I have been wanting to do this upgrade for quite some time but have been procrastinating. Turns out that I should have done this ages ago - this was a very, very, very simple job.
I bought:
Item: 2 x 3.06GHz X5675 processors
Where from: eBay
Item: ArctiClean 60ml Kit (includes 30ml ArctiClean 1 and 30ml ArctiClean 2) and 3.5grams Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Where from: http://www.amazon.com/ArctiClean-3-...ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412014849&sr=1-2
Item: Eklind 3mm X 9"long Hex Key T-handle
Where from: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X285AW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Item: Packet of cotton sticks.
Where from: Any supermarket or pharmacy.
I wanted to make sure that I kept side A stuff separate from side B, hence the Post-it notes. I ended up not needing that.
I also printed out the relevant pages from the Mac Pro Apple Technician Guide. Also didn’t need that.
I also had this video clip loaded on my Apple TV:
There are other YouTube clips that you can watch - just do a search for Mac Pro upgrade on YouTube.
I started by removing the processor tray from the Mac Pro.
I used the 3mm allen key to undo the four bolts that hold the heat sink to the logic board.
Once the bolts are undone then the heat sinks lift off easily enough. You can see the thermal paste on each of the heat sinks and processors.
A close-up photo of the bottom of a heat sink. You can see some dust that I had to remove. Each of the four bolts has a spring. You’ll need to apply someone downward pressure on each bolt later on when it’s time to put the heat sinks back on.
Apple used a lot of thermal paste originally, resulting in the excess being pushed over the outer ridge of the processors.
I wanted to make sure that the cotton stick was soaked with plenty of cleaning liquid so I removed the nozzle from the top of the bottle and dipped the cotton stick in.
The old thermal paste quickly turned to liquid.
I cleaned the old thermal paste off the top of each heat sink. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of liquid goo that there was, so used a microfibre cloth to wipe all of the thermal paste off the contact surface.
The old thermal paste quickly dissolved into goo once the damp cotton stick was rubbed around. Then it was a matter of having something to wipe the goo off with, which is where the microfibre cloth came in handy. Some cotton wipes would have also done the job.
The two X5675 3.06 six-core processors that I bought on eBay.
To remove the old processors, release the lever.
The door that holds the processor in place will then lift up.
The old processor then simply lifts out. Very simple.
I put the new processors in place and then pushed each lever back into place. This pushes the door down that holds the processors firmly against the logic board.
It’s impossible to put the processors in the wrong way.
Once both processors were in place it was time to apply new thermal paste.
I didn’t want to put too much paste on and then have grief with removing the excess paste, so started with a very small amount.
I quickly found that more thermal paste was needed, so used the syringe to apply it in different places before using a cotton stick to spread it out.
This stuff was quite thick, and cotton from the cotton stick was easily coming loose.
Once I had spread the new thermal paste and made sure there were no cotton strands in it, I used the syringe to put a small ridge around the outside of the processors. This was so that it would flatten out when I put the heat sinks back on.
With the second processor, I used the paste syringe to apply the paste in a spiral pattern, which was then easier to spread out with a cotton stick.
I made another outer ridge with the syringe on the second processor.
Then it was time to put the heat sinks back on.
I made sure that the connection lined up on each heat sink.
Previous photos have pointed out the spring on each bolt. When doing these bolts back up, you need to push down on the allen key to get the ends of the bolt to reach the logic board.
With tightening the bolts, I found that I had to make sure that each of the four had reached the logic board before tightening any of them up. Tightening up just one bolt first pulled the heat sink onto an angle that made it difficult to get the other bolts to reach the threaded holes on the logic board.
Within minutes the heat sinks were back on and the processor tray was ready to go back into the Mac Pro.
The seconds felt like hours, but finally the startup chime happened and the Mac started up. Success!
I’m now kicking myself for not doing this a long time ago. I spent around half an hour on this, being overly cautious and taking photos. Realistically, this could be done in minutes.
The Get Info box before the upgrade:
The Get Info box after the upgrade:
The Hardware Overview before the upgrade:
The Hardware Overview after the upgrade:
Geekbench score before the upgrade:
Geekbench score after the upgrade:
The Mac feels a heap sharper. As mentioned, I should have done this a long time ago instead of putting it off.
I had originally wanted to get a pair of X5680 3.33GHz six-core processors but ended up buying the 3.06GHz processors for about one third the cost of what X5680s were going for at the time.
Conclusion: if you have a 2009 or 2010 Mac Pro then do this! If you have an earlier Mac Pro then sell it, get a 2009 or 2010 and do this. It was very simple to do and has made a massive difference to the speed of my Mac Pro.
Hi there,
Just wanted to drop by and thank you for this great guide. I've just upgraded my 2 x 2.4Ghz E5645 6 core to a 2 x 3.46Ghz X5690 6 core system and it was a breeze thanks to the info contained in this thread. Anyone out there thinking about this, just do it!!
Big ups!
Mark
