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Pimp my Mac: MP 2009 Dual CPU upgrade experience

quadraspleen said:
No washers, but as per my post, both CPU fans are spinning so I'm guessing the connector is connected? Could it be that it's connected enough to make the fans spin but not post?
...
Am I right in assuming then, that I need to be at 5,1 for this to work at all, regardless of my RAM speed?
Click to expand...
Normally people just install CPU A to make sure it can boot up before adding the 2nd CPU. It could be over-tightening as you suggested since you didn't use any washers.

W5590 still uses Nehalem core and 4,1 would recognize the CPUs, but you need to upgrade to 5,1 to recognize 1333MHz RAM speed.
 
hoorah!

it works!

thanks everone for your help.

In the end, I used 4x thin washers per post and two extra strips of 1mm thermal transfer pad.

At first the second CPU wouldn't fire the fan up. I tightened the screws half a turn and it spun up, but then it locked up after about three mins. Loosened a screw a quarter turn and Bingo!

Geekbench gone from 12250 to 17260 (EDITED THIS - was getting carried away, re-ran it)

Thanks again! New Mac Pro! Love IT!
 
Last edited:
Great thread, first post :)

I have 2 CPUs coming my way and a MAC Pro 4.1 waiting for the upgrade. One thing I don't understand is, the new Xeons are lidded, and therefore thicker. Why would I need thicker thermal pads then? Why do you need them at all?

Thanks, I appreciate any info (as what feels like searching the whole net didn't yield any result).

And since the thread starter is also from Switzerland: where did you buy the thermal pads? I could get it on ebay, but that would take at least another week. Thanks :)
 
HDJK said:
Great thread, first post :)

I have 2 CPUs coming my way and a MAC Pro 4.1 waiting for the upgrade. One thing I don't understand is, the new Xeons are lidded, and therefore thicker. Why would I need thicker thermal pads then? Why do you need them at all?

Thanks, I appreciate any info (as what feels like searching the whole net didn't yield any result).

And since the thread starter is also from Switzerland: where did you buy the thermal pads? I could get it on ebay, but that would take at least another week. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

if you don't understand need for thermal pads then you REALLY need to read more threads and THINK.

This is not like switching RAM.

Easy to kill many parts by being cavalier. Anandtech is good example.

READ and THINK.
 
MacVidCards said:
if you don't understand need for thermal pads then you REALLY need to read more threads and THINK.

This is not like switching RAM.

Easy to kill many parts by being cavalier. Anandtech is good example.

READ and THINK.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning, but I did read a lot of threads, and I know what a thermal pad does. I just haven't removed the heatsinks yet and there are no pics anywhere of where the pads need to go.
 
MacVidCards said:
if you don't understand need for thermal pads then you REALLY need to read more threads and THINK.

This is not like switching RAM.

Easy to kill many parts by being cavalier. Anandtech is good example.

READ and THINK.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. If you look at the thermal pad that is on the bottom of the heatsink, it covers a row of transistors alongside the CPU socket. The pad transfers the heat from those transistors into the heatsink.

When you use lidded CPUs the existing pad will not reach the floor of the CPU tray and leaves a gap. It's your call if you want to leave this gap.

It's a bit odd, especially if, as I do, you come from a PC-breaking environment, but it's very easy to do the pad. Just buy some and cut it to size.
I bought mine from Maplins, but I expect CH has a sim9ilar electronic component store? If not, you really will have to get it from eBay, but do use it.

The other point is one that is made many times; do not over or under-tighten your screws! It's a bit of a hit and miss affair with the best advice to be to undertighten and work from there

Good luck!

jake

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HDJK said:
Thanks for the warning, but I did read a lot of threads, and I know what a thermal pad does. I just haven't removed the heatsinks yet and there are no pics anywhere of where the pads need to go.
Click to expand...


It is difficult to see until you have the heatsink off but it runs in a little strip alongside one side of the bottom of the heatsink

best

jake
 
quadraspleen said:
This is good advice. If you look at the thermal pad that is on the bottom of the heatsink, it covers a row of transistors alongside the CPU socket. The pad transfers the heat from those transistors into the heatsink.

When you use lidded CPUs the existing pad will not reach the floor of the CPU tray and leaves a gap. It's your call if you want to leave this gap.

It's a bit odd, especially if, as I do, you come from a PC-breaking environment, but it's very easy to do the pad. Just buy some and cut it to size.
I bought mine from Maplins, but I expect CH has a sim9ilar electronic component store? If not, you really will have to get it from eBay, but do use it.

The other point is one that is made many times; do not over or under-tighten your screws! It's a bit of a hit and miss affair with the best advice to be to undertighten and work from there

Good luck!

jake

----------




It is difficult to see until you have the heatsink off but it runs in a little strip alongside one side of the bottom of the heatsink

best

jake
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks a lot for the detailed explanation!

I just ordered a 100mmx100mmx2mm Pad on ebay, hopefully it will be here as fast as advertised (beginning next week).

Cheers!
 
Just put 2 X5570's into my 4,1 to replace the E5520's. I was really nervous as I've never done anything like this before.

I'd like to repeat the warning of using flat bottomed hex keys, and not round. I found the round kept jumping out of the bolt. Flat was able to grip nicely.

I used 2 x 1mm washers on each post (vernier gauge measured them as 1.9mm). I basically screwed down until I could see the heatsink from the side making contact with the washers.

Stuck some 2mm thermal pad on top of the original pink one.

Had no problems with the fan connector. It seated correctly all by itself. I'm happy with my $320 upgrade which after tax and selling some unwanted stuff, will only have cost me $98.

Thanks for the pics. They really helped.
 
geekbench doubled but has almost no effect on AE

I've just upgraded my MacPro from 2x E5520 to 2x X5680 (which, thanks to this forum, was surprisingly painless). I was very pleased to see my geekbench and cinebench scores have both doubled but when I went to test my after effects comp it has only the most minimal speed increase. Have I missed something ? Why would the benchmarks be so much better than AE ???

ps. I should also mention the OS and Apps are on SSD, both source and destination drives are superfast RAID and the machine has 32GB RAM (1066)
 
23fps said:
I've just upgraded my MacPro from 2x E5520 to 2x X5680 (which, thanks to this forum, was surprisingly painless). I was very pleased to see my geekbench and cinebench scores have both doubled but when I went to test my after effects comp it has only the most minimal speed increase. Have I missed something ? Why would the benchmarks be so much better than AE ???

ps. I should also mention the OS and Apps are on SSD, both source and destination drives are superfast RAID and the machine has 32GB RAM (1066)
Click to expand...

Have you checked other tasks aside from AE if there was a significant speed increase? There could be unforeseen factors why the speed increase is minimal in AE in relation to your cpu upgrade. Not an expert here but maybe it's hard to quantify real-world tasks in relation to Geekbench and Cinebench statistics.
 
Upgrade the CPU to add Thunderbolt?

I have a potentially dumb question, but please indulge me.

I own a Mac Pro 4,1 2 x 2.26 Ghz Quad-Core that I have maxed out (SSD, three internal hard drives, SAS/SATA, updated graphics card and even dual blu-ray burners).

I don't like the form factor of the new Mac Pro, plus I would have to spend an arm and a leg in order to get something equivalent to what I already have. The problem is that more and more clients come to me with Thunderbolt drives, and I have to turn them down.

My understanding is that my Mac Pro not running Thunderbolt was a limitation of the Xeon processor. Would I be able to install a Thunderbolt PCI if I upgrade the CPU? Perhaps with the X5680? I know it is expensive, but it will always be cheaper than buying an entire new Mac Pro just to get Thunderbolt.

Thank you very much for your time!
 
Here is a discussion on Thunderbolt PCI-e cards.

As ActionableMango stated, the article that you linked to clearly states, "All add in cards and motherboards must be certified together".

Here is a transcript of the Intel Light Peak/Thunderbolt event where we can see:

"10:25 a.m. (Dong Ngo) : There won't be TB PCIe cards it seems. You'll need a new computer."

Therefore, I don't recommend anyone to hold their breath for any Thunderbolt PCI-e cards.
 
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