¿Gainestown 3.2ghz on new Mac Pro?

[0488568]

Anyone thinking of doing this? I might wait for the 2,9ghz to drop in price and get a pair for the current 2.26ghz I'm about to order. Also would there be any problems if you add one of the Gainestown which apple does not currently pakage the mac pros with. Like the 3,2ghz or the 2.8 etc?
Wold be nice to see a tutorial on how to change CPUs on the new mac pro.

-Cheers,
Fabricio

 

[trancepriest]

It would be 70W more of power consumption... would love someone to turn their Nehalem into a guinea pig.

 

[Umbongo]

Anyone thinking of doing this? I might wait for the 3.0ghz to drop in price and get a pair for the current 2.26ghz I'm about to order. Also would there be any problems if you add one of the Gainestown which apple does not currently pakage the mac pros with. Like the 3,2ghz or the 2.8 etc?
Wold be nice to see a tutorial on how to change CPUs on the new mac pro.

-Cheers,
Fabricio

CPU changing is likely straightforward. I'm sure someone will upload the service manual eventually too which likely has instructions.

You have to have two identical processors. If you are willing to not have a warranty then you could probably do it for around the price of the 2.93GHz upgrade if you sell the 2.26ers. Or if you can get a pair of engineering samples cheap it could work out well.

 

[Firefly2002]

Just a bad idea. Why bother for a little speed increase?

 

[0488568]

Just a bad idea. Why bother for a little speed increase?

Right now its a bad idea, but just wait till the 2010 mac pros come out or some new server chips come out and the current drop in price...

 

[Umbongo]

Right now its a bad idea, but just wait till the 2010 mac pros come out or some new server chips come out and the current drop in price...

They don't drop in price. Used processors (usually pulled from servers) and engineering samples can be found on eBay, but new prices are still the same. The Xeon 3GHz "Woodcrest" that came out nearly 3 years ago now is still $900+ new.

 

[velocityg4]

Right now its a bad idea, but just wait till the 2010 mac pros come out or some new server chips come out and the current drop in price...

Unlike desktop processors. The price of server processors do not drop nearly as quickly. In a year it will still be an expensive upgrade. Likely you will need to wait three years.

ie the 3.0Ghz Dual Core Xeon 5160 "Woodcrest" for the 2006 Mac Pro is still selling at $910 on Newegg.com

the high end Clovertown Quad Core that works in 06 Mac Pros and the high end Harperstown CPU's are all still expensive. Though for 06 Mac Pros mid to high end clovertowns are a possibility. Especially once you sell off the used dual cores.

Now if you were willing to buy used Nehelams then you may get better savings. As the used clovertowns are selling at a much lower price on eBay than new ones. I suspect their is simply a tiny market for the Clovertowns as anyone looking for a socket 771 CPU, besides 06 Mac Pro owners, will be looking at Harperstown.

It can be a gamble though I would still say those Nehalems will still be expensive new or used until at least 2011. In which case their replacements will be much faster and it may simply be cheaper to sell the Octo 2.26 Mac Pro and buy whatever the new one is.