Upgrading Mac mini

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HI there,
I have a late 2006 mac mini with intel 945GM chipset. It has Core DUo (32 bit) CPU. I was wondering if I could upgrade it to a Core 2 DUo to run 64 bit software. Would my chipset support a 64 bit cpu and would I be able to run 64 bit OS? I am afraid that 32 bit is dying out.

Hazza Manazza
 

cwa107


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14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I believe the CPU is soldered fast to the logic board on Mac Minis, and much like a laptop, it's pretty much limited to memory and hard drive upgrades.

Regardless, for most people 64-bit does very little in terms of performance. I think the video game industry has gotten people to think that when you go from 8-bit to 16-bit to 32-bit, performance and capability is an order of magnitude better. And that was true back when computers were more limited. Today's hardware is so vastly superior, it's not as big of a deal.

The biggest difference 64-bit will make for the average Joe is the ability to address more than 4GB of RAM in a system. Since yours is limited to 2GB by the chipset anyway, I don't see it really having any kind of impact for you.
 

Raz0rEdge

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I believe the newest Mac Mini's solder the CPU down, the older ones like my late 2006 model have a replaceable one, but the rest of what @cwa107 said still stands. The Mini can handle at most 3G of memory, the newest ones go to 4G..

Regards
 

cwa107


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Raz0rEdge

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Yeah the upgrade is possible, but the CPU's cost close to $250-275 on eBay, so it's not a very budget friendly upgrade..

Regards
 
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I tossed an Intel T7400 2.16Ghz C2D into my Mac Mini which came stock with a 1.6?Ghz Core Solo CPU. It's pretty simple, you just need to be extra careful on applying the heat paste to the CPU/heat sink. Don't get the paste ANYWHERE else. It's about a 1 hour project at most.

Here's the tutorial I followed...

o0o.it :: Mac Mini Intel Core Duo Upgrade Guide

The CPUs are not that expensive used...

Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile T7400 SKT M 2.16/4M/667 SL9SK - eBay (item 300374536195 end time Jan-04-10 05:36:13 PST)
 

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