Can you build an iMac??

[itsjustdibella]

I've been researching upgrades that can be done to a 2017 27" 5K iMac...putting in a 1TB NVMe SSD blade and large 8-10TB 3.5in HD, 64GB RAM and CPU upgrade (3.4GHz to 4.2GHz) and then I thought....

CAN YOU BUILD YOUR OWN iMAC??? Has anyone??

In theory...parts would fit I'd think between 2017 27in 5K iMac and 2019 since body and ports are the same.

Could you replace the logic board from 2019 and put it into a 2017 do you think?

I'd love to hear any thoughts and from anyone who may have researched this more or done it.

Cheers all!

 

[milleron]

Google "hackintosh"

 

[itsjustdibella]

Google "hackintosh"

I have seen those, my friend built one back in 2009. I'm talking about parts from different iMacs though...

 

[Juicy Box]

If you mean grab a logic board from one model iMac, and a display from another, and a power supply from another.....

I am unsure about the 2017 and 2019 models, but this could be easily be done with older iMacs.

Of course, some parts will be model specific.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I have seen those, my friend built one back in 2009. I'm talking about parts from different iMacs though...

Apple logic boards are cost prohibitive to purchase or downright not available. Apple doesn’t sell service parts that way. You have to prove you have a bad mobo and do an exchange. Recent parts floating around are the exception, not the rule. 2019 mobo isn’t something you’ll find easily or at all. The cost savings for doing it piece meal is suspect at best, honestly probably cost you as much or more than new. 2017 iMacs are a steal right now. Get the 27” 3.8GHz 8/2TB Fusion/RX580 for $1599 at B&H -
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342560-REG

Save yourself time and frustration.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Apple logic boards are cost prohibitive to purchase or downright not available. Apple doesn’t sell service parts that way. You have to prove you have a bad mobo and do an exchange. Recent parts floating around are the exception, not the rule. 2019 mobo isn’t something you’ll find easily or at all. The cost savings for doing it piece meal is suspect at best, honestly probably cost you as much or more than new. 2017 iMacs are a steal right now. Get the 27” 3.8GHz 8/2TB Fusion/RX580 for $1599 at B&H -
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342560-REG

Save yourself time and frustration.

This is accurate. It would take more time and money to try and piece it all together, as well as the frustration of working with machines that are supposed to remain sealed (for the most part).

But hey, if you're a sadist....

 

[Zdigital2015]

This is accurate. It would take more time and money to try and piece it all together, as well as the frustration of working with machines that are supposed to remain sealed (for the most part).

But hey, if you're a sadist....

A surprising amount of posters in these forums seem to be just that...I gave up on Hackintosh early on...constantly updating and tweaking is just not my cup of tea anymore. Time spent fiddling is time not spent creating...at least for me. I won’t presume to speak for anyone else.

 

[Velin]

CAN YOU BUILD YOUR OWN iMAC??? Has anyone??

Short answer, yes and yes. If you have the time, tools, hardware and knowledge, of course you "can" build an iMac. You could rig anything together and get it to boot/post as long as you have the parts, as well as the electrical "engineering" and software skills.

The real question is, would it be time and money efficient to do so? The answer is, no freaking way. There are subtle, yet significant, changes with every new iMac variant. And you'll have to resolve every single one of them for a stable, functioning Mac -- without the ability to buy off-the-shelf generic interchangeable parts. Something as simple as an incorrect capacitor or a voltage change along a single rail could implode your build -- and I've seen it happen on vastly easier-to-build PCs. Totally not worth the effort for a Frankenstein iMac.

PCs are entirely different; they always are derived from part bins. Buy a motherboard, get a generic Intel or AMD CPU that will slot into the mobo, and you're 35% done with a PC tower build. Attach your i/o, GPU, storage, power supply, fans, and you're just about done. Get the machine to post, fix the BIOS, install Windows 10, fix drivers and chipsets, done.

Building an iMac is going to be significantly more difficult. Primarily because no off-the-shelf parts, but also because no generic parts market (whereas PC aftermarket is enormous).

 

[mikehalloran]

I love those videos where someone takes a recent iMac or iMac Pro and hotrods it with a better CPU and maxes out the RAM.

Then, comes the end and they tell us how much money was saved. $9 or $14 in a couple of iMP videos — and that was before Apple lowered the price on BTO options last month. Now those same guys would have to admit that they spent a lot more.

I've been researching upgrades that can be done to a 2017 27" 5K iMac...putting in a 1TB NVMe SSD blade and large 8-10TB 3.5in HD, 64GB RAM and CPU upgrade (3.4GHz to 4.2GHz) and then I thought....

Why in the world would you slow it down with an 8–10TB HDD?

Stick a 2TB NVMe blade in there and a 4TB SATA III SSD if you need more onboard storage. Stick that 8TB or larger HDD into an external dock — it is no slower over USB3 than mounted internally.