06-14-2006, 07:30 PM

Taken from macrumors.com:

Macrumors is reporting that a hacker with access to a Core 2 Duo "Merom" CPU clocked at 2.16 GHz has successfully upgraded his Mac Mini. According to the hacker's benchmarks, the upgraded Mini beat out a Dual 2.5 GHz G5 in an iTunes encoding test by 15%. Note that these benchmarks could not be confirmed by MacRumors.

Depending on what the chip prices level out to a few months after being introduced, a Merom upgraded Mac Mini may be a wolf in sheeps clothing. This also boads well for those of us with an intel imac. 3 years from now when Applecare is up, a cheap processor upgrade can be done to get even more life out of our machines.

Update: Just found the same post in the Mac Mini forum on these boards so sorry for the duplicate but more people may see it here. Also, here is the link to Macenstein who has some detailed benchmarks : Link

06-14-2006, 07:42 PM

I got antsy

06-14-2006, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by kaidomac

I got antsy

bad link kaido.

06-14-2006, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by techster82

bad link kaido.

fixed, thanks. forgot it sometimes doesn't like certain referrers

06-14-2006, 07:59 PM

i dont think i would call him a hacker, but that looks like good news!!!

i wonder how that is dealing with the heat?
-chris

06-14-2006, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by coach_z

i dont think i would call him a hacker, but that looks like good news!!!

i wonder how that is dealing with the heat?
-chris

Just fine. There's some overall power increase based on a Kill-a-watt measurement from the wall (A/C), but there haven't been any heat issues that I've heard of with either the Yonah or Merom chips. Fugger of the Xtreme Systems forums also tested out a Merom successfully.

06-14-2006, 08:08 PM

[sorry, just an error]

06-15-2006, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by kaidomac

Just fine. There's some overall power increase based on a Kill-a-watt measurement from the wall (A/C), but there haven't been any heat issues that I've heard of with either the Yonah or Merom chips. Fugger of the Xtreme Systems forums also tested out a Merom successfully.

Man I envy your little project with the Mini, looks like it is going to be a beast. If you don't mind me asking, what did the new processor set you back?

Also, are you upgrading from a core solo or a slower core duo?

06-15-2006, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by techster82

Man I envy your little project with the Mini, looks like it is going to be a beast. If you don't mind me asking, what did the new processor set you back?

Also, are you upgrading from a core solo or a slower core duo?

The 2ghz Core Duo was about $320 shipped from Newegg; the prices really dropped recently because the Meroms are coming soon. Decent price for the chip. I am upgrading from the 1.5ghz Core Solo chip. Later I will be adding a 10,000rpm hard drive and a full-size 16x 5.25" DVD burner, I'll post when I'm finished with it. Waiting for the Meroms to come out before I start that project

06-15-2006, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by kaidomac

The 2ghz Core Duo was about $320 shipped from Newegg; the prices really dropped recently because the Meroms are coming soon. Decent price for the chip. I am upgrading from the 1.5ghz Core Solo chip. Later I will be adding a 10,000rpm hard drive and a full-size 16x 5.25" DVD burner, I'll post when I'm finished with it. Waiting for the Meroms to come out before I start that project

Is there a notebook 10,000rpm hard drive out there? And I am guessing you are adding a firewire external burner?

Also, don't know if you would be interested but there are a few guys selling Merom processors over at notebookforums.com in the $400-$500 range.

06-15-2006, 05:30 PM

I already posted this one. Techster82 follow your avatar. Kidding.

Benchmarks: Mac Mini’s brain replaced with a Core 2 Duo

06-15-2006, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by coach_z

i dont think i would call him a hacker,

Yeah, I LOVE how that word gets tossed around sometimes.

*rolls eyes*

06-15-2006, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by techster82

Is there a notebook 10,000rpm hard drive out there? And I am guessing you are adding a firewire external burner?

Also, don't know if you would be interested but there are a few guys selling Merom processors over at notebookforums.com in the $400-$500 range.

Nope, none that are SATA, at least. I'm hacking the Mini into a full-sized tower case (G4 Quicksilver case, actually). The drives are both full-size, will both be connected directly to the SATA and ATA busses, and will run off an ATX power supply. Right now I have a dual power switch design setup but I want to run it off a single switch (Mini + drives off the PSU). Still working on that problem as well as waiting for the Merom.

You got a link to the Merom for sale post? I'm betting it's an engineering sample and probably a 2.16ghz chip based on what I've seen before. If it's a 2.33ghz non-ES Merom I'd definately be interested! Also, what forum sections do you frequent over there? I'm a regular in the Gateway section

06-15-2006, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

Yeah, I LOVE how that word gets tossed around sometimes.

*rolls eyes*

Yeah he isnt a hacker, hes a modder. I copied the text from Macrumors and thats who deemed him a hacker.

Kaidomac, the meroms for sale were 2.16ghz engineering samples. There was one for $475 that is now sold. I will keep my eyes open for the other model.

06-15-2006, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by techster82

Yeah he isnt a hacker, hes a modder. I copied the text from Macrumors and thats who deemed him a hacker.

Kaidomac, the meroms for sale were 2.16ghz engineering samples. There was one for $475 that is now sold. I will keep my eyes open for the other model.

Don't worry about notifying me; I have a 2ghz Core Duo sitting on my desk begging to be installed tonight My plan is to enjoy the chip along with Parallels for the next couple of months until the Meroms are released, then to buy a 2.33ghz Merom with a 4mb l2 cache when the initial price drops to a more reasonable amount. Once that happens I'll pick up a nice Raptor hard drive and start modding my tower case