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Hi I have a 2011 21.5 iMac and I want to upgrade the CPU. The TDP is only 4W more. It came with a Core i5 2400s which is a 65W TDP. The Xeon E3-1280 is 69W. So has anyone tried this before would it work?
Sadly, the Xeon E3-1280 is not possible! The CPU options for your iMac are limited to the CPU’s used in the series. So in your case iMac12,1 - 2011 21.5” iMac. While the foundations of the CPU are based on the same SandyBridge architecture it is not compatible with your system Reference: Core i7-2600S ProcessorXeon Processor E3-1280
