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tanker5

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 19, 2011
95
3
Hoboken
Hi. Longshot here. But I will ask anyway.

Since the CPU is not soldered to the motherboard in the 21.5" iMac, in theory, it is user upgradeable. I understand the Intel 7700 CPU (i7 3.6 GHz) draws about 65 watts of power. The 7700k (i7 4.2 GHz) draws 91 watts of power. This leads me to believe that the reason Apple doesn't offer the 4.2 chip in the 21.5 iMac is possibly because of the smaller power supply.

Would it be possible to upgrade the CPU to the 7700k in a 21.5 iMac if I "upgrade" the power supply externally by attaching a 29-watt MacBook USB-C power supply to a thunderbolt 3 port to add additional power?

Thoughts?
 
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