Windows 8 graphics issue with late 2009 27" iMac

Hi all,
First of all, I realise now that Apple don't support this model iMac for Windows 8 but I'm hoping someone has an idea of how to fix my issue as it is nearly working perfectly for me.
Ok, I have Windows 8 64bit almost happily installed on my late 2009 27" iMac and running the software I need. The only issue I've got is that the ATI 4850 HD isn't installing correctly.
Windows defaults to a Mobility Radeon 4850 driver that appears to fail to load which allows me to use Windows pretty well but it's lacking opengl support which I require for a few tasks.
I've tried a drivers from the boot camp support software, I've tried the mac driver from the ATI site, I've tried various other catalyst drivers from the ATI site (both legacy Windows 8 drivers and Windows 7 drivers). Every time I install any of these drivers I end up with a black screen, the backlight isn't even on.
To rectify the black screen I have to boot into safe mode and remove the driver, so that it defaults back to the one that doesn't load.
When I attempted to update to Windows 8.1 I experienced the same issue, so I'm assuming that 8.1 probably contains a new driver that isn't failing to load, but is breaking something when it does load.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I really don't want to have to go back to Windows 7 (not that Windows 7 is bad, I just have some software that requires 8).

Any updates about this?
I have the same error...

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My Late 2009 27" iMac i7 will not allow the display to turn on under Windows 8.1. It's not just black, its as though its powered off. This is some kind of a software problem. I am certain of this because I ran Windows 8.1 just fine since its release (10/17/2013). Hoestly, I ran it for months without a problem. I think it was an upgrade install over Windows 8 and not a clean install. Anyways, last week I upgraded to an SSD and needed to re-install Win 8.1. Now the display won't turn on. It works fine when you first boot it up after the setup runs, then a windows chime sounds and the screen goes blank and never turns on again. If you enable RDP before this happens you can still access the computer. I have re-installed Windows 8.1 and also I have tried BootCamp 4.0.4033, 5.0.5033, and 5.1.5621. None of them have enabled the display. Nor has the vanilla driver from AMD/ATI. I am at a complete loss as to what to do. My only hope is there are a handful of other users with this model of iMac who also have this issue and have solved it. If I ever find the solution you can count on me writing it in detail here in this thread or linking to a thread that solves it.
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Summary: The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 and other "legacy" graphics cards are not yet supported by AMD/ATI on Windows 8.1.
If you are disatisfied with a perfectly serviceable series of video cards being dropped from support make yourself heard: http://emailcustomercare.amd.com
---Details---
Okay after some pretty exaustive research I have found out a few things.
First, that AMD/ATI has decided to not include several series of "legacy" video cards in their support for Windows 8.1. This support may come in the future. There are conflicting reports about wether or not this is happening.
Second, there is a small community that is devoted to unofficial modified drivers that are supposed to allow legacy cards to be used on Windows 8.1. -> http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=372799. I had no success whatsoever with these drivers, even on a clean install of Windows 8.1. I did get the drivers to install, but no games could start and Windows warned me about the drivers being unsigned frequently. So I would be hesitant to devote a lot of time to installing those drivers.
Lastly, I am pretty disapointed with AMD/ATI. Sure, the card is approaching its sixth year anniversary (~June 25, 2008) but it works just fine for most uses. It is a perfectly serviceable card for desktop uses. I just installed an SSD with the hopes of getting four more years out of this computer. I guess I will be religated to Windows7/8 on this machine till the end of its life. People considering the SSD upgrade may want to take this into consideration. I suppose its a non-issue if you are OK with using Windows 7 for four more years.
There seems to be a potential for upgrading the video card to the part used in the 2011 iMac, but for now that part costs $500 or $600, if its even stocked.
Message was edited by: sr.matto (spelling)

Needing help with Bootcamp Drivers on my late 2009 27" iMac running windows 7 64-bit.

Hey, installed Windows 7 on my late 2009 27" iMac (Have previously done so and worked flawlessly, magic mouse could scroll etc) but had to remove the partition as I required more of my hard drive than anticipated, so I removed the partition and went to install Windows, everything worked fine until I wanted to install the bootcamp drivers, to which it said that my Mac doesnt support 64-bit... which it does as I've been running it for months with no problems whatsoever. Would appreciate if someone could tell me which version of bootcamp would be best to install and how to do so if the procedure isn't that simple. Also I get no sound from the Windows partition, as I get a red light from the audio Jack, which is clearly from the lack of drivers as it works fine on the OS X partition.
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Did you download the correct drivers for your Mac? The Late 2009 iMac needs these drivers > http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1630

TS3173 This article discusses Windows 7 bluetooth and graphics drivers for late 2009 21" and 27" iMacs. What about a late 2009 24" iMac? A dealer installed Windows 7 on Bootcamp for me. Neither the camera nor sound work. Will this installer help? Pet

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So before I drop everything and start hitting my head agains the wall I figured I would make one more stop and ask folks on the forum.
I'm trying to install Windows 7 Pro on my "late 2009" 27" iMac. Here is a quick config.
Here are the exact steps I take:
1. Start Boot Camp Assistant
2. Select both options to download Windows components and install Windows 7... and make the partion (80GB) allocation to Windows partition
3. Insert the Windows installation disc (Pro, full version)
Everything seems to be running smooth, meaning I see the windows installer and I'm able to select the partition where I want Windows to reside and here are the last few things I see...
Right after the Starting Windows the screen goes blank and that's is. If I simply restart at this point it goes back to the Starting Windows and blank screen again (no option to choose OS).
Since the wireless keyboard is not functioning at this point I learned to take out the CD from the drive by holding the mouse button on startup. From there I insert an installation disc for Snow Leopard and boot from disc by holding the "C" button on my USB keyboard. It lunches the Utilities where I'm able to select The Start Up Disk and here is where I actually see both partitions. That's how I got back to OS.
So what am I doing wrong? I though that it had to do something with the video driver but if the installer works than I should be able to go in there after it's in place and run the correct driver from the WindowsSupport folder that I downloaded earlier. I have tried this with 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows 7 pro with the same negative result.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I called the App store to see if they can assist but the only thing they suggested was CrossOver which doesn't help me.
Does anyone have any ideas on what to do/change?
Thank you.
Best regards,
Marcin

Got it!
After posting my question I noticed the "More like this" category and the second discussion was a hit.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/11290644#11290644
It was a display driver. All I needed to do was to boot from the CD again and following the directions in the post.
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I noticed the same issue. It's especially noticeable in Photo Booth. The video and sound don't sync up.

I've had the same graphics issues with my white iMac 24 (serial no starts W8638), but with the GeForce 7600 card. AppleCare got me to do all the usual stuff (reset PRAM, clean Leopard install etc) but problems continued. The usual pattern is that after a while horizontal lines appear (usually in Safari) and things deteriorate form then on until there is so much pixellation that I have to turn off and back on.
Yesterday I ran for several hours using SMCFanControl to set the fans to max and had no problems, so my suspicion is that the additional graphics requirements of Leopard are over-heating the graphics card or logic board.
The Apple engineer took the machine away today and said they'll probably replace the logic board and graphics card (I think they can't change one without the other in the iMac?).
Will be a few days but I'll report back on what repairs they make and whether they solve the problem. My fear is that any changes they make will have no effect if its a design problem and the card is just not up to the job without over-heating. Though it could be the card just needs a good clean
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Greetings and thank you.
Edited by: user13698736 on Feb 14, 2011 2:26 AM

Hello,
I have changed my graphic card. i mean, replace ATI Radeon by Gforce.
Thanks

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