Filed under: Hardware, Hacks, Mods
Core solo Mac mini upgraded to core duo
Check this out.
Xtreme Systems forum user Fugger bought an Intel Mac mini core solo and upgraded it to a core duo on his own using an
Intel Yonah 2.16 Core Duo. He writes:"Once the motherboard is out, flip it over and locate the plastic tabs that hold down the CPU bracket. Squeeze them and it will pop off. I highly suggest using one hand to hold heat sink level as it can and will flop to one side with possible damage to core edges. The same goes for reassembly. You will also see a small connector for a thermal diode attached to the underside of the heat sink once you have it loose, remove the clip if you want to remove it completely."
Pictures were up at the time of my sitting down to write this (11:30PM EST March 5), but have since disappeared. Hopefully he'll put them back up.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Christopher said 12:26PM on 3-06-2006
Courageous! ;-)
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Wry Cooter said 1:57PM on 3-06-2006
How much money did he save?
How much if he adds a DVD burner?
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random said 4:13PM on 3-06-2006
Did he save any money from his venture? I would highly doubt it. It's only a $200 more for the Dual Core and that chip alone costs more than that. I guess he could recoup his costs by selling the original chip...but the Core Duo Mac Mini is still a better value with the larger HD and Superdrive.
I guess he did it to see if it could be done. ;) Might be fun to see how upgradeable those logic boards can be when the chips get faster and faster.
Is it just me or does the CPU look a little soupy from too much thermal grease? Guess it could be a bad picture or two much handling...
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Jay said 4:50PM on 3-06-2006
I'm kinda stuck on the "why?" A core duo iMac 20" is $1999 and you get a 20" monitor and over twice the disk. A core solo mini with T2600 upgrade (and keyboard and 120GB drive and SuperDrive) is gonna run around $1900.
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Danny said 3:47AM on 3-07-2006
Well, he didn't just replace the core solo with a duo chip. The original apple duo chip is a 1.66 ghz. But reading his instructions he replaced it with a 2.16 GHZ yonah. So i doubt he wanted to save some money. I would be interested in how much faster he got his mini and if he experiences any cooling problems.
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