Chosen Solution
I have got an Intel I7 870 like the 27” had, I changed the cpu and it didn’t work, I’d it because of the wattage difference or could I potentially use it (prefer to use it; even with risks involved)
Well, you physically could do it, but you’ll likely burnout your system as the chips TDP is much higher 95W vs 73W Intel Core i5-680 CPUIntel Core i7-870 CPU As you can see in reviewing the chips specs you aren’t gaining that much given the risks and costs. I would max the RAM and switch out the HDD for a SSD which will get you more bang for the buck! Make sure you get a SSD which runs at SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) as an example this is what I would go with Samsung 870 EVO note the interface line, it clearly states support for 3.0 Gb/s (SATA II). Make sure what ever drive you go with states it clearly.
