Xeon X5680s Now $45... October 2018

[James Steele]

Had this happen a few more times. I'm actually suspecting something funky going on with SwitchResX. I installed that and it's Daemon and was mirror displays and this hadn't happened before this. My Audio Drive is corrupted and can't be repaired so backing it up. Ick.

[James Steele]

FWIW, I don't think this has anything to do with the new processor. It appears related to having a third display connected to my ATI 5770 and I'm suspecting it MAY only happen when mirroring one display onto another.

[Michael Canavan]

Jeez James, hope the problem get solved!

I'm about to attempt to remove the IHS caps on the Xeons I got, nerves are a bit high.

[James Steele]

You should be okay. I started a different topic about it, but it looks like I have things cured by doing a reformat of my SSD and fresh install. I had migrated over and over and built up a lot of junk so was overdue to clean house. I don't think the the processor swap was the culprit here. I'm just going to be darn sure to clone as soon as I have a nice stable system again.

[HCMarkus]

Jeez James, hope the problem get solved!

I'm about to attempt to remove the IHS caps on the Xeons I got, nerves are a bit high.

Good Luck, and please let us know how it went!

Did you try the procedure on your "test mules" first?

[HCMarkus]

I'm just going to be darn sure to clone as soon as I have a nice stable system again.

This.

[Michael Canavan]

Jeez James, hope the problem get solved!

I'm about to attempt to remove the IHS caps on the Xeons I got, nerves are a bit high.

Good Luck, and please let us know how it went!

Did you try the procedure on your "test mules" first?

It's done, and I went in a virgin no cheap chips.

The first one took forever until I figured out I hadn't gone deep enough into the rubber outer seal, then it popped. The second one took no time at all. I have yet to instal them, none of my allen wrenches are 3" length. I had the heart on the iron all the way up so I'm a bit paranoid, but they look good. I'll report back later today after I get the wrench and attempt the instal.

Anyway, I've got the procedure down now, so if one of them is fried, then I'm out the same amount as it would cost to get them de-lidded by a professional. IMO well worth doing as the X5680 IHS cap is thick as heck, it will run cooler this way no doubt.

[Michael Canavan]

OK so here's the reason why you may want to do this:

Mac Pro 2009 8core 2.66ghz. 24Gb RAM running at 1066mhz.
Geek bench 3 score:
Multi-core 16808
single-core 2171

Installed two X5680 chips:
12 cores running at 3.33Ghz. 24Gb RAM now running at it's full speed of 1333mhz
Geek bench 3 score:
Multi-core 30200
single-core 2626

Twice as fast for $379!
To put that in perspective the only machine out now that beats it for multi core use is the fastest Mac pro made today, and that has a Geekbench of 32110.

OK caveat, this was freaking scary to do, the de-lidding process may not be something most people will want to try, but if you're somewhat good with crafts and computers it's not so bad. Of all the methods the thin razor blades and heating iron worked. Here's the video again so you get what I mean.There are pictures online of the chips to get an idea of where to be cautious when sliding the razor blades into the rubber seal around the IHS cap.

The first couple seconds of this video to see the razor blade fan and used cardboard from masking tape he's using to mount it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eItYq6nxfJ4
The second video to see the money shot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdPuneT30_o

With the first one it was taking forever and I finally realized I hadn't put the blade into the rubber seal around the chip deep enough! There are resistors surrounding the chip and the idea of killing the chip made me cautious. I ended up using the hottest setting on the iron and it worked. the second one I was more proactive about getting the blades in and it popped off a lot quicker.
I did what I could to be cautious and that made it probably a little more frightening, you have to remove with a razor blade the rest of the solder, and the tech manual says finger tight for the heat sinks. Which turned out to be a little misleading, threads sometimes lock up at different amounts so after putting it back together and pushing the power button, nothing, no video, just the slight hum of the fan and the power light on.... After removing the CPU bay again and looking at the screws holding the heatsink down I realized 'finger tight' was a lot more pressure than I gave being that I work construction I was cautious there. Tightening it to what I would for the job if I had no notes resulted in the Mac chime and success!

Had to reset the PRAM to get the system to read the RAM at 1333mhz. and that's it!

I'm being bold with this and installed Yosemite, as I also have that M.2 XP941 SSD as the boot drive now.

I think de-lidding the chips for the 2009 dual chip machines is the way to go, so far the fan is nonexistent even running Geekbench, but yeah, this is well worth doing just get b@lls of steel and go!

[kgdrum]

congratulations, great news!
i missed the postman today on delivery of my hex chip

my upgrade should be much easier ,no delidding or firmware to do so I might attempt it on my own if I can't find a reasonable tech to do it for me(2 left hands).......

to be continued.................

[HCMarkus]

Mike Canavan Achieves Mac Hero Status… Film at 11.

Congrats, and well done Michael!

Seeing as how 2009 Octo MPs can be had for under $1k, it's kinda' crazy that for well under $2.5k (after RAM, PCIe SSD and fast GPU), a Mac that rivals the current 12 core can be assembled. And the builder can choose a modest GPU and SATA storage and do it for less than $2k.

You're up next KG.

[Michael Canavan]

^^^ Hey HC I wouldn't have known about those chips if it weren't for you! so if you're ever in seattle I owe you dinner or a beer.

The sick part is I bought this Mac Pro for $1100 a couple years ago, and the RAM was brand new OWC off craiglist from a guy who bought the wrong kind, and waited too long for a full return etc. about $125. So with the $509 ultra fast SSD and the $379 + $20 razor blades, an iron and thermal paste, the entire expense on this over the years is under $2200. For a machine only beaten in Geekbench CPU and RAM tests by the best Mac Pro made, and only by 6%!
Just to really drive this home, that machine (12 core 2.7ghz Mac Pro with 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD) would cost you $7699.

In a couple days when most of my authorizations are sorted this is going to be really freaking great!

[James Steele]

Man. When I can afford it, makes me want to go get a octo from 2009 for the sole purpose of converting it to a 12 core.

[frankf]

Can Mac Pro 3,1 processor be upgraded? I remember reading only 4,1 and later.


Frank Ferrucci

[Michael Canavan]

Man. When I can afford it, makes me want to go get a octo from 2009 for the sole purpose of converting it to a 12 core.

Absolutely! and if you get a 2.26GHz model it seems you can get them for less than $900 now!
It will probably drop to under $500 soon. The cool thing to me is this system is just going to keep getting cheaper, including the chips etc. plus the fear of having to de-lid the chips is going to keep the price low. At the speed reported to Geekbench it's an option for years and years to come.

So far de-lidding IMO is the way to go, not easy, but not beyond anyone with some handyman skills. I'll let you all know how it plays out in DP etc. when I get software on this monster.

[Michael Canavan]

Can Mac Pro 3,1 processor be upgraded? I remember reading only 4,1 and later.


Frank Ferrucci

Not as extremely, this thread and the Mac Pro section of this forum are a big help.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1333421