If you've ever built a PC from scratch or installed a CPU it's easy. The hardest part is to tighten the heatsinks evenly so after applying thermal paste (of course after cleanup).
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CPU (and other) upgrade for MacPro 5,1
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If you've ever built a PC from scratch or installed a CPU it's easy. The hardest part is to tighten the heatsinks evenly so after applying thermal paste (of course after cleanup).
I've never done either of those things.
I read on Pindelski's site about the importance of getting the pressure right on each screw. Others talked about doing five turns on each at a time, not over tightening, backing off if they felt tight even without five turns.
The term for how tight the screws should be is 'finger tight'. In other words if you point out your forefinger and middle finger like a gun and then try to squeeze them together the tightness you feel between the fingers is the level you should aim for. It's not that much.
I upgraded my 4,1 to a 5,1 with Processor and memory upgrades and SSDs and what not.
My brother in law also did the upgrades and we were scared to the upgrade for the CPUs because of the whole delidding process and everything we read online about spacers, and counting the turns, and the CPU fan plugs, etc etc.
We did them both one night without spacers, without modifying the CPU fan plugs, without counting turns and just using common sense to how much pressure the screws in the heat sink took. We both have built many PCs so we have experience with these sort of electronics. We used X5675 3.06ghz processors which is the highest clock processor that still uses the 95W that our boards take. We didn't want to go higher since we have pending upgrades that will consume power, at least I do (MSI 7970 OC Flashed, and modded for PCI 2.0). We used Artic silver Thermal paste and I used a very nice thick 5mm thermal pad I bought on ebay to replace the stock thermal pad that no longer made contact. I actually did that to mine AFTER the first cpu upgrade. So I removed and reinstalled the CPUs 2 times.
all I can say is dont be scared but treat the components with respect. Our CPU arent delidded and we actually got a great deal for 4 CPUs at once which is why we both did the upgrade. We have had no issues with fans speeds or performance drops or anything. We both score right over 28,000 in geekbench. Ive gotten to over 29,000 even on several occasions.
The whole counting turns thing is a good guide to how tight you can go, but we started off counting and then found that the turns weren't what others were saying at least to get it as tight as we thought they should be for best contact, and for the Fan plugs to make contact without having to trim their tabs. So we went with what we kinda just know from previous PC install and kinda just felt our way through hand tightening. May seem unsafe, but again we kinda just know how tight to go and it worked lovely for both of us.
My brother in law also did the upgrades and we were scared to the upgrade for the CPUs because of the whole delidding process and everything we read online about spacers, and counting the turns, and the CPU fan plugs, etc etc.
We did them both one night without spacers, without modifying the CPU fan plugs, without counting turns and just using common sense to how much pressure the screws in the heat sink took. We both have built many PCs so we have experience with these sort of electronics. We used X5675 3.06ghz processors which is the highest clock processor that still uses the 95W that our boards take. We didn't want to go higher since we have pending upgrades that will consume power, at least I do (MSI 7970 OC Flashed, and modded for PCI 2.0). We used Artic silver Thermal paste and I used a very nice thick 5mm thermal pad I bought on ebay to replace the stock thermal pad that no longer made contact. I actually did that to mine AFTER the first cpu upgrade. So I removed and reinstalled the CPUs 2 times.
all I can say is dont be scared but treat the components with respect. Our CPU arent delidded and we actually got a great deal for 4 CPUs at once which is why we both did the upgrade. We have had no issues with fans speeds or performance drops or anything. We both score right over 28,000 in geekbench. Ive gotten to over 29,000 even on several occasions.
The whole counting turns thing is a good guide to how tight you can go, but we started off counting and then found that the turns weren't what others were saying at least to get it as tight as we thought they should be for best contact, and for the Fan plugs to make contact without having to trim their tabs. So we went with what we kinda just know from previous PC install and kinda just felt our way through hand tightening. May seem unsafe, but again we kinda just know how tight to go and it worked lovely for both of us.
So, I just bought 2 x3690 3.46 Ghz processors off Ebay from Stallard Technologies in Overland Park, KS. They came out of a Dell server. They owner even called me to chat and thank me after the purchase. Said they were tested, and had already shipped. The optics of this transaction anyway are excellent. Paid $300 for the pair.
There was a question earlier in the thread about washers - plastic vs aluminum, etc. Anybody know the size of these?
Thanks, everybody. Will let you know how it goes.
Oh, The Stallard guy said to put a pea-sized amount of the thermal paste in the middle of the processor, NOT spread it, and let the contact with the heatsink do the spreading. Any comments?
There was a question earlier in the thread about washers - plastic vs aluminum, etc. Anybody know the size of these?
Thanks, everybody. Will let you know how it goes.
Oh, The Stallard guy said to put a pea-sized amount of the thermal paste in the middle of the processor, NOT spread it, and let the contact with the heatsink do the spreading. Any comments?
^^^^Sorry, but you bought the wrong CPUs. W3690 are meant for single CPU operation only. They will NOT work in a dual CPU application! The processor's you want are X5690, those will work in single CPU 4,1 - 5,1 Mac Pros, but were designed to work in a dual CPU configuration.
Lou
Lou
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Let's see, what day is it again?
I got hold of Stallard and changed the order, which had not actually left the building. They had only 5680's instead of 5690's (3.33 vs 3.46 Ghz).
What the hell is wrong with me?
It happens. Best thing is you caught it before they went in the post.
5680's are great value, I have them in my machine.
Yeah, thanks, for the boost. The 5690's would have been a bit more money, but a bit more speed. He didn't have them at this moment, out of 1600 servers in teardown process.
I've been NPA (not paying attention) all day. Autopilot sucks.
Whew - Glad you got it straightened out
Lou
Thank YOU, Lou, for being quick on the trigger. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed about the 5680, but I really need to get this done and get back to work, and the processors are almost in hand, from a reputable source, and with the Radeon 7970, 48Gb ram, and some SSD drives, I'll be scanning and Pshopping and modeling pretty fast.
I can always go back and redo them, but as you said, all this tech is going to be toast in a few years anyway. When the quantum processors come out with molecular storage attached, and a think-interface on an interdimensional tablet, with holographic hands-on modeling, this will all seem rather quaint.
Don't go anywhere. I may just have a panic attack when I take the heatsinks off (no way).
So there's this IT salvage company in Atlanta that has 15 of the 5690 for sale on Ebay, and they are listed as NEW. Is this too good to be true, or should I just believe it and buy two? I thought they were out of production. NOS maybe?
Ever since I bought the 5680's, I thought I was going to be ok with the slight downgrade in performance, but tonight I've been using the scanner with the Mac Pro as it is (2x2.4Ghz), and it's incredibly slow. I had two 250Mb files open in P'shop and they crashed it (the program) several times. It made me crave more power, like a South American dictator.
So, if these CPUs are for real, I'm going to buy two of them and send the 5680's back.
Ever since I bought the 5680's, I thought I was going to be ok with the slight downgrade in performance, but tonight I've been using the scanner with the Mac Pro as it is (2x2.4Ghz), and it's incredibly slow. I had two 250Mb files open in P'shop and they crashed it (the program) several times. It made me crave more power, like a South American dictator.
So, if these CPUs are for real, I'm going to buy two of them and send the 5680's back.
Nah stick with x5680's, you won't notice the difference anyway.
Your 2x2.4Ghz processors are low end processors. It shouldn't cause crashes though. You need a better graphics card (Photoshop uses it for fluid interaction) and SSD more than a processor.
No, what I'm saying is if you already have the x5680 in hand then just install it and move on to your other upgrades.
I would recommend the xx90's if you didn't have any processors in hand.
Well, they aren't here yet, and the return policy is 30 days. Atlanta's only 100 miles away....
If it's shipped then forget the xx90's. That's my point. Don't lose sleep over it.
Worry about your next upgrades: SSD and Graphics card (And USB 3.0) and possibly RAM.
Yeah, it's only about three hours away on FedEx tracking, plus it's 15% to return a non-defective item.
I don't have a desktop anymore, just my rMBP. But I do have a 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display which I quite like and connect to my rMBP.