Introduzione
Upgrade your mini's aging Core Duo processor to a blazing Core 2 Duo.
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Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.
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Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.
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The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.
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Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.
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Firmly grasp the power button cable connector with a pair of tweezers and lift it straight up off the logic board.
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A spring loaded plastic pin at each corner of the heat sink holds it firmly against the face of the processor.
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Using a plastic opening tool (or similar) in one hand, push down one pin holding the heat sink on the logic board. The spring under the pin will provide moderate resistance.
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While holding the pin down from the heat sink side of the board, use a pair of pliers in your other hand on the underside of the board to squeeze both barbs against the plastic shaft of the pin.
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With both barbs squeezed together, push the pin through its hole in the logic board.
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Repeat this process for each of the four pins holding the heat sink on the logic board.
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To aid in installation, processors and sockets have a small alignment arrow (shown in red) so the chip is installed in the correct orientation.
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Align the chip so that the arrow in its upper right corner corresponds to the arrow molded into the upper right corner of the socket.
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Carefully lower the processor onto its socket.
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Note that if you are upgrading from a core solo or core duo processor to a core 2 duo processor and wish to run operating systems of Lion or later, you must delete the hidden file /System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist after the upgrade.
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Now that the processor is in place, turn your attention to the heat sink.
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Apple uses a thermally conductive film that must be removed prior to reinstalling the heat sink.
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Use a razor blade (or anyother flat object such as a credit card, etc.) to remove all of the old solidified thermal material from the heat sink.
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Next use a small amount of rubbing alcohol to remove all traces of the old thermal material.
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Allow the heat sink to dry before proceeding.
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Apply a thin layer of thermal paste to the reflective silicon face of the processor.
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Check out our thermal paste guide for detailed instructions on applying thermal paste.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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35 Commenti
I'm learning from cpu-world.com that the Core Duo (and Core Solo) are 32-bit architecture, whereas the Core 2 Duo is a 64-bit design. Does this matter in any way?
Hi Richard. I realize this post is very old, but did you ever get an answer to your question as to whether the 64-bits of the Core 2 Duo Processor will be recognized/utilized in the 32-bit architecture of the Mac Mini A1176? Thanks, John
Hi. I'm afraid I can no longer answer the question "does it matter in any way", since I eventually upgraded to a new Mac Mini.
I can say that it didn't *seem* to matter, which means no software failed to run or performed noticeably poorly because of the upgrade. But I'm not especially performance sensitive, so it is possible that all/most/some software was running in 32-bit mode and not taking advantage of the higher throughput of a 64-bit architecture. The most CPU intense stuff I was running when I decided to upgrade was: Parallels running WinXP and some Windows-only legal software, along with Chrome with far too many tabs open, and iTunes. That proved to be too much, and it'd slow to a crawl too often. But I think the upgrade kept me on that iMac and extra two or three years, and was an interesting exercise.
Richard -
When going to all the trouble of replacing the CPU, a few other upgrades can be done at the same time:
- Upgrade RAM to 2GB maximum (required for OS X Lion), for example, Crucial CT541128
- Upgrade internal 2.5" SATA hard drive to larger size, and/or faster 7400 RPM or SDD.
- Replace PRAM battery with a fresh one (CR2032 lithium 3V)
This guide worked very well for me. Entire process took less than 90 minutes, and that was having to pull the upper frame a second time because I'd let the Airport antenna cable get snagged under the fan ductwork.
Thank you!