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iMac Pro Has anyone here…*gulp*…upgraded the cpu on iMac Pro?
- Thread starter rondocap
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TwoH
macrumors 6502a
Haven’t upgraded, but I have taken one out of the board to re-paste.
It’s quite a fragile board, and if you haven’t got any knowledge or skill on screwing the heat sink back to the board on the other slim iMac logic boards, you might find it to be quite a struggle to do it for the iMac Pro.
You can’t clamp the cpu to the board before having to turn it around and screw it back, which has potential for you to move slightly and misalign the cpu from the pins, causing you to have a bent cpu and bent pins on the board if you’re not careful
It’s quite a fragile board, and if you haven’t got any knowledge or skill on screwing the heat sink back to the board on the other slim iMac logic boards, you might find it to be quite a struggle to do it for the iMac Pro.
You can’t clamp the cpu to the board before having to turn it around and screw it back, which has potential for you to move slightly and misalign the cpu from the pins, causing you to have a bent cpu and bent pins on the board if you’re not careful
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ascender
macrumors 603
Yes, I've done it a couple of times now and there's some really good videos out there which will help you - watch them a few times before you start and watch them again while doing the upgrade, step by step. If you have a decent toolkit like the iFixit one, you just need some patience and a nice big, clean working area.
Like @TwoH says, the heatsink mechanism they use can be a bit daunting due to the force you need to maintain on the brackets to screw them down, but I wouldn't let that put you off.
Personally, I found getting the board out to be a bit fiddly - I think its the SD card slot which makes it a bit of a pain. The only thing that I will always be nervous about are the edges to the screen which seem precariously thin, so just need to be careful when taking it on/off.
Like @TwoH says, the heatsink mechanism they use can be a bit daunting due to the force you need to maintain on the brackets to screw them down, but I wouldn't let that put you off.
Personally, I found getting the board out to be a bit fiddly - I think its the SD card slot which makes it a bit of a pain. The only thing that I will always be nervous about are the edges to the screen which seem precariously thin, so just need to be careful when taking it on/off.
Thank you - the top left of my screen actually has a small chip, maybe 1/4 of an inch - doesn't affect anything and is only on the black border trim, do you think I may have an issue with that when removing?
ascender
macrumors 603
No, I’m sure it will be fine. Just take care when putting the screen on/off not to be putting the surround of the screen under pressure by resting it against the iMac if that makes sense? The outermost surround of the screen seems very thin so could easily crack I think if you put it under pressure.
Only thing I am worried about are the 3 cable connections to the screen, those are fairly easy to get on and off right?
I've taken apart and put together a lot of computers, graphics cards for water cooling, etc - so some similarities but this is definitely a bit more involved for sure!
ascender
macrumors 603
Yes, they’re easy enough to find, just a bit fiddly as you have to slide your hand into the gap between screen and chassis. Maybe lay the iMac flat so there’s no pressure on the bottom edge of the screen when you’re doing that instead of having it stood up.
You’ll be fine then if you’ve done that sort of thing before. Crack on!
You’ll be fine then if you’ve done that sort of thing before. Crack on!
EDS66
macrumors regular
Just saw this thread. Upgraded my stock 8-core to 18 core (bought in China via e-bay for about $600) and upgraded RAM to 128 GB. Took a long time. Everything works well.