ThaSoulHacker Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I know the new 800 MHz frontside bus Core 2 Duo's use the same socket 479 as the old Core 2 Duo's and Core Duo's, but my question is if you can just take out and drop in the new C2D's in the same socket as the old and they will work just fine or do they require new a motherboard? Caslon (member of this forum) upgraded his 20 inch Core Duo iMac to at Mobile Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33 GHz. And I just picked up a magazine this past weekend detailing how to take apart the iMac and upgrade to those processors, but it never mentioned about the new updated mobile Core 2 Duo's released in April or May. The MacBook Pro now uses them, but I'm not sure if it works or not in the iMac. I haven't read anything yet about them on this forum. I don't want to put $500+ down on the new processor plus all the risk of damaging my iMac if the processor is not compatible with the previous Core Duo/Core 2 Duo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicknowsky Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 arent the processors SOLDERED to the mobo??? I think they are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaSoulHacker Posted August 5, 2007 Author Share Posted August 5, 2007 No. I have seen several upgrade guides both online and I have a magazine from Mac Life which details every step. Plus someone on this forum upgraded their Core Duo 20 inch iMac as well. So it can be done, but its very very dangerous to do so and time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Not to mention, not really worth it! I mean for $500 you get like a 20% faster system. Would you really notice that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysaor Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 New "Santa Rosa" CPUs (with 800mhz bus) are not compatible with older sockets, they use Socket P instead of M. You can replace a Core Duo with a Core 2 Duo (Socket M) on iMacs and Mac mini, they have socketed CPUs. It is just a drop in replacement, as long as Core 2 Duo is Socket M. (even second numbered like T7200, T7400, NOT odd numbered like T7300, T7500) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaSoulHacker Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 Thanks. That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. I know the performance gain isn't huge, but I want the 64-bit for Leopard and the ability to add an extra GB of RAM from 2-3. So the upgrade is worth it in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Geek Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Thanks. That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. I know the performance gain isn't huge, but I want the 64-bit for Leopard and the ability to add an extra GB of RAM from 2-3. So the upgrade is worth it in my eyes. A Core Duo logic board is only capable of 2GB of RAM. Upgrading the CPU will not likely allow more RAM to be installed. The motherboard is your obstacle, not the CPU. It might work depending on what chipset Apple used, but don't count on it. Even the Core 2 supports 4GB of RAM, but those machines had a chip on the motherboard that was designed to only take 3GB of RAM, so the extra (if installed) was ignored. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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