MP 1,1-5,1 CPUs dying on old 2009 MP?

[darkgoob]

I'm getting periodic freezes on my venerable 2009 Mac Pro (Dual 2.26 Ghz):

Looking into it, this seems to be related to CPU L1 cache failing. I am still on the original CPUs.

So I am wondering, now that I can get those CPU upgrades very cheap on eBay, and I'm interested to prolong its life, what is my best option?

I don't care about maxing its speed, I just want to make it über stable for another few years until I can sell some BTC and buy one of those new cheesegraters or whatever they have at the time.

I read that the X5690 & X5680 both run pretty hot, which I don't mind if it's stable—but I do mind if it's going to remain crashy and weird.

The thing is just an offline fileserver at this point.

Last question: after I flash it to 5,1, could it run Big Sur? Or if not, is there a secure OS I could trust to run on it? I have 10.8.5 currently, which is the last version of macOS they ever should have made... but I'm sure it's a walking dumpster of exploits by today's standards lol.

 

[mattspace]

The 3.06ghz x5675 is a "cooler" CPU than the 80 & 90, and was the fastest / hottest CPU offered from the factory in the dual processor machines. You can / could find them delidded as an XServe-pull.

 

[Macschrauber]

post the temperatures with a tool like MacsFanControl.

northbridge pins tend to break.

 

[Macsonic]

@darkgoob Aside from checking the Northbridge, if you have another extra SSD or HD with a bootable OSX, you can try booting and test if the freezing still occurs. Sometimes could be a 3rd party app problem. There was a time, I had frequent freezing problems before. Changed the HD to another HD with a bootable OS to test. In the backup HD, there were no freezing problems and running smoothly. After checking, a trial version of an image viewer app that was somehow causing the Finder to freeze was the cause of the problem. Reformatted the HD with the freezing problem and all was working fine after that.

 

[darkgoob]

post the temperatures with a tool like MacsFanControl.

northbridge pins tend to break.

I have not modified my machine other than adding different GPUs over time. Why would the NB pins break?

 

[Macschrauber]

They get old without your fault

 

[jscipione]

I have not modified my machine other than adding different GPUs over time. Why would the NB pins break?

They are made of plastic and are under tension so they can degrade over time on their own without you touching anything. I'd say a CPU re-paste and a NorthBridge re-paste is in order. Thermal paste only works for so long.

 

[jameslmoser]

I have not modified my machine other than adding different GPUs over time. Why would the NB pins break?

I've had several machines where they broke. These work perfectly as replacements:

GENNEL 50pcs Heatsink Spring Rivet Fastener Push Pin Mounting Screw for PC GPU VGA Card Fan Northbridge Chipset Heatsink

* 100% new. Easy to install. * Made of plastic. * Length : 22mm, as the pictures show Package Includes: * 50pcs Spring Rivet Fastener.

www.amazon.com

 

[avro707]

Nothing that you've wrong - but those are old plastic parts and old plastic fasteners break. I would suggest ordering the ones listed above, I've also purchased a 50 pack for my own Mac Pro. It still is in beautiful condition and runs great but I'm aware it's an old machine so I'm stocking up on the bits and pieces I could need in the future to keep it going.

You would also be worth looking into getting some replacement CPUs as well. They are cheap on Amazon. For yours I guess you need de-lidded versions. Mine was easier as I have the 5,1 which uses just regular CPUs.