Does the Quad Core have a different motherboard?

[Sinsinnati]

Does the Quad Core iMac have a different motherboard from the Core 2 Duo?

[onedamngoal]

Uses a different socket. Assuming it uses a different board.

[avihappy]

Does the Quad Core iMac have a different motherboard from the Core 2 Duo?

I would imagine that it does. After all, the i5 and i7 processors move away from the standard LGA775 socket that the Core 2 Duo used. It also removes the FSB and replaces it exclusively with DMI. Finally, it was released along with the P55 chipset (and all Lynnfield mobos use it), and I assume that's what Apple uses for the quads. I would be VERY surprised if they had the same board.

[Hellhammer]

Yes. Quads uses LGA 1156 while LGA 775. Also, quads have built-in memory controller while C2Ds needs a separate one.

[300D]

Yes, they both use very different and physically incompatible logicboard architectures. I'm sure the boards could be swapped though, if you're thinking of changing from a C2D to an i5 in a few years.

[nicroma]

I wonder if the layout is noticeably different...
Hopefully iFixIt has a tear down soon. I wont be curious enough anytime soon to open mine up though.

[DarwinOSX]

Oh I would not bet on that. Getting an iMac board would be very difficult and expensive anyway.

Yes, they both use very different and physically incompatible logicboard architectures. I'm sure the boards could be swapped though, if you're thinking of changing from a C2D to an i5 in a few years.

[PurrBall]

I'd bet that it has a completely different chipset also since Nvidia was unable to get rights to make chipsets compatible with the i5 / i7.

[300D]

Oh I would not bet on that. Getting an iMac board would be very difficult and expensive anyway.

Never seen eBay?