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If my mid-2009 iMac came with a 2.26ghz logic board, can I get a 3.06ghz logic board to use instead? I’ve upgraded the ram and want to get my wife a little bit more bang for the buck in this computer she loves.
Sorry Apple never offered this series with anything higher. The 21.5” models where the first i Series processors unlike yours which is just a Core 2 Duo CPU. The only thing you can do to give it a bit more zip is replace the HDD to a SSHD or better yet a SSD. Just be careful! Your system is only a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) so make sure the drive you install is able to run at this I/O speed. Review the specs sheet if it doesn’t list SATA II or the data rate 3.0 Gb/s don’t buy it! Maybe, it’s time to get a used 2011 21.5” model. Thats what I would do!
As far as I know, there are no official configurations of this model that shipped with 3.06 GHz processor speeds. Since this was the last 20-inch model, it is unlikely you will be able to find a logic board with a 3.06 GHz processor already installed that is designed to fit in this machine. In other words, you would need to research upgrading the processor itself, not the logic board. Please check this link for more information. If you are looking to improve performance speeds and you have already upgraded the RAM, it may help to look into installing an SSD (solid state drive). If you have an HDD (older style mechanical drive) this may be contributing to slowness. This is also a much easier upgrade option than logic board replacement. See this guide for a detailed description of the installation process (you may need a 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch hard drive adapter bracket to mount the SSD internally depending on the style that you purchase). Hope this helps!