Xeon X5680s Now $45... October 2018

[kgdrum]

Congratulations Mr. Monkey!

HC or someone else more qualified should be better equipped to answer your question, re : thermal paste.


Enjoy,I'm glad to hear you finally got the CPU's.

[HCMarkus]

Yes, big-time congrats MM!

If you'd care to post some Geekbench numbers, folks might be interested…

He used much less paste than I did on the second CPU. I squeezed a sine-wave shaped line across the top and smeared it, reaching 3mm from the edges. He, on the other hand, made a circular shape that was much thinner than mine as well as being 10mm or so from the nearest edges. He said it shouldn't matter, but I'd still like to ask, "Does it?"

The proof is in the pudding Monkey… I'd use temperature monitoring software and keep an eye on temps. If I recall correctly, CPU B gets the incoming ventilation air first; CPU A lies behind in in the air path, so tends to naturally run a tad hotter.

Take a look at this thread at MacRumors:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1868016

As noted in the thread, many use iStat to monitor temps and fan speed.
http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

[mikehalloran]

The web site for Arctic Silver has very specific recommendations on how to use their product on various CPUs.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_appli ... ethod.html#

[HCMarkus]

The web site for Arctic Silver has very specific recommendations on how to use their product on various CPUs.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_appli ... ethod.html#

My thought is: it's done and it's working, so why not monitor temps and see if you have a problem before tearing into the machine again. If you do do it over again (not poo poo, MM), definitely follow the instructions Mike has furnished.

[monkey man]

Congratulations Mr. Monkey!

Yeah, Thanks KG. I feel like I just had twins.

HC or someone else more qualified should be better equipped to answer your question, re : thermal paste.

That's what worries me, bro'.

Enjoy,I'm glad to hear you finally got the CPU's.

I'm grateful you're glad, KG. Considering that I gave the guy (through my cousin) $100 US for his trouble, it surely sucks IMHO that he took so long to post the package. Oh well, at least he did it after all. Whoopee!

Yes, big-time congrats MM!

Thank you, Sir Markus.

If you'd care to post some Geekbench numbers, folks might be interested…

Mate, I'm not a geek, unfortunately; I have no "before" or "after" numbers. I just figured I'd get at least a 50% improvement. Maybe. An improvement nonetheless!

He used much less paste than I did on the second CPU. I squeezed a sine-wave shaped line across the top and smeared it, reaching 3mm from the edges. He, on the other hand, made a circular shape that was much thinner than mine as well as being 10mm or so from the nearest edges. He said it shouldn't matter, but I'd still like to ask, "Does it?"

The proof is in the pudding Monkey… I'd use temperature monitoring software and keep an eye on temps. If I recall correctly, CPU B gets the incoming ventilation air first; CPU A lies behind in in the air path, so tends to naturally run a tad hotter.

I just read one of the PDFs Mike pointed to. Oh man, did I get it wrong! Cardboard applicator, old (cotton) pants to remove paste from heat sink, probably some inadvertent finger-touches... what an ignoramus I am.

I'll take a look at your links tonight. No monitoring software here, just MenuMeters.

Take a look at this thread at MacRumors:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1868016

As noted in the thread, many use iStat to monitor temps and fan speed.
http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

Thank you, Sir Markus. You're a gem, mate.

The web site for Arctic Silver has very specific recommendations on how to use their product on various CPUs.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_appli ... ethod.html#

I had no idea. Wow. Thank you, Mike!

I couldn't find the 5680 in the list. Here's what's there:

Xeon® Series: E7: 8800, 4800 and 2800
Xeon® Series: E3: 1200, L3406
Xeon® Series: 5500, 5600, 5250, 5100, 5000, 3500 and 3000
Xeon® Series: 7500, 7000, 6500, 5400 and 5300
Xeon® Mobile/Lap Top Processors
Xeon® Server Processor Without a Metal Cap (All Xeon Families)
Xeon® Series: 9000
Xeon® Processor With Metal Cap (Legacy)

I took the "liberty" of reading the "surface spread" document, and if that's anything to go by, my effort scores a decent "fail". The emphasis appears to be on sterility/cleanliness, and whilst I did the best I could in the circumstances, my lack of knowledge meant some obvious mistakes were made. Cardboard spreader. Cotton pants to remove old compound. Vacuum space in place of brain. To think I almost used methylated spirits but opted instead for a dry wipe. Oh man.

I'll read HC's links and report back once I know what sorts of temps we're looking at here, Mike. Obviously I'm reluctant to go through the process again, but if it turns out to be required, well, I'll do it. The fact that others, not all of whom are geeks, have done the swap obviously gave me a false sense of confidence. I s'pose I wanted to confirm to myself yet again that if it's a Mac, you can dive in uninstructed, sans manuals, and come up high and dry. Seems all I confirmed was my ignor-a-muse-ness.

Thank you again.

The web site for Arctic Silver has very specific recommendations on how to use their product on various CPUs.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_appli ... ethod.html#

My thought is: it's done and it's working, so why not monitor temps and see if you have a problem before tearing into the machine again. If you do do it over again (not poo poo, MM), definitely follow the instructions Mike has furnished.

No poo poo? Dooh!

I sure hope the temps turn out to be within spec, HC. Those instructions, at least the ones I read, make the process seem almost beyond my capabilities. I mean, in order to get bright-enough light I had to perform the swap on my (unused) bed's corner nearest the window. Pretty primate(ive) in these parts.

I'll see you guys soon, and thank you again!

[monkey man]

The apps are not free. Can't buy online.

Installed "CheckMyMac". All I get is a blank window.

I'll keep looking...

[monkey man]

Temperature Monitor 4.98 for Mavericks (Not Recommended)

http://www.bresink.com/osx/LegacyProducts.html

... is the best I could do for now. It's clunky and some functions don't seem to work. Only odd-numbered cores appear to be catered for. I extracted these min and max figures during the past hour:

Ambient Air 23-24ºC

CPU A Temp Diode 34-38ºC
CPU B Temp Diode 31-36ºC

CPU A Heatsink 33-36ºC
CPU B Heatsink 27-31ºC

Core Peak Lowest 31ºC (Core 17)
Core Peak Highest 44ºC (Core 03)

Northbridge Chip 66-67ºC
Northbridge Heat Sink 52-53ºC

I've had pretty much nothing running since power up; just Safari and subsequently the monitoring app. The room is about 17ºC. During summer it reaches well past the point where I refuse to run my gear; anything above 32ºC and I'm outta here. I can't help but wonder how the Mac, especially the Northbridge thingy, will cope as I approach that cutoff point with sessions starting around 25ºC or more through to the aforementioned limit.

Obviously the Northbridge Chip temp concerns me, being a luddite and all. I checked the Google Machine and some folks are reporting temps in the 30s, but that's on older-model MPs. Most reported temps seem to be much lower, some lower, and a few higher than mine, but in these cases they're in warm rooms whilst caning the CPUs.

Don't know what to make of all this. My patented Vauum Brain™ is occupied, something it's unaccustomed to.

Will "monitor" temps through the night, like a concerned parent at a hospitittyple bedside...

[monkey man]

Three and a half hours later, there's no significant change in the temps. A degree warmer here, a degree cooler there. The Mac's just been sitting here, although the room temp has already dropped to 15.

S'pose I'll learn more when the CPUs get put to work a little. Should I try this? The only way I can think to stress 'em is to fire QT up and run a couple of dozen 720 & 1080p PooToob vids I've downloaded. I've no CPU-intensive DP projects at hand yet; they're comin' later in the year hopefully.

I'll check in tomorrow; it's well past time to put dinner on. Thank you in advance for any input.

[HCMarkus]

Monkey, I'm sure you did just fine!. Deep breath… Relax

Download and install this:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

Read this:

http://pindelski.org/Photography/2013/0 ... 09-part-x/

You can bump up speeds on BOOSTA and BOOSTB, to balance noise vs Northbridge temp, but remember the Northbridge chip can and does run a lot hotter than your CPUs. I don't think temps in the 60's (Centigrade) are an issue… I have read that chip is rated to in excess of 100 C, possibly up to 120. A quick search indicates most folks are seeing temps in 60-70s. I boosted my fan speeds a tad (my Mac is in a machine closet, noise is not a concern) so my Northbridge runs somewhat cooler.

Your Xeons are in the X 5600 series. Vertical line of thermal grease is recommended. Note orientation of the CPU is determined by two small alignment depressions, one on each side of the CPU card. The instructions provided on the Arctic Silver website are excellent. I just reviewed them last night as a friend and I swapped the CPU on his 4,1 single CPU MP.

[monkey man]

Hey thank you, Sir Markus. I wish I shared your confidence in my incompetence. Hang on... I'm confident that I'm incompetent, so I guess I do!

I still haven't stressed the machine yet. Bear in mind that those temps were all at idle in a 17 and later 15º room. The folks reporting mid 60s to 70s are referring to CPU-stressed situations... I think. My readings have been at the opposite end of the scale - no stress, cold room.

Spent many an hour configuring "Temperature Monitor". Even 'though it's an old (2008 or earlier) app / version, it's quite capable of serving my pitiful needs. Got just the CPU A, B, Nthbrdge (and their 3 sinks), along with the amb temp permanently in my Menu Bar now. Had to sacrifice MenuMeters' 24-core % usage readout, which I'd come to love, for the space. Reduced that one to a single, averaged percentage.

The emphasis the Arctic Silver's instructions placed on fingerprints, lint and so on does worry me, I must admit. I mean, seriously, you should have seen the way we dragged that piece of cardboard across the CPUs in order to spread the stuff. It was actually hilarious 'cause the cardboard wasn't stiff enough so we had to employ a technique that I can only describe as playing the part of a dog's hind leg as it scratches its ear. Logic dictates that the chances fibres somehow didn't make their way into the paste are slim. Very slim. Then there's the old jeans I'd been keeping for rags in the laundry - they've been in there for, erm, 17 years. They were ripped up and dirty even back then. Did seem to do the job on the paste removal 'though... except that my cuz hurried me up as if it didn't matter as I tried to get the heat sinks buffed after removing the old paste... with the jeans. On my bed. In the room I call the fairy room. Know why? 'Cause it's the only room in the house that gets any amount of sunshine at all, and it highlights the lint floatin' around, as things do in this house of gaps, an effect I used to call "fairies" when I was a kid. You can stand in the middle of the living room and feel a breeze... with everything shut. Heck, cupboard doors spring open in the middle of the night, for Heaven's sake! LOL

I've just gotta laugh. I'll have to get my cuz to read the AS instructions; I reckon he'll be shocked and impressed.

The CPUs that Jack replaced. Guess I'll know much more once they're stressed. I've had to spend the rest of today (and tomorrow too) trimmin' the manicured hedge out front of da house. Trimmer loan arrived 4 months late, so it's a biiiiig job, bro'. Weather window ends tomorrow anyway, probably 'till spring, so it's a must-complete situation. May not be able to report in tomorrow as I know I'll be knackered by then.

Will have to read the links you've kindly provided in a day or two. Thank you ever so much for accommodating my buffoonery, Sir Markus. Should you ever require a court jester, I think I have just the mon... I mean, man for the job!

Later, and thank you again,
Nicky

[HCMarkus]

Pulled from the RAM thread…

The biggest inconvenience by far was unplugging all the USB and AudioWire gear and making notes on the order the cables were plugged in.

Y'all probably don't even need to do that if you just pull the processor tray… Regardless, it sounds like everything is well in Monkeydom. Yeah!

Now for Shooshie's MP…

The Dual CPU upgrade is such an amazing deal, with x5680s running $165 or so, I have to keep reminding myself my single-CPU hex is working perfectly and has handled everything I have thrown at it so far. For those looking for an even less expensive option, Single CPU 4,1s are hovering around $600. Add the aforementioned x5680 or w3680 and you are looking at 15k+ Geekbench scores for well under $1k., and DP loves the cores.

[sndmarks]

Where are you seeing them for $165?!?




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[Gravity Jim]

On eBay. You can find pairs for under 300 bucks. Kinda wish I'd waited... could have saved the price of a good dinner for two.

[sndmarks]

I went from 8x2.26 to 8x3.3 a few years ago when anything more was cost prohibitive. 12x for under $400?!?! Guess it's time to upgrade again.

Are these chips you've seen lidless or do they need modification?


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[Gravity Jim]

I don't see any lidless ones on the market now nor did I when I was shopping. I think that's pretty much DIY.