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CPU upgrades?

2

2handy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2007
2
0
Oz
Hi all, first post here. :)

I've just ordered two ALU 24" 2.4mhz iMac's, & am wondering what the story is on cpu upgrades?

When prices of the intel cpu's drop in the future, can I upgrade my iMac's cpu's, & if so does anyone know what the maximum cpu specifications are that the motherboard can handle?

Thanks for your time.

P.S. I could find nothing on this topic when I searched.
 
There is definitely a "void if removed" sticker on the CPU heatsink though.

Also, if you were going to go much above the 2.8ghz chip, I'd be very careful on the power requirements and heat output of the replacement chip. The imacs run pretty hot as it is and because of the internal airflow design, simply speeding up the fans may not solve the heat increase. I don't really know what the internal PSU can handle, but I wouldn't want to push that too much either.

And if you hadn't already guessed it's quite a job getting in there.

As the short version reply, "No" is not a bad answer.

Personally, I'd just sell it and replace the whole thing when it comes to it in future. Would cost a little more cash - but will cost less time, effort and you'd probably get more upgrade for your money.
 
It would be interesting if you could swap GPU's but it's not common to stumble upon mobile GPU's for sale :(
 
mos6502 said:
It would be interesting if you could swap GPU's but it's not common to stumble upon mobile GPU's for sale :(
Click to expand...

Its even worse than that, currently..
The GPU's are on an MXM format card, which in itself is not uncommon. However, Apples take on MXM doesnt conform to other manufacturers take on MXM (Its not a well standardised format apparently)
So although other cards may physically fit, they likely wont work. And thats without even factoring in the lack of drivers.

Theres a small chance the nvidea 7600GT mxm cards from the previous gen iMacs may work (But again, where would you get one, and would you want to risk trying it anyway?)
The other (somewhat hopeful) option is.. That sooner or later, 3rd party Mac hardware specialists may develop an upgraded gpu card for these iMacs.
I for one would jump at the chance, should this ever happen. Especially considering that the current ATI cards are a disaster in many respects.


Back on topic! I would still like some conformation that the CPU is socketed? I know it was socketed on some older intel iMacs, but is this really still the case for the latest ones too?
 
But why would you...?

2handy said:
Hi all, first post here. :)

I've just ordered two ALU 24" 2.4mhz iMac's, & am wondering what the story is on cpu upgrades?

When prices of the intel cpu's drop in the future, can I upgrade my iMac's cpu's, & if so does anyone know what the maximum cpu specifications are that the motherboard can handle?

Thanks for your time.

P.S. I could find nothing on this topic when I searched.
Click to expand...

Everyone needs a perfect reason to buy a new computer...
 
Many thanks to you all for your educational replies. :)

The iMacs arrived late this afternoon, so I've upgraded them both with the supplied Leopard disks & bought them up to date.

Tomorrow I'll look at setting mine up to dual boot with Sabayon, which will probably take me most of the day by the time Sabayon is the way I like it!

All good fun... :cool:
 
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