7 ms·

New Mac Pro teardown reveals replaceable Xeon CPU

38 points by shawndumas 13y ago

btgeekboy 13y ago
Seems I'm pretty spoiled by iFixIt - I really like their super high image sizes that let you really see every little bit of the board. These look like they were taken with an old mobile phone, smuggled out of some factory. Seriously, OWC, nobody on your staff has a tripod, DSLR, and a desk lamp or clip light?
- lispython 13y ago
  Your saying is unfair. They already did the teardown work well from their article, why criticize them like you care about the appearance but not the idea.
  - MnOWED1O 13y ago
    Because the "appearance" is a huge quality point. Nicely framed, well-lit high resolution pictures are important in a photographic teardown.
rbanffy 13y ago
I felt old when I see this socket. I learned my way around personal computers on machines with 40-pin CPUs. Everything I do these days would be science fiction back when I started. Not very plausible sci-fi at that...
- nknighthb 13y ago
  The back of my brain sees hundreds of tiny little pins just waiting to get bent. Fortunately I gather at some point they actually switched to slight protrusions on the socket that contact nearly-flat points on the CPU.
  - ericd 13y ago
    Yeah, they're just metal pads on the CPU now.
  - astrodust 13y ago
    This is the Land Grid Array (LGA) socket type (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grid_array http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grid_array) where the pins are on the socket and the pads are on the chip. This supplants the Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) sockets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIF_socket http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIF_socket), those being a reworking of the Pin Grid Array (PGA) packaging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_Grid_Array http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_Grid_Array) which was a higher density version of the Dual Inline Package (DIP) standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_in-line_package http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_in-line_package) used for the 80286 and prior chips.
  - miahi 13y ago
    The pins in the socket are actually more complicated. Every pin is actually a kind of spring[1], so it stays in contact with the CPU when it is pushed on them. They are not very hard to bend if you drop the CPU on them by mistake - but instead of a (maybe) unusable CPU you can have an unusable motherboard. The odds of unusable equipment is actually low, as most of the pins are just for power. [1] https://lh3.ggpht.com/-omZKyfVo6YE/T7IiJnDdwZI/AAAAAAAAAco/WODnQlwCxBg/s1600/becnt2closeup.JPG https://lh3.ggpht.com/-omZKyfVo6YE/T7IiJnDdwZI/AAAAAAAAAco/W...
2bluesc 13y ago
Sad that a replaceable CPU on a desktop is "feature" or even noteworthy. I'm sure Apple will "fix" this.
- ihsw 13y ago
  With the advent of 3D-printing we should be prepared for the inevitability that everything will eventually be just as difficult to tinker with. 3D-printers enable you to construct devices that are so intricately and tightly closed.
  - nwh 13y ago
    I'm not sure we will ever see mass produced 3D printed items. As it stands injection moulded thermoplastics can be churned out at absolutely incredible rates that just can't be matched by a deposited powder or extrusion printing. I think it's world changing, but not for mass produced items like the Mac Pro.
    - astrodust 13y ago
      Apple's using CNC machining on an unprecedented scale to make their products because it offers superior results to a purely stamped or cast part. If 3D printing offers something novel, I'm sure Apple will be all over it yesterday. The only thing I can think of where this would work is materials like glass.
- brudgers 13y ago
  The odds of a given user ever replacing the CPU are low, because premium Xeon CPU's tend to retain value - 2.0ghz HarperTown quad cores are really cheep, 3.0ghz quad core parts cost enough to make system replacement more attractive in many cases.
- mikeash 13y ago
  > I'm sure Apple will "fix" this. I don't understand this at all. OK, you want to hate on Apple a little, I get it. But this statement just makes no sense. Do you think they did this by accident? Is this really a problem for them?
Sanddancer 13y ago
I don't think that as arstechnica states that it's really accurate to compare the D-series FirePros to the Wx000 series of firepros; they seem more like desktop radeons with a memory bump. AMD's press release ( http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/new-amd-firepro-2013dec23.aspx http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/new-amd-firepro-2... ) regarding the D series doesn't mention ECC memory, which is what tends to make the FirePros so expensive and is mentioned in the specs of every other FirePro AMD sells. Maybe there will be later clarification, but so far, I've seen nothing to suggest that these are much more than souped up radeon 7900s.
- ericd 13y ago
  ECC server memory isn't that much more expensive than normal memory (it includes one more chip). Any reason it would would bump the price of the pro radeons? My thought was that it'd be The low volumes and additional design/R&D/enterprise margins. Apple buys in sufficient quantities that most of those things should be substantially decreased.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - hornetblack 13y ago
    Better silicon. For example the main difference between the 290 and 290x is silicon. Better silicon will have more units enabled and could handle higher clock speeds. (Others are likely to be dead or dodgy). Although at 450 Watts I doubt there will be much in the way of high clock speed. When it comes to workstation graphics Nvidia drivers behave differently when using a Quadro. (Eg: duel monitor support in Linux)

38 points by shawndumas 13y ago

Seems I'm pretty spoiled by iFixIt - I really like their super high image sizes that let you really see every little bit of the board. These look like they were taken with an old mobile phone, smuggled out of some factory. Seriously, OWC, nobody on your staff has a tripod, DSLR, and a desk lamp or clip light?

lispython 13y ago
Your saying is unfair. They already did the teardown work well from their article, why criticize them like you care about the appearance but not the idea.
- MnOWED1O 13y ago
  Because the "appearance" is a huge quality point. Nicely framed, well-lit high resolution pictures are important in a photographic teardown.

rbanffy 13y ago

I felt old when I see this socket. I learned my way around personal computers on machines with 40-pin CPUs. Everything I do these days would be science fiction back when I started. Not very plausible sci-fi at that...

nknighthb 13y ago
The back of my brain sees hundreds of tiny little pins just waiting to get bent. Fortunately I gather at some point they actually switched to slight protrusions on the socket that contact nearly-flat points on the CPU.
- ericd 13y ago
  Yeah, they're just metal pads on the CPU now.
- astrodust 13y ago
  This is the Land Grid Array (LGA) socket type (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grid_array http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grid_array) where the pins are on the socket and the pads are on the chip. This supplants the Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) sockets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIF_socket http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIF_socket), those being a reworking of the Pin Grid Array (PGA) packaging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_Grid_Array http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_Grid_Array) which was a higher density version of the Dual Inline Package (DIP) standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_in-line_package http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_in-line_package) used for the 80286 and prior chips.
- miahi 13y ago
  The pins in the socket are actually more complicated. Every pin is actually a kind of spring[1], so it stays in contact with the CPU when it is pushed on them. They are not very hard to bend if you drop the CPU on them by mistake - but instead of a (maybe) unusable CPU you can have an unusable motherboard. The odds of unusable equipment is actually low, as most of the pins are just for power. [1] https://lh3.ggpht.com/-omZKyfVo6YE/T7IiJnDdwZI/AAAAAAAAAco/WODnQlwCxBg/s1600/becnt2closeup.JPG https://lh3.ggpht.com/-omZKyfVo6YE/T7IiJnDdwZI/AAAAAAAAAco/W...

2bluesc 13y ago

Sad that a replaceable CPU on a desktop is "feature" or even noteworthy. I'm sure Apple will "fix" this.

ihsw 13y ago
With the advent of 3D-printing we should be prepared for the inevitability that everything will eventually be just as difficult to tinker with. 3D-printers enable you to construct devices that are so intricately and tightly closed.
- nwh 13y ago
  I'm not sure we will ever see mass produced 3D printed items. As it stands injection moulded thermoplastics can be churned out at absolutely incredible rates that just can't be matched by a deposited powder or extrusion printing. I think it's world changing, but not for mass produced items like the Mac Pro.
  - astrodust 13y ago
    Apple's using CNC machining on an unprecedented scale to make their products because it offers superior results to a purely stamped or cast part. If 3D printing offers something novel, I'm sure Apple will be all over it yesterday. The only thing I can think of where this would work is materials like glass.
brudgers 13y ago
The odds of a given user ever replacing the CPU are low, because premium Xeon CPU's tend to retain value - 2.0ghz HarperTown quad cores are really cheep, 3.0ghz quad core parts cost enough to make system replacement more attractive in many cases.
mikeash 13y ago
> I'm sure Apple will "fix" this. I don't understand this at all. OK, you want to hate on Apple a little, I get it. But this statement just makes no sense. Do you think they did this by accident? Is this really a problem for them?

Sanddancer 13y ago

I don't think that as arstechnica states that it's really accurate to compare the D-series FirePros to the Wx000 series of firepros; they seem more like desktop radeons with a memory bump. AMD's press release ( http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/new-amd-firepro-2013dec23.aspx http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/new-amd-firepro-2... ) regarding the D series doesn't mention ECC memory, which is what tends to make the FirePros so expensive and is mentioned in the specs of every other FirePro AMD sells. Maybe there will be later clarification, but so far, I've seen nothing to suggest that these are much more than souped up radeon 7900s.

ericd 13y ago
ECC server memory isn't that much more expensive than normal memory (it includes one more chip). Any reason it would would bump the price of the pro radeons? My thought was that it'd be The low volumes and additional design/R&D/enterprise margins. Apple buys in sufficient quantities that most of those things should be substantially decreased.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- hornetblack 13y ago
  Better silicon. For example the main difference between the 290 and 290x is silicon. Better silicon will have more units enabled and could handle higher clock speeds. (Others are likely to be dead or dodgy). Although at 450 Watts I doubt there will be much in the way of high clock speed. When it comes to workstation graphics Nvidia drivers behave differently when using a Quadro. (Eg: duel monitor support in Linux)