as long as these are socketed i wouldnt see why not, ebay has the 1156 intel core i7's in both 2.8 and 2.93 GHZ and they are both 95w which seems to be the same as the core i5

I dont think you can upgrade the Processor to the one you are talking about, beacause of the Socket, the Core i7's Used in these are Socket 1156, if the Processor your talking about is a i7-940 then thats socket 1366 so its not compatible, and dont forget about heat concerns.

The i5 has 1156 BGA. The two entry level i7 (i7-850 & i7-860) also has 1156 BGA. My iMAC has the 1156 socket.

Note: The iFixit teardown pics are of a Core 2 Duo system.

Jim

Since the iMac is alo offerd with an 1156 form i7 2.8 GHz chip as an optional upgrade, I'd wager that at the very least THAT particular chip would work. The 2.93 part may work to, but the BIOS must support the part and that is up in the air. I'd say the chance of success for the 2.8 i7 chip is probably high enough to warrant a try though.

It'd be great to find future support for additional 1156 based chips inside too!

The i7 Intel processor in the 27" iMac is a 2.8 GHz Intel Quad Core i7-860

Uses the LGA1156 Socket

But its the only one in the group that has expanded options available on chip.

'''Expansion Options

PCI Express Revision 2.0

PCI Express Configurations 1x16, 2x8

1. of PCI Express Ports 1

''' This is the spec sheet from Intel for the Quad Core i7-860 :

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=413...

This site is the Intel's i7 Family Product spec sheet:

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.a...

In conclusion It may be possable to to replace a i5 with the i7-860. but you may not be able to replace a i7-860 with a 3.20 GHz Intel Core™ i7-960 Processor

Kristyanna Virgona

I can see everyone is talking but no one actually spent 1000£ just to try it, well I did and the answer is No. In my case I tryed to upgrade the 3.06 i3 processor mid 2010 iMac with the i7 860. The processor fits all right and the iMac starts but it does not boot, wich means somehow the bios does not recognise the processor. Could be a power issue wich I'm not 100% sure because it starts. But also could be the nm issue. The i3 is 32 nm the i7 is 45nm. It deffinetly works with a processor that has the same socket , nm, and power as the existent one wich means an i5 but that's not too much of an upgrade is it?

C0L3 ST. J0HN

Yes, it works 100%! I don't have a link, but I have read it somewhere on the internet.

There is though not a single reason to void the warranty to upgrade the CPU.

i7 860 is not that better than a i5 750. HT is still not used by 99% of the programs. It just will eat more power, that's it.

In two years, when your warranty is up, you can try that. And yes, it will work!

yes , it will work, is the same socket and apple supports those processors, i change a while ago to my old iMac 2.0 to 2.8 extreme , works like a charm, what i need to know is if the new iMac [2010] 3.06Ghz socket lga 775 can be upgradable with a Quad core same socket ? [ cuz apple have not suppoted YET that processor in 10.6.3 ]

as I know that iMac27 design with i5 1156pin socket CPU, if it's possible without any BIOS update to change into i7 1156pin CPU? on the other hand, If I change CPU by myself after warranty, can I get BIOS or F/W solution from Apple's technical support? if any charge I accept.

Hello jedmunds1,

Yes, there is a high possibility that a i7-860 and i7-870 CPU will work because these processors, included the i5-750 are based on the same core, named "Lynnfield" and are all the same.

So if you are trying this at home be careful and good luck!

J.T.

P.S. Don't use the unlocked version of the i7-875K, BIOS not supported.

Yes you can. Follow my guide here - Upgrade iMac Intel Core i3 CPU to Core i7