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Mm 1,1-6,2 Maxing out the mini - 1,1/2,1 Mac mini CPU Upgrade Guide

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theMarble

theMarble

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Welcome to the world of squeezing every last drop of performance out of 1,1/2,1 Mac minis!

Why upgrade the CPU? Is there any noticeable improvement?

Upgrading a 1,1/2,1's CPU is one of the most crucial ways to get more performance out of your mini.
Especially in the case of the 1,1 (2006) Mac mini, they shipped with Core Solo or Duo chips that were only 32-bit, had low clock speeds and didn't support over 2GB of RAM, while the identical 2,1 (Mid 2007) shipped with much better Core 2 Duo chips that were 64-bit and supported up to 4GB of RAM (3.8GB max).

While this might not sound much better in retrospect, doubling the RAM will have a big effect in trying to run modern websites and smaller improvements for productivity apps and games.

List of compatible Socket M CPUs (fastest CPU per arch. in green) (stock CPUs in italics)

ArchitectureFamilyModelCoresSpeedRAM/FSBL2 cacheTDP
MeromCore 2 DuoT7600G22.33GHz667MHz4MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT760022.33GHz667MHz4MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT740022.16GHz667MHz4MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT720022.00GHz667MHz4MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT560021.83GHz667MHz2MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT550021.67GHz667MHz2MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT530021.73GHz533MHz2MB34W
MeromCore 2 DuoT520021.60GHz533MHz2MB34W
MeromCeleron M53011.73GHz533MHz1MB30W
MeromCeleron M52011.60GHz533MHz1MB30W
YonahCore DuoT270022.33GHz667MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT260022.16GHz667MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT250022.00GHz667MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT245022.00GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT240021.83GHz667MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT235021.86GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT230021.67GHz667MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT225021.73GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore DuoT205021.60GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore SoloT150012.00GHz667MHz2MB27W
YonahCore SoloT140011.83GHz667MHz2MB27W
YonahCore SoloT135011.86GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore SoloT130011.67GHz667MHz2MB27W
YonahCore SoloT125011.73GHz533MHz2MB31W
YonahCore SoloT120011.50GHz667MHz2MB27W
YonahCeleron M45012.00GHz533MHz1MB27W
YonahCeleron M44011.86GHz533MHz1MB27W
YonahCeleron M43011.73GHz533MHz1MB27W
YonahCeleron M42011.60GHz533MHz1MB27W
YonahCeleron M41011.46GHz533MHz1MB27W

Note: The T7600G has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking but is otherwise identical to the T7600.
All chips with a 667MHz bus/memory speed will work in a Mac mini (Yonah chips only work in a 1,1, or flashed 2,1 - Merom chips only work in a 2,1 or flashed 1,1). 533MHz chips like the Txx50 models and the Celerons are largely** unconfirmed to work at best, but in theory should work if you wanted to.

Guide on how to upgrade the CPU from iFixit:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+Model+A1176+CPU+Replacement/1178

Other Upgrades

· 4GB of RAM (2x2GB) can be added to all Merom minis*
· An SSD will obviously be much faster than the stock, slow hard drives that Apple used back then.
· A second SSD can in theory be added with a IDE optical drive to SATA adapter, similar to that which are used on SATA MacBooks and iMacs.
· If you really want to go crazy, take out the AirPort card and use a Mini PCIe to PCIe adapter and run a full blown video card like the HD 4870, 8800 GT or even a GTX 680 (if running 10.8.3 or newer with NPF).

Benchmarks

Add your upgraded mini's Geekbench or Xbench scores here:
UserCPU - RAM configTool usedScore


* - While 4GB will boot and shown in About this Mac, around 3-3.5GB can be used due to the 32-bit EFI implementation.
** - Celeron M 410 confirmed working by Amethyst1.
 
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mectojic

mectojic

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This is awesome! I was thinking about doing such an upgrade some day to mine (CPU, ram, SSD why not). I noted though that T7600s are pretty expensive compared to the T7200. The vendor I was looking at was Aliexpress. Would be nice to have the full speed, but for such a, well, insignificant Mac in the collection, I'm not sure it's worth it.

The best use I can imagine for one of these Mac Minis would be to catch the speeds of Intel Tiger in the smallest desktop form. What do you use yours for, @theMarble ?
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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mectojic said:
I noted though that T7600s are pretty expensive compared to the T7200. The vendor I was looking at was Aliexpress. Would be nice to have the full speed, but for such a, well, insignificant Mac in the collection, I'm not sure it's worth it.
Click to expand...
IMHO it isn't. I have a T2700 which is just as pricey as the T7600 now AFAICS, but just because I was able to snag it for five bucks and I've got a soft spot for the Pentium M/Core Solo/Core Duo. I'd just get a T7400 for ≈10 bucks and be done with it; the tiny difference to the T7600 ain't worth spending three times as much.
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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Yanno, there's the T7600G which comes with an unlocked multiplier for overclocking. The big question is, can the multiplier (and voltage, if necessary) be increased using software on the Mac mini?
 
Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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B S Magnet said:
Is a locked multiplier the reason why there’s so little discussion on the overclocking of Early Intel Macs? :)
Click to expand...
Probably. I've not heard of anyone raising the FSB beyond the official maximum. I think you can do a BSEL mod on the original Mac Pro to force the FSB to 1333 MHz and overclock 1066 MHz FSB CPUs, if you installed these.
 
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B S Magnet

B S Magnet

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Amethyst1 said:
Probably. I've not heard of anyone raising the FSB beyond the official maximum. I think you can do a BSEL mod on the original Mac Pro to force the FSB to 1333 MHz and overclock 1066 MHz FSB CPUs, if you installed these.
Click to expand...

I long wondered why there was never discussion of overclocking a Penryn CPU. A locked multiplier would amply explain why, as well as why there aren’t (to my knowledge) CPU voltage adjustment resistors on the logic board, as all of this would probably be internal to the CPU package itself.
 
Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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B S Magnet said:
I long wondered why there was never discussion of overclocking a Penryn CPU. A locked multiplier would amply explain why,
Click to expand...
Intel's non-EE/non-K CPUs have had a semi-locked multiplier for ages. You can decrease, but not increase it. The only way to overclock, then, is to increase the FSB.

B S Magnet said:
as well as why there aren’t (to my knowledge) CPU voltage adjustment resistors on the logic board, as all of this would probably be internal to the CPU package itself.
Click to expand...
The voltage can be adjusted using software like CoolBook.
 
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mectojic

mectojic

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So I just pulled out my 2007 Mac Mini, and discovered something strange. It doesn't respond to any startup keys. I tried the usual ones, option, pram reset, C, target mode, etc. Nothing works- it always just gives the logo and goes to the login screen, where mouse and keyboard become enabled (but I don't know the password lol). So I have no idea how to get a new OS on here; USB or DVD won't work unless I can get it to register keys before the logo.
 
GMShadow

GMShadow

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See, I see this post and think about sticking the weakest Celeron in for kicks. :p

Good work though - this is a great reference.
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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B S Magnet said:
It’s been done here!
Click to expand...
And I have a couple of other oddball (more or less) CPUs I've been meaning to test in the little guy.

Updates to table:
  • added the T7600G
  • used italic to mark stock CPU options
  • replaced "Max RAM" column with "L2 cache" column
Reason: I think being aware of the differences in L2 cache is as important as being aware of the max RAM. Whereas the latter simply boils down to 2GB for 32-bit (Celeron M 4x0, Core Solo, Core Duo) and ≈4GB for 64-bit (Celeron M 5x0, Core 2 Duo), the cache situation is slightly more complex (1MB for Celeron M; 2MB for Core Solo, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo T5x00; 4MB for Core 2 Duo T7x00).
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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Oct 28, 2015
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theMarble said:
Would there be any chance in the Merom Pentium's working?
Click to expand...
I have a T2080 I can try. It’s a Yonah with 1MB L2. All Merom Pentiums are Socket P.

theMarble said:
I recall the original DTK system had a Pentium 4 inside it.
Click to expand...
That and the later Pentiums are unrelated. Later Pentiums and Celerons are cut-down Core CPUs.
 
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