Fixing stuff, myself included…
Oh no, now what? More geeky stuff?
Well yeah, that’s who I am today. I have a 2009 Mac Pro single quad-core, and I’m going to attempt to replace the processor with a faster 2010 6-core. The dual processor would be much harder to turn into a 12-core machine. Even though I thought I would wait, sell the quad-core and get a dual quad-core, I’ve decided not to.
Why not get the dual quad?
Because the replacement of processors in the dual quad, requires de-lidding the processors. And by the way, both the 4-core and 8-core 2009, need to be flashed with the 2010 firmware. I’ve done the firmware upgrade, and it went smoothly
Whaaat? De-lidding?
There are varying descriptions of what to use and how to do it, from heat guns to household irons. All methods involve using a razor blade to “gently” open the sides of the metal case covering the cpu before heating it up. The removal of the casing is called de-lidding. I guess if I had acquired an 8-core to begin with, I would attempt to go for the 12-core. However, after learning about the pitfalls, (many failures) of the dual quad replacement procedure, I’ll be quite content with uping my 4-core to a 6-core.