I am looking into overhauling my 24" White iMac (2006) with a new CPU, SSD and memory.

Does someone know whats the highest CPU that can put into this iMac? I will like to upgrading to higher OS than Lion any suggestions? Will I also need to upgrade the video card?

I understand it would be a lot easier to just use a compatible iMac, but whats the fun on that :-)....

Thanks in advance

Dan

Thanks for your reply. My system is the 2.16 GHz Core2Duo.

I have seen some postings from people in different sites suggesting that this Imac CPU can be upgraded to 2.8 GHz using the Intel X7900. I have another iMac 8,1 24" also running at 2.8 GHz (Aluminum type) and runs El Capitan super smooth, with only 4GB RAM and standard HDD (not SSD), so I figured maybe a bump in speed would allow me to use tools such as OS X Extractor and MacPostFactor link below: OS X El Capitan on Unsupported Macs

This guy has an older 2006 iMac which he replaced the CPU with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz T7600, so it has been done before, just not to the CPU level I am looking for.

So I was thinking a combination of the 2, CPU upgrade and using the tools might give me a better chance to run something newer.