Processor question

I know what i'm asking will void the warranty and such because i have to open the case, but i'll be doing that regardless to put a new hard drive in my computer. I would like to upgrade the processor in my computer, and i'm wondering what's the highest i can go. Like can it only support a Core 2 Duo, or can it us a Core 2 Quad? The motherboard i have in mine is the Apple Mac-F42C89C8, and the chipset is an Intel Crestline-GM GM965. I wouldn't mind putting at least a 2.8GHz processor in there, like my friend has in his, and i could definitely notice a difference in performance between mine and his. So, what does it support?

Assuming you're referring to your MacBook Pro, you can't change the processor. It's soldered fast to the motherboard.

Even if you could get it off the BGA (which you can't) the firmware wouldn't work.

miles01110 said:

Even if you could get it off the BGA (which you can't) the firmware wouldn't work.

Click to expand...

I'm not going to say that it's impossible (I like to think that anything is possible)...but I have never never heard of anyone "upgrading" the processor in a MacBook or MacBook Pro (assuming you're talking about the laptop in your signature).

If you REALLY want or need a faster processor...probably best to sell your current laptop, and buy the one you want.


- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I'm not going to say that it's impossible (I like to think that anything is possible)...but I have never never heard of anyone "upgrading" the processor in a MacBook or MacBook Pro (assuming you're talking about the laptop in your signature).

If you REALLY want or need a faster processor...probably best to sell your current laptop, and buy the one you want.


- Nick

Click to expand...

Well, anything is possible. The question is whether the ends justify the means. In theory, you could hire an engineering team to design a firmware that is both compatible and complaint with OS X. You could also get an SMD workstation, extract the processor and then resolder a new processor and put the machine back together again, but in the end, it would cost you much more than just buying a more powerful machine

cwa107 said:

Well, anything is possible. The question is whether the ends justify the means. In theory, you could hire an engineering team to design a firmware that is both compatible and complaint with OS X. You could also get an SMD workstation, extract the processor and then resolder a new processor and put the machine back together again, but in the end, it would cost you much more than just buying a more powerful machine

Click to expand...

I agree...and I was going to add that same thought to my earlier post (about risk vs. return or cost vs. benefit)...but figured I said enough.

I hate to say anything is 100% (possible or impossible)...otherwise someone will dig up some obscure internet article or website just to prove you wrong!

- Nick

This is one of those "If you have to ask the question..." cases.

Yea, miles01110 is right, that's the kind of question it was. I was hoping it was like a desktop where you can just take it out, but i can understand that it's soldered in being it's a laptop. I don't think i would get enough money selling this to get a new one anyways, so i'll just stick with what i have. But in terms of upgrading, what else could I replace, except for the RAM, hard drive, and battery? Like my friend took his apart and enabled the surround sound on the Realtek card, supposedly he said that one of the wires wasn't connected properly inside his computer.

The upgradable items are pretty much limited to memory and HDD. You can change the battery out for an aftermarket unit that supposedly has slightly better capacity, but it's not really worth it.

You could also change out the SuperDrive, but to be quite honest, slot-loading drives are all relatively weak.

But the items that really impact performance like the CPU, GPU and chipset are all soldered fast.

Another thing to consider might be adding an SSD in place of the HDD. You can even get an SSD ExpressCard and use that in tandem with your internal HDD. Install the OS on the SSD and use the mechanical disk for mass storage. That should give you a nice little speed boost if you don't want to shell out a small fortune for a capacious SSD.

Nah, if i had $400 to spend, i would rather spend it on an external blue-ray burner than an SSD. I will be putting in a new HDD soon, but that won't happen for a few months. Now what's your opinion on eSata? I was thinking about getting an expresscard for it, but some people recommend against them, saying the card slot couldn't handle the speed. I do have 2 external drives that support eSata, i'm using them with F800 currently.