My warranty on my Al iMac (2.4 C2Duo, 320Gb HDD, 4Gb RAM) is up in January. I was thinking about a couple of upgrades for it to really give it the "get up and go".
1) 1.5 Tb HDD - looking at the teardowns online, this shouldn't be much of a problem.
2) Replace the Core 2 Duo with a Core 2 Quad - The C2D and C2Q use the same pin array and are compatible chips, from what I can tell. Will there be a significant heat increase going from the Duo chip to the Quad? Will the power supply have a problem with the additional cores? I'm looking for basically a straight swap deal, and don't want to particularly perform any heavy duty modifications (especially on the cooling system).
Thanks in advance,
CM
hey there, i will chime in about the cpu. the core 2's used in imacs are laptop cpu's and arent interchangable, even if you could, the wattage of a core2 duo is 65 or less VS the quad @ 95+. the heat would almost certainly be too much as would the power draw. i do not have experience with changing out a hard drive though, so ill leave that to some other well trained folks here
Ahh... everything I've read and seen has stated that they were ZIF socketed. I could most certainly be mistaken. The EveryMac profile for this machine also has it listed as a ZIF socketed processor.
The CPU's in the iMacs are indeed "laptop" CPUs, but are in a PGA package -- they mount in a ZIF socket on the motherboard. Pulling a CPU out of an iMac and swapping it with something else is entirely possible.
I wouldn't be too worried about the power requirements of a quad-core chip, but heat may be a bit of a factor depending on your need for the iMac to be quiet. I have no doubt the internal cooling in an iMac could keep up with a Core 2 Quad, but running it full-tilt may cause the internal fan to run faster (and thus louder) than you'd prefer.
Just in case additional clarification is necessary, *yes* it is a ZIF socket, but *no*, it's not the *same* ZIF (socket 775) that you can easily find CPUs for. The current systems use "Socket P" mobile CPUs.
As noted, *not* easy to find for mortal humans, and getting your hands on a Quad-Core model might only be slightly easier then catching a unicorn. Intel only started shipping them "recently", and some casual Googling showed prices in the $950-$1200 range at places where it wasn't entirely clear whether they actually have them in stock.
Seems like a pretty expensive experiment, so be sure to document your results. You'll probably be the first to pony up the money to try it, so bask in the glory.
--Peace
All of the Socket P processors I came across were 1066MHz bus. I have the 800MHz bus, so would this still be a Socket P processor?
the quad listed in the link is also based on a 45nm manufacturing process and is most likely not compatible with your imac. im not 100% certain on this but im thinking the imac has the older 65nm process. If apple was using the new 45nm mobile cpus back in 07 then id be very surprised.
Socket P is 800Mhz and 1066Mhz. (667Mhz and slower CPUs are "Socket M"... unless they're "Celerons" which are Socket P but crippled with half-speed busses.). Here's a company that lists 800Mhz FSB Socket P CPUs.
There is a good chance given how new the Quad-Core mobile CPUs are that Intel won't ever make an 800Mhz version. After all, "nobody" upgrades laptop CPUs, and of course a new laptop expensive enough to ship with a quad-core is going to have the fastest bus available.
You could *possibly* buy a 1066FSB model and have it run at only 75%-ish rated speed, but obviously that would suck.
--Peace
Why on earth would that matter?
there are a number of the new 45nm process cpu's that arent 100% compatible with the older generation of motherboards designed to run 65nm chips. this may or may not be the case with apples but i wouldnt be willing to spend money on the newer cpu if i wasnt totally sure if it would function.