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

[zephonic]

Doing that.

Just hard to believe that you can mis-seat the CPU, there really is only one way to put it in and the spring-mechanism pushes it down pretty hard.

Should I clean and reapply the thermal paste? it's not even hard yet...

 

[ActionableMango]

Doing that.

Just hard to believe that you can mis-seat the CPU, there really is only one way to put it in and the spring-mechanism pushes it down pretty hard.

Should I clean and reapply the thermal paste? it's not even hard yet...

You're absolutely right about the seating, but I don't know what else to say. That's what I've seen as the problem every time.

It is possible that the pins can be damaged while the CPU is out.

Yes you need to clean and reapply the thermal paste every time. Else when you put the heat sink back down on the existing paste you will get air gaps that act as insulation. This is also why you're not supposed to spread the thermal paste in the first place. See the second picture below--even though the spread out paste has a perfectly smoothed surface, you end up with air pockets everywhere.

 

[zephonic]

No luck...

Took the whole thing apart, check CPU and socket for damage, couldn't find any...

Put it back together, but the compute still thinks memory slot 1 is empty...

No bueno...
[doublepost=1487715919][/doublepost]Should I drop the W3520 (quad) back in to see if that one does detect slot 1?

The W3680 is a used CPU from StarMicro, could it be faulty?

 

[ActionableMango]

Yes both the CPU and socket look good to me.

I know you probably don't want to do this yet again, but does slot 1 start working with the old CPU back in?

 

[zephonic]

I guess I'll have to...


...could the W3680 be faulty? I bought it used
[doublepost=1487717554][/doublepost]Snap....

same thing with the original CPU. So bummed. Could it be anything else?

 

[h9826790]

Possible a faulty CPU (even the chance is low, but it is possible). Poor packing CPU can be partially damaged by electrostatic, and still looks perfect externally.

And you can keep the thermal paste. I did that quite a few times, no difference on the cooling performance.

 

[zephonic]

Since the original CPU does not detect the DIMM in slot 1 either, doesn't that rule out a faulty CPU?

Frustrating.

Have to go now, gonna figure this out tomorrow. Thanks for the help, guys.

 

[h9826790]

Since the original CPU does not detect the DIMM in slot 1 either, doesn't that rule out a faulty CPU?

Frustrating.

Have to go now, gonna figure this out tomorrow. Thanks for the help, guys.

Yes, I personally believe that we can now rule out the CPU.

And we know the RAM stick itself is good as well.

So, the biggest suspects now are the socket and the slot. I know it sounds strange. Since you didn't even touch the slot until this problem start. And the socket also looks good. But really not much choice left.

BTW, did you try a SMC reset?

 

[zephonic]

Yes, I personally believe that we can now rule out the CPU.

And we know the RAM stick itself is good as well.

So, the biggest suspects now are the socket and the slot. I know it sounds strange. Since you didn't even touch the slot until this problem start. And the socket also looks good. But really not much choice left.

BTW, did you try a SMC reset?

No. I did zap the p-ram and that helped with getting the W3680
To acknowledge memory was indeed running at 1333.
How do you do a SMC reset?

 

[ActionableMango]

Since the original CPU does not detect the DIMM in slot 1 either, doesn't that rule out a faulty CPU?

That's a bad sign. Will any of the other sticks work in slot 1?

I agree with h9826790 you need to reset your SMC. This will cause the computer to newly check the installed memory for its configuration. Easy enough to do, just shut down and unplug for 15 seconds.

Theoretically an SMC reset is happening every time you unplug the computer for more than 15 seconds anyway, so this is already done every time you are changing the CPU. At least I hope you are unplugging the computer every time before removing the system tray--the service manual says to do so.

 

[zephonic]

Nope. Never thought to unplug power cord...

 

[thornslack]

Rut ro. Possible esd damage maybe? The computer should always be unplugged when changing hardware. From memory I feel like most people with a dropped memory slot usually just tighten up (cautiously) the heat sink to insure things are contacting properly. Given that the symptom persists with both cpus, I would think this means either your technique isn't resulting in a proper configuration or you've damaged your board somewhere along the way.

 

[ActionableMango]

Assuming you haven't already, at this point I'd try (1) an SMC reset and (2) other sticks in slot 1, but it is a faint hope. If nothing helps, I'd just use the memory in slots 2-4 and call it a day.

The 4,1 and 5,1 are much more flexible about which memory slots you can use, so I think you can run fine with the memory like that. Slots 3 and 4 share a memory controller so their speed will be reduced. This probably won't have a human-noticeable effect though.

 

[zephonic]

Looks like I'm just gonna have to run with my memory in slots 2,3,4

I just redid the whole process, but still the DIMM in slot 1 is not being detected. Sucks. But what am I to do?

Anyway, the 6-core works fine otherwise, and running Geekbench 2 (64-bit) it clocks in at 15000+, a nice boost over the ~9500 of the quad.

Thanks all for your help!

 

[RAMtheSSD]

Looks like I'm just gonna have to run with my memory in slots 2,3,4

I just redid the whole process, but still the DIMM in slot 1 is not being detected. Sucks. But what am I to do?

Anyway, the 6-core works fine otherwise, and running Geekbench 2 (64-bit) it clocks in at 15000+, a nice boost over the ~9500 of the quad.

Thanks all for your help!

Assuming that you have run the hardware memory test in the DVDs that came with the machine originally (option+D from a total shutdown and turn back on with switch, restart won't work (why??) and it finished within a couple of minutes, the actual socket might be damaged. The problem is surprisingly insidious because the machine passes quality control at the factory and boots up fine but when the hardware test is run from the DVD, "insane cryptic hex error" stops everything. However, even though the motherboard and daughterboards that came from the factory had to be replaced (and you would be amazed how many people did not believe that anything was wrong even though the machine was being noticeably slowed (fast machines make it harder to notice but the problem is still there) because it was constantly looking for that first ram slot because it booted up! ) and that solved the problem then, I had a little scare recently. I found dirt in new places and I used up a whole bottle of isopropanol cleaning the sockets but after drying for a whole day (why risk it?) the problem went away for a few hours and then came back and the ram test, that had gone back to a-ok, went back to "insane cryptic hex error" so I switched the sticks around. The result? One stick of ECC-ram was bad, replaced it, back to 32gb and the ram test takes less than 3 minutes. So, it may not be that the socket is bad but if it is, you are not the first.

hope that helps

ps. I know you believe the ram stick is good but I had all the evidence in the world for mine until I ran the hardware test from the DVD and it was only after pulling them all out and putting the stick that was in slot 1 in slot 3 that everything became clear. I ran the test with just 16 gb in slots 1 and 2 and it was all over in less than 2 minutes. Why would it not seem to matter to geek bench (shrug)

 

[zephonic]

@RAMtheSSD

Thanks, I didn't think of that. I'll run the memory test today.

 

[Rico-Suave]

As someone who has built a gazillion systems and repairs a large render farm regularly, you don't need to spread the thermal paste. Put a small pea sized dollop in the middle of the heat spreader and be done with it — it will spread evenly on its own when you tighten the heat sink down. Just make sure you tighten the screws incrementally only a few turns at a time so the pressure is even. The OP of this thread goes on about he has 40 years experience — blah blah blah — but he wasn't smart enough to lift the CPU out of the socket with just his fingers. Instead, he used a cotton pad [WTF?] — and ended up getting a bunch of cotton caught in the socket pins. LOL — he should have left that part out.

 

[juliancs]

Is the process the same for upgrading a 2 processor 2010 mac pro? I have a 2xquad I'd like to upgrade to a 2xhexa.

 

[philipma1957]

Is the process the same for upgrading a 2 processor 2010 mac pro? I have a 2xquad I'd like to upgrade to a 2xhexa.

no it is more complex somewhere there is a reference to a height issue and without spacing you can damage the pins.

Anandtech.com killed a mobo doing an upgrade and not accounting for the spacing issue.

 

[128keaton]

no it is more complex somewhere there is a reference to a height issue and without spacing you can damage the pins.

Anandtech.com killed a mobo doing an upgrade and not accounting for the spacing issue.

I believe you are thinking of the 2009 Mac Pro. I've killed a system before. Its EXTREMELY frustrating. The 2010 uses standard, lidded CPUs.

 

[DPUser]

I believe you are thinking of the 2009 Mac Pro. I've killed a system before. Its EXTREMELY frustrating. The 2010 uses standard, lidded CPUs.

+1

 

[philipma1957]

+1

you may be correct it has been years since I did the 1 cpu update. the mac pro is long gone from the house. and the anandtech article is older as he did the falied upgrade before I did my lidded upgrade.

 

[ActionableMango]

Is the process the same for upgrading a 2 processor 2010 mac pro? I have a 2xquad I'd like to upgrade to a 2xhexa.

The 2010 uses standard CPUs.

 

[sfalatko]

I'll lend my thanks to all who have been helped by this thread. The short story is my Mac Pro 2010 with quad core processor couldn't run VMware Fusion 10 - the Nehalem based CPU had been deprecated. I did some research, found this thread and just performed an upgrade to a 6 core W3690. Couldn't have been easier and for about $120 for the CPU, the hex wrench and an arctic silver kit I now have nearly doubled my multi-core geekbench score and breathed new life into my Mac Pro.

 

[Phildo]

Keep an eye on eBay. If you find a dual processor tray some day then buy it and put a pair of X5690 processors on it.