strigi

I have had the reverse problem - something power related on my 7710 failed, and at the time it was cheaper to source a 7720 motherboard. I recall being able to more or less drop in the 7720 motherboard and the screw holes lined up. (In fact, that is how I found NBR in the first place, to see if that doable!) One other thing to consider is that your original daughterboard/IO boards may not match up on the connector. I had an older 7710 pre-Thunderbolt port, so the left side IO board needed to be changed to match the 7720 that had it. However, I also ended up having to change the right side board as well, even though the port layout is the same (I believe). I think electrically the pinout worked, but in my case the plastic guides for the connection were shaped slightly differently and so I got a replacement right side board too. I'm not sure if any of this is relevant if you get a 7710 motherboard with the Thunderbolt port.