David... Also curious about your turbo charging efforts. Can you redirect me to you earlier thread on this please?
i3-3220T is up to the task no doubt but if it is slotted you should be able to swap it out for a i7-3770T which also has a low TDP. Might be difficult to find the 3770T now though. I have that CPU in my CAPs WIP project.
Hi Steve,
Here it is:
MB100- Hard Drive [SSD] + RAM Upgrade Instructions
My upgrade is not magical or remarkable...I think the instructions are great if you or not a tech geek. Otherwise, anyone can do this with ever reading my instructions. I am a fan of SSD, and pro ones at that. SSD drives are dropping in price. The 1TB drive could be considered expensive but I thought $400 bucks or so is not too bad. Heck, folks pay thousands for one power cord or other types of cables - Stillpoints and other goodies. I guess cost is relative. The 128 GB SSD drive here in the USA costs $89 bucks. The RAM upgrade a bargin.
My MB100 boots in 8-12 seconds. That means, I'm playing tunes in 8-12 seconds. I believe with the perhaps newer generation MB100 that I have purchased is a better performer than some of the others that debuted last year. My fan is quiet and others are loud. Chuck H at McIntosh confirms that there are two fan editions. I see no need to replace it...though, I did purchase a replacement and opted to not use it.
I see that that there is discussion about swapping out the CPU and DAC. I thought about purchasing a D150 when it debuted and perhaps modifying and installing the DAC in the MB100. I addressed this idea with both Autonomics and McIntosh. According to both, this will not work. However, with determination and good hackery, I'm sure this could be pulled off or maybe they are just lying. The Autonomics software would need to be tweaked and this is an area I'm not willing to venture - I don't care enough. Too much effort and I do not own any DSD files. I've also thought about replacing the CPU but...why? My system boots in 8 seconds most often... do I need 6-7 seconds?
BTW: I've purchased another MB100 and am considering an entire disassemble and modify. But, the unit I have performs flawlessly... so...I'm not sure what I hope to achieve or would achieve.
There's no question that the MB100 build is done on a budget...and I knew this already but so what, it works. I love the McIntosh brand look and feel even if the MB100 is a budget Media Player.
