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databaze

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
53
8
Im using Handbrake to convert a .MOV file to x264. Every time, it crashed my mac pro, & when I read the logs, it seems like it it could be the video card since it shows Nvidia as the cause for the kernel panic.
I got a GTX 680 4gb flashed, could this be the cause?
I am currently rendering the file just fine (Even to x265) on my MPB i7 so there has to be something wrong with my Mac Pro
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,584
Hong Kong
Unless you manually insert the command OpenCL=1 in the Advanced tab, the GPU should be doing absolutely nothing in Handbrake.
 

owbp

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2016
719
245
Belgrade, Serbia
Have you tried stressing your CPU with something else to see if it will crash your Mac?

I would go with "yes > /dev/null &" in Terminal (repeat until CPU utilization is 100%) because then you would be absolutely sure that CPU, PSU or temperatures are not causing the problem. Then it really is GPU.
If everything goes well after few minutes, kill process with "killall yes".
 

orph

macrumors 68000
Dec 12, 2005
1,884
393
UK
are you running the native osx driver or the nvidia driver ? might be worth a try using the one your not using at the mo to see if that fixes it (iv had crashes in app where switching the driver fixes it).

this app can also be used to max out the cpu, if your less happy with terminal
https://www.bresink.com/osx/SystemLoad.html
 

databaze

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
53
8
I did, I ran a geekbench stress test and got kernel panics after a few minutes... I think my CPU's are bad :(
 

Synchro3

macrumors 68000
Jan 12, 2014
1,987
850
Re-apply thermal paste on the CPU's. Worth a try. I never heard of dying Xeon CPU's.
 

databaze

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
53
8
Did you monitor the CPU temperature during the stress test?

After I saw your post I did, and I used Macs Fan Control to put all fans almost at max speed. Then I ran a 5 minute test on x64 and got no panics, temps:

6P6hVn8.png



After that, I put all fans to Auto and ran same test, I got a panic about 3:30 minutes into the 5 minute test, temps are the last I was able to capture before crash, but they went to 100 C for CPU PCECI and around the same for Diode:

oXU5B8G.png



The CPU's are delided, and I think I got the thermal paste just fine (centered line of paste on CPU), what you do you guys think?


UPDATE: Ran a 10 minute test with fans at max, no kernel panics, issues is temp for sure IMO. Now what options do I have really....
 
Last edited:

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,584
Hong Kong
It seems CPU A is too hot with native fan profile. The Mac should keep it at or below 85C, I assume that 89 is not the max, but just the momentary temperature during you capture the screen. It may actually go slightly over 90C.

20C separation between CPU diode and heat sink means the thermal paste is working, but can be a little bit better (e.g. around 15C).

A simple work around would be setup your own Boost A fan profile in MacsFanControl. e.g.
Screen Shot 2016-09-12 at 05.44.20.jpg

You can try some different numbers and make it run at or below 80C. No need to be too extreme, and just make a profile that you are happy with (in both temperature and fan noise)

The way to find out the Min / Max temperatures is simple.

e.g. You want to keep it at 70C as you first pic does.

Assume CPU A idle at 50C - 800RPM, Max at 70C - 4000 RPM.

4000 - 800 = 3200

e.g. If you want the fan start spin up at 60C.

70 - 60 = 10

That means you want the fan spin up 320 RPM for every 1C

Boost A max RPM is 5200.

5200 - 800 = 4400

4400 / 320 ~ 14

So, the profile will be

Min 60C
Max 74C (60+14)

In this case, the fan will start spinning up from 60C, increase 320 RPM for every 1C, and slowly reach your decided equilibrium point (70C, 4000RPM).
 
Last edited:

databaze

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
53
8
It seems CPU A is too hot with native fan profile. The Mac should keep it at or below 85C, I assume that 89 is not the max, but just the momentary temperature during you capture the screen. It may actually go slightly over 90C.

20C separation between CPU diode and heat sink means the thermal paste is working, but can be a little bit better (e.g. around 15C).

A simple work around would be setup your own Boost A fan profile in MacsFanControl. e.g.
View attachment 650366
You can try some different numbers and make it run at or below 80C. No need to be too extreme, and just make a profile that you are happy with (in both temperature and fan noise)

The way to find out the Min / Max temperatures is simple.

e.g. You want to keep it at 70C as you first pic does.

Assume CPU A idle at 50C - 800RPM, Max at 70C - 4000 RPM.

4000 - 800 = 3200

e.g. If you want the fan start spin up at 60C.

70 - 60 = 10

That means you want the fan spin up 320 RPM for every 1C

Boost A max RPM is 5200.

5200 - 800 = 4400

4400 / 320 ~ 14

So, the profile will be

Min 60C
Max 74C (60+14)

In this case, the fan will start spinning up from 60C, increase 320 RPM for every 1C, and slowly reach your decided equilibrium point (70C, 4000RPM).
This seems like a good idea, now, you said that CPU A is too hot with the native fan profile, is this related to it being a 4.1>5.1 upgrade or you think it has to do simply with bad thermal paste?

I will set a profile and see what happens, thanks so much for your recommendations, I really appreciate it.
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,584
Hong Kong
This seems like a good idea, now, you said that CPU A is too hot with the native fan profile, is this related to it being a 4.1>5.1 upgrade or you think it has to do simply with bad thermal paste?

That doesn't looks like a bad thermal paste. If purely bad thermal paste application, the fan should spin up a lot more, but the CPU still hot (because the heat cannot effectively transfer to the heatsink).

I assume you are using those 130W CPU, which the dual processor cMP never shipped with. So, it's possible that the native setting never designed to handle such amount of heat and cause the problem.
 
Last edited:

pastrychef

macrumors 601
Sep 15, 2006
4,753
1,450
New York City, NY
You have to be extra careful if you upgraded to dual 130W CPUs. The 4,1 and 5,1s were never shipped with dual 130W CPUs, so you have to increase fan speeds to compensate for the added heat when putting a heavy load on the CPUs.
 
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