Twice the Power, None of the Price.

[iMac600]

Checking in to let you all know that we had our first disposal machine in a while come through the shop yesterday. It basically involved stripping the hard drive out of it, transferring it to a newer machine and then leaving the remaining parts out on the side of the road for collection. Since it was under explicit instruction from the customer that this machine was to be disposed of, and nobody else wanted it, it left two options. Either I take it or we leave it out for collection in which case I take it anyway. Well the shop offered me the former so I picked it up as-is.

iMac Core Duo (Early 2006 17-inch)Intel Core Duo Processor @ 1.83GHz

2GB RAM

No Hard Disk (since installed a 200GB)

ATI Radeon X1600 Graphics 128MB

17" Widescreen LCD Display

Mac OS X Snow Leopard now installed

Box and Foam inserts provided

Doesn't look like there's much wrong with it at all. Some backlight bleed near the base of the LCD and a single pink line running up the LCD about 1 quarter of the way in from the right side of the panel. Logic board is good. RAM is good. No faults found with the graphics card or video circuitry.

I was actually thinking about doing some work on this machine, transfer the panel across from my Core 2 Duo iMac and make it my main system, especially considering it has Bluetooth and Radeon X1600 Graphics, however i'd then lose the Core 2 Duo 64-bit processor (which, although it's a socketed CPU and therefore transferrable, is a total hell of a job to swap). I suppose swapping the CPU Isn't impossible, just tedious.

Still haven't a clue what i'll do with it. Something i'll look into fairly soon.

 

[geeko]

If it has any vertical lines in the screen it can have the LCD replaced for free, even if it is out of warranty. I got one for $20, with ~150 lines in the screen, and I called Apple customer care, and they told me to take it to the Apple store near me. The Apple store took one look at it and said they would repair it for free. I got it back 2 weeks later with a new screen and logic board. This was only about a month or two ago, and I sold it a week ago for $350. Look on the Apple Support Forums, it is very common for these iMacs to develop lines in the screen, and Apple has been replacing them for free.

anyways, Nice Score!

 

[iMac600]

Oh really... I think i'll be speaking to AppleCare tomorrow then.

 

[geeko]

As long as your serial # starts with W860..., you should be good to go. Apple support forums are down right now, so I can't provide any more links that might help you.

http://forums.mactalk.com.au/19/57046-imac-vertical-lines-issue.html

 

[iMac600]

The serial number starts with W861. I may give AppleCare a call regardless and see if they can throw a CS code my way. If they give it the go ahead, i'll probably buy a Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz 4MB L2 FCPGA, seem to be fairly cheap these days) and install it in there for a much needed speed boost with 64-bit support.

 

[iMac600]

Just for the record, Apple has exempted the LCD panel parts and labour charge, so i'll be getting a new LCD for this thing in the next few days, tomorrow at the earliest. So i'm thinking...

New LCD Panel - Free (Apple CS Code)

500GB 7200rpm HDD - Already Own

802.11n AirPort Card - Already Own

2GB PC5300 RAM - Already Own

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200/7600 Processor - Cheapest Price I can find is $65 USD.

Second Antenna for Extended Wireless Range - $15 from Apple

I won't be doing this all straight away, unless I sell some of the older Macs to raise the funds a little, but it will happen. Too good a machine to scrap, and with a new LCD panel it'll be worth keeping in stock form at least.

Also, I promise to get some pics of this machine later. I'll try and get some photos of the build as well.

 

[jsarchibald]

Bloody good score, imagine if the original owner was aware they could have done this! Oh well, that's why we like our Macs!

 

[bizzle]

It's not that horrible to replace the CPU in one of those iMacs. The thing to be careful with is not to bend the heat pipes on the heatsink. I think on most if not all models you can disassembled the finned part and that will eliminate the possibility of that happening. I've always just been too lazy and never did that. It's a shame you aren't local because I have a lot of 1.83-2.16ghz Core2Duo Socket M processors.

 

[iMac600]

Well the CPU I have my eye on at this stage is $65 plus international shipping, so i'd be shipping it from elsewhere anyway. Entirely possible that if you have one or two of the CPUs up for grabs, I may be able to arrange something.

 

[bizzle]

Send me your address so I can get a quote for shipping. If it's cheap enough I'll see what I can send you. I have a few more of these machines laying around that I need to pull CPUs from.

 

[jruschme]

Bizzle,

Would you have anything in a Core2Duo Socket M available for someone in NJ?

John

 

[bizzle]

Yes. I have a Core Duo 1.83ghz and a Core 2 Duo 2.16ghz sitting infront of me. I'd let them go pretty cheap. I'll include a warranty for 7 days. If you're in NJ I'd prefer you come get them from me in person. I am in Deptford.

 

[iMac600]

PM sent.

What generation is the 2.13GHz? Pretty sure to work in the iMac it has to be:

- Merom

- 667MHz FSB

- FCPGA6 (Socket M)

Wikipedia has a list of compatible CPUs, it has one of the T2xxx Core Duos in there at the moment, and I know a T5600 and T7200 will work (1.83GHz and 2.0GHz respectively). Ideally i'd like to go for 2.0GHz or higher, but it depends what's available. On the side, no idea if a Xeon will work on there, but imagine if it did. Insane. :lol:

 

[bizzle]

The 2.13 (as labelled on the CPU) is from a 2.16ghz 20" white Imac. It should work fine in any white iMac or socketed Mini.

 

[iMac600]

That CPU is absolutely the correct one, Intel T7400, 667MHz FSB, Merom Core. Once you have a price figure on it, let me know.

 

[bizzle]

I pulled another 1.83 T5600 Core2Duo, and I have two more to pull. The 2.13 is actually slightly chipped on the corner and I do not know if it'll affect how it'll work. If you want, I'll gladly send you a few 1.83ghz Core2Duos for just the cost of shipping. I guess I can send the 2.16 and two 1.83ghz T5600 chips and if it works for you than great and then you'll have spares for any other machines you may get. I am never going to actually bother putting this 2.13 in anything for myself and the machines I fix for family/friends I am not going to bother upgrading them for a few more megahertz.

 

[iMac600]

Sounds like a plan. If the CPU's slightly chipped on the corner, it depends if any of the pins have been damaged. If all the pins are intact, chances are the traces are fine. If you mean the CPU die though, could be a different story. Either way, I won't know until I test it.

Will send a PM through in a sec.

 

[bizzle]

Not the die, it's pretty small and all the pins are fine, you can barely see it. It's on the right corner of the top CPU.

 

[Hrududu]

So would a Core 2 Duo from an iMac be compatible with a late 2006 Core Duo Mini? I got a 1.86GHz Core Duo Mini for cheap this summer, and upgrading it to something like 2.16GHz or something would be awesome. Is there a list somewhere of which CPU's are compatible with this socket?