Mac Pro parts questions

[MIKX]

I have now seen several threads in various Mac forums that seem to indicate that the 2008 Mac Pros really do run cooler than earlier models. Having said that I suppose that it also depends on . .

1. The number of Cores and Mhz rating (compared to older MP's )
2. The RAM total ( I run 9 gig).
3. Type of graphics card. (heat)
4. Number and type of hard drives (I have 3).
5. Physical location of the Mac Pro (if on the floor, gathers dust=heat).

At the moment (in Japan) my '07 Dual Quad 3Ghz MP's main exhaust temp (I have a thermal probe located there) is reading 42°C. Even with the air conditioner on, the room ambient temp is 31°C. I can live with that for another two weeks, all the readouts seem to be well below what they were before I did the mod.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I have now seen several threads in various Mac forums that seem to indicate that the 2008 Mac Pros really do run cooler than earlier models. Having said that I suppose that it also depends on . .

1. The number of Cores and Mhz rating (compared to older MP's )
2. The RAM total ( I run 9 gig).
3. Type of graphics card. (heat)
4. Number and type of hard drives (I have 3).
5. Physical location of the Mac Pro (if on the floor, gathers dust=heat).

At the moment (in Japan) my '07 Dual Quad 3Ghz MP's main exhaust temp (I have a thermal probe located there) is reading 42°C. Even with the air conditioner on, the room ambient temp is 31°C. I can live with that for another two weeks, all the readouts seem to be well below what they were before I did the mod.

Hmm... sound like you need a air-con in your machine, nevermind your rooom! 爆笑
How about a water-cooler mod?

 

[nanofrog]

Hmm... sound like you need a air-con in your machine, nevermind your rooom! 爆笑
How about a water-cooler mod?

And how would you squeeze all of it in there?

 

[Dark Dragoon]

As for the NorthBridge, it is up in the PCIe / graphic card area.

I thought the Northbridge heatsink was the lower larger one in the memory bay and the the upper smaller one was for the Southbridge.

It's interesting that you saw a decrease in temperature when you replaced the heatsink so maybe I'm wrong.

Though I also took a look at a couple of "manuals" it's not so obvious in the 2006 one but in the 2008 one it shows the Northbridge heatsink as the lower one in the memory bay.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I thought the Northbridge heatsink was the lower larger one in the memory bay and the the upper smaller one was for the Southbridge.

It's interesting that you saw a decrease in temperature when you replaced the heatsink so maybe I'm wrong.

Though I also took a look at a couple of "manuals" it's not so obvious in the 2006 one but in the 2008 one it shows the Northbridge heatsink as the lower one in the memory bay.

Yeah your right, coming to think about it...
In a desktop system there are two controller chips, they're known as North-bridge and South-bridge.
The North-bridge is solely responsible for the memory manage and expansion bridge, the South-bridge
however is responsible for I/O and disc management, from previous experience, North-Bridge actually
generates a lot more heat!! Perhaps this is why Apple has move it slightly in the latests revision of the board...

So I believe the heat sink that "MIKX" has change is for the South-Bridge and not as he/she expected.
Since the North-Bridge is slightly hidden away between the memory and PCI-e slot.

Please beware the logic board for the newer 2008 MacPro looks different - North-bidge has a new location
and the markings around the PCI-e slots are also different.

 

[tobyg]

Yes, I know for a fact that, in the 2006 Mac Pro at least, the North Bridge (also called the MCH (Or Memory Controller Hub) is in the memory bay.

If you pull off the heat sink temperature thermistor wire going from that heat sink to the motherboard underneath it will say HSINK MCH.

My friends Mac Pro went haywire a while back. His North Bridge temperature, in iStat Pro, would say like 259 degrees. Obviously it wasn't that high and I suspect it was just a bad connection to the thermistor. When that happened, the fans that go across the CPU and then through the memory cage went full blast. Not the fans that go to the PCIE slots. And when the fans went full blast, I could touch the northbridge heat sink and it was not even warm, because of the fans being at full speed.

Anyway, what you've done is put a heat sink on the south bridge, which I don't believe gets all that hot.

 

[Dark Dragoon]

Perhaps this is why Apple has move it slightly in the latests revision of the board...

As well as moving it Apple seems to have changed the heatsink quite a bit.

The 2006 model (as in your picture) has a fairly small heatsink, judging from photos the 2008 model has a larger heatsink with a heat pipe (possibly 2), and is almost the same height as the CPU heatsinks, also it's attached via 4 bolts rather than a clip and is an L shape with the tall part in-between the memory cage and the CPU heatsinks.

 

[UltraNEO*]

As well as moving it Apple seems to have changed the heatsink quite a bit.

The 2006 model (as in your picture) has a fairly small heatsink, judging from photos the 2008 model has a larger heatsink with a heat pipe (possibly 2), and is almost the same height as the CPU heatsinks, also it's attached via 4 bolts rather than a clip and is an L shape with the tall part in-between the memory cage and the CPU heatsinks.

Also...

Don't forget Apple has changed the position of the Top Memorycard Riser too, they've flipped it 180° making room for the fairly fat chip prior to bolting on a huge heat-sink - so the upper memory banks actually hang down over the lower slot. Because of this I do wonder how would the extra heat affect the memory modules in the long run. Looking at my screen grab the temps seems to be in the forties, is that normal? - Oh, that's after i boosted the fans the CPU and Exhaust fans to just under 900rpm.

I've also boosted the IO fan so the HD's not heat up too much.

 

[MIKX]

So I believe the heat sink that "MIKX" has change is for the South-Bridge and not as he/she expected.
Since the North-Bridge is slightly hidden away between the memory and PCI-e slot.

Yes, seeing that in Hardware Monitor Southbridge does not get a readout as it does not have a sensor . . I think you are correct, I have cooled the Southbridge. How embarrassing.
But is is odd that after I installed the new copper heatsink on the "Southbridge" . . .the NorthBridge temp readings in Hardware Monitor dropped dramatically and this was without the new, extra fan. Perhaps the combination of the new X1900XT cooler and the copper heatsink on the "SouthBridge" altered the ambient temps enough to affect the NorthBridge. Wierd indeed.
I might see whether I can mount that new fan lower and towards the Northbridge. Following that I will measure the available space above and around the Northbridge and have a new copper one machined and that will be an end to it

Thanks everyone for getting me staright about Northbridge/Southbridge.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Yes, seeing that in Hardware Monitor Southbridge does not get a readout as it does not have a sensor . . I think you are correct, I have cooled the Southbridge. How embarrassing.
But is is odd that after I installed the new copper heatsink on the "Southbridge" . . .the NorthBridge temp readings in Hardware Monitor dropped dramatically and this was without the new, extra fan. Perhaps the combination of the new X1900XT cooler and the copper heatsink on the "SouthBridge" altered the ambient temps enough to affect the NorthBridge. Wierd indeed.
I might see whether I can mount that new fan lower and towards the Northbridge. Following that I will measure the available space above and around the Northbridge and have a new copper one machined and that will be an end to it

Thanks everyone for getting me staright about Northbridge/Southbridge.

Don't forget to update us with your next mod,
i'd love to see what you'll come up with...

 

[MIKX]

After my embarrassing gaffe of having really cooled down the (2007 mac Pro) SouthBridge by an incredible amount apparently . . I finally got to grips with the Northbridge. I have mounted a small, quiet but quite powerful (for it's size) fan right over the Northbridge in the memory cage.

The results:

Ambient room temp (no air-conditioning) = 29°C (35.6 F)

NorthBridge readout from Hardware Monitor = 58°C (136.4°F)

Last night at the same time with a warmer room ambient, it was showing 65°C (149°C)

Last week I took the NorthBridge stock heatsink out, measured all of it's dimensions, my brother-in-law is making a new one from a block of copper in is engineering workshop, that should make a real difference compared to the Apple aluminium job. With the new heatsink I have allowed for screw mounting of the fan you see in the pic below.

With now BOTH the Southbridge and teh NorthBridge being cooled more efficiently AND the ThermalTake AT1 replacing the stock ATI cooler on the X1900XT I am supposing that the interior case temps have dropped significantly. Just a little bit more to go.

 

[UltraNEO*]

After my embarrassing gaffe of having really cooled down the (2007 mac Pro) SouthBridge by an incredible amount apparently . . I finally got to grips with the Northbridge. I have mounted a small, quiet but quite powerful (for it's size) fan right over the Northbridge in the memory cage.

The results:

Ambient room temp (no air-conditioning) = 29°C (35.6 F)

NorthBridge readout from Hardware Monitor = 58°C (136.4°F)

Last night at the same time with a warmer room ambient, it was showing 65°C (149°C)

Last week I took the NorthBridge stock heatsink out, measured all of it's dimensions, my brother-in-law is making a new one from a block of copper in is engineering workshop, that should make a real difference compared to the Apple aluminium job. With the new heatsink I have allowed for screw mounting of the fan you see in the pic below.

With now BOTH the Southbridge and teh NorthBridge being cooled more efficiently AND the ThermalTake AT1 replacing the stock ATI cooler on the X1900XT I am supposing that the interior case temps have dropped significantly. Just a little bit more to go.

Ahh.. Nice to see updates to this thread. Interesting, winter's around the corner and your still worried? How's the system in the wintry months? I know Kyoto is much cooler, wait... don't you have snow at times?

P.S.... My aircon is still on!!! So humid here!

 

[MIKX]

Knowing me, I wouldn't have it ready for next summer so now it's virtually done