winded, ranting request for assistance. :)Warm regards, Jeff

After a quick google http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-222070.htmlLooks like it's not possible to change the GPU becasue its permanently in the motherboard. Of couse to be sure, go check if you can take it out (without a hammer or crow bar )

Hi Luckyman,Thanks for your reply. I found a video on a 24" or 27" (I think) Imac with someone showing on youtube how to change the video card. It was a replacement of the same card however. I heard that some new very recently released Imacs were shipping with I5 or I7 processors and better video cards. If I could sell my machine for almost what I paid $1,700.00... got it this past June, and I could come up with the cash difference, I would get the Imac tower which I think sells for $2,500.00, then problem solved. Unfortunately, the $$cash$$ doesn't seem to be anywhere in the near future :( Thanks again for your reply. much appreciated.Warm regards, Jeff

Hi Luckyman,Thanks for your reply. I found a video on a 24" or 27" (I think) Imac with someone showing on youtube how to change the video card. It was a replacement of the same card however. I heard that some new very recently released Imacs were shipping with I5 or I7 processors and better video cards. If I could sell my machine for almost what I paid $1,700.00... got it this past June, and I could come up with the cash difference, I would get the Imac tower which I think sells for $2,500.00, then problem solved. Unfortunately, the $$cash$$ doesn't seem to be anywhere in the near future :( Thanks again for your reply. much appreciated.Warm regards, Jeff

Sorry to hear about your problem. But that's just the thing if you go with Mac the prices are sky high, they change double what a PC with the exact same specs costs, it's a real scam. Couldn't you get a PC and buy the MAC operating system sperate.

Double the price is cheap for what you get... $20 dollar authentication chips are priceless!

Double the price is cheap for what you get... $20 dollar authentication chips are priceless!

what?? whats so good, and whats an authentication chip?

It's a chip that authenticates the system as an Apple computer, so only MACs can run the MAC OS. But like any protection there are ways arount it...

It's a chip that authenticates the system as an Apple computer, so only MACs can run the MAC OS. But like any protection there are ways arount it...

Exactly that's why there no really to get a rediculously overpriced MAC.