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Resolved Mac Pro Heatsink, northbridge rivet, loud fan

T

technosprout

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2014
3
1
Machine Mac Pro 2009 - Quad core.
Symptoms: Red light on processor board, no boot, no fan in CPU heat sink.
Also can see red-light on CPU-A heat on backboard.
The other case fans run excessively and loud.

Diagnosis: Failed Heat sink fan.
Also failed was the rivets on the Northbridge heat sink
Fix:
Items:
New CPU heat sink
New Northbridge heatsink rivets from ebay (keywords: heatsink spring rivet)

Work:
Installed Northbridge heatsink with thermal grease used ShinEtsu MicroSi - Came with heat sink.
Installed CPU heatsink

Installed CPU tray into Mac. Runs perfectly.
CPU temp 34, Northbridge temp 47.
 

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Thank you for this post. very informative.
I picked up a defective 2009 processor board for cheap on ebay to tinker and have pretty much the same symptom. On of the rivet of the norhbridge heatsink was missing. I am thinking replacing those might do the trick !!

Those rivets failing is far too common of an issue for the mac pro 2009 .. quite disappointing .. but then just like great used cars, it is rarely the engine that dies but all the silly small parts around :rolleyes:
 
technosprout said:
Machine Mac Pro 2009 - Quad core.
Symptoms: Red light on processor board, no boot, no fan in CPU heat sink.
Also can see red-light on CPU-A heat on backboard.
The other case fans run excessively and loud.

Diagnosis: Failed Heat sink fan.
Also failed was the rivets on the Northbridge heat sink
Fix:
Items:
New CPU heat sink
New Northbridge heatsink rivets from ebay (keywords: heatsink spring rivet)

Work:
Installed Northbridge heatsink with thermal grease used ShinEtsu MicroSi - Came with heat sink.
Installed CPU heatsink

Installed CPU tray into Mac. Runs perfectly.
CPU temp 34, Northbridge temp 47.
Click to expand...


Thank you, great information!

Is still work properly? Rivets is good condition still? I'm looking for quality spring rivets.
 
Northbridge heatsink rivets

Its been several months now and the rivets I installed are working great. You can buy them from eBay. Just do a search using these words "heatsink spring rivet"
 
technosprout said:
Northbridge heatsink rivets

Its been several months now and the rivets I installed are working great. You can buy them from eBay. Just do a search using these words "heatsink spring rivet"
Click to expand...

Sorry to reply to this old thread, but did those rivets need any modifying to fit properly? They look much longer than the Apple rivets. I have this same issue with my Mac Pro, and I'm really stressed out on which rivets to buy. One was broken, and now I broke the other while removing it. Agh! Do these look fine?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-PC-Heat...044779?hash=item1c30934f6b:g:LrcAAMXQzr1RzDjV
 
I bought some of those rivets and they looked like too tall.
Ended up using used rivets from a old PC mobo.
Have been running solid for few weeks.
 
I bought a few of those Ebay spring rivets anticipating the day my 4,1 rivets fail. They are tall, but I believe I will be able to easily trim the top down to a suitable level with a razor blade or Xacto knife.
 
DPUser said:
I bought a few of those Ebay spring rivets anticipating the day my 4,1 rivets fail. They are tall, but I believe I will be able to easily trim the top down to a suitable level with a razor blade or Xacto knife.
Click to expand...

Just performed this fix on my 2009 Mac Pro; the rivets WERE too tall. I left the exposed one as it was, but the one that's supposed to be concealed underneath one of the CPU heat sinks was just a bit too tall. I ended up shrinking both the top and its plastic, cylinder-like cover with a Dremel. It fit in fine! I'm not seeing utterly stellar temps, but my chip is currently running at 142F idle, and its heat sink is at 122F - not too bad. I'm wondering if that's an okay temperature, though. If I can remember, my 1,1 Mac Pro's Nb runs at around THAT, but I can't remember whether that's at idle or while it's working. It seems to go up to 154F or so. My Nb chip here started at 120F or so and seems to have rested at 142F - like I mentioned.
 
h9826790 said:
142F is very normal for NB, in fact, quite cool in the cMP. 154F under stress is not hot as well.
Click to expand...

Cool - I also did some web browsing and saw that it didn't pass 142F; it just levels off at it. Seems like my 1,1 Mac Pro can go up to 150-something, and my brother's 2008 Mac Pro's Nb (idles?) at 145F.

Gonna make a quick thread about how I used those Chinese rivets; kudos to the OP here, but I gotta make specific something one must do in order to have one of the pins fit in correctly.
 
Last edited:
scott.n said:
Googling this topic, I came across the following page on Thomas Pindelski's site: http://www.pindelski.com/MacProTurbo/NB_Upgrade.html He's using hex bolts to replace to plastic rivets. Has anyone else tried this?

Also, does the 2010-12 model use the same plastic rivets? Or did Apple switch to something more robust?
Click to expand...

I heard a couple success stories with screws and bolts, and I also heard of a failure. I would steer clear of that; it seems like it would be annoying to set up and not give the best results. I used the method that the OP did (purchasing the Chinese rivets), and it actually worked! Just fixed my machine last night. However, they are tall rivets, so the one that sits underneath the CPU A heat sink needed its top trimmed down with a Dremel. (Of course, you could also use an Xacto knife.) As for the later models, I'm not sure what rivets they use. It may be a better design, though.
 
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I went with the bolt method. Nothing fancy just machine screws from the local hardware store. My Northbridge heat sink had one plastic fastener left and was running at 244 degrees Fahrenheit. I only noticed it since I put a new Intel X5690 6 core in and was running iStat for the first time. Now iStat shows I/O Hub Tdiode is 138 degrees in my Mac Pro 2009 4,1/5,1.

The fix was stupid easy and can not believe I am the first to post it. If your going to do this, its a great time to order the X5690 3.46Ghz 6 core for your single proc Mac Pro on eBay for $150. The X5690 supports 64GB of RAM using 4qty 16GB 1333 chips from OWC.

Step #1
Go to hardware store and buy 2qty 4-40 pan head machine screw that is 1/2 inch long with a phillips head and the matching nut. Get a spring from a retracting ball point pen and cut it to a millimeter shorter than the screw.

Step #2
Go to any site or video that tells you how to remove the CPU heatsink and reinstall it. Follow video instructions to remove both heatsinks

Step#3
With the CPU heatsink off, remove the screws for the logic board attached to the metal plate.
Make sure you have ground and are touching it often or have electrostatic cuff, which costs a buck on amazon.

Step #4
Remove the broken plastic bolts that apple used to retain the northbridge heatsink.

Step #5
Clean up the CPU and the Northbridge CPU and Heatsink at the same time. Once both are clean, use the purifier stuff as well in the kit to prep the surfaces.

Step #6
Smear as thin as possible the arctic paste over each of the mating surfaces with a plastic card. Then put a pea sized dot on the CPU and a rice sized dot on the northbridge

Step #7
Screw down northbridge heatsink first an do not over tighten. You should be able to push the edge down just a hair. Just enough to show the springs are working like the factor plastic crap did. DO NOT USE FORCE when screwing or you will destroy the northbridge chip.

Step #8
Follow instructions for CPU heatsink replacement


2qty 4-40 x 1/2" Flat Head Machine Screw

2qty 4-40 Machine Screw Hex Nut

ArctiClean 60ml Kit 1 & 2 Thermal Grease Paste Compound Remover and Purifier

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound



 
Last edited:
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yukdave said:
I went with the bolt method. Nothing fancy just machine screws from the local hardware store. My Northbridge heat sink had one plastic fastener left and was running at 244 degrees Fahrenheit. I only noticed it since I put a new Intel X5690 6 core in and was running iStat for the first time. Now iStat shows I/O Hub Tdiode is 138 degrees in my Mac Pro 2009 4,1/5,1.

The fix was stupid easy and can not believe I am the first to post it. If your going to do this, its a great time to order the X5690 3.46Ghz 6 core for your single proc Mac Pro on eBay for $150. The X5690 supports 64GB of RAM using 4qty 16GB 1333 chips from OWC.

Step #1
Go to hardware store and buy 2qty 4-40 pan head machine screw that is 1/2 inch long with a phillips head and the matching nut. Get a spring from a retracting ball point pen and cut it to a millimeter shorter than the screw.

Step #2
Go to any site or video that tells you how to remove the CPU heatsink and reinstall it. Follow video instructions to remove both heatsinks

Step#3
With the CPU heatsink off, remove the screws for the logic board attached to the metal plate.
Make sure you have ground and are touching it often or have electrostatic cuff, which costs a buck on amazon.

Step #4
Remove the broken plastic bolts that apple used to retain the northbridge heatsink.

Step #5
Clean up the CPU and the Northbridge CPU and Heatsink at the same time. Once both are clean, use the purifier stuff as well in the kit to prep the surfaces.

Step #6
Smear as thin as possible the arctic paste over each of the mating surfaces with a plastic card. Then put a pea sized dot on the CPU and a rice sized dot on the northbridge

Step #7
Screw down northbridge heatsink first an do not over tighten. You should be able to push the edge down just a hair. Just enough to show the springs are working like the factor plastic crap did. DO NOT USE FORCE when screwing or you will destroy the northbridge chip.

Step #8
Follow instructions for CPU heatsink replacement


2qty 4-40 x 1/2" Flat Head Machine Screw

2qty 4-40 Machine Screw Hex Nut

ArctiClean 60ml Kit 1 & 2 Thermal Grease Paste Compound Remover and Purifier

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Click to expand...

The very best post about how to fix this NB heat sink rivet in DIY way without the spare original parts. Thank you very much for listing out every single step clearly!

Never think about that we can put a little sping down there. This should work very well, and last much longer than a plastic rivet.
 
DPUser said:
The bolt approach is cool, especially with the spring, but the Bay plastic rivets cost me like $2 for 10...
Click to expand...


Bolt and nut was 20 cents each. Spring from a pen is cheap as well. For me I decided to not hope that the plastic would last since I have no idea of the properties of the plastic. I know how the metal will respond.
 
Last edited:
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Wow, looking at the picture of the NB heatsink in OP really confused me. Have Apple changed that heatsink in meantime or did mine just got that bad...?

No wonder mine is at 72-75 degrees C at idle (31-32 ambient)
IMG_20171111_144438.jpg
What is the way to go? Should i polish it?
 
owbp said:
Wow, looking at the picture of the NB heatsink in OP really confused me. Have Apple changed that heatsink in meantime or did mine just got that bad...?

No wonder mine is at 72-75 degrees C at idle (31-32 ambient)
View attachment 736024
What is the way to go? Should i polish it?
Click to expand...

May be that’s one of the difference between the single / dual processor model.

Anyway, may be your heatsink is very optimum already, hard to tell.

http://www.overclockers.com/why-heatsink-polishing-might-be-a-bad-idea/
 
h9826790 said:
May be that’s one of the difference between the single / dual processor model.

Anyway, may be your heatsink is very optimum already, hard to tell.

http://www.overclockers.com/why-heatsink-polishing-might-be-a-bad-idea/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, it is a good read.

It might be the configuration difference, but i have to check that out some more.
Actually, i've disassembled the board just to check if everything is ok and to see why Northbridge idles around 73-75˚C.
Screen Shot 2017-11-16 at 11.39.48 AM.png
After reapplying TIM nothing changed drastically. Also, the white spring rivets evryone got from eBay are ok fit, though you have to cut one that is under heatsink A. But i've noticed that springs on them are much weaker that on original ones.
Maybe there needs to be a little more pressure than it is now...?

I'll report back if i manage do find out anything relevant.
 
reviving an old thread.

Does anyone know where I can order an original4,1 / 5,1 Northbridge heatsink ?

I replaced my original 4,1 CPU tray and used nuts & bolts in the original but I'd like to get a new replacement.

The original poster in post #1 appears to have bought a brand new one.

cMP replacement NorthBridge heatsink.JPG


==========================================
Quote from his 1st post in this thread :

"Installed Northbridge heatsink with thermal grease used ShinEtsu MicroSi - Came with heat sink.
Installed CPU heatsink"

=======================================================
I have feeling that Digikey may sell these but their download PDF doesn't have any pics for comparison.

Thanks in advance
 
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