Here is a few shots from my tear down on my iMac 24.

Here is more.

And More.

Awesome, your sir are a brave soul.

Is it possible to determine what Intel chipset is being used? Northbridge and Southbridge?

Good thing I removed the logic board, I found a screw loose in the system. Could have shorted it out.

It took 15 min. to dimantle and put back together for me to do the posting. I did not look at the chipsets. I will look at the high res photos to see but I think there are heatsinks on them.

Thanks anyways.

It looks like the plates with the heat pipes are covering them.

It looks like a pair of heat pipes are running off some kind of daughter board, could that be the MXM PCI Express connector?

Caslon, would you be interested in helping the MacEFIx86 project extract the Nvidia firmware? BTW which graphic options did you get, the 7300 GT or 7600 GT?

That is the MXM PCI-E card slot. The other set id over the processor. It is a 7300. I would be happy to help.

Wow, thanks Caslon. I bet my 20" looks similar, but I'm too chicken to find out...

The 20 inch iMac core duo is much more comlicated to dimantle.

Boy do I need to learn to type!!!

lol

Could you please tell us the brand and model of the TFT panel?

Great stuff

BTW Bofors My iMac (which will arrive at home 2 days after i have left home for london about 150 miles away......*sighs*) Arrvies next week and Mines got the 7600 If you want to explian how when i've got it you get the firmware i'll help.

Anyway.

Couldn't you determine the North/South bridge by installing windows and running CPU-Z?

The LCD has no markings other than a white barcode sticker.

wow

brave man, I'm thinking of buying a new imac, altho I'm not sure if it would be better to build a hackintosh. Wonder if it will be possible to use the 7600gt drivers from the 24" imac for a 7600gt in a hackintosh probably not tho

Just tried an ATI X700 PC MXM card in my iMac 24. It worked in XP dual boot mode But crashed as soon as mac tried to boot. Have not recieved my 7900 card yet, I'll let you know if it works. Most likely it needs firmware for mac to see it.

Was reading about people using standard pc graphics cards on the mac pro.

Not sure if it's the same for the PC MXM cards or not tho.

do you think the optical drive is easy to replace? I awnt to get one of the cheapo imacs, but I want to have a built in dvd burner...

It is easy. Just be careful removing the metal tape arounrd the lcd panel, remove the screws that hold it down and lift the lcd panel and there it is.

Does anyone know what kind of hard disk is in these things? I'm thinking of getting one, but I'd rather not replace the hard disk (added expense, though I could install it without problems). However, if it is a Western Digital model, I *have* to. Shittiest brand of hard disk ever. Three of my friends who have iMacs had their WD drive fail on them.

BTW...did you guys see that the old 32-bit 20" iMac is selling for around $1100? Great deal.

What would be better - a 2 GHz MacBook Pro ($2000), or a 2 GHz 20" iMac CD and a PowerBook G4 (around $2000 together)? I'm thinking the latter.

Mine came with a Seagate 250. I replaced it with a Maxtor 500. The few people I have talked with thet got 500s installed from Apple, said they were Maxtor 500s. SATA II 16 meg cache drives with 7200 rpm only due to heat issues.

Also you can upgrade the old Intel core duo with the cor 2 duo processor. So if you get a cheap deal it's worth it. The new 20s are the machine with a newer processor. Sam socket and everything else.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tried the 7900 MXM video card. Don't work. Needs Mac firmware to boot. Any ideas let me know. I guess I will have to stick with the 7600 for now.

well, the macbook pro is basically a portable imac cd. id say definitely go for the latter unless you travel a lot and do graphic intensive work/game.

I mainly do graphics work, and it would be good to have two computers. For instance, if I accidently drop my laptop (never happened before, but always a possibility :/ ), and I have the iMac/PB setup, I am $600 in the red and have an iMac to work on. If I drop the MBP, I'm $2000 out and have no other system to use.

There are lots of other advantages as well.

Apple iMacs are great. There is a misconception though, that they are just laptops with biger screens. They are more like desktops than laptops. For instance they can have much higher heat tolerences so better chips can be used. I have a Macbook pro and several iMacs including the 24 inch Imac. My iMacs are much faster. The design toerences are more like a desktop than a laptop so they will always be less bottlenecks.

More on the mod side. I exchanged processors in my 24" core 2 duo with my 20" core duo and both iMacs worked great. So the older Core Duo iMacs can take the 2.33 Core 2 Duo processors. Cool for the people who want to upgrade.

As far as I know, both Northbridge and Southbridge chip should be on a Mainboard since both have their own jobs to make the computers running

you said the drive is a seagate 250 but you put in a maxtor 500. what are the specs on the maxtor. on the seagate. i guess it should take a seagate 7200.10 500 16MB cache with perpendicular recording.

only due to heat issues? otherwise what...

Both drives are SATA II with 16 meg cache and 7200 rpm.

I just got a 500 gig seagate same specs that I will install today to check performance.

Installed it. It boots faster. I used CCC to clone the Maxtor. So far so good.

the seagate 500 booted faster than the maxtor 500, and yet you said that the pre-installed 250 is a seagate but the pre-installed 500 is a maxtor. is the seagate 500 that you installed a 7200.9 or a 7200.10?

No, The 500 Maxtor I added after I removed the Seagate 250. I just got the 500 Seagate today and installed it. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the Seagate to the same install as the Maxtor. Yes the Seagate has the same specs as the Maxtor, Exactly, but the Seagate boots faster by 7.5 seconds which to me is a vast improvment over the Maxtor. All my other Macs came with Maxtors installed in them. The 24" iMac is the first of the 5 Intel iMacs I own that came with a Seagate.

I think this has more to do with the fact that the iMac has a _decent_ hard disk. Laptops on the other hand use incredibly slow hard disks. I mean, even most MBP's have 5400 rpm drives. The other thing is that the GPU on iMacs runs at a faster clock.

That said, the MacBook Pro is the better system (not anymore - soon it will get Core 2 Duo though, then it will be equal to the iMac again). The 17" model for instance has a variable speed GPU. And you can always hook up an external Serial ATA-II raid via the ExpressCard slot (lightning fast!) which you can't do on an iMac. Also you can hook up a 30" display...you can't do that with an iMac either.

When did this become a Macbook vs iMac topic? I have almost all Intel models sold and each has it's special features. If you need a portable, buy one. If you want an incredible value desktop go for the iMac. If money is no object, buy them all and learn for your self, I did. Out of all of my systems, I use the 24 inch iMac the most right now. When I start encoding videos again I'll use my Mac Pro. If I travel then I'll use my Macbook Pro. Each has it's use.

I don't know if it is a processor related thing or not, but I installed 3 gig of ram in an early 2006 20 inch Core Duo iMac that I had upgraded with a Core 2 Duo 2.33 processor and it read it and functioned without problems for two days worth of downloading and video encoding. When I put the original Core Duo 2.0 Ghz processor back in, it would not read the memory. Anyone have any clues?

I forgot to mention that I used 1X2Gb Stick and 1X1Gb stick to = 3Gb total.

So let me get this straight, a 20 inch Core Duo can support the following upgrades:

Processor: Any Core 2 Duo chipset using the same socket type as the Core Duo
Hard Drive: 500 GB SATA-II with 16 MB Cache at 7200 rpm
RAM: 3 gigs if using C2D processor is install
Graphics Card: only those supported by the latest Macs like the 7600.

Is this accurate?

What is the boot time from start to desktop with the HDD change?

Since the Quad Core will support the same socket as a Core 2 Duo and the Core 2 Duo works on Core Duo iMacs, then is it safe to say the Quad Core processors will work on the Core Duo iMacs? Also, if that is the case would it be better to wait for those or get a Core 2 Duo?

The graphics in the 20 can not be upgraded. The processor is limited to the Mobile Core 2 Duo T7600 socket 479. So the fasted it will go is 2.33 Ghz as of now. Yes the hard drive, memory and processor are upgradable. The boot time is right at 17 seconds, it was 7.5 seconds longer with the Maxtor 500 gig. I my self am only testing these machines capabilities. I too will wait for the quads because I think they may work too. But for people who wait until the quads come out so they can snag a good deal on a Core 2 Duo this is handy to know. Not everyone needs a quad.

Cool. It's great to know the Core Duo iMac isn't dead just yet. It has a fair amount of life still left in it with upgrades. Not that mine needs those upgrades just yet, but I'm definitely doing it one Leopard comes out.

What's holding the graphics card from being upgraded? I was told I had the ATI Radeon X1600 (256MB) one in mine, but I only have the ATI Radeon X1600 (128MB). Can I atleast upgrade to the 256?

The only iMac that the video card and video memory is not soldered to the logic board is the 24" iMac. That's why they are not upgradable.

Well I guess I'm out of luck on that then, but I guess since macs haven't been that upgradable in the past I can't complain too much if I get processor, ram, and HD upgrades.

I'm probably asking a stupid question or pushing my luck here, but is there any way to remove the soldering (with a kit or by taking it in to an expert) and then installing a new card? Or is there no socket and it's soldered on the same as the macbook processors.

My guess is nothing can be done without a high chance of damaging the board or the original card, but since you have so many macs and are willing to take them apart to find out this kind of info I figured I'd ask.

Also, my brother has the 24" iMac and since you said its graphics card is upgradable which cards can it upgrade to (either fact or speculation is fine)?

I read on Cnet news, that the quad cores will be for dual-processor servers. So that does mean that there wont be any quad-core models for boards like the iMac.

Did you get to work the 7900 card, as im really interested in finding out if itll work as im getting the iMac soon.

Thnx!

I spoke to some developers who work with Intel that stated the quads will be used in several areas. The Xeons will be quad as well as the desktop and laptop to follow.

As for the 7900, I have yet to install it. I'm waiting on a possible firmware hack from the 7600 that might let the apple use it. Like I said before, the first card I tried did not work in the OS X mode, but did function under XP.

where is the hard drive? can't see it in your pics... was it easy to install...

thanks,

henry

It is very easy to see and change, you are looking at the bottom of the hard drive in my pics.

thanks... i see now... i assume the hd is screwed in somewhere to the imac...

had a question on ram upgrade... sounds like the cheapest option is to go through apple (2 gigs for $175)
rather than a 3rd party like owc (2 gigs matched pair for $270)....

any thoughts...

thanks,

henry

Two gig is a great option if you are not using large files in PhotoShop and such. The hard drive has a plastic clip screwed into it that clips into a metal part on the iMac frame. It's so simple you would have to be a complete computer novice to mess anything up. It's very simple to work on.

thanks again... yeah will be using ae and fcp - editing film and video projects... will use as a transportable unit, working over seas ... nice screen size and great for editing hdv and mini dv...

acutally, owc is providing a $70 rebate for the built in ram on the 24" imac and macconnection is offering $150 rabate on the imac so i'll peace meal the intel duo... i'll end up saving about $300 using macconnection and owc... so the final configuration will be 2gb of ram and a 500 gb seagate...

thanks for the photos and info - very helpful... good thing i googled - the apple guy at the apple store said that replacing the hd was very difficult... right....

thanks,

h

Caslon, I have a little request to you.
Can you extract Russian.pkg (System-->Installation-->Packages) from the install disk of Mac OS X, which comes with your iMac?
And put it, for example, to www.depositfiles.com or www.rapidshare.de

Aloha everybody,

first of all thanks for this great thread. It answered a lot of my questions. But I would also like to add one myself.
This one is for Caslon.

In your pictures I cannot see how the Display is connected inside the imac. If it were simply with something like an internal dvi connector you could easily hook up the imac to, say a mac pro once you want to upgrade your hardware. That way you would not loose that beautiful display and could use it with the new mac.

any thoughts???

bye,
lev

there are two connectors for the LCD panel. One on either side of the memory banks.