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New CPU's for 5,1

J

Jordan1990

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 17, 2015
46
0
Looking for new CPU's for my 8 core 5,1. Most likely will be the X5675 or maybe the X5680 if i can find some at a good price.

My question is i see some people selling them as a "Matched pair" do i have to buy a matched pair?
 
Jordan1990 said:
Looking for new CPU's for my 8 core 5,1. Most likely will be the X5675 or maybe the X5680 if i can find some at a good price.

My question is i see some people selling them as a "Matched pair" do i have to buy a matched pair?
Click to expand...

There was just a post on this somewhere on this forum. I'm just a single-CPU peasant so I didn't pay all that much attention to it.
 
Jordan1990 said:
My question is i see some people selling them as a "Matched pair" do i have to buy a matched pair?
Click to expand...

The answer is no, you do not have to buy a matched pair, however the CPUs need to be production units with the same markings. Don't buy pre-production units.

I'm running X5677s and they were not a matched pair. In fact one of the CPUs had a defective memory channel and I replaced it with another, and all is well.

Lou
 
What do you mean by pre production? And how do i know if they are or not? To be honest due to price and the fact i am more interested in Ghz speed i think i will go for the X5677.
 
^^^^Intel builds pre-production models of their CPUs to distribute to see how they work, before final specifications for the specific CPU is finalized. The add for the CPU should tell you if it's the production version or not. At this stage, however, there are few preproduction models left. So, most likely, what you buy will be the final production model.

Good Choice for the X5677. IMHO, eight fast cores is plenty, at least for what I do.

Lou
 
flowrider said:
^^^^Intel builds pre-production models of their CPUs to distribute to see how they work, before final specifications for the specific CPU is finalized. The add for the CPU should tell you if it's the production version or not. At this stage, however, there are few preproduction models left. So, most likely, what you buy will be the final production model.

Good Choice for the X5677. IMHO, eight fast cores is plenty, at least for what I do.

Lou
Click to expand...

Two of these is what you have?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271641095732?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
Jordan1990 said:
Looking for new CPU's for my 8 core 5,1. Most likely will be the X5675 or maybe the X5680 if i can find some at a good price.

My question is i see some people selling them as a "Matched pair" do i have to buy a matched pair?
Click to expand...


Do you have a factory Mac Pro 5,1 (2010-2012) or an upgraded Mac Pro 4,1 (2009) > Mac Pro 5,1 (2009) ?

The factory 2010-12 Mac Pros - all configurations - are reasonably easy to upgrade with some TLC . The factory 2009 dual processor configurations are extremely difficult to upgrade , TLC doesn't even count ;)

You do not EVER want to buy engineering samples (these are pre-production chips) , no matter how cheap . Undocumented errata will cause system instability . These test Intel chips are marked "confidential" , "ES" or something similar .

Stick with production chips . These are the ones OEM used and also were available from retailers .

An excellent resource to discover the specific chip designations would be available at CPU World .

You want chips with core steppings of B1 .

You want chips with sSpecs that are "production."

For example , the fastest chips a Mac Pro 5,1 can accept are X5690 Xeons . Each of these chips has 6 Cores, 12 threads and a frequency of 3.46 GHz . They run very hot and you'll need to adjust your case fans appropriately .

At CPU World , we see these chips have a stepping of "B1" (compatible in this Mac) and a choice of sSpec versions .

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel-Xeon X5690 - AT80614005913AB (BX80614X5690).html

Some of these sSpecs may boot in your Mac Pro , but are actually incompatible for stability purposes because they are sample chips .

sSpec Q4F1 (incompatible in this Mac - do not use !)
sSpec SLBVX (compatible in this Mac) - OK to use !)
Multiprocessing = 1 (do not use !)
Multiprocessing = 2 ( OK to use !)

So, to upgrade your Mac Pro with the fastest chips fully compatible with your Mac, buy chips that are marked on their surface SLBVX . It's that easy !

There is a whole list of chips in the link of various performance , just scroll down and click on a model . Just make certain you get B1 and a sSpec version that is "production," and because you have a dual processor Mac already , you need chips that are listed at this site as "Multiprocessing = 2."

Matching chips are those that have the same sSpec . I prefer to have matching chips .

Here's a picture of the fastest ,compatible chip for your Mac Pro . Get two of these and you're ready to go ! :
 

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Jordan1990 said:
Looking for new CPU's for my 8 core 5,1. Most likely will be the X5675 or maybe the X5680 if i can find some at a good price.

My question is i see some people selling them as a "Matched pair" do i have to buy a matched pair?
Click to expand...

Also take note to ask the seller how will the cpus be packed and if they are clean without any residue of thermal paste. There was an old thread here about a member who complained that his cpus were packed in bubble wrap plastic and this may caused damage to the pins of the processor.
 
Thanks for the replys,

Yes it is a factory 2010 Mac pro not a flashed 2009. I am aware the X5690 is the fastest CPU for the mac pro, however its a bit out of my budget. The best i can hope for is the X5680 at a push or most likely the X5677. I will take a look at the link. Do i need to worry about the higher power consumption of 130w? Am i right in thinking even all the CPU's apple shipped in the MP's where 95w?

I will message the seller and ask about the packaging because thats a good point, all the seller seems to sell is computer parts mainly CPU's so im sure they will package it correctly.
 
Correct, Apple shipped it only with 95W CPUs. I have seen occasional reports that 130W CPUs work fine, but I would make sure you use a lower-power graphics card then.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Correct, Apple shipped it only with 95W CPUs. I have seen occasional reports that 130W CPUs work fine, but I would make sure you use a lower-power graphics card then.
Click to expand...

Ah, im using a R9 280x which uses both the power ports from the logic board. Not sure how much power it actually uses, maybe id be safer sticking with a X5675 which i beileve is the best CPU at 95w?
 
Macsonic said:
Also take note to ask the seller how will the cpus be packed and if they are clean without any residue of thermal paste. There was an old thread here about a member who complained that his cpus were packed in bubble wrap plastic and this may caused damage to the pins of the processor.
Click to expand...

Do these CPU's even have pins? I thought Intel moved to pin-less CPU's a while ago.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
I have seen occasional reports that 130W CPUs work fine, but I would make sure you use a lower-power graphics card then.
Click to expand...

Occasional Reports? I have not seen any reports where 130W CPUs have had any issue. Up the fan speed a bit and you'll be fine. As far as a Video card, My 780 GTX is running along just fine with my X5677s.

Lou
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Correct, Apple shipped it only with 95W CPUs. I have seen occasional reports that 130W CPUs work fine, but I would make sure you use a lower-power graphics card then.
Click to expand...

The 130 W TDP chips work fine, even in dual configuration, if you bump up the fans a bit . I'm not even certain it's necessary with single processor Nehalem cMP , as Apple shipped a hot Six Core @ 3.33 GHz model from the factory .

I've built more than one 12 Core @ 3.46 GHz ( 2 x 6 Core X5690) cMP and used SMCfancontrol to bump up both booster A and B fans to 2400 RPM and all the other case fans to 1600 or 1700 RPM . It's a little loud, but it's an awesome experience to see all cores at load for 12 hours and the hottest core not exceeding 78 degrees C . I don't care how sophisticated those chips are ... that will be one long lasting machine !
 
Machines said:
The 130 W TDP chips work fine, even in dual configuration, if you bump up the fans a bit . I'm not even certain it's necessary with single processor Nehalem cMP , as Apple shipped a hot Six Core @ 3.33 GHz model from the factory .

I've built more than one 12 Core @ 3.46 GHz ( 2 x 6 Core X5690) cMP and used SMCfancontrol to bump up both booster A and B fans to 2400 RPM and all the other case fans to 1600 or 1700 RPM . It's a little loud, but it's an awesome experience to see all cores at load for 12 hours and the hottest core not exceeding 78 degrees C . I don't care how sophisticated those chips are ... that will be one long lasting machine !
Click to expand...

What GPU where they using?
 
Macsonic said:
Thanks for pointing that out. My error. BTW congrats on your 2 classic Mac Pros coming in.
Click to expand...
No worries. The overall advice was very good even if the specifics of pins doesn't apply. I wasn't sure when Intel made the switch and with which chips so I thought I'd ask. The new classics are on their way. I was pleased to read one purchaser said his was in great condition. I bought one for my brother (it's being shipped directly to his place) and the other I bought to resell (people here are asking $400 for 1,1 Mac Pros so I should be able to get a few dollars extra for a 4,1). The intent was to offset the cost of the new one for my brother. But who knows...I may just end up keeping it if I can't get the price I want out of it :D (So much for my New Years resolution of not buying systems I don't need).
 
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