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MS bulldog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 19, 2006
108
0
saw this posted on another forum...can anyone confirm or dispel this statement? it is in reference to the core solo to core duo and possible merom upgrade.

I've mentioned this before, but doing this will absolutely break your MacMini. I've even spoken to separate people at two unrelated Apple stores, and they confirm it. The CoreSolo's cooling fan is rated for a specific velocity to push out a specific cfm of air.

Replacing the CPU with a CoreDuo does not change that fan, so you will never cool it enough, which WILL prematurely wear your other components. Sure, you'll get a faster machine out of it, but it won't last as long as a proper CoreDuo or your original CoreSolo.

Its all about the cooling fan.

i was contemplating buying the solo with future intent to upgrade, so i was wondering if the above is true.
 
It's certainly reasonable that the original designers of any closed box equipment never expected parts to be upgraded and therefore, didn't account for that in the specifications.

Most technology is built with a safety margin but going from single to dual core/processors is a bit dangerous.
 
I sincerely doubt there is any difference between the heatsink/fans in the Solos vs. the Duos. Just having to design and keep track of two similar heatsinks would add more cost than just using the same one for both.... (I could be wrong though).

The kernel of truth in the warning may be that the heatsink is sized for the 1.63 Duo and won't deliver enough air flow to keep anything faster cool, so don't expect to put a 2.16 in a mini and keep it as cool as a 1.5 Solo...

Of course someone will make a copper heatsink with a better fan available for upgrades if they haven't already...

B
 
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