Upgrade your Mac Mini to Core 2 Duo

We're all about the "unofficial" here at InsanelyMac and nothing meets that criterion better than CPU swapping.

 

Dubbing his updated computer "Meromac Mini," Macaholic (it's ok man - help is out there) takes us through the steps to go from mini to mighty by upgrading his Mini's Core Duo processor to a Core 2 Duo. He's also got tons of pictures to help along the way, but if you're looking for instructional text, you're on your own.

 

Anyone breaking out the toolset yet?

thats pritty cool, but what to do with the original cpu, just what to do... mmmmmmm dual core

max

why does it say pentium m in OSX?

what about cost? besides the coolness and geekyness factor, is this justifiable at all on a dollar basis? I have NO idea about the price of a Merom chip...

I would like to see this done on a 20" imac. am pretty much planning on doing a upgrade like this ... unless Apple comes out with a core 2 duo macbook pro in the next 2 weeks.

great work.

Nice to see that CPUZ recognizes the EMT64 registers... hopefully this means the mini can go 64-bit without any firmware hacks!

Oh and I plan on doing such an upgrade eventually, when leopard comes out, for one reason: 64-bit. Currently, the processors are pretty expennsive...i think about 400$ for a slower one. But it'll drop. A lot.

-Urby

It doesn't look very hard to do... funny enough it does look like a notebook socket with the little turn thingy on it. Now upgrading a Macbook Pro to merom... then you get my total jaw droppin'

Risky business that would be.

Nice! But doesn't he know how to take a screen shot?

It doesn't look very hard to do... funny enough it does look like a notebook socket with the little turn thingy on it. Now upgrading a Macbook Pro to merom... then you get my total jaw droppin'

Risky business that would be.

You can't, though.. the MBP's processor is soldered on. No unauthorized upgrades..

What socket type does the Mini use? Maybe I could upgrade the Mini and use the Mini's proc in my Hackintosh.

Would a 1.5GHz Core Dual be better than a 4.0 (overclocked from 3.4) Ghz P4?

I have a question. I see that Meromac mini got 84.26 score of xbench, while my original core duo got 81.40. So which of the following argument is true?

a ) Merom sux. No need to upgrade fro CoreDuo to Core2Duo

b ) Xbech sux. Never use it to compare one chip for another.

c ) The MacMini does not support Core2Duo, only seems to support (I mean it works without the benefits of the new CPU). A firmware upgrade (or somethingelse) is need for full performance.

d ) I've got it wrong, I'm an idiot Tell me the truth...

There are some reasons for this:

1) The meroms are roughly the same as the yonahs, with similar clock speeds, the only major advantage of the meroms are the 64bit extensions. The merom and the yonah both have 667mhz fsb.

2) The OS needs to be able to take advantage of the 64bitness of the chip, I don't think it does yet for Intel.

3) I would expect xbench to report roughly similar results for a 1.8ghz CoreDuo, and a 1.8ghz Core2Duo.

Is it worth upgrading a mini to a merom, maybe if you are going to a faster merom, say like a 2.1 or 2.3ghz merom over the stock CoreDuo in the mini.

Leopard may take advantage of the 64bitness of the chip, when it's released, but you could wait for that before you upgrade.

BTW: The mini uses a 479 pin socket.

Uh, thanks for the clarification... I think it's better to wait for Leopard. Meanwhile the price of Core2Duo Merom's price may drop significantly.

There are some reasons for this:

 

1) The meroms are roughly the same as the yonahs, with similar clock speeds, the only major advantage of the meroms are the 64bit extensions. The merom and the yonah both have 667mhz fsb.

 

2) The OS needs to be able to take advantage of the 64bitness of the chip, I don't think it does yet for Intel.

 

3) I would expect xbench to report roughly similar results for a 1.8ghz CoreDuo, and a 1.8ghz Core2Duo.

 

Is it worth upgrading a mini to a merom, maybe if you are going to a faster merom, say like a 2.1 or 2.3ghz merom over the stock CoreDuo in the mini.

 

Leopard may take advantage of the 64bitness of the chip, when it's released, but you could wait for that before you upgrade.

 

BTW: The mini uses a 479 pin socket.

hmm..not sure about this--take a look at the benchmarks for the new imac core2duo 17"--same 950 chipset as the mac mini but with core2duo..and looks to be about 10-30% faster than coreduo.

As most coreduo laptops see a big performance jump from the core2duo only if they've gotten a BIOS update, the unupdated meromacmini just doesn't seem to be performing as well as it should.

hmm..not sure about this--take a look at the benchmarks for the new imac core2duo 17"--same 950 chipset as the mac mini but with core2duo..and looks to be about 10-30% faster than coreduo.

 

As most coreduo laptops see a big performance jump from the core2duo only if they've gotten a BIOS update, the unupdated meromacmini just doesn't seem to be performing as well as it should.

Right, and you've just shown why my point #2 is important.

The new iMacs also have a newer version of 10.4.7. The BIOS updates in PC laptops are to recognize the new chip.

When 10.4.8 is released, you may see the same performance increase as the OS will then need to recognize the chip as it would in the iMac.

Can this be done with a Core Solo Mac Mini?

In other words; are the Core Solo and Core 2 Duo the same processor socket?

Can this be done with a Core Solo Mac Mini?

 

In other words; are the Core Solo and Core 2 Duo the same processor socket?

Yes, the CoreSolo and CoreDuo use the same socket, a Mobile 479 socket.

Forums on 123macmini.com have explanations and results from people that have done this. Check for a CoreSolo transplant, but it should be the same as a CoreDuo transplant.

But Core Solo and Core Duo are a different socket from Core 2 Duo. Correct?

In other words, a Core Solo cannot be up graded to a Core 2 Duo.

I found the answer on 123macmini:

"The Merom Core 2 Duo (T7600, T7400, T7200) will fit in the mini. Same FSB - 667Mhz, socket - 478, etc.

Just the Conroe/Conroe XE/Allendale versions of theCore 2 Duo aren't compatible." "Conroe (E6600/E6700)

Core 2 Duo and Conroe XE (X6800) Core 2 Duo Extreme are not compatible with the mini. Incorrect FSB

speed, socket, etc. They are desktop-compatible processors."

Thanks for the referal, Bearcat

c.

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