First gen mac mini upgrades?

[jiker]

I have a first gen mac mini (Core Duo 1.66) and it is still chugging along happily. But seeing as how I'm getting left behind with Lion, I am wondering about upgrades.

I've heard that people have successfully upgraded these machines with T7200 Core 2 Duo procs and 2 GB of RAM. I've also heard people upgrading to 3GB of RAM using 2x2GB matched pairs, but I don't know if those were with a newer version mac mini.

So my questions are: Is the amount of RAM limited to 2 GB by the motherboard on these older machines or can I slap in a 4GB matched pair? Following that, if I upgrade the CPU and the RAM to Lion specs, will I be able to run it?

Thanks!

 

[Intell]

The CPU is upgradable and it makes a big difference. The first gen Intell based Mac Minis can only take 2Gb max. They will not boot if it has 3Gb. Even with an upgraded CPU and more ram, Lion will not work on it without a yet undeveloped software based hack.

 

[Iroquois]

The main limit with that model is the extremely weak GPU, thats impossible to upgrade.

 

[jdreier]

I also have a 1.66 mac mini that i've upgraded.

It has 2gb of ram, which is the maximum amount you can put in this machine.

I've also installed a t7600 2.33ghz c2d CPU. That install made a huge difference in speed.

Another thing you might want to look at is installing a SSD hard drive. I put in a intel 40gb as a boot / applications drive. All my other media (videos, music, photos) are on external drives. This made the mac mini pretty snappy and responsive.

As far as a OSX Lion update goes, thats still tough to tell if it'll work or not with an upgraded c2d processor. I'm guessing a hack will need to be installed of some sort. We'll see.


I use this machine as a media center connected to my HD tv. It streams HD netflix, HD youtube / hulu and HD mkv files perfectly. No problems.

It's also my main encoding machine. I usually just set up a bunch of encodes and let them run overnight or during the day when i'm at work.

 

[Fluttershy462]

There's one on eBay I'm looking to get.

Having the CPU be upgradable is good news to hear.

 

[EmlynDewar]

You can flash it to 2,1 to take 3gb ram. Many years ago, I upgraded the core solo to Core2Duo and did that.
If you have one, I'd do it just for fun (but run Windows on it).
I absolutely would not be buying one in 2020. They are absolutely ancient in technology standards, and not great to use as day-to-day machines. Limited to SATA1 speeds from memory? Intel GMA 950 wasn't even good when the thing released, nowadays it struggles to draw anything.