Convert iMac 4,1 Core Duo --> iMac 5,1 Core 2 Duo?!?

[Eug]

I'm thinking I won't attempt this, but otherwise I don't really have much use for this iMac I just got (for free).

iMac 4,1
2 GB RAM
Core Duo 2.0 GHz
Currently running OS X 10.4, but upgradable to 10.6.

I just came across this guide that tells you how to upgrade the machine with a Core 2 Duo to convert it to iMac 4,1 allowing it access 3 GB RAM (and install newer versions of OS X).

Are there any service centres that would actually do this sort of work in Toronto? I'm guessing no, or at least not for a reasonable price considering the age of the machine. That looks WAY too hard for me to do successfully. Plus, it seems like it effectively converts the machine into a Hackintosh Lite.

 

[Rakehellion]

If you're throwing money away, might as well make it a Core 2 Quad.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you're throwing money away, might as well make it a Core 2 Quad.

Hellz yeah.

Also, bolt a watercooler to the back, paint it red, and add ground effects.

 

[mmntech]

The only place I know in the GTA that still services Macs that old is Core 1 (formally Canadian Computer) in Oakville.
http://www.core1.ca/

I wouldn't pay them for that though. That Mac is old, it's not a mission critical system, and you got it for free. Who cares if you screw it up?

If you're throwing money away, might as well make it a Core 2 Quad.

The plastic fantastic iMacs use Socket M, so Core 2 Quads won't fit unfortunately. I like your moxy though.

I'm thinking Maquarium for flat fish. :hmm:

 

[Eug]

That firmware updater that changes my iMac4,1 firmware to the iMac5,1 firmware, not only allows support for Core 2 Duo (T7200 or T7600, not quad), but also independently provides support for 4 GB RAM (3 GB recognizable).

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1122.0.html

Not sure if I'll do this. The RAM swap would be easy enough after the firmware upgrade, but I'm not sure if I'd still have the problems some have had regarding other things (like fan control or inconsistent sleep behaviour. However, I think most of the problems are from swapping the CPU to a C2D and then installing Lion.

 

[Eug]

In the meantime, getting this machine set up properly on 10.6.8 has been an experience.

Safari is woefully out of date. Some sites simply don't like it.

It turns out the only big mainstream browser fully supported on this machine is Firefox. Firefox works with Silverlight for Netflix support.

The latest version of Chrome is not supported, since it requires a 64-bit processor. So I installed Chrome 38, which is supported, but removes Silverlight support for Netflix. However, it won't work with HTML5 Netflix either since the Widevine component won't update. If you manually install the downloaded Widevine version from Google, it does nothing. Then I downgraded to Chrome 34 and it works with Silverlight in Netflix.

Problem with Netflix Silverlight is it stutters in windowed mode, both in Chrome 34 and Firefox, but it does work fine in full screen mode. I stick to SD content for smoothness.

vlc is stuck on version 2.0 for 32-bit. No hardware H.264 acceleration. For my content, 1080p H.264 is about 100% CPU usage (out of 200%) so it plays smoothly unless I multitask. Windowed mode works fine too unlike Silverlight.

MPlayerX is not supported since it requires 64-bit.