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Intel Mac mini Upgraded to 2.16GHz Core Duo

If the motherboard is a regular intel model - how easy would it be to replace the mobo, and thus upgrade the IIG?

You'd have to be sure that OSX has all the drivers for the chipset, and graphics card.. but still - is it theoretically possible - may be tricky?
 
This is awesome news! Does anyone know the difference in temperatures...? I'm really interested in how much hotter the 2.16 GHz Core Duo really is compared to the 1.5 GHz Core Solo.
 
Stella said:
If the motherboard is a regular intel model - how easy would it be to replace the mobo, and thus upgrade the IIG?

You'd have to be sure that OSX has all the drivers for the chipset, and graphics card.. but still - is it theoretically possible - may be tricky?
Click to expand...
Well, no. Apple has protections put in (such as TPM and EFI), which means that you need their motherboard regardless. Plus, I doubt you'll find a motherboard the proper size.

EDIT: Unless you plan on using the hacked versions of OS X, but no point in bothering with a Mac if you plan to do that.

EDIT AGAIN:

\/ \/ Well, the machine could still run OS X, but it'd have to use the hacked versions to do so. \/ \/
 
Stella said:
If the motherboard is a regular intel model - how easy would it be to replace the mobo, and thus upgrade the IIG?
Click to expand...

It's actually not an Intel mobo -- it's Apple's motherboard with an Intel 945 chipset on it, similar to what other mobo companies put out.

Considering that the mini case size isn't a standard outside of Apple, you're not going to be able to find a replacement board. But, at least the CPU is replaceable now :D

BTW -- how is this guy planning to get XP running on it? The mini still doesn't have a traditional PC BIOS, and XP still doesn't support EFI. I could think of some possible ways to go about it (replace EFI with BIOS), but that would leave a machine that couldn't run OS X -- which isn't nearly as desirable as the one that can.
 
Buy Core Solo Mac mini. Sell CPU on eBay. Buy Core Duo 2.16! Have a great time enjoying a lower cost superfast mac.

Or... buy a Mac mini knowing in 3 years time you can up the CPU by buying a cheap one on eBay.
 
This is great news, and makes the product more interesting for a long-term buy (later this year I'll want an always-on machine in the house to serve a Squeezebox that I'll be buying too, amongst other things).

I don't care about burning DVDs, and right now I probably don't care about Solo vs. Duo. HD space isn't important with an external Firewire drive either.

But in a year I'll be able to plunk down $200 or so and get a Core Duo chip to put in the system - instant *significant* upgrade.

I still think I'll hang on for 10.5 before buying my next Mac, but it's tempting...
 
SpaceMagic said:
Buy Core Solo Mac mini. Sell CPU on eBay.
Click to expand...

I can't see there being much of a market for 1.5Ghz Core Solos. Is anyone using anything that slow?

Then again, if Apple releases a Celeron M 4xx model, perhaps then you've a market. The problem being that there's not much performance difference between the Celeron M 4xx and a Core Solo. And you might need faster RAM too.
 
aegisdesign said:
I can't see there being much of a market for 1.5Ghz Core Solos. Is anyone using anything that slow?

Then again, if Apple releases a Celeron M 4xx model, perhaps then you've a market. The problem being that there's not much performance difference between the Celeron M 4xx and a Core Solo. And you might need faster RAM too.
Click to expand...

If it is socket and bus compatible with older Pentium M systems (S479) then maybe people wouldn't mind paying a small amount for an upgrade, or for a custom build SFF PC. You could get $50 - $100 maybe.
 
schatten said:
That's great & all, but what about the heat factor? It's not like the Mac Mini has lots of fans to cool a more powerful chip.
Click to expand...
Faster does not mean hotter. When different batches are being graded, they look at how fast samples from the batch can run at a given voltage. The 2.16GHz are the cream of the crop. The voltage supplied to the CPU is not dependent on the speed of the CPU so the heat given off should be the same for both. If anything, the faster CPU will run cooler since it has to work less at 100% to do the same job so it idles longer.
 
iHeartTheApple said:
Oh wow! This is just fricken' awesome! Good play, Apple! I guess this means I need to pick one of these up before Apple finds out about this and does something...:confused: :D
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that they already know... :rolleyes:
 
This is excellent news, and means great things in the future. If Apple doesn't go ahead and update their machines, users can on their onw.

And with Yonah and Merom being pin-compatible, this makes for some very interesting possibilities next year. :cool:
 
Would anyone else get queazy if they were doing this? I think that someone should do a beginners step by step tutorial.

EDIT: The more I think about beginners really should attempt this.
 
~Shard~ said:
This is excellent news, and means great things in the future. If Apple doesn't go ahead and update their machines, users can on their onw.

And with Yonah and Merom being pin-compatible, this makes for some very interesting possibilities next year. :cool:
Click to expand...

Yonah and Merom are not pin compatable. I am trying to find the news story that shows the Pentium M and Core Duo next to eachother, and two pins are different.
 
mrman5917 said:
Yonah and Merom are not pin compatable. I am trying to find the news story that shows the Pentium M and Core Duo next to eachother, and two pins are different.
Click to expand...

Actually you're wrong. Intel has already announced that the current Core Duos (Yonah) successor (Merom) will be pin-for pin compatible, and around 30% faster clock for clock. Yonah and Merom are pin-compatible, and Presler and Conroe are pin-compatible. Unless Intel has changed their minds, I believe this is still the case. :cool:
 
mrman5917 said:
Yonah and Merom are not pin compatable. I am trying to find the news story that shows the Pentium M and Core Duo next to eachother, and two pins are different.
Click to expand...
Pentium M is Dothan and Banias.
 
topgunn said:
Faster does not mean hotter. When different batches are being graded, they look at how fast samples from the batch can run at a given voltage. The 2.16GHz are the cream of the crop. The voltage supplied to the CPU is not dependent on the speed of the CPU so the heat given off should be the same for both. If anything, the faster CPU will run cooler since it has to work less at 100% to do the same job so it idles longer.
Click to expand...
Faster does still mean hotter. Since the 1.5GHz Core Solo doesn't technically exist, it may well be the Core Solo 1.66 that just didn't make the grade. If you cut the voltage (which you would if underclocking, just like you'd increase it slightly for overclocking stability), you cut heat production (and lower the maximum stable frequency). The temperature savings are equivalent to the voltage drop squared, so it adds up quickly. Even at the same voltage, heat dissipation is improved by lower wattage (idling back a CPU will reduce its wattage). A 1.5V CPU running at 1500MHz is going to be cooler than a 1.5V/1600MHz core simply because the power draw will be lower.
 
mrman5917 said:
Yonah and Merom are not pin compatable. I am trying to find the news story that shows the Pentium M and Core Duo next to eachother, and two pins are different.
Click to expand...

From what I understand Yonah (core duo) is pin compatible with the upcoming Merom, but not with previous Pentium M ( Banias and Dothan)
 
This article makes me feel toasty inside:)

This means when my new MacMini's processor is too slow, in a couple of years, I don't have to shed out another $600 bucks for a newMacMini. The only thing to do is switch it up!:D woooohooo!
 
That's handy. Does the 945 chipset support 64 bit (merom) processors? My original theory was that we wouldn't see 64 bit powerbooks until january 2007, but if all it takes is a simple chip swap, I just might have to be putting a couple extra pennies in the bank each month until it comes out (hello, maxing out the credit card...)
 
tjwett said:
now all we need to do is get someone to crack the 80MB limit they programmed into the GPU. :)
Click to expand...

Actually, what I read is that the GPU uses a minimum of 80MB with a max of 224MB for the video. That's based off of intel's spec sheet for the GPU.
 
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