Mac Pro Processor Upgrade... X5482 Correct Steppings?

[MacPhotog]

I have an early '08 Mac Pro that came with one E5462 2.8GHz Xeon processor. I would like to upgrade the processors as much as possible.

As far as I can tell from my own research as well as the information on other threads in the forum, the best processors I can put in the machine are the Xeon X5482 3.2GHz chips.

I found a pair of them on eBay, but the seller says the steppings are "E 0 steppings". The seller describes the chips as "Intel Xeon Quad Core X5482 E S"... which sounds like they were Engineering Samples... I'm okay with that, but what about the "E 0" steppings? Will they work in the Mac Pro?

Thanks so much if anybody can answer this!



[I also posted this at the end of the other thread, but that thread was like 2 yrs old, so I hope people don't mind me posting it as a new thread! I'm new here, so I hope I posted this in the right place, etc. Apologies if I didn't!]

 

[Hellhammer]

You need ones with C0 stepping

 

[MacPhotog]

Hm, bummer. :-(

I found a couple of the SLANZ versions, but they'd cost over $1k for the pair. I wonder if it's worth it.

I can't find any benchmark tests of the E5462's vs. the X5482's... Can anyone point me to performance comparisons, or give me an idea of how much of a performance boost I would get?

(I'm only using 1 quad-core at the moment, so the difference would be between 1xE5462 vs. 2xX5482)

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[Hellhammer]

Hm, bummer. :-(

I found a couple of the SLANZ versions, but they'd cost over $1k for the pair. I wonder if it's worth it.

I can't find any benchmark tests of the E5462's vs. the X5482's... Can anyone point me to performance comparisons, or give me an idea of how much of a performance boost I would get?

(I'm only using 1 quad-core at the moment, so the difference would be between 1xE5462 vs. 2xX5482)

Thanks so much for any help!

Well, the only difference is the clock speed, so;

4x2.8GHz = 11.2GHz
8x2.8GHz = 22.4GHz
8x3.2GHz = 25.6GHz

3.2GHz 8-core would be theoretically ~128% faster. I think your best option is to get another E5462, they go for as low as 300 bucks on eBay. That will already double your performance if all cores can be utilized. 3.2GHz would offer only 14% better performance than 2.8GHz

 

[MacPhotog]

I think your best option is to get another E5462, they go for as low as 300 bucks on eBay. That will already double your performance if all cores can be utilized. 3.2GHz would offer only 14% better performance than 2.8GHz

Oh wow! For whatever reason that never occurred to me (d'oh...). Then that's definitely what I'll do.

Thanks so much!

 

[MacPhotog]

So I just ordered an E5462 from eBay. When it gets here (and I get a chance!) I'll do the install and post back here how it went...

Thanks again!

 

[666sheep]

You'll need second heatsink too.

 

[MacPhotog]

Oh crap... totally forgot about that.

Apologize for being such a newbie here, but any ideas where I should get a heatsink... or even what model heatsink I need to look for?

Thanks so much for your help guys...

 

[lannister80]

Oh crap... totally forgot about that.

Apologize for being such a newbie here, but any ideas where I should get a heatsink... or even what model heatsink I need to look for?

Thanks so much for your help guys...

I think this is what you're looking for.

http://www.applecomponents.com/items/0000002973/076-1303_heatsink-kit-processor-for-28-30-ghz/

Part #076-1303. Someone please verify for me though, I don't MacPhotog to waste $ on the wrong part.

 

[MacPhotog]

Oof, can anybody confirm this is the right model? If so, the stupid heatsink is going to cost almost as much as the processor.

 

[Hellhammer]

Oof, can anybody confirm this is the right model? If so, the stupid heatsink is going to cost almost as much as the processor.

It's meant for early 2008 Mac Pro so yes, it is compatible

 

[Spacedust]

Grab a pair of E5472's SLANR 3.0 GHz - they are only 2x80W.

X5482 SLANZ 3.2 GHz are 2x150W - it's pointless !!!

 

[666sheep]

@up: Too late

So I just ordered an E5462 from eBay.

OP, linked heatsink is exactly what you need. If you want to be 200% sure, throw its part number in Google

 

[knightcat]

will X5472 work for Mac Pro 3.1?

I been reading and thank you everyone for providing all the helpful information here, my question is, will x5472 work for Mac Pro 3.1 or does it has to be E5472? thank you

 

[cosmos]

This gives a good overview:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-eight-core-2.8-2008-specs.html

The X5472s are 120 Watt CPUs. The E5472s run 80 Watts.

In another motherboard, the X (eXtreme) CPUs could be over clocked. IIRC, testing showed that going from an 8 core 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz gave around 10% overall speed bump. Given the cost at the time, not many opted for the faster CPUs.

You would be better served getting more memory and/or installing an SSD than worrying about a different version of a faster CPU. Depending on the money involved with these upgrades, you could be better served by getting an upgraded i7 Mini.