Mac Pro parts questions

[MIKX]

Hi,

In Mac Pros what is this heatsink for ? What is under it is more to the point.
This heatsink is in front of the CPUs and yes, I did remove the dust

Next question . .

What is this socket for? It is below DIMM riser B in my Mac Pro.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pixellated]

With my small knowledge of computers I would say the first one is the northbridge.

 

[CaptainChunk]

I'm also willing to wager northbridge heatsink in the first picture. Northbridge chipsets can get quite hot.

As for the funny port in the second picture, kind of hard to say. Given its close proximity to the FB-DIMM riser slots, I'll take a wild guess at backplane connector that will probably never get used.

 

[nanofrog]

Voltage regulators.
Hint: The yellow toroids give it away. So does the dimensions.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Yeah, that makes sense. Silly me....

 

[tobyg]

Hi,

In Mac Pros what is this heatsink for ? What is under it is more to the point.
This heatsink is in front of the CPUs and yes, I did remove the dust

As already stated, those heat sinks are part of the VRM or PPM that is actually soldered to the motherboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_regulator_module
A lot of servers actually have these as installable modules for future upgrade purposes, as they could possibly have newer cpus that would work in the same motherboard but may require different voltages.

And as for removing the dust, are you sure you removed it? I see tons of dust in there even still after you've claimed to have removed it! How much dust was in there? Was this Mac Pro functioning?

 

[blownco]

As already stated, those heat sinks are part of the VRM or PPM that is actually soldered to the motherboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_regulator_module
A lot of servers actually have these as installable modules for future upgrade purposes, as they could possibly have newer cpus that would work in the same motherboard but may require different voltages.

And as for removing the dust, are you sure you removed it? I see tons of dust in there even still after you've claimed to have removed it! How much dust was in there? Was this Mac Pro functioning?

I'm guessing he was talking about after the pic was taken.

 

[MIKX]

Thanks, I thought it might have been the voltage regulators heatsink - I'm going to have an identical copper one machined.

As for the NorthBridge, it is up in the PCIe / graphic card area. I recently replaced the Apple heatsink with a fractal-like copper model (with Arctic Thermal Grease) which reduced the temp by 12°C straight away. Until I changed it the Hardware Monitor readout was in excess of 82°C and I had seen several reports in PC hacker forums of the anchor loops for the NorthBridge spring clip becoming so hot that one of them would pull out of the motherboard - I saw several reports of this happening.
Here is a pic taken after the mod. I had to machine out a small part of the fin array to allow the Thermaltake TMG AT1 ATI X1900XT graphics card cooler to fit (it is not installed in this pic).
By the way, a lot of dust can accumulate on the front of the CPU heat sinks in Mac Pros. I recommend a de-dusting every three months if you have old carpets or have the Mac Pro on the floor . .or if as I do . . if you have Japanese Tatami mats - I live in Japan.

MIKX

 

[UltraNEO*]

Thanks, I thought it might have been the voltage regulators heatsink - I'm going to have an identical copper one machined.

As for the NorthBridge, it is up in the PCIe / graphic card area. I recently replaced the Apple heatsink with a fractal-like copper model (with Arctic Thermal Grease) which reduced the temp by 12°C straight away. Until I changed it the Hardware Monitor readout was in excess of 82°C and I had seen several reports in PC hacker forums of the anchor loops for the NorthBridge spring clip becoming so hot that one of them would pull out of the motherboard - I saw several reports of this happening.
Here is a pic taken after the mod. I had to machine out a small part of the fin array to allow the Thermaltake TMG AT1 ATI X1900XT graphics card cooler to fit (it is not installed in this pic).
By the way, a lot of dust can accumulate on the front of the CPU heat sinks in Mac Pros. I recommend a de-dusting every three months if you have old carpets or have the Mac Pro on the floor . .or if as I do . . if you have Japanese Tatami mats - I live in Japan.

MIKX

Curious.... How tall is this alternative heat sink? Does it or will it obstruct PCIe cards if users have them installed or are using them? Umm... No 畳 here, have lovely hardwood floors!!

 

[UltraNEO*]

Next question . .

What is this socket for? It is below DIMM riser B in my Mac Pro.

Thanks in advance.

Actually there's two of them in the MacPro. The other one is located just below PCI-e Slot 1, slightly hidden away under the memory cage, next to the heat since.. Have a look!

 

[MIKX]

Actually there's two of them in the MacPro. The other one is located just below PCI-e Slot 1, slightly hidden away under the memory cage, next to the heat since.. Have a look!

Well, just from the positioning I hazard a guess that they are for extra fan assemblies that were left out due to added cost.. . ?? They are both in hot areas. Thanks, I hadn't noticed the other one.

PS : I'm in 京都　we are almost neighbours

 

[Firefly2002]

Your motherboard is shiny

 

[MIKX]

Curious.... How tall is this alternative heat sink? Does it or will it obstruct PCIe cards if users have them installed or are using them? Umm... No 畳 here, have lovely hardwood floors!!

If the PCIe cards are not full length then with the heatsink I settled on it is not a problem. The important thing is to ensure that the heatsink you buy has the springclip or a space where the existing spring clip can fit without exerting too much pressure on the anchor loops on the motherboard.

In my case, because we are currently experiencing a really hot and humid summer (Japan) I have also mounted an extra low db, high RPM fan on the number 2 hard drive sled. this fan is aimed directly at the copper Northbridge heatsink. I bought the special Micro-Mini Molex socket cable which runs from the spare PCIe power socket (under the front fans assembly). When the cooler weather comes along it will only take a minute to disconnect the cable and remove the drive sled.

This might look like overkill to some but I have seen several reports on various PC hacker forums where one of the loops that anchor the NorthBridge heatsink spring clip have actually pulled out of the motherboard from prolonged over heating. I paid too much for my Mac Pro to have this happen

The combination of the copper heatsink + ThermalTake TMG AT1 + extra fan has dramatically lowered all temps in the PCIe bay area - including the hard drives (3).

MIKX

 

[UltraNEO*]

Well, just from the positioning I hazard a guess that they are for extra fan assemblies that were left out due to added cost.. . ?? They are both in hot areas. Thanks, I hadn't noticed the other one.

PS : I'm in 京都　we are almost neighbours

すごい！現在は大阪市や　

I don't think 35°C is that hot but the humidity is killing me here!! Anyway, I'm using SMCfanControl to boost the IO fan settings, allowing the heat to drain naturally. The application complains at first but seems to work...

What GFX ard you using there? I'm in the market for a ATI card, possibly 3870 for mac/pc. Know anyone selling them, locally??

 

[nanofrog]

From what I've seen on the forum, ATI may be your best bet. Other places seem to be having delayed shipments, thus unable to fill orders on time.

 

[UltraNEO*]

From what I've seen on the forum, ATI may be your best bet. Other places seem to be having delayed shipments, thus unable to fill orders on time.

Thanks for the info, nanofrog. Looking at the "where to buy" page, it appears like they don't have a online store for Japan that I can see and the US store doesn't have what I'm looking for. Did i just goto the wrong section?

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks for the info, nanofrog. Looking at the "where to buy" page, it appears like they don't have a online store for Japan that I can see and the US store doesn't have what I'm looking for. Did i just goto the wrong section?

Out of curiosity, I checked, and went into the 'Buy Now' section. It offers a select country, consisting of US & Canada.

A few additional countries were offered on this page, but no listing for Japan.

Sorry, I wish this turned out better for you.
Contact ATI to inquire about availability for Japan. Odd, I would have thought they had a distributor at least. But I saw no listings in Asia at all.

Another option I can think of, is if you have a friend or family member that could obtain one here in the US, then ship it to you. Round-about I know, but possible. The part I don't know is how bad the increase in costs would be. Additional shipping, obvious. Import duties/fees/taxes/etc, IDK. May be to only option though.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Out of curiosity, I checked, and went into the 'Buy Now' section. It offers a select country, consisting of US & Canada.

A few additional countries were offered on this page, but no listing for Japan.

Sorry, I wish this turned out better for you.
Contact ATI to inquire about availability for Japan. Odd, I would have thought they had a distributor at least. But I saw no listings in Asia at all.

Another option I can think of, is if you have a friend or family member that could obtain one here in the US, then ship it to you. Round-about I know, but possible. The part I don't know is how bad the increase in costs would be. Additional shipping, obvious. Import duties/fees/taxes/etc, IDK. May be to only option though.

This is where Japan kinda fails... unfortunately.
Just last week I was in some of the bigger electrical/computing stores (Sofmap, BicCamera, Yodobashi Camera...) - the ones that sell Mac too! I made enquiries about the ATI 3870 for Mac/Pc and the only thing they can offer me was a "Sorry, we only sell ATI for PC!" You know, this in the so-called "Apple section" like WTF!!!

If that's not enough... try ordering 4Gbx2 Memory modules for MacPro... OMG!! Due to Obon vacation they say min delivery period was 6-8 weeks!! Arghhh!!

 

[nanofrog]

This is where Japan kinda fails... unfortunately.
Just last week I was in some of the bigger electrical/computing stores (Sofmap, BicCamera, Yodobashi Camera...) - the ones that sell Mac too! I made enquiries about the ATI 3870 for Mac/Pc and the only thing they can offer me was a "Sorry, we only sell ATI for PC!" You know, this in the so-called "Apple section" like WTF!!!

Well, if it's available for the PC, I would hope that it could be ordered. Though possible, I'd have a hard time believing that AMD/ATI would ignore that large a chunk of the planet.
I'd definitely contact ATI directly, and make inquiries. The response may not be bad, if you direct the request to sales. At least I haven't yet, when I sent e-mail to the sales dept. Technical support is another matter.

If that's not enough... try ordering 4Gbx2 Memory modules for MacPro... OMG!! Due to Obon vacation they say min delivery period was 6-8 weeks!! Arghhh!!

Yikes!

 

[MIKX]

　I don't think 35°C is that hot but the humidity is killing me here!!

35°C is miraculous! You must have the air conditioner on full blast and you have the 2008 Mac Pro, I have heard that they run a lot cooler True? The lowest I can get my NorthBridge down to even with the air-con on is around 51°C. I take it that you are not using Hardware Monitor? I do not doubt your 35°C claim but it seems an impossible target even for the new 2008 Mac Pros in a hot and humid Japanese summer- what Mhz, how many cores and how much memory are you running?

What GFX ard you using there? I'm in the market for a ATI card, possibly 3870 for mac/pc. Know anyone selling them, locally??

I have the ATI X1900XT but it is almost obligatory to replace the ATI fan with the TMG Thermaltake AT1. I'll check around for you on availability.

 

[UltraNEO*]

35°C is miraculous! You must have the air conditioner on full blast and you have the 2008 Mac Pro, I have heard that they run a lot cooler True? The lowest I can get my NorthBridge down to even with the air-con on is around 51°C. I take it that you are not using Hardware Monitor? I do not doubt your 35°C claim but it seems an impossible target even for the new 2008 Mac Pros in a hot and humid Japanese summer- what Mhz, how many cores and how much memory are you running?

Ah, here.. have a look!



Other system info are in my siggy...

Yeah my air conditioner is on, it's been eery day for the past couple of months.. lol!! Set to the usual 28~30°C for my own comfort... I'm not sure does the MP2008 run that much cooler. I can only tell you there's a heat wave radiating from the screen, it's like i'm getting a tan constantly!!

I have the ATI X1900XT but it is almost obligatory to replace the ATI fan with the TMG Thermaltake AT1. I'll check around for you on availability.

Ah thanks dude, I need something with a little more kick. Currently using the default card, after returning the slow arse 8800GT back to the store.

 

[sOwL]

すごい!現在は大阪市や　

I don't think 35°C is that hot but the humidity is killing me here!! Anyway, I'm using SMCfanControl to boost the IO fan settings, allowing the heat to drain naturally. The application complains at first but seems to work...

What GFX ard you using there? I'm in the market for a ATI card, possibly 3870 for mac/pc. Know anyone selling them, locally??

may i ask whats the program you used to get all these temperatures? (on that attachment)

 

[UltraNEO*]

may i ask whats the program you used to get all these temperatures? (on that attachment)

iStat Pro - It's free!!

 

[sOwL]

iStat Pro - It's free!!

mhm i can tell its iStat on the second image, but on the first image it looked like a cocoa app. anyway, thnx for the info, i didnt know iStat existed as a standalone app, i only had iStat Nano (widget).

edit: lol thats also a widget heh

 

[sOwL]

ha! i got better temps without mods, no air-conditioning and its summer