I found a xeon w3690 pre order link

[philipma1957]

http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=12354480&cac=Result


I am pretty sure this will drop fit into the 2010 quad 2.8 price is okay and macconnection is a real seller.

 

[Transporteur]

Half the price of the whole machine, nice.

Sorry, but you can get the 3.33GHz hex for 800 bucks on ebay IIRC and the 130MHz clock speed increase certainly isn't worth another $400.

That's my $0.02.

 

[philipma1957]

you can't get a warrantied 3.33ghz for 800 on ebay. there are sellers that sell them for 800 but everyone I have contacted with that price has open box or pulled units.

It is a push to get a sealed box 3.33ghz from a real seller with real warranty for under 1059.. once in a while amazon sells it for that price. lets face it a quad 2.8 is a nice machine but a hex 3.33 pretty much steps up and dust it. so spending 1k to get this type of boost is worth it.


I do agree that I would buy a w3680 3.33ghz for 800 if the seller was real and had a sealed warranty item.


this guy will sell it to me for 750


http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Xeon-W368...6779?pt=CPUs&hash=item3a63015c8b#ht_500wt_898



but it is open box. I hate to get a dud and then have to fight over it.

 

[Transporteur]

I didn't look at it that detailed, but I found a 3680 for $800 new on ebay.com yesterday. Today it's gone, though.

For me "new" means sealed box, but considering your explanation the ebay sellers don't seem have the same understanding about that.

That being said, I'd upgrade to a 3680 myself for the regular price in dollars. Unfortunately those things cost considerably more here in the EU and in addition to that, I'd need a new backplane and daughterboard.

 

[philipma1957]

yeah I am going to keep looking for a good ebay deal. 800 is a lot better then 1200 or so.

 

[rmitchell248]

what would it take to drop the 3.33 hex into a 2.8 machine?

 

[philipma1957]

not much as I understand it.

some heat sink compound such as arctic silver. also heat sink cleaner

a few chip lifters

good lighting.

and the willingness to risk breaking 1000 usd in parts

below compound and cleaner

http://www.amazon.com/ArctiClean-3-...Y3MM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1297158122&sr=8-3

a grounding strap

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Anti-S...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1297158180&sr=1-1

chip lifter

http://www.amazon.com/Wiha-27920-Pr...F8&s=industrial&qid=1297158219&sr=8-1-catcorr

if I do this I will do it in July or August. New Jersey USA is humid in the summer so less static shocks then now.