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Hi guys, I’ve bought a 27” iMac (A1312) with a damaged case for a good price. Managed to get a spare empty case in excellent condition off eBay and want to change the complete internals over to the new case. At the same time i’ll replace the HDD with a OWC SSD and i’ve also purchased an i7 quad core processor to replace the i5 currently in there. All going well, this should be a great machine to keep me going for a year or two. I’ve looked at the teardown guide on here, which gives me more or less all the main bits that come out, just wondering if anyone has been through the process and can warn me of anything I need to watch out for, or if there is a proper step by step guide to follow, just so I do everything correctly (and make it a lot easier to follow with so many screws and cables!) . I’ve followed many excellent fixit guides in the past for HDD upgrades on my mac minis. Any help or advice much appreciated!
Take pictures as you go. I use old empty pill bottles for the screws on each section of a teardown and label them. There is not a guide for the logic board (which would be the most complete) on your machine but you may want to take a look at the teardown: iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Teardown
Sorry we don’t have any guides that get that deep. Just take your time. As you didn’t tell us how stripped the case is you may have some of the parts still attached (part from a dead system?) Do keep in mind this series SATA ports are only SATA II (3.0 GB/s) so make sure you get the correct SSD from OWC and you’ll need the in-line thermal sensor as well. Review this guide iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Hard Drive Replacement iFixit also sells a upgrade kit with all of the needed pieces & tools.
