Mac Pro 2010 CPU upgrade fail

[makdm1]

Hi,

I recently went the route of trying to upgrade my Mac Pro 5,1 8-core model to the full 12 core processors, with upgraded RAM as well. At first I was reluctant to try it myself, but several colleagues had done it themselves, and said it was relatively easy to do. So like many folks, I purchased my upgraded CPU's (dual 6 core x5690 3.46 GHz Xeon Intel processors) kit via eBay, though had to figure out the installation via info on the web and YouTube, since the seller ultimately included no information whatsoever. Okay, no problem... I was also able to do some further research while I waited for the CPU kit to arrive.

Despite there still being some confusion over how exactly to apply the thermal paste, I was able to replace both CPU's plus add the new RAM, and the computer was rocking at the new increased speed for about 10 minutes... then the computer shut down and would not restart.

Nothing I did could get the tower to restart, and I even tried to swap the CPU's, plus tried restarting using just one processor in what I assumed was the "A" position, the side with RAM slots 1-4. Still nothing.

However, I was fortunately able to reinstall the previous original processors & RAM and everything fired up fine.

So I ordered more of the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, as well as their recommended cleaning solution, in hopes of trying the upgraded CPU's one more time-- perhaps I simply didn't get them seated properly with the thermal grease and the heat sinks. But even after following the instructions again to the letter, as well as tinting the heat sinks and CPU covers like the instructions recommended, I still was not able to get the tower to boot again.

Unfortunately, it appears that the CPU's might have gotten fried somehow, despite me taking care to avoid static, etc. such as wearing the old yellow grounding wrist strap, plus careful handling of the CPU's when cleaning their covers. Maybe the thermal paste didn't make enough of a connection and the processors overheated? I don't recall seeing a red LED trouble light come on in the processor tray when I first got the CPU's to work, and I still don't see any consistent red LED light turning on now with this most recent installation attempt. Also, when I tried to zap the PRAM during one of the attempts to reboot the tower (just to see if that might do the trick), it now seems to be in an endless loop of startup chime sounds when I push the power button. The tower powers on but repeatedly chimes, as if I am still trying to zap the PRAM-- but the computer never actually successfully boots.

So now I am just wondering if there is anything else I can do with the system before I just go back to the original processors (yet another time consuming process). Unfortunately, it appears that the $650 CPU upgrade may have turned out to be just a really expensive mistake. I'd perhaps consider just dumping the tower for a newer Mac, but unfortunately, I also sank money into the newer RAM, a larger SSD boot drive, etc.

Any thoughts about what your experiences have been with CPU upgrades on the Mac Pro? Or do you have any suggestions for things I could try with it to get it going again, before attempting to revert back to my original slower CPU configuration?

Thanks!

- Mike

 

[verdejt]

Not sure if you can but if possible can you post pictures of the 2 CPUs when they are cleaned off so that we can see the wording on them.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The fact that they ran for 10 minutes before shutdown would have me leaning toward the a heat sink not being seated correctly and you got an overheat issue. I highly doubt it was static electricity.

 

[makdm1]

Not sure if you can but if possible can you post pictures of the 2 CPUs when they are cleaned off so that we can see the wording on them.

Yes, I will try to do that once I put the old CPU's back in... was just hoping for some suggestions though before I swap in the old ones. Thanks!

 

[kohlson]

I found this to be really helpful: Mac Pro (Mid 2010) - tim.id.au

 

[makdm1]

The fact that they ran for 10 minutes before shutdown would have me leaning toward the a heat sink not being seated correctly and you got an overheat issue. I highly doubt it was static electricity.

I was thinking it was an overheat issue as well. Though I was also thinking that the system would shut down prior to any impending burnout of the CPU's... what are the chances both CPU's are toasted though? And was my understanding of the processor "A" position correct? I can't seem to find any info on that, though I do recall seeing that it is apparently possible to start the computer up using just one CPU.
[doublepost=1534294715][/doublepost]

I found this to be really helpful: Mac Pro (Mid 2010) - tim.id.au

Thank you for the guide-- I'll check it out!

 

[pl1984]

The fact that they ran for 10 minutes before shutdown would have me leaning toward the a heat sink not being seated correctly and you got an overheat issue. I highly doubt it was static electricity.

This was my first thought (and still something to consider) however this is a dual CPU system so it would seem unlikely both hear sinks were not seated correctly.
[doublepost=1534295394][/doublepost]

Any thoughts about what your experiences have been with CPU upgrades on the Mac Pro? Or do you have any suggestions for things I could try with it to get it going again, before attempting to revert back to my original slower CPU configuration?

It definitely sounds like a processor issue. Is there a possibility the processors were damaged before your purchase of them?

 

[makdm1]

This was my first thought (and still something to consider) however this is a dual CPU system so it would seem unlikely both hear sinks were not seated correctly.
[doublepost=1534295394][/doublepost]
It definitely sounds like a processor issue. Is there a possibility the processors were damaged before your purchase of them?

It is certainly possible-- one thing I noticed as I was doing the installation, was that it seemed like one of the processors had a scratch on its metal cover. This seemed a little odd at the time, but it wasn't dented or anything, so I just figured it was a superficial mark. However, I didn't really notice this once I cleaned them up for a 2nd go-around though. I did contact the eBay seller about the issues I was having, and he asked at the time if I wanted my money back or if I would be willing to trouble shoot it further on my own. I opted to continue trying, saying that I'd let him know what I were to find out about it. He also asked if I had tried swapping them or just trying one at a time.

The eBay seller did say though that all the CPU's are tested before they are sold and shipped out.

 

[rawweb]

IMO, it's worth a shot to give the processors a try again, maybe something was just wonky in your first install. Also check closely on the daughter board for any bent CPU pins...very easy to accidentally do. Grab a magnifying glass and spend a few moments checking each pin. Hit it with a can of air to make sure no dust or fine molecules have made it in the pins or on the back of the CPU just prior to install.

On first boot, reset SMC an PRAM for grins.

 

[handheldgames]

This works as good as the best thermal paste. There are no worries about thermal paste placement. It's also reusable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CK9SHZG/ref=twister_B07CK7LG51?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My x5677 idles at 32c with little effort. 45c at 100% load.

 

[makdm1]

IMO, it's worth a shot to give the processors a try again, maybe something was just wonky in your first install. Also check closely on the daughter board for any bent CPU pins...very easy to accidentally do. Grab a magnifying glass and spend a few moments checking each pin. Hit it with a can of air to make sure no dust or fine molecules have made it in the pins or on the back of the CPU just prior to install.

On first boot, reset SMC an PRAM for grins.

Yes, thank you for the suggestions! I will check it out.
[doublepost=1534298300][/doublepost]Any chance that the computer is trying to boot-up but something is preventing it from doing so? I reset the SMC around the time I first posted in this thread and the computer sounded like it was going to finally startup. However, after it hits the initial startup chime, it goes into an endless loop of repeated startup chimes-- like it is trying to boot each time but can't. Any idea if this is part of the problem? Would that perhaps indicate only one CPU is bad? Would swapping the processors be worth a shot at this point?
[doublepost=1534298614][/doublepost]

This works as good as the best thermal paste. There are no worries about thermal paste placement. It's also reusable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CK9SHZG/ref=twister_B07CK7LG51?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My x5677 idles at 32c with little effort. 45c at 100% load.

Thank you for the thermal pad suggestion and link-- that seems like it would be far easier to use that applying the paste. With the Arctic Silver 5, I quickly realized that I don't exactly have the "hands of a surgeon" when it comes to applying the thin vertical one millimeter line of paste like the instructions recommend... just a little too shaky! ;-)

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

You shouldn’t need any super fancy thermal paste. Use it sparingly as well. Too much will just hamper your cooling efficiency. A thin layer goes a long way.

This works as good as the best thermal paste. There are no worries about thermal paste placement. It's also reusable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CK9SHZG/ref=twister_B07CK7LG51?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My x5677 idles at 32c with little effort. 45c at 100% load.

The X5677 is a 4C/8T part, so it’s going to run much cooler than the X5690, which is the max CPU for the cMP, and was near the limits of Intel’s 32nm Xeon design. I actually had tried both the X5677 and the W3680 (the single socket variant of the X5690), and the W3680 idled and loaded much higher, maybe 10C more than the x5677. Over 70C under load in the summer was not unusual, and that was using Macs Fan Control to help ramp the fans sooner. The X5677 ran way cooler—hard to get it to 60C doing anything. Amazing what 2 extra cores can do to a thermal budget. Just wanted OP to know that he won’t be seeing your temps and not to be alarmed.

 

[MIKX]

makdm1

Were there any red LEDs lighting up on the processor tray for either CPU A. or CPU B after your first bootup ?

Also, were any of the other diagnostic LEDs behind the power button lighting up after boot up ?

I had to order a new processor tray last month due to what seems to be a CPU B socket failure.

 

[makdm1]

Yes, I will try to do that once I put the old CPU's back in... was just hoping for some suggestions though before I swap in the old ones. Thanks!

Here are the photos of the new processors. I've cleaned them off am am ready to try the installation one more time. Going to try things again with one processor in the A position first. Will swap their current positions.

I inspected the contacts and everything appears to be in order, though I did find a little dustball in the middle of one of the CPU's, where it was contacting the pins. I'm not working in pristine clean room conditions, but that shouldn't have gotten in there! Also, the gold contacts on one of the chips (in the current A position) appeared to have some stains or darkening, possibly what may have even looked like scorching from heat? Not sure.... the other chip looked better, though it has little dents and scratches on its cap and also what looks like a tiny burr of some sort in the midst of some of the gold contacts.

Is it okay to clean the gold contacts somehow? If so, what is best to use. Or are they better left as is? Thanks!

[doublepost=1534306271][/doublepost]

You shouldn’t need any super fancy thermal paste. Use it sparingly as well. Too much will just hamper your cooling efficiency. A thin layer goes a long way.



The X5677 is a 4C/8T part, so it’s going to run much cooler than the X5690, which is the max CPU for the cMP, and was near the limits of Intel’s 32nm Xeon design. I actually had tried both the X5677 and the W3680 (the single socket variant of the X5690), and the W3680 idled and loaded much higher, maybe 10C more than the x5677. Over 70C under load in the summer was not unusual, and that was using Macs Fan Control to help ramp the fans sooner. The X5677 ran way cooler—hard to get it to 60C doing anything. Amazing what 2 extra cores can do to a thermal budget. Just wanted OP to know that he won’t be seeing your temps and not to be alarmed.

I appreciate the clarification... thank you!

 

[makdm1]

UPDATE:

I reinstalled just one CPU this time, in the A processor position. (Swapped CPU positions from last time first). Cleaned off the old grease and used the methods described in the Mac Pro tech manual that MacRumors user Kohlson recommended (thanks!). I was able to get the system fired up and running on just the one CPU, however, the fans are now running at top speed. I tried resetting the SMC and also zapping the PRAM, but the fan speed remains at the constant top speed. Temperature monitor shows everything seems to be running normally, though I wonder if the cooler temps are because the fan is cranked up so high. Will the temps go way up once the fan comes down to a normal speed...?

The heat sink seems to be holding steady at about 90F / 32C, and CPU A temperature diode fluctuates between about 90F / 32C and 99F / 37C.

Any ideas on how to get the fan speed back to normal?

[doublepost=1534311742][/doublepost]UPDATE 2:

Okay, since the single processor worked okay in position A, I went ahead and installed the 2nd processor in the remaining position B. However, now, unfortunately, the computer is back to repeating the startup chime each time over and over and will not boot-up correctly as before.

So it appears that perhaps the processor currently in position B is faulty or else the B CPU socket itself has issues, similar to what Mac Rumors user MIKX described. I suppose the only way to know for sure is to swap the CPU's again and just run the one that was in the B socket by itself in the main A socket. If it doesn't boot, then that should be an indicator that the CPU is faulty (I would think). The two CPU's just don't seem to want to work together for some reason. Previously, I was able to go back to my old processors without any problems, so that would seem that both CPU sockets are actually fine... unless one is just in the midst starting to fail. I had also been having a lot of kernal panics on the machine, before I ever attempted any CPU upgrades, so maybe those were related to failing hardware?

May try to swap them again in the morning, to see if I can isolate the problem further... thank you everyone for the assistance so far!! It has been a big help!

 

[makdm1]

UPDATE 3:

I tried swapping the CPU's again and this time, with just one processor in the A position, the computer does seem like it's booting-- I hear the startup chime just one on startup-- however, instead of seeing the normal startup screen loading, instead I just see a blank gray screen. Then, a minute or so later, the fans kick into high speed again, and the computer just sits there doing nothing.

So it would seem that this particular CPU has a problem. It's possible that this is the one the was in the A position when I had originally gotten the computer the boot up for those first (wonderful) ten minutes of lightning fast speed. And I suppose it's possible that it could have simply failed at that point when everything originally shut down, whether it was due to an overheating issue or just a chip failure.

So I guess my next course of action is to see if I can get the problem CPU replaced by the eBay seller.

Does my line of thinking in terms of the troubleshooting here seem correct? Does anyone have any further thoughts on what the issue might be, based on the info I've provided?

Thanks again for the help!!

- Mike
[doublepost=1534315186][/doublepost]

makdm1

Were there any red LEDs lighting up on the processor tray for either CPU A. or CPU B after your first bootup ?

Also, were any of the other diagnostic LEDs behind the power button lighting up after boot up ?

I had to order a new processor tray last month due to what seems to be a CPU B socket failure.

Hi MIKX,

No, I did not see any of the diagnostic LED's lit in the processor tray during any of this troubleshooting, other than the momentary red LED located there during start up and shutdown. I did not see any other diagnostic LED's light up in the area on the motherboard behind the power button during startup either.

I do see some LED's lighting up if I press the diagnostic button located in that front area. The top LED is green, with a yellow LED located immediately beneath that one. Unfortunately, the writing next to them is too tiny-- even with a magnifying glass-- for me to tell what they say. The diagnostic manual for the Mac Pro shows the top two position being CPU status lights (for A & B), but it appears they are supposed to illuminate as red in the diagram, rather than green or yellow.

I do recall seeing one of the diagnostic red LED"s on the processor tray light up and flicker for a bit, and I would have shut down the system at that point, since I've seen that that is supposed to be a warning, as in the processor might be getting too hot. I got that warning light early on in this whole process-- can't say when exactly, but it was before my post here on Mac Rumors.

How did you arrive at the idea that you needed a new processor tray? An how much did that cost?

 

[Kaspersoerensen]

Just a side note: Fans speeding to top speed is normal when only one CPU is installed in the dual CPU tray.

 

[makdm1]

Just a side note: Fans speeding to top speed is normal when only one CPU is installed in the dual CPU tray.

Thanks, I appreciate the info-- perhaps once I get what appears to be a faulty CPU replaced, hopefully the fan speed will return to normal.

 

[MIKX]

makdm1

In my case the first symptom was .. the cMP just shut down . .. so I took the power supply out and thoroughly cleaned and de-dusted it.

After that it would start with one RED LED next to CPU B and it was now showing up in SysInfo as a QUAD .. not DUAL QUAD.

I removed all memory from CPU B . . restarted and it booted OK to CPU A . .fans were running normally.

It appeared to run normally with just CPU A & 10gb ram installed on CPU A. Fans were quiet.

Last night I de-lidded a spare X5570 to test with and today it booted up showing both CPU A & B .. but .. .shut down after about three minutes. Could be the B socket

QUESTION : What GPU are you using and if it's a 6 + 8 pin power socket . .how are you powering it ?

 

[Squuiid]

@makdm1 there appears to be an area on both CPUs where the gold contacts don’t quite look right.
There’s either dirt on them or there is damage. It looks very much like damage to me.
How trusted was the vendor you purchased these from?
The pock marks and scratches on the front are also not great.

I would return them both and buy from somewhere else. They look like damaged goods to me.

 

[pl1984]

Is it okay to clean the gold contacts somehow? If so, what is best to use. Or are they better left as is? Thanks!

You can use isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip to clean the contacts. You can also use a soft pencil eraser. I agree with Squuiid in that some of the contacts look to be, at least, dirty.

 

[makdm1]

makdm1

In my case the first symptom was .. the cMP just shut down . .. so I took the power supply out and thoroughly cleaned and de-dusted it.

After that it would start with one RED LED next to CPU B and it was now showing up in SysInfo as a QUAD .. not DUAL QUAD.

I removed all memory from CPU B . . restarted and it booted OK to CPU A . .fans were running normally.

It appeared to run normally with just CPU A & 10gb ram installed on CPU A. Fans were quiet.

Last night I de-lidded a spare X5570 to test with and today it booted up showing both CPU A & B .. but .. .shut down after about three minutes. Could be the B socket

QUESTION : What GPU are you using and if it's a 6 + 8 pin power socket . .how are you powering it ?

Graphics card is an ATI Radeon 5870 HD that has two power connectors located at the end of the card, that connect to the motherboard. Sorry, I can't show the connector without removing the card. It's located behind it.

[doublepost=1534357572][/doublepost]

@makdm1 there appears to be an area on both CPUs where the gold contacts don’t quite look right.
There’s either dirt on them or there is damage. It looks very much like damage to me.
How trusted was the vendor you purchased these from?
The pock marks and scratches on the front are also not great.

I would return them both and buy from somewhere else. They look like damaged goods to me.

The seller on eBay got back with me today and said he would replace the presumed faulty CPU even though the warranty period ended yesterday. Said he 'would do it as a "courtesy." That's cool, assuming the other one doesn't stop working, too.

I did look back more closely at the chip images on the sellers original eBay page, and even though I'm sure he is selling lot's of pairs of these, the two chip images he did show had all matching numbers. He also mentioned in his description that the set was a "matched pair." So just wondering now, since the photos I've provided here on the MacRumors site are similar, but not an exact matching pair, is this an issue? Do the processors need to be identical to work correctly together? Or is this not necessary?

Thanks!

 

[ActionableMango]

I would return them both and buy from somewhere else. They look like damaged goods to me.

I completely agree. There shouldn't be scorching on the pads. The scratches on the top won't affect functionality, but it's still a bad sign of mishandling in general.

I actually wouldn't clean off the pads. As far as I'm concerned, you want to leave the evidence there.

 

[h9826790]

I did look back more closely at the chip images on the sellers original eBay page, and even though I'm sure he is selling lot's of pairs of these, the two chip images he did show had all matching numbers. He also mentioned in his description that the set was a "matched pair." So just wondering now, since the photos I've provided here on the MacRumors site are similar, but not an exact matching pair, is this an issue? Do the processors need to be identical to work correctly together? Or is this not necessary?

Thanks!

They are matched pair. All you need to match is just X5690 (CPU model) and SLBVX (stepping)

But as ActionableMango pointed out, there are some signs of poor handling on your CPU. So, they may be damaged.