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27-inch imac cpu upgrade?
- Thread starter lPHONE
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In theory, you can. All CPUs for LGA 1156 socket should work. However, I haven't heard anyone doing it so you would be the guinea pig to test things out. It will certainly void your warranty though
let me tell you a story...
there's this guy who's a spoiled rich kid and he's also a PC. he asks me to fix his iPhone screen (because that's what i do, i repair ****) and he tells me about this iMac his parents bought him for xmas. i lifted it off him for $400 + i fixed his digitizer for free
.so basically, my other desktop is a Mac Pro and i am accustomed to speed and i'm also not afraid to void the warranty or tear it apart. however, I did hear from one source that the logic board would not support a core i7, but i've got a hunch that it will support an i5 based upon the fact that you can add a 3.60GHz Intel Core i5 [for $200.00] on this page http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC510LL/A?mco=MTg1ODA3Nzg I'm just hoping someone else's tried it before I do. I figure I could buy one off eBay for $300 and sell my i3 for $150 and only sped $150 + 2 hours of my time, but the REAL QUESTION is how much of a speed increase is that?
A quad core i5 or i7 should work. They use the same socket and I'm pretty sure all 27" iMacs have the same EFI so they support the same steppings. There is nothing pointing toward it not working. All you got to do is try. If the quad core doesn't work, sell it. You may lose 20 bucks or so but that shouldn't be a big deal.
A quad core would be noticeably faster in tasks that require lots of CPU power. Maybe even up to twice as fast.
A quad core would be noticeably faster in tasks that require lots of CPU power. Maybe even up to twice as fast.
I would be very interested in upgrading my 2010 i5 2.8 model to i7 but, at this point, don't have the will to risk being an early adopter. It would be good to know for certain that it's definitely a safe do-able. That sticker 'Warranty void if removed' is a little concerning, no? Please report back anyone - rash enough to try - upgrading their new iMac!
I heard from a frined that 27" models that came with i3 would only support i5 because of the motherboard. Is that true?
Technically, that is not true. An i7 for LGA 1156 socket should work in 27" iMac with i3 as they use the same socket. However, since nobody has tried this before AFAIK, I can't know for sure.
It has been done actually. I read posts from ifixt and hardmac of people going from i3 to i7 quad. The hardest part is tearing down the imac to access the cpu socket. Here's a link to a step by step guide: http://www.hardmac.com/articles/335/page2
Good find but in the first few paragraphs I noticed 'This should give it a lot more power and bring it to the level of the 2010 model'. I don't think anyone has yet attempted/documented moving from the 2.80 i5 to an i7 with the present 2010 model?