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I got an iMac late 2009 (i7, HD4850 512Mb) runnin latest macOS and my graphic card just died. I can find cheaper HD6970 than the exact replacement for my card.
Has anyone done the upgrade recently? Will it work with High Sierra?
Is this a good question?
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Apple has custom firmware on their graphics cards so you just can't throw in any card. So unless it has an Apple logo'ed label on the firmware chip you are taking risks.
Here are the two cards that came with your system:
I would focus on one of these using the P/N to locate.
Its possible to use a different board but you have to be careful! You need to use one that has the same chip orientation so the heatsink covers it fully and you can't use something that runs hotter as the heat sink you currently have needs to work.
Don't forget you'll need to clean & apply new thermal paste and pads!
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I meant to use an official HD6970 from Apple, which seemed a possible upgrade according to ifixit iMac Intel 27" (Late 2009 or Mid 2010) Graphics Card Replacement
The doubts I had were related to the latest macOS because of some comments on the discussion
You had made a comment on looking for a cheaper solution. The boards I listed are cheaper than the AMD Radeon 6970M with 2 GB onboard RAM - Apple P/N 661-5969 used in the 2011 27"
As far as the AMD Radeon 6970M working in your system yes it will work. It was only the older Core2Duo CPU'ed systems which won't support it.
The problem you face here is you'll need the newer heat sink as well as this GPU runs hotter. I would also point out if you are thinking gaming there are better systems for that than this one.
Given the cost I don't think it's a good investment. I would stick with one of the other two GPU boards.
thanks, I will follow your advice and get the Hd4850
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