Delidding a Xeon X5690 with only a Vice (video)

[SolidCake]

Hey guys,

I made a video about delidding a Xeon X5690 using only a vice! The results where perfect! After cleaning up and successfully testing the first one I went on to the second. Both turned out great and my Mac Pro 4,1 is quite and blazingly fast.

The reason why I chose this method is that I did not want to tamper with the Mac itself. I did not like the idea of blades coming near the capacitors and applying heat to the chip so I opted for this method. Not to mention I found this method rather cost-effective.

I hope this video helps you guys out with upgrading your Mac Pro 4,1!

 

[flowrider]

Why post this twice?

Lou

 

[AidenShaw]

Why post this twice?

Lou

Maybe to show that it wasn't a typo the first time - she can't spell "vise"?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^
lol - totally missed that

Lou

 

[richgoga]

Maybe to show that it wasn't a typo the first time - she can't spell "vise"?

Depends on if you use proper English or "American". Personally, I prefer proper English. Vise is an Americanism, like "Aluminum", which isn't actually a word.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vise

Treat this spelling/grammar police lesson as an elongated version of my favourite saying... "Don't be a dick to people"

 

[box185]

Hey guys,

I made a video about delidding a Xeon X5690 using only a vice! The results where perfect! After cleaning up and successfully testing the first one I went on to the second. Both turned out great and my Mac Pro 4,1 is quite and blazingly fast.

The reason why I chose this method is that I did not want to tamper with the Mac itself. I did not like the idea of blades coming near the capacitors and applying heat to the chip so I opted for this method. Not to mention I found this method rather cost-effective.

I hope this video helps you guys out with upgrading your Mac Pro 4,1!

Gives me motivation to make a video as well . . .

 

[flowrider]

"Aluminum", which isn't actually a word."Don't be a
dick to people"

Who brought Aluminum into this?

Lou

 

[AidenShaw]

"Don't be a dick to people"

Didn't you catch that the winking smiley was a clue that the post was a joke? Read your saying out loud.

 

[SolidCake]

I don't live in the US so I chose to go with "the rest of the world" spelling for the clamping tool

Gives me motivation to make a video as well . . .

Thanks! Would love to see the video!

 

[richgoga]

Didn't you catch that the winking smiley was a clue that the post was a joke? Read your saying out loud.

Nope... Because it's not funny.

 

[AidenShaw]

I don't live in the US so I chose to go with "the rest of the world" spelling for the clamping tool

The "rest of the world" uses terms like "tornillo de banco" or "étau" or ...

Nope... Because it's not funny.

Why not?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

that's a pretty cool video. Sure beats heating the hell out of the solder to loosen the heatsink then have all that solder to clean up off the die.

 

[frou]

Nice. I would be inclined to acquire some super-cheap crappy CPU to do a practice run with first.

 

[golip]

Yeah I'd be petrified of breaking the cou , you have to be very precise , I'm amazed the plastic takes such force without cracking

 

[ActionableMango]

I am amazed that the PCB held up and it was the solder that broke. This adjusts my apparently incorrect perception of how strong solder is.

Now that I've seen it work, twice, it does seem better than the razor method. The razor method seems way too risky and has definitely damaged many processors--so many that there's actually an Ebay repair service for replacing the damaged components for shaved processors.

 

[theunderseaclub]

Great vid, that seems less risky to me than heating up the head spreader with a torch/heat gun, then putting razer blades under the lid to pop it off. When I finally get ahold of a dual cpu tray for my single CPU 4.1, I'll probably use the vise method (with cheap cpus for practice of course).

 

[ActionableMango]

Any other success or failure stories from using the vice method? I have two x5690's on the way and I'm waffling on whether I will delid them or not. Right now the vice method is at the top of my list though.

 

[DPUser]

Unlike alternative facts, alternative spelling is, on occasion, acceptable.

 

[natjonesart]

Just delidded two 5675 last night using this video as my guide. Took my time and everything went well. I am typing to you on my 2009 cMP with those same X5675's installed right now

 

[ActionableMango]

Just delidded two 5675 last night using this video as my guide. Took my time and everything went well. I am typing to you on my 2009 cMP with those same X5675's installed right now

Thanks, I've decided that I will try this method. I have two x5690s coming next week to delid. I have a spare w3630 to do a practice delidding with.

 

[fhturner]

Worked for me x 5. I tested 2.66GHz quad chip first, which worked. Then delidded my 2010's pair of 2.66GHz 6-cores to move to an 8-core 2.26. Then delidded a pair of 3.46 hex-cores to go into a 2009 machine build-up for a client. All chips worked fine. Just be very methodical and careful. The 2010 machine of mine also got 3.46s, but they obviously didn't need to be delidded.

 

[SolidCake]

All I can say is that I have experienced zero issues so far. Please let us know what method you decided on and how it went!

 

[ActionableMango]

Please let us know what method you decided on and how it went!

I did a practice run with an old w3630 from my 2010 MP (worth about $5 on Ebay). I have to say that it came off quite easily. In the video it appears that you had to use a heck of a lot of pressure but in my case it took hardly any and it popped right off.

What do you do about the solder remaining on the CPU? Nobody seems to talk about this. I happened to have a razor window scraper that was perfect for the job and left a very smooth surface, but I wonder what others have tried.

 

[rueyloon]

What do you do about the solder remaining on the CPU? Nobody seems to talk about this. I happened to have a razor window scraper that was perfect for the job and left a very smooth surface, but I wonder what others have tried.

I scrapped it off with a cut up credit card. But I protected the rest of the processor with tape first because I don't want to slip and pop a resistor off. I just scrape until I reach the hard metal surface.

 

[natjonesart]

I did a practice run with an old w3630 from my 2010 MP (worth about $5 on Ebay). I have to say that it came off quite easily. In the video it appears that you had to use a heck of a lot of pressure but in my case it took hardly any and it popped right off.

What do you do about the solder remaining on the CPU? Nobody seems to talk about this. I happened to have a razor window scraper that was perfect for the job and left a very smooth surface, but I wonder what others have tried.

I used a standard single-edged razor blade. I worked slowly and was very careful, paying special attention to not damage the capacitors. A clean work area and light are a good idea, I used a magnifying lamp.