Done it! - Nehalem W5590 Octad 3,33 GHz

[gugucom]

I have a question for Tutor here. Did you manage to set your memory to 1333? And are the DIMMs supplied by Apple capable of running the higher memory speed?

[Tutor]

Clean up

[gugucom]

THX, Tutor. I guess I should nevertheless get 1333 MHz sticks if I go to replace the 1 GB sticks I have.

[kham]

Excellent work!

any still available? cost?

[gugucom]

Originally Posted by kham

Excellent work!

any still available? cost?

If you are talking the ES chips I have no clue. Several users here have given me their email to pass on. I payed about half the Newegg price of regular CPUs.

[huscat]

I was about to buy a 2.26 and upgrade it with either W5580's or W5590's, but now it seems like W5580's make more sense. How do you get ahold of Tutor by the way? I have some questions for him.

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by huscat

I was about to buy a 2.26 and upgrade it with either W5580's or W5590's, but now it seems like W5580's make more sense. How do you get ahold of Tutor by the way? I have some questions for him.

The firmware would work for either of those CPU's, so go with the one that makes the most sense of cost/performance to you (usage pattern).

You can send a PM to make contact, and Tutor does have it enabled in his profile (here, on the right side, under Contact Info). You can get to this page by clicking or right clicking the user you want, and open in another tab or window.

[frimple]

Originally Posted by huscat

I was about to buy a 2.26 and upgrade it with either W5580's or W5590's, but now it seems like W5580's make more sense. How do you get ahold of Tutor by the way? I have some questions for him.

Shoot me a PM if you're serious about picking up some 5580's, I've got one that I can part with on the cheap.

Couldn't send you a PM, sorry!

[huscat]

I looked under Tutor's contact info and I could not see anything that I could click on......

I thought the W5590 does NOT work in the Mac Pro 2009? Has anyone done it yet and had it work? What about Turbo?

[frimple]

Originally Posted by huscat

I looked under Tutor's contact info and I could not see anything that I could click on......

I thought the W5590 does NOT work in the Mac Pro 2009? Has anyone done it yet and had it work? What about Turbo?

No turbo, but you're posting in the thread of the guy that did the 5590 upgrade

EDIT:

There's probably a post count limit before you can PM, it's probably like 10 or something

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by frimple

There's probably a post count limit before you can PM, it's probably like 10 or something

Good point. I hadn't even thought about this. I seem to only remember that's an issue with the Market Place.

[huscat]

Originally Posted by frimple

No turbo, but you're posting in the thread of the guy that did the 5590 upgrade

EDIT:

There's probably a post count limit before you can PM, it's probably like 10 or something

OK I see that he got it done, can't quite understand about the thermal pads and cutting connectors, can someone elaborate?

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by huscat

OK I see that he got it done, can't quite understand about the thermal pads and cutting connectors, can someone elaborate?

IIRC, this should have to do with the headroom available (clocks upper limit in the design). So if you used the W5590, though there's no Turbo, it's going to operate all cores at it's limit, which is still higher than what all cores can run at on the W5580.

So the question you need to ask yourself, is your software use primarily single threaded or multi-threaded, and how do you use it?

That is, if you run single threaded apps, but run enough simultaneously to keep enough cores busy that Turbo won't kick in, or not. If it's the latter, then the W5580 would make more sense. Otherwise, no, and especially the case if you're using mostly multi-threaded apps.

Try to figure out which will give you the fastest clocks for your use, and if it's worth the added cost if it's the faster part (rated clock). Only you can determine this.

Sorry it's not easier than this.

[gugucom]

Originally Posted by huscat

OK I see that he got it done, can't quite understand about the thermal pads and cutting connectors, can someone elaborate?

It is not so difficult to understand. There are pictures in the thread which shows the thermal pads on the rim of the heat sink. Apple CPUs have no heat spreaders but use the naked die for contact with the heat sink. The additional heat spreader on the standard CPU adds 1,8 mm to the heigth of the CPU. This means the heat sink doesn't make contact with the voltage regulators on the CPU/RAM tray. If you want to keep them cooled you have to add a bit of thermal padding.

The connector issue is similar. In the original design the contacts are automatically snapped in due to sufficient insertion stroke. The added height of the IHS prevents the connector to snap home. You have to make it fit or the CPUs will not start up. The connector closes the thermocouple and the internal heat sink fan wires. Obvious, that the CPUs need protection if the fans don't run. The male and female parts of the connectors are fitted to the CPU/RAM tray and the heat sink. For the CPUs with heat spreaders you have to disassemble the heat sink side connector and manually connect it. Cutting the plastic clips from the connector will help the thing to slide into position when you bolt the heat sink down without blocking the final assembly.

[huscat]

Originally Posted by gugucom

It is not so difficult to understand. There are pictures in the thread which shows the thermal pads on the rim of the heat sink. Apple CPUs have no heat spreaders but use the naked die for contact with the heat sink. The additional heat spreader on the standard CPU adds 1,8 mm to the heigth of the CPU. This means the heat sink doesn't make contact with the voltage regulators on the CPU/RAM tray. If you want to keep them cooled you have to add a bit of thermal padding.

The connector issue is similar. In the original design the contacts are automatically snapped in due to sufficient insertion stroke. The added height of the IHS prevents the connector to snap home. You have to make it fit or the CPUs will not start up. The connector closes the thermocouple and the internal heat sink fan wires. Obvious, that the CPUs need protection if the fans don't run. The male and female parts of the connectors are fitted to the CPU/RAM tray and the heat sink. For the CPUs with heat spreaders you have to disassemble the heat sink side connector and manually connect it. Cutting the plastic clips from the connector will help the thing to slide into position when you bolt the heat sink down without blocking the final assembly.

For some reason I cannot contact anyone on this site, how do I go about getting your email address? Can you AOL IM me? I have just a few more questions for you. When will you run Geekbench?

[gugucom]

You need a number of postings - probably ten - and your PM will work. Read the rules. They are probably somewhere in user CP or a general section.

I don't plan running geekbench. If I add more RAM and a better graphic card I will do another cinebench. That is the most interesting figure for me. I need the CPU power for transcoding, remuxing and similar tasks.

[BeerdedOne]

I am wondering why the dual W5570 upgrade article on Anadtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3597&p=11

makes no mention of needing to modifying the black connectors at the end of the heat sinks (or the necessity for thermal pads to close the gap on one side of the heat sinks) to work with stock procs featuring an IHS.

Am I missing something obvious? Does anyone have an explanation on how they apparently avoided this necessity?

[AZREOSpecialist]

Originally Posted by BeerdedOne

I am wondering why the dual W5570 upgrade article on Anadtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3597&p=11

makes no mention of needing to modifying the black connectors at the end of the heat sinks (or the necessity for thermal pads to close the gap on one side of the heat sinks) to work with stock procs featuring an IHS.

Am I missing something obvious? Does anyone have an explanation on how they apparently avoided this necessity?

The issue with needing thermal padding and modifying the black connector were mentioned in one of the other threads here regarding the same upgrade. I don't know if Anand missed that, but it's absolutely necessary to make those modifications due to the added hight of the replacement chips w/ heat spreaders. Of course, the ideal solution is to buy chips without heat spreaders, but I don't think such chips exist outside of Intel and its OEM vendors.

[huscat]

they were $650 a piece, the W5590's were $1150 a piece. I decided to try the 5580 first, and if I can do the upgrade successfully I'll probably go ahead and buy the W5590's. I think perhaps I might start selling the upgrades as a working unit. We've been selling tons of Clovertown Mac Pros already.

One question about RAID cards, did anyone ever finally get a RAID card working with 10.6? We tried three different RocketRAIDs and none of them worked, and we also tried an ATTO card; all right after the release of 10.6. No joy on any of them without kernel panics.

I bought my thermal pads and the procs, I'm hoping I can figure out how to trim the cables, or whatever was said on here.

[AZREOSpecialist]

Originally Posted by huscat

they were $650 a piece, the W5590's were $1150 a piece. I decided to try the 5580 first, and if I can do the upgrade successfully I'll probably go ahead and buy the W5590's. I think perhaps I might start selling the upgrades as a working unit. We've been selling tons of Clovertown Mac Pros already.

One question about RAID cards, did anyone ever finally get a RAID card working with 10.6? We tried three different RocketRAIDs and none of them worked, and we also tried an ATTO card; all right after the release of 10.6. No joy on any of them without kernel panics.

I bought my thermal pads and the procs, I'm hoping I can figure out how to trim the cables, or whatever was said on here.

I'm using RocketRAID and it works fine under Snow Leopard on a 2009 Mac Pro. You just need to ensure you are running the latest firmware, WebGUI software, and drivers. There is a RAID bug in the SL kernel that requires you update to the latest RocketRAID drivers (driver 2.0.4, WebGUI 1.0.4).

[gugucom]

I'm running the Areca 1210 in boot mode with two 80 GB Intel 2nd Gen SSDs in Raid0 and another 160 GB Intel 2nd Gen on the second ODD Sata port for Vista64. My 4 HDD ports are all reserved for mass data storage.

[huscat]

Originally Posted by gugucom

I'm running the Areca 1210 in boot mode with two 80 GB Intel 2nd Gen SSDs in Raid0 and another 160 GB Intel 2nd Gen on the second ODD Sata port for Vista64. My 4 HDD ports are all reserved for mass data storage.

What do you mean by "boot mode" is that a special setting or something? Do you think the Intel 80GB SSD's are the best bang for the buck? I get dealer pricing on OCZ and Intel, just not sure which to get. We have installed the 80GB SSD in 2007 Mac Pros running on the normal bus and it works fine.....

So back to the 10.6 RAID Card issue...... no kernel panics or crashes?

ATTO just sent me a R30F card to eval, but I also have a 4320 RR here. What about the Areca 1210 card, how much are they? I've never heard of that company until recently.

With regards to this site, are you saying I have to make 10 posts before I can email anyone?

[gugucom]

Originally Posted by huscat

What do you mean by "boot mode" is that a special setting or something? Do you think the Intel 80GB SSD's are the best bang for the buck? I get dealer pricing on OCZ and Intel, just not sure which to get. We have installed the 80GB SSD in 2007 Mac Pros running on the normal bus and it works fine.....

So back to the 10.6 RAID Card issue...... no kernel panics or crashes?

ATTO just sent me a R30F card to eval, but I also have a 4320 RR here. What about the Areca 1210 card, how much are they? I've never heard of that company until recently.

With regards to this site, are you saying I have to make 10 posts before I can email anyone?

I just ment that I'm booting OS X from the RAID0. I do think the Intels are superior, particularly for RAID. No crashes or kernel panics, no.

I was searching for a RAID card booting OS X and Windows in RAID0 but never found one. I had some hope for the 1210 but had to abandon my search as hopeless. So now I just boot OS X in dual SSD RAID0 from the card and Windows from the single SSD off the 2nd ODD SATA port.

Honestly I think that a RAID card is an inferior solution to having more SATA ports with decent band width. If I could choose I had four additional SATA ports more on the logic board. They should be usable in SW RAID for Bootcamp as well. Apple has a poor design there compared to other high end workstations.

Four ports for 2,5" in the 2nd ODD space and just one optical drive would be nice. If people require two optical drives they could use slim line drives. You would do all the booting from the 2,5" drives and have four HDDs left for mass data storage. There would be no lag for RAID card firmware syncing.

[huscat]

Originally Posted by gugucom

I just ment that I'm booting OS X from the RAID0. I do think the Intels are superior, particularly for RAID. No crashes or kernel panics, no.

I was searching for a RAID card booting OS X and Windows in RAID0 but never found one. I had some hope for the 1210 but had to abandon my search as hopeless. So now I just boot OS X in dual SSD RAID0 from the card and Windows from the single SSD off the 2nd ODD SATA port.

So are you not wanting to Geekbench your machine in deference to Tutor? I understand if that is the case, because clearly you would have the top score. How much are the Areca 1210 cards?

[gugucom]

People on this site like Tesselator said that Geekbench is useless, so I never bothered to run it. The W5590 beat the W5580s by a very slim margin in Cinebench, but I was using just 6 GB of RAM and the stock GT120. So that margin would be a bit wider with RAM and graphics on the same level. Tutor published some benchmark with single Xeon quads, that came out of his original octad. He build rendering machines for less than 2000$ from them and they scored incredibly beyond 20.000 with some serious OCing. Of course all done in Windows64.

The Areca was 240€ here in Germany but there are better deals in the US I believe. I have seen it down to 180$ in bulk packaging and re sale. I used the Areca on recommndation of nanfrog the resident expert here. I have to say the technical service is impressive compared to similarly priced products.