I recently purchased a 2013 mac pro 4 core and am thinking of upgrading to a the E5 1660 v2 6 core. Has anyone done and upgrade like this and did you have any problems. I have watched the videos and it looks i't not to bad just a lot of steps.
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Upgrade processor in 2013 Mac Pro
- Thread starter Joestanxx
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I can't speak to the upgrade process but if you're going to go through the effort I suggest giving thought to theE5-2667 v2 eight core if your workload can utilize the additional cores. It's just a few dollars more. Only downside, aside from the slightly higher cost, is the base clock is 400MHz lower than the E5-1660 v2.
I have done it. From 6 to 12 core. I have my 6 core cpu sitting on my desk if you want one. I'm an European user.
AlexMaximus
macrumors 65816
There is one Xeon CPU out there that has a slightly lower Power draw than all the others. That's the one I would choose. Make sure you check out the list of available CPUs and check on the power draw.
fhturner
macrumors 6502a
Yeah, definitely do more than just 6 cores, if you're going to go through that effort. I think there's also a 10-core CPU that a lot of guys upgraded to earlier on, as it offered pretty decent clock speed relative to the 12-core (maybe 3.0GHz vs. 2.7GHz?), with nearly the same # of cores and lesser cost.
Thanks for the input I was not looking for advice on what cpu to install I have already made that decision. I was hoping to hear from someone that has done the upgrade and had any advice on the actual installation.
You can go through iFixit - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+Pro+Late+2013+CPU+Replacement/21947
I think the only thing missing for removing the CPU was that the screws are covered in black paper so you can't see where to put the Torx bit. They don't talk about re-assembly and the difficult part is balancing the CPU with the heat sink. It requires some dexterity.
I think the only thing missing for removing the CPU was that the screws are covered in black paper so you can't see where to put the Torx bit. They don't talk about re-assembly and the difficult part is balancing the CPU with the heat sink. It requires some dexterity.
Silencio
macrumors 68040
I recently did my first nMP CPU swap, upgrading one of my systems from a 6-core E5 1660 v2 to an 8-core
E5-2667 v2, which offers a slight gain in single-threaded performance and a pretty dramatic bump in multi-thread.
I echo saulinpa's comments above about the iFixit guide. Aside from the slightly tricky balancing of the CPU and heat sink during reassembly, the whole process isn't really that bad at all.
E5-2667 v2, which offers a slight gain in single-threaded performance and a pretty dramatic bump in multi-thread.
I echo saulinpa's comments above about the iFixit guide. Aside from the slightly tricky balancing of the CPU and heat sink during reassembly, the whole process isn't really that bad at all.
If you have a little experience in pc assembly it's a very simple process. Nothing to worry about.
RxJemm
macrumors member
Just take your time with the heatsink retention mechanism. It requires some force! and be sure to make sure the CPU does not jump out while you are doing it, or you might get a bent socket pin(s) as I did (fixed). Its a relatively cheap and effective upgrade! 🙂