5130 to 5160 upgrade question

[maxp]

Hi all, Ive just bought a couple of xeon 5160s(dual core 3ghz) off ebay (paid £60) to upgrade my 5130s(dual core 2ghz).

1 - My current cpus run at about 28-31deg C at idle, what temps should I expect from these new cpus?

2 - Can anyone suggest the best thermal paste to use? I had a look on the net and there are about 5 different options choices, all claiming to be the best.

3 - Can anyone reassure me this is worthwhile

 

[DanielCoffey]

I would use Arctic Silver 5 as your paste but any of the "premium" pastes will do. The cheaper ones may not have the advertised metallic silver content if they use it at all.

For cleaning your new processors and getting old thermal paste off, ArctiClean is excellent - a few cotton buds will make quick work of old paste.

 

[Hellhammer]

1. May depend on the stepping of the CPUs. 5160s have TDP of 80W each which is 15W higher than 5130s. Hard to say but I doubt it will increase much.

 

[MacTower]

Can you tell me if you ended up doing this upgrade, and if so, how it went? What were the Spec code and stepping of the 5160's you used?

I am considering the same 5130 -> 5160 upgrade for my 2006 Xserve, and My only hesitation is due to the comments I've seen about different steppings of the processors; I've seen a few mentions that only G0 steppings will work (SLAG9 Spec code).

The 5160's I'm looking at are B2 stepping (SL9RT Spec code), so I'm not sure if they will work out...

Thanks!

 

[maxp]

Can you tell me if you ended up doing this upgrade, and if so, how it went? What were the Spec code and stepping of the 5160's you used?

I am considering the same 5130 -> 5160 upgrade for my 2006 Xserve, and My only hesitation is due to the comments I've seen about different steppings of the processors; I've seen a few mentions that only G0 steppings will work (SLAG9 Spec code).

The 5160's I'm looking at are B2 stepping (SL9RT Spec code), so I'm not sure if they will work out...

Thanks!

I reckon most steppings should work. I did indeed do the upgrade successfully and both CPUs were SLABS. They run a tiny bit warmer - 1 idles around 34, the other around 37, but I still think thats totally fine.

 

[Umbongo]

I reckon most steppings should work. I did indeed do the upgrade successfully and both CPUs were SLABS. They run a tiny bit warmer - 1 idles around 34, the other around 37, but I still think thats totally fine.

It is. There were no cooling differences on any 1,1 models and Apple of course offered 5160s.