Mac Pro 2008 Temperature Readings

[energy23]

I'm not sure what my actual temperatures are for my 2008 Mac Pro. The main tab in iStat Menus shows about 30C, but everything else is much higher, like CPU-A Die 1 Offset, but I have no idea what that is?

In a few days I'm going to be swapping the case for a new one as my current one is badly damaged, so I'll be applying new thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5).

Are my temperatures really only 30C or should I be looking at the 'DIE OFFSET' numbers..?

Here's a screenshot:

 

[bizzle]

Die offsets are the actual core packages on the chip. The Xeons used in the that era Mac Pro are actually made with two dies. They're basically two dual core CPUs on one chip to make a quad.

 

[energy23]

So are my actual temperatures between 44-72 celsius or are my temps really 30 celsius? SMC Fan Control also gives me the low 25-30 celsius temperature readings.

 

[DeltaMac]

So are my actual temperatures between 44-72 celsius or are my temps really 30 celsius? SMC Fan Control also gives me the low 25-30 celsius temperature readings.

The simple answer to your question is "yes"
You have multiple sensors throughout your MacPro. I count 28 in your screen shot. Looks like SMCFanControl is defaulting to show the heatsink readings, which makes a lot of sense, I think. That is a primary area that responds to the active system cooling - the heatsink draws the heat off of critical areas (CPUs, system bus), and the fans carry the heat out of the system.
Replacing the thermal paste, if done properly, should show lower average heat, particularly on the CPUs. Best way to tell is to monitor temps running the same task before, then after the repair work.

 

[energy23]

The simple answer to your question is "yes"
You have multiple sensors throughout your MacPro. I count 28 in your screen shot. Looks like SMCFanControl is defaulting to show the heatsink readings, which makes a lot of sense, I think. That is a primary area that responds to the active system cooling - the heatsink draws the heat off of critical areas (CPUs, system bus), and the fans carry the heat out of the system.
Replacing the thermal paste, if done properly, should show lower average heat, particularly on the CPUs. Best way to tell is to monitor temps running the same task before, then after the repair work.

Do these temperatures not seem overly high? Idle temps on laptops are typically around 38-50 celsius (it is on all of mine), desktops, depending on cooling can be below 30 celsius. 72 celsius core value seems dangerously high.

 

[DeltaMac]

Do these temperatures not seem overly high? Idle temps on laptops are typically around 38-50 celsius (it is on all of mine), desktops, depending on cooling can be below 30 celsius. 72 celsius core value seems dangerously high.

Your temps don't seem to be way out, depends on what apps and services you have running. You can check that in your Activity Monitor - which may also give you some help in deciding what is "normal" temps. Your MacPro is just not a laptop, and you can't really compare temps between a laptop and a high-performance tower, which may have quite high temps in certain areas of the system, again, depending on how you are using the system. High temps, or even just high processor load, should kick the fans up. The MacPro has a pretty efficient cooling system, but if you monitor all the temp sensors, you may see high temps. I would not be particularly concerned about temps in 70 deg C. range.
However, if your case is damaged (maybe it has been dropped, which I have seen before with MacPros), then that may mean the internal cooling, including thermal paste, is simply not what it should be. Replacing the case, and redoing that paste may help significantly.

 

[energy23]

Your temps don't seem to be way out, depends on what apps and services you have running. You can check that in your Activity Monitor - which may also give you some help in deciding what is "normal" temps. Your MacPro is just not a laptop, and you can't really compare temps between a laptop and a high-performance tower, which may have quite high temps in certain areas of the system, again, depending on how you are using the system. High temps, or even just high processor load, should kick the fans up. The MacPro has a pretty efficient cooling system, but if you monitor all the temp sensors, you may see high temps. I would not be particularly concerned about temps in 70 deg C. range.
However, if your case is damaged (maybe it has been dropped, which I have seen before with MacPros), then that may mean the internal cooling, including thermal paste, is simply not what it should be. Replacing the case, and redoing that paste may help significantly.

I've got a replacement case ready to swap with my current one, a friend of mine will be helping me do it along with some thermal repasting using Arctic Silver 5. Do you know if the process to replace a 2008 Mac Pro is similar to a 2006 Mac Pro? Prying open the memory and CPU plastic covers looks tricky, the rest looks like screws and cables which should be easy.

 

[bizzle]

Taking apart the 3,1 is easier than a 1,1. The CPU cover is a lot easier to get on and off and the RAM cage fan always seemed easier to get loose on the 3,1, in my experience. Besides that, it's mostly the same.

 

[energy23]

Taking apart the 3,1 is easier than a 1,1. The CPU cover is a lot easier to get on and off and the RAM cage fan always seemed easier to get loose on the 3,1, in my experience. Besides that, it's mostly the same.

Anything I should be careful of? Any tips? This will be the first time I'm going to disassemble a desktop (thankfully i wont be on my own though!)

 

[bizzle]

Have a copy of the service manual on hand. Be very careful pulling out fan connectors and sensors from things. After years of being in a hot case the plastic gets brittle and sticks to other plastic parts (such as the sensor connector getting stuck on the connection on the logic board) and cables can pull apart.

 

[energy23]

Have a copy of the service manual on hand. Be very careful pulling out fan connectors and sensors from things. After years of being in a hot case the plastic gets brittle and sticks to other plastic parts (such as the sensor connector getting stuck on the connection on the logic board) and cables can pull apart.

Did it!

Thanks for the heads up, me and my friend had the technicians manual on hand and took a photo of the motherboard still intact with all the cables so we'd remember what goes where. The only cables I had problems with were the SATA cable to the motherboard, it did NOT want to come out easily, it required a pretty strong tug. The other annoyance was plugging back in the cable underneath the RAM cage (tight spot). My temperatures are actually more or less the same as the in the screenshot posted earlier.

In all, the whole process took around 3 hours; careful dismantling, careful handling, cleaning out dust with compressed air, cleaning off old thermal paste, reapplying it, etc. There is one non-standard tool we needed to go out and buy; the loooong hex screwdriver to go about 20cm deep into the heat sinks in that narrow 1cm opening. We didn't have anything like that.

I've got a GeForce 660 GTX connected via 6pin to 2 Molex cables, but the power draw cannot be at 100%, I ran a Cinebench R15 GPU test and the card was only able to pump out 33 frames per second while my friends 650 GTX got around 110 FPS.

Anyway, I don't know why I held off on the transplant for so long, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be... I think I underestimated my competence with, it was the same with my MacBook Pro thermal paste application; much easier than I thought it would be.

 

[energy23]

Forgot to mention:

What should I do with the spare parts? I've got an extra case thats damaged, an extra fan for the PSU, all the cabling and the front IO board with the power button.

Should I sell it all on Ebay?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^eBay fee's IMHO are so high that I rarely sell there anymore. Wait until you have a few more posts and use the classified section on this forum. I tried to sell a flashed GTX 570 there, without much luck. The classified section is better than a stick in the eye.

Lou

 

[energy23]

^^^^eBay fee's IMHO are so high that I rarely sell there anymore. Wait until you have a few more posts and use the classified section on this forum. I tried to sell a flashed GTX 570 there, without much luck. The classified section is better than a stick in the eye.

Lou

Good idea!

Thanks!

 

[pprior]

Wow my computer just sitting here doing nothing and looks like I'm burning a lot more amps than you. My temps.

 

[NOTNlCE]

Running a Dual 2.8, just moved the location of my tower the other day, and am noticing much higher temps. The '08 seems to be ok with heatsink temps around ~100 degrees F, though they were consistently upper 80s as opposed to hovering just below 100 like they are now. I think it has a lot to do with the poorer airflow of the new location (from side of desk to under desk.)

 

[energy23]

Wow my computer just sitting here doing nothing and looks like I'm burning a lot more amps than you. My temps.

Could it be due to you running at 3.00ghz? I'm at 2.8ghz. I also had a GT 120 installed at the time. I've not got an Nvidia Geforce 660 GTX OC in it but power is drawn from 6pin to 2 molex connectors (oddly, the two molex connectors are at 3 pins and two pins, not the full 4 for each one, so I think my card is underpowered. I'm waiting on the 6 pin to 6 pin mini connector to hook up to the motherboard).

 

[NOTNlCE]

Can anyone with an '08 Mac Pro and iStat Menus do me a huge favour and tell me their CPU core current amperage readings? CPU A seems to be getting TWICE the current of B, just want to make sure this is normal, since I've been having issues with this tower. I'm currently at 20% load on a Dual 2.8GHz with about 21 Amps at 1.14 Volts on A and 10 Amps and 1.14 Volts on B. With the screenshots here, that seems to look like an issue.
Thanks.
-N

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Can anyone with an '08 Mac Pro and iStat Menus do me a huge favour and tell me their CPU core current amperage readings? CPU A seems to be getting TWICE the current of B, just want to make sure this is normal, since I've been having issues with this tower. I'm currently at 20% load on a Dual 2.8GHz with about 21 Amps at 1.14 Volts on A and 10 Amps and 1.14 Volts on B. With the screenshots here, that seems to look like an issue.
Thanks.
-N

Here is mine:

 

[NOTNlCE]

Here is mine:

Image

Thanks so much. Interesting that you have such low voltages. CPU A on my board never seems to dip below 12 Amps. I wonder if it's time to replace....

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Thanks so much. Interesting that you have such low voltages. CPU A on my board never seems to dip below 12 Amps. I wonder if it's time to replace....

Do you have any (hidden) process running when you check your iStats?

 

[NOTNlCE]

Do you have any (hidden) process running when you check your iStats?

Just rebooted, this is nothing open as far as main programmes, and the only daemon I have at startup is iStat.

I wonder if it needs a re-seat? I mean, I can run this thing at maximum load for hours with no issues, but that current reading is scary.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Just rebooted, this is nothing open as far as main programmes, and the only daemon I have at startup is iStat.

I wonder if it needs a re-seat? I mean, I can run this thing at maximum load for hours with no issues, but that current reading is scary.

The screens for the separate CPU (A) readings:

CPU-A

CPU-B

Does your CPU-A fluctuate? Perhaps a MR member with knowledge of electronics may fill in your gab here...

 

[NOTNlCE]

A doesn't seem to go below 13 Amps. I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that's bad. B seems normal.

EDIT:

Do you think a re-seat will help? If ever there was time for me to do one, it would be today.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

A doesn't seem to go below 13 Amps. I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that's bad. B seems normal.

EDIT:

Do you think a re-seat will help? If ever there was time for me to do one, it would be today.

I honestly don't know!!! I'm not a A/V technician. Did a quick search on MR and found: CPU B using more power than CPU A? But if worried ask this Q again here on MR in a new topic?

Cheers