MP 1,1-5,1 Hex 3.2 update from 2010 quad 2.8 photos new! CPU to use!

[tjlazer]

As stated earlier in this therad the 3.2ghz is about half of what the 3.33 costs. I just don't see why anybody would do the 3.33 upgrade since you can just order it direct from Apple with that cpu already in place for 1200$.

Imo the whole idea here is that you can get pretty much the same performance from a 600$ upgrade by putting in the 3.2ghz hexa core yourself (which you can't buy from Apple).

I just wanted to post that I just did the 3.20 GHz hex core upgrade to my 2009 Mac Pro! Works great. I was eye balling the W3670 and W3680 for a while to see if prices would fall. Well the W3680 3.3Ghz were not dropping much at all and hovering in the $600 range. Well I just last week found a W3670 3.2 GHz Hex CPU used on eBay for $315 shipped so I snatched it up! I am glad I did as that was the price point I wanted. I think there have been a few selling in that range if you are interesting in getting a 3.2GHz Hex core for a good price.

 

[philipma1957]

I just wanted to post that I just did the 3.20 GHz hex core upgrade to my 2009 Mac Pro! Works great. I was eye balling the W3670 and W3680 for a while to see if prices would fall. Well the W3680 3.3Ghz were not dropping much at all and hovering in the $600 range. Well I just last week found a W3670 3.2 GHz Hex CPU used on eBay for $315 shipped so I snatched it up! I am glad I did as that was the price point I wanted. I think there have been a few selling in that range if you are interesting in getting a 3.2GHz Hex core for a good price.

nice now turn and around and sell the quad cpu for 100 and you will sett the record for the lowest price upgrade!!

 

[RoastingPig]

quick question who is using 10.8.4 on a 2010 mac pro with this hex upgrade... i have a friend who is really interested in doing this upgrade but he wants to run the latest os update

 

[RoastingPig]

quick question who is using 10.8.4 on a 2010 mac pro with this hex upgrade... i have a friend who is really interested in doing this upgrade but he wants to run the latest os update

also have any of you guys encountered problems when doing those small os updates like 10.8.2 to 10.8.3 and having like kernal panics or something

 

[vbt101]

I paid $607 shipped for the w3690 on eBay.

Have had any issues with any upgrades and I'm all up to date.

 

[DPUser]

I'm on 10.8.3 with my 4,1>5,1 hex 3.33, haven't got around to the latest OS update yet, but 10.8.3 is great!

 

[philipma1957]

historically every osx 10.6, 10.7 ,10.8 have all been okay with this upgrade.

 

[RoastingPig]

so if i go ahead and do this upgrade on a 5.1 2.8 quad mac pro and follow all labor directions is there anything that has to be done software related i was reading something about a firmware hack? also i have to get 1333 ram to replace the stock ram right?

 

[Draeconis]

so if i go ahead and do this upgrade on a 5.1 2.8 quad mac pro and follow all labor directions is there anything that has to be done software related i was reading something about a firmware hack? also i have to get 1333 ram to replace the stock ram right?

Firmware hack is only to allow MacPro4,1s to do the same update, since you have a 5,1 no firmware hack is needed.

You don't have to get 1333MHz RAM, I have 16Gb EEC running at 1066MHz, the performance difference is about 2-3%.

I'd be interested to know if anyone here has tried a 4,1 or a 5,1 running a W3670 or W3690 has tried OS X 10.9 Mavericks on it yet? Can't see why it wouldn't work as the support for the CPU microcode should be the same, but who knows eh

 

[RoastingPig]

sweet just picked one up for $574

 

[philipma1957]

sweet just picked one up for $574

good luck with the upgrade!

 

[wonderspark]

quick question who is using 10.8.4 on a 2010 mac pro with this hex upgrade... i have a friend who is really interested in doing this upgrade but he wants to run the latest os update

I just went to 10.8.4 from 10.6.8, direct install over Snow Leopard. (Not a clean install.) I've been editing video with CS6 and playing around with all the other programs without issues.

 

[Studio K]

Even with 12 instances of /dev/null running, I still only see 61°C for the diode and 47°C for the heatsink. The cores themselves top out around 70°C. See screenshot 1 for details.

That said, I've changed my fan behaviour using a fan control utility. I seem to remember my temperatures were somewhat higher before using it. See screenshot 2 for my settings.

I am curious what your fan speeds are when you stress your CPU. Topping at at 61C for the diode is a pretty low temperature compared to what I'm getting. 3 instances of /dev/null (38% usage) sends my temp above 70C easily (using a W3570 on Mac Pro 4,1 quad-core).

Are you able to monitor your fan RPM's? With iStat or something? If so, would you please share what they are?

 

[cal6n]

Here are the temps and fan speeds while 12 instances are running on my W3680 hex 3.33 GHz.

Monitored using HardwareMonitor.

 

[philipma1957]

I am curious what your fan speeds are when you stress your CPU. Topping at at 61C for the diode is a pretty low temperature compared to what I'm getting. 3 instances of /dev/null (38% usage) sends my temp above 70C easily (using a W3570 on Mac Pro 4,1 quad-core).

Are you able to monitor your fan RPM's? With iStat or something? If so, would you please share what they are?

did you ever change out heatsink paste?


I like istat menus 3 as it allows for complete fan control. I no longer own the mac pro I did this upgrade with but i still have istat menus 3 see screen shot.

 

[Studio K]

Here are the temps and fan speeds while 12 instances are running on my W3680 hex 3.33 GHz.

Monitored using HardwareMonitor.

Thanks so much for the reply. I will try to duplicate your results by setting my fan speeds to match yours. 1250 rpms for intake and exhaust. 2000 rpms for BOOSTA.

With BOOST fan at 1800 rpms and the other 2 at 1250, I stabilize at 74C at full load. Moving the BOOST up a bit higher may bring me down to your temp.

I've not tried the application you are using. Is it any good? It just controls the CPU fans, correct?

 

[Studio K]

did you ever change out heatsink paste?


I like istat menus 3 as it allows for complete fan control. I no longer own the mac pro I did this upgrade with but i still have istat menus 3 see screen shot.

I did change the thermal paste. I used Noctua NT-H1. I've never applied the stuff before (certainly not in a Mac Pro), so I've been very attentive to Temperatures now.
I do hope that the paste I used is effective. The Noctua paste has good feedback from users and it is non-conductive, too. It claims to have no 'cure' time, either.
Does it really matter what brand of Thermal paste one uses?

 

[hfg]

Here are the temps and fan speeds while 12 instances are running on my W3680 hex 3.33 GHz.

Monitored using HardwareMonitor.

How do you get the core temps to display with Hardware Monitor?

 

[philipma1957]

I did change the thermal paste. I used Noctua NT-H1. I've never applied the stuff before (certainly not in a Mac Pro), so I've been very attentive to Temperatures now.
I do hope that the paste I used is effective. The Noctua paste has good feedback from users and it is non-conductive, too. It claims to have no 'cure' time, either.
Does it really matter what brand of Thermal paste one uses?

somewhat.
here is a good article

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nt-h1_thermal_paste/2

more important is not too much not too little. proper contact with the heatsink which is done with proper tensioning of the heat sink screws.

(assuming the heatsink and the cpu are fairly level proper tension with proper paste application should work)

 

[cal6n]

Thanks so much for the reply. I will try to duplicate your results by setting my fan speeds to match yours. 1250 rpms for intake and exhaust. 2000 rpms for BOOSTA.

With BOOST fan at 1800 rpms and the other 2 at 1250, I stabilize at 74C at full load. Moving the BOOST up a bit higher may bring me down to your temp.

I've not tried the application you are using. Is it any good? It just controls the CPU fans, correct?

The only utility I use to control the fan speeds is the Fan Control preference pane. I just experimented with the settings until I was happy. My aim was to keep the fans quiet under low load conditions but ramp the speeds quite aggressively once the load increases.

How do you get the core temps to display with Hardware Monitor?

I just renamed the sensors as I saw fit and put them in their own history window with custom colours. Hardware Monitor detected 12 core sensor feeds but was only obtaining readings for sensors 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. I suspect the even sensors are reserved for 12 core models. With hindsight, I should probable have renamed them 1 thru 6.

did you ever change out heatsink paste?


*snip*

I've used Zalman STG-1 for some years now. The brush method of application guarantees a good thermal connection over 100% of the chip/pad contact area with virtually no excess being squeezed out and I've had very good results wherever I've used it.

 

[steveOooo]

Is there a cut off time when intel will stop manufacturing the chips?

Will the prices drop or go higher when they stop making them?

Would like a w3690 or w3680 but there £1000/£600 here in the uk

 

[sbarton]

Once intel releases the refreshed xeon lineup, manufacturers will start making new servers and workstations with them. Eventually, you'll start seeing recyclers stripping old servers and workstations of the older cpus and selling them more cheaply than what you're seeing now perhaps a year from now (guessing).

 

[adr1974]

mac pro 5,1 upgrade

going to take the upgrade plunge as well. realized that prices on the W5590s have come way down. just bought 2 for a total of $350 from a reputable eBay seller. should provide a nice pop over the dual 2.4s.

 

[poobah]

Hex core processors

Another possible CPU source, a vendor on ebay has been selling 1U Silicon Mechanics servers with w3690s inside. I picked one up for about $400 shipped, way less than just the bare cpu. Going to swap the quad from my Mac Pro in it, and resell. I was searching for w3670, 80 & 90 in auction text.

Good Luck!

 

[jetjaguar]

I am going to do 3.46 hex swap into my 4,1 quad .. if i currently have 1066 ram can I install the cpu and upgrade the ram after or will that not work ?