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Model A1311 / Mid 2011 / 2.5 & 2.7 GHz Core i5 or 2.8 GHz Core i7 Processor

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Good idea to upgrade mid 2011 iMac’s CPU, GPU and hard drive in go?

Late to the game but ready to upgrade my mid2011 iMac. Is it advisable to upgrade the cpu, gpu and ssd in one go? It seems like a no brained to do it all at once to avoid opening the Mac multiple times. Thanks

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Honestly, if you have the time and the parts to upgrade your machine in one go then I say go for it. Your machine will definitely get a boost in performance from installing an SSD, and you can easily upgrade your processor with a i7 2600s (65W) or 6770m. Although I'm not aware of too many compatible upgrade options for the GPU, but hopefully someone can point out some options.

iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 CPU Image

Guide

iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 CPU Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

3 - 5 hours

iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 Hard Drive Image

Guide

iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 Hard Drive Replacement

Difficulty:

Moderate

45 minutes - 1 hour

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You have a few hurdles here!

First you are limited on what CPU's will even work in your system. Jumping from an i5 to an i7 makes sense but upping the GHz really doesn't as its not that big a gain (i5 2.5 to 2.7GHz). You are locked in with the Sandy Bridge Core i7 2.7GHz (2600S) So before you go crazy consider that.

GPU is also a bit of a challenge to! You need to use Apple programed MXM GPU boards as they have custom firmware unless you have the skills to program the EEROM and the drivers also are a factor while you could put in a more powerful board the video driver will only run in compatibility mode so the extras are not active. Bottom line you're stuck with either the AMD Radeon HD 6750M or Radeon HD 6770M boards. And now the real kicker finding one that works! I would strongly recommend doing this task alone! If you don't and did every thing else you'll be pulling your hair out not knowing if it was bad or if you made a mistake in something else.

The hard drive is the last piece if you've going that deep why don't you just install the dual drive Installing iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 Dual Drive Kit Then make it your primary boot drive and make your HDD a data only drive. That way you gain the performance of dual SATA I/O channels! If you just want the one drive don't forget you need the adapter frame for the smaller SSD.

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1 Comment:

Thanks for the advice. Hadn’t thought of that.

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