core solo mac mini cpu upgrade

[Bennieboy©]

Hi guys,

i have a '06 core solo mac mini, i've looked about online at various tutorials of people doing the upgrade to a core 2 duo processor but i'm at a loss as to what exact processor it is that will fit, and work,

i've found these two on ebay within my budget but i'm not exactly sure if they would fit, or work.

Core 2 duo T7300

core 2 duo T7250

any feedback would be highly appreciated

 

[js81]

Hi guys,

i have a '06 core solo mac mini, i've looked about online at various tutorials of people doing the upgrade to a core 2 duo processor but i'm at a loss as to what exact processor it is that will fit, and work,

i've found these two on ebay within my budget but i'm not exactly sure if they would fit, or work.

Core 2 duo T7300

core 2 duo T7250

any feedback would be highly appreciated

I had a Core Solo Mini and I did the same thing.

And to answer your question, neither of those will work - you have to find one with a 667MHz FSB. I put a Core Duo (not Core 2) T2500 in mine and it was a huge upgrade.

 

[Bennieboy©]

thanks for your reply js81,

have had another look and this has the 667mhz fsb so this would work instead?
core duo T2500


whoops

*edit*
have found an 1.83Ghz core2duo with a 667Fsb for less money, i know the different clock speeds wouldnt be that noticable, but would it be better getting the C2D rather then the core duo, i'm booting 10.6 and not too sure about all the 32/64bit piff

 

[js81]

thanks for your reply js81,

have had another look and this has the 667mhz fsb so this would work instead?
core duo T2500

Yeah, that'll work - but you CAN use a Core 2; just find one with a 667 FSB. Sorry I can't look now, gotta work a bit.

EDIT: THIS is the BEST Core 2 you can put in your Mini. Its a 2.33GHz C2D T7600. A bit expensive, though...

You can also use a T7400 or T7200.

I have a T7200 in my iMac and its a nice chip - but for the price difference, it may be best to just go with the T2500 Core Duo, as you're still going to be severely limited by the GMA950 graphics. That's the ONLY reason I don't have my Mini any longer...

 

[js81]

*edit*
have found an 1.83Ghz core2duo with a 667Fsb for less money, i know the different clock speeds wouldnt be that noticable, but would it be better getting the C2D rather then the core duo, i'm booting 10.6 and not too sure about all the 32/64bit piff

Yeah, that should work - as long as its a MOBILE Core 2 Duo and it has 667MHz FSB. To my knowledge, though, you'll still only be limited to 32-bit due to the Mini's architecture. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[Bennieboy©]

yeah it's a mobile chipset, i saw the 2.33Ghz and nearly cried haha thanks for ya help dude, just waiting for the seller to return me message

 

[js81]

yeah it's a mobile chipset, i saw the 2.33Ghz and nearly cried haha thanks for ya help dude, just waiting for the seller to return me message

That'll be a dandy of an upgrade over the Core Solo - believe me, I had one; its a DOG in comparison...

BTW, its not TOO hard to do, but you do have to completely disassemble the Mini - remove the logic board and all...

 

[Bennieboy©]

That'll be a dandy of an upgrade over the Core Solo - believe me, I had one; its a DOG in comparison...

BTW, its not TOO hard to do, but you do have to completely disassemble the Mini - remove the logic board and all...

yeah i had it apart the other day to sort my new ram out, the only part i'm worried about is the plastic pins holding the heatsink, have seen some horror storys about breaking those, and no one seems to be able to find replacements, but i've seen some people using nylon screws with the thread stripped off? not sure how that works, but fingers crossed it'll all go back together without any problems

 

[js81]

yeah i had it apart the other day to sort my new ram out, the only part i'm worried about is the plastic pins holding the heatsink, have seen some horror storys about breaking those, and no one seems to be able to find replacements, but i've seen some people using nylon screws with the thread stripped off? not sure how that works, but fingers crossed it'll all go back together without any problems

I popped mine out with no problems at all. Pretty easy once you get to the underside of the logic board.

 

[billib]

T7600 SL9SD 2.33 Proc. Core2Duo

EDIT: THIS is the BEST Core 2 you can put in your Mini. Its a 2.33GHz C2D T7600. A bit expensive, though...

You can also use a T7400 or T7200.

I dropped a T7600 SL9SD 2.33 GHz Core2Duo into my mini a while ago. I broke two of the pins that hold the heat sync on. You can use Nylon 4/40 BOLTS that are 1" to 1 and a 1/4" long. You can snip off any excess with toe nail clippers. Don't forget the nuts. I've never heard of anyone using screws.

Be careful, the SL9SJ (or any SJ) has Balls and not pins. The SJ's are BGA or Ball Grid Array meant to be soldered on. The SD's are Pin's meant to be dropped into the processor socket on your Mac.

However, if the SJ's like that SL9SJ state "Pins added" then thats a Ball Grid Array thats had Pin's added which makes it a slightly thicker SL9SD. It will work just make sure that the Pin's have been added.

I paid a little under $200 (USA) on eBay. They are now getting harder to find so don't wait to long. At that time the processors with "pins added" were only about 10% cheaper than processors with pin's. But thats usually not the case now because they are getting harder to find.

I think its the best $200 I've spent. I think your Mac is a model 1.1 mini which means 2 Gig's of RAM is all you can use. If you were going to spend money on mare RAM a Processor and a bigger HD I would recommend you sell your mini on eBay and put that money with the money you were going to spend on that other stuff and buy a new 09' mini.

If you need any more info its ok to PM me.

 

[Giuanniello]

I am resurrecting this old thread cos I decided to go for the upgrade, my son's old MBPro broke and he's using the Mini which is ok but can't run some apps he needs so I thought to go for the CPU upgrade and then an SSD to quicken it up.

Is this CPU the right one? Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33 GHz Dual-Core CPU Processor SL9SD LF80537T7600 Found more than one on eBay, mainly from China, is this the correct one I need?

I seem to remember I need screws to lock the heatsink, is that correct? What else do I need to prepare for the surgery?

Thank you