Qualcomm's SoC Road Map for 2014, 2015

The table in the article below documents Qualcomm direction in response to Apple 64 bit processor (see in September 2013 iPhone 5s Teardown ).

"Today Qualcomm is rounding out its 64-bit family with the Snapdragon 808 and 810. Like the previous 64-bit announcements (Snapdragon 410, 610 and 615), the 808 and 810 leverage ARM's own CPU IP in lieu of a Qualcomm designed microarchitecture. We'll finally hear about Qualcomm's own custom 64-bit architecture later this year, but it's clear that all 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs shipping in 2014 (and early 2015) will use ARM CPU IP."

A key issue for Qualcomm is "Qualcomm's sharing the roadmap to its premium Snapdragon chipset lineup much earlier than it usually does; the 810 and 808 won't be available on devices until the first half of 2015. This is largely due to competitive pressure: MediaTek, Intel and NVIDIA are going big by pushing out chips with 64-bit support and, in some cases, eight cores. Given how fast the industry is iterating, it's not hard to see that Qualcomm -- which currently dominates much of the mobile chipset market -- doesn't want to lose momentum or popularity." Qualcomm's 2015 chips may make you regret getting a new phone this year

See more from September 2013 on iPhone 5s Teardown ,

and from July 2013 Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm

While Qualcomm grew 31% last year, Media Tek already grew 36% semiconductor vendors ranking - Top Semiconductor Ranking for 2013

Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Qualcomm'sSnapdragon 808/810: 20nm High-End 64-bit SoCs with LTE Category 6/7 Support in2015

by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 7, 2014

Today Qualcomm is rounding out its 64-bit family with the Snapdragon 808 and 810. Like the previous 64-bit announcements (Snapdragon 410, 610 and 615), the 808 and 810 leverage ARM's own CPU IP in lieu of a Qualcomm designed microarchitecture. We'll finally hear about Qualcomm's own custom 64-bit architecture later this year, but it's clear that all 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs shipping in 2014 (and early 2015) will use ARM CPU IP.

While the 410, 610 and 615 all use ARM Cortex A53 cores (simply varying the number of cores and operating frequency), the 808 and 810 move to a big.LITTLE design with a combination of Cortex A53s and Cortex A57s. The latter is an evolution of the Cortex A15, offering anywhere from a 25 - 55% increase in IPC over the A15. The substantial increase in performance comes at around a 20% increase in power consumption at 28nm. Thankfully both the Snapdragon 808 and 810 will be built at 20nm, which should help offset some of the power increase.

Qualcomm's 64-bit Lineup
	Snapdragon 810	Snapdragon 808	Snapdragon 615	Snapdragon 610	Snapdragon 410
Internal Model Number	MSM8994	MSM8992	MSM8936	MSM8939	MSM8916
Manufacturing Process	20nm	20nm	28nm LP	28nm LP	28nm LP
CPU	4 x ARM Cortex A57 + 4 x ARM Cortex A53 (big.LITTLE)	2 x ARM Cortex A57 + 4 x ARM Cortex A53 (big.LITTLE)	8 x ARM Cortex A53	4 x ARM Cortex A53	4 x ARM Cortex A53
ISA	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A
GPU	Adreno 430	Adreno 418	Adreno 405	Adreno 405	Adreno 306
H.265 Decode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
H.265 Encode	Yes	No	No	No	No
Memory Interface	2 x 32-bit LPDDR4-1600	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-933	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-800	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-800	2 x 32-bit LPDDR2/3-533
Integrated Modem	9x35 core, LTE Category 6/7, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x35 core, LTE Category 6/7, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA
Integrated WiFi	-	-	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream
eMMC Interface	5.0	5.0	4.5	4.5	4.5
Camera ISP	14-bit dual-ISP	12-bit dual-ISP	?	?	?
Shipping in Devices	1H 2015	1H 2015	Q4 2014	Q4 2014	Q3 2014

The Snapdragon 808 features four Cortex A53s and two Cortex A57s, while the 810 moves to four of each. In both cases all six/eight cores can be active at once (Global Task Scheduling). The designs are divided into two discrete CPU clusters (one for the A53s and one for the A57s). Within a cluster all of the cores have to operate at the same frequency (a change from previous Snapdragon designs), but each cluster can operate at a different frequency (which makes sense given the different frequency targets for these two core types). Qualcomm isn't talking about cache sizes at this point, but I'm guessing we won't see anything as cool/exotic as a large shared cache between the two clusters. Although these are vanilla ARM designs, Qualcomm will be using its own optimized cells and libraries, which may translate into better power/performance compared to a truly off-the-shelf design.

The CPU is only one piece of the puzzle as the rest of the parts of these SoCs get upgraded as well. The Snapdragon 808 will use an Adreno 418 GPU, while the 810 gets an Adreno 430. I have no idea what either of those actually means in terms of architecture unfortunately (Qualcomm remains the sole tier 1 SoC vendor to refuse to publicly disclose meaningful architectural details about its GPUs). In terms of graphics performance, the Adreno 418 is apparently 20% faster than the Adreno 330, and the Adreno 430 is 30% faster than the Adreno 420 (100% faster in GPGPU performance). Note that the Adreno 420 itself is something like 40% faster than Adreno 330, which would make Adreno 430 over 80% faster than the Adreno 330 we have in Snapdragon 800/801 today.

Also on the video side: both SoCs boast dedicated HEVC/H.265 decode hardware. Only the Snapdragon 810 has a hardware HEVC encoder however. The 810 can support up to two 4Kx2K displays (1 x 60Hz + 1 x 30Hz), while the 808 supports a maximum primary display resolution of 2560 x 1600.

The 808/810 also feature upgraded ISPs, although once again details are limited. The 810 gets an upgraded 14-bit dual-ISP design, while the 808 (and below?) still use a 12-bit ISP. Qualcomm claims up to 1.2GPixels/s of throughput, putting ISP clock at 600MHz and offering a 20% increase in ISP throughput compared to the Snapdragon 805.

The Snapdragon 808 features a 64-bit wide LPDDR3-933 interface (1866MHz data rate, 15GB/s memory bandwidth). The 810 on the other hand features a 64-bit wide LPDDR4-1600 interface (3200MHz data rate, 25.6GB/s memory bandwidth). The difference in memory interface prevents the 808 and 810 from being pin-compatible. Despite the similarities otherwise, the 808 and 810 are two distinct pieces of silicon - the 808 isn't a harvested 810.

Both SoCs have a MDM9x35 derived LTE Category 6/7 modem. The SoCs feature essentially the same modem core as a 9x35 discrete modem, but with one exception: Qualcomm enabled support for 3 carrier aggregation LTE (up from 2). The discrete 9x35 modem implementation can aggregate up to two 20MHz LTE carriers in order to reach Cat 6 LTE's 300Mbps peak download rate. The 808/810, on the other hand, can combine up to three 20MHz LTE carriers (although you'll likely see 3x CA used with narrower channels, e.g. 20MHz + 5MHz + 5MHz or 20MHz + 10MHz + 10MHz).

Enabling 3x LTE CA requires two RF transceiver front ends: Qualcomm's WTR3925 and WTR3905. The WTR3925 is a single chip, 2x CA RF transceiver and you need the WTR3905 to add support for combining another carrier. Category 7 LTE is also supported by the hardware (100Mbps uplink), however due to operator readiness Qualcomm will be promoting the design primarily as category 6.

There's no integrated WiFi in either SoC. Qualcomm expects anyone implementing one of these designs to want to opt for a 2-stream, discrete solution such as the QCA6174.

Qualcomm refers to both designs as "multi-billion transistor" chips. I really hope we'll get to the point of actual disclosure of things like die sizes and transistor counts sooner rather than later (the die shot above is inaccurate).

The Snapdragon 808 is going to arrive as a successor to the 800/801, while the 810 sits above it in the stack (with a cost structure similar to the 805). We'll see some "advanced packaging" used in these designs. Both will be available in a PoP configuration, supporting up to 4GB of RAM in a stack. Based on everything above, it's safe to say that these designs are going to be a substantial upgrade over what Qualcomm offers today.

Unlike the rest of the 64-bit Snapdragon family, the 808 and 810 likely won't show up in devices until the first half of 2015 (410 devices will arrive in Q3 2014, while 610/615 will hit in Q4). The 810 will come first (and show up roughly two quarters after the Snapdragon 805, which will show up two quarters after the recently released 801). The 808 will follow shortly thereafter. This likely means we won't see Qualcomm's own 64-bit CPU microarchitecture show up in products until the second half of next year.

With the Snapdragon 808 and 810, Qualcomm rounds out almost all of its 64-bit lineup. The sole exception is the 200 series, but my guess is the pressure to move to 64-bit isn't quite as high down there.

What's interesting to me is just how quickly Qualcomm has shifted from not having any 64-bit silicon on its roadmap to a nearly complete product stack. Qualcomm appeared to stumble a bit after Apple's unexpected 64-bit Cyclone announcement last fall. Leaked roadmaps pointed to a 32-bit only future in 2014 prior to the introduction of Apple's A7. By the end of 2013 however, Qualcomm had quickly added its first 64-bit ARMv8 based SoC to the roadmap (Snapdragon 410). Now here we are, just over six months since the release of iPhone 5s and Qualcomm's 64-bit product stack seems complete. It'll still be roughly a year before all of these products are shipping, but if this was indeed an unexpected detour I really think the big story is just how quickly Qualcomm can move.

I don't know of any other silicon player that can move and ship this quickly. Whatever efficiencies and discipline Qualcomm has internally, I feel like that's the bigger threat to competing SoC vendors, not the modem IP.

Qualcom, MediaTek Processor Chip Race

Apple 64 bit CPU used in its cell phones (see September 2013 iPhone 5s $199 Manufacturing Cost (BOM)) led Qualcomm to advance to 4 and 8 core Snapdragon processor with 64 bit support (see below).

Similarly, MediaTek, a chipset manufacturer based out of Taiwan, has been making some huge moves lately. Just over two months ago, it came out with the "world's first true octa-core" processor, which consisted of eight Cortex-A7 cores capable of operating simultaneously. Now that ARM has announced Cortex-A17 technology, (see second article below).

More about MediaTek see July 2013 Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Qualcomm’s 4- and 8-core Snapdragon 610 and 615 trade CPU power for 64-bit

Cortex A53 won't stand up to Krait, but Qualcomm adds a capable GPU to the mix.

by Andrew Cunningham - Feb 23 2014, 11:00pm PST

The Snapdragon 610 will be equipped with four ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores running at an unspecified clock speed, rather than one of Qualcomm's custom ARM architectures. Snapdragon 615 takes a classic more-is-better approach, adding four more Cortex A53 CPU cores to the 610 for a total of eight. (Update:According to AnandTech, each group of four cores in the Snapdragon 615 will be optimized for a different performance level. One group will offer faster performance and one will offer lower power consumption, but both groups can theoretically be active at the same time.) For reference, the original Snapdragon 600 included four 32-bit Krait 300 CPU cores running at 1.7 or 1.9GHz, depending on the specific model.Qualcomm's first 64-bit chip wasn't a record-breaking high-end Snapdragon, but rather the modest, mid-range Snapdragon 410. Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company announced its next two 64-bit mobile SoCs, the Snapdragon 610 and 615. Rather than introducing 64-bit at the top of its product lineup and letting it trickle down, Qualcomm seems to be taking the opposite approach.

The list of CPU architectures that ARM offers is getting difficult to keep track of, but here's what you need to know: Cortex A53 is a replacement of sorts for the Cortex A7. It's the first of two CPU designs from ARM that supports the new, more efficient ARMv8 instruction set and, by extension, the traditional benefits of a 64-bit architecture (not all ARMv8 chips are 64-bit, but everything we've seen so far has been). Cortex A7 and A53 are both small cores designed for low power rather than high performance, which means that Snapdragon 610 and 615 may actually be slower than last year's Snapdragon 600 for many tasks. For software that can use all of the CPU cores at once, it's possible that the eight-core 615 will be able to gain an edge, but the CPUs will likely be more remarkable for their ARMv8 support than their raw performance.

Luckily for Qualcomm, the chips' custom GPUs and LTE modems will be more compelling for partners and consumers (and will differentiate the 610 and 615 from theSnapdragon 410, which also uses four Cortex A53 CPU cores). The Adreno 405 GPU is a relative of the Adreno 420 in the upcoming Snapdragon 805, and while it will probably be a little slower, it still supports OpenGL ES 3.0 (also included in Adreno 300 GPUs), DirectX 11.2 (good for Windows phones), H.265 video decoding, and displays up to 2560×1600 in resolution.

On the wireless side, the 610 and 615 support LTE speeds of up to 150Mbps and are compatible with Qualcomm's "RF360 Front End Solution," which allows phone manufacturers to support multiple worldwide LTE bands with a single phone rather than having to customize multiple configurations for different markets. Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi are also included.

Qualcomm says that the 410, 610, and 615 will all be supported by the same software and will be pin-compatible, meaning that any phone designed for one of these three chips can be upgraded or downgraded at will. This should be handy for OEMs looking to spruce up an older handset, or phone-makers who want to experiment a bit to find the best balance between performance, power consumption, and cost.

Both the Snapdragon 610 and 615 are scheduled to begin sampling in the third quarter of 2014 and will appear in shipping phones and tablets in the fourth quarter; the Snapdragon 410 and 805 are scheduled to be released in a similar timeframe. Those of you waiting for a true high-end 64-bit part from Qualcomm will have to keep waiting. The new-ish Snapdragon 801 and the Snapdragon 805 will be the company's flagship SoCs through the end of 2014, but by the end of the year we'd expect to hear something about some kind of 64-bit Snapdragon 810-series part based on either the high-performance Cortex A57 architecture or a new version of Qualcomm's custom Krait architecture.

MediaTek's new octa-core processor to compete with Qualcomm 

over the premium LTE smartphone market

BY BRAD MOLEN  @PHONEWISDOM  FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014 AT 1:01AM ET
 41

MediaTek, a chipset manufacturer based out of Taiwan, has been making some huge moves lately. Just over two months ago, it came out with the "world's first true octa-core" processor, which consisted of eight Cortex-A7 cores capable of operating simultaneously. Now that ARM has announced Cortex-A17 technology, however, MediaTek is ready to start sampling a new octa-core chip that consists of four 2.2-2.5GHz A17 cores and four 1.7GHz A7s, and comes with a Rogue PowerVR Series6 GPU to take care of any graphical needs you might have.

As an aside, the A17 cores come with a 60 percent improvement in performance over the current-gen A9s, and are primarily designed to make midrange smartphones and tablets even faster. That said, MediaTek tells us that its new chips, known as the MT6595, are actually meant to be featured in premium devices and will square off directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and 805. And it's certainly got a few noteworthy features: first, the chip will use ARM's big.LITTLE architecture and Heterogeneous Multi-Processing, which means you can use all eight cores for the most intense tasks, or you can use just one or two at a time for incredibly basic activities. The company claims that this chip will be faster and more power efficient than the octa-core Exynos options, which feature four A15 cores and four A7s at lower frequencies.

Additionally, the MT6595 claims to be the first octa-core LTE system-on-chip with an H.265 Ultra HD Codec built-in to the platform, which offers 4K2K video recording and playback capabilities. In much the same way that most manufacturers don't enable all of a chip's features, however, it'll be up to each individual company to add it in. The chips will begin sampling to phone makers and carriers in the first half of this year, and it's expected to arrive in products during the second half. And while it should find its way into smartphones and tablets around the world, MediaTek wants the MT6595 to enjoy a huge presence in the US.

Mac Pro Teardown - Semiconductor Chips

 iFixit took apart Mac Pro (see the article below) and it will make many semiconductor companies happy.



"The system is packed with high-end components, including:

• 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2 with Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz
• Intel BD82C602J Platform Controller Hub
• Elpida 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM
• PLX Technology PEX8723 PCI-E switch
• Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 controller
• AMD FirePro D300 graphics processor
• Elpida W2032BBBG 2 Gb GDDR5 VRAM
• Samsung S4LN053X01-8030 (ARM) flash controller
• Samsung K9HFGY8S5C-XCK0 flash storage
• Samsung K4P4G324EB 512 MB RAM
• Broadcom BCM57762 gigabit ethernet controller
• Fresco Logic FL1100 4-port USB 3.0 host controller
• Parade PS8401A HDMI jitter cleaning repeater
• Cirrus 4208-CRZ audio codec"

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Mac Pro Teardown

 

After making its debut during the WWDC 2013 Keynote, the reimagined, reformulated Mac Pro finally arrived at iFixit's doorstep. Join us as we turn the (very) Late 2013 Mac Pro inside-out.

 

 

Step 1 

·         The new Mac Pro has been released, and we've managed to get our hands on the entry-level model, "inexpensively" priced at $2,999.

·         Tech Specs:

o    Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 10 MB L3 cache and Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz

o    12 GB (three 4 GB modules) of 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC memory

o    Dual AMD FirePro D300 graphics processors with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM each

o    256 GB PCIe-based flash storage

o    802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

 

 

Step 2 

·         Contrary to popular belief, the new Mac Pro is closer in design to an aluminum beverage can than a trash can. (Not that there's anything wrong with trash cans—some of our favorite astromech droids areshaped like trash cans.)

·         The back side (if a cylinder can have a back side) contains the power button and electrical inlet, as well as a tidy array of ports:

o    3.5 mm speaker and headphone jacks

o    Four USB 3.0 ports

o    Six Thunderbolt 2 ports

o    Dual Gigabit Ethernet ports

o    HDMI 1.4 out

·         Looks like neither trash nor fixer can get in through the top of this bin. Time to investigate that enticing lock switch...

 

Step 3 

·         Here's a strangely un-Apple-like design choice: simply sliding the lock switch allows us to remove the outer casing of the Mac Pro. No stubborn pentalobe screws here!

·         What other improved repairability features will we find in this soda can desktop computer? Only time and spudgers will tell.

o    We're sincerely hoping it's more cowbell.

 

 

Step 4 

·         With the cylindrical cover removed, we get our first peek inside the Mac Pro.

·         The dual graphics cards dominate the initial view. Their symmetry is broken only by the SSD cage nestled up alongside the second graphics card.

·         Giving the Mac Pro a little spin, we find neatly positioned vertical RAM slots at either side of the I/O panel.

 

 

Step 5 

·         Good news, everyone! The RAM in the Mac Pro Late 2013 is easily accessible and replaceable.

·         The 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM (three for a total of 12 GB) modules are labeled as Elpida EBJ04EG8BFWB-JS-F.

·         According to Apple, the RAM in the Mac Pro is configurable to 16 GB (four 4 GB), 32 GB (four 8 GB) or 64 GB (four 16 GB).

 

Step 6 

·         With a twist of a T8 screwdriver, the SSD assembly is easily removed from the device.

o    For those playing along at home, we have only removed one screw, and the SSD is out. (Side note: the screw wasn't even proprietary!)

·         On board we find some rather familiar friends:

o    Samsung S4LN053X01-8030 (ARM) Flash Controller

o    Samsung K9HFGY8S5C-XCK0 Flash Storage

o    Samsung K4P4G324EB 512 MB RAM

·         This combination of hardware makes the Mac Pro's SSD suspiciously similar to those we've seen in the latest refresh of MacBook Pro Retina and MacBook Air.

o    To the point that only the last few digits of the model numbers are any different. Hmmm...

 

Step 7 

·         Regulatory markings have been relegated to the bottom cover/air inlet, where we find a few more informative tidbits:

o    The Mac Pro Late 2013 is identified as model A1481 with an EMC Number of 2630...

o    ...and it's rated for 100-240 volts AC, making it a willing international travel partner.

·         There can only be one fan. The Mac Pro is vented by a single fan, which pulls air from under the case, through the core, and out the top of the case.

 

 

Step 8 

·         Teardown update: You asked, we answered. We popped the plastic roof off the fan module and found a whole new stash of precision engineering.

·         Snug in a nest of antennas, the AirPort card fits onto a small adapter board that also connects to the fan below.

·         Those three large screws secure the fan, with vibration-dampening rubber bumpers, like we've seen in iMacs.

 

Step 9 

·         More deja vu as we uncap the AirPort card and find what looks to be the same configuration found in most Apple products today:

o    Broadcom BCM4360 5G Wi-Fi 3-stream 802.11ac gigabit transceiver

o    Broadcom BCM20702 single-chip Bluetooth 4.0 HCI solution with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support

o    Skyworks SE5516 dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN front-end modules

 

 

Step 10 

·         The gold antenna array pops out, and sees all.

·         With the fan released, it looks to be powered by a Nidec brushless DC motor, model number AG720K01.

·         The motor controller IC reads A5940LPT.

·         We noticed a few cavities around the edges of the impeller filled with some sort of epoxy (on both sides). We suspect it's for fine-tuned balancing, to keep the fan running smooth and quiet.

 

Step 11 

·         A view from above: The Mac Pro utilizes a giant triangular heat sink ("Thermal Core"), shared by the dual graphics cards and CPU.

·         Looks like the Mac Pro has taken some design pointers from the recent AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule bodies: a thin, vertical design with individual boards on separate sides.

·         We use our spudger to pry the graphics card data connectors from their sockets. This FCI Meg-Array connector is the same type used for the G4 & G5 PowerPC processor daughtercards, and looks to be a fully custom way of hooking up PCI-E, with many pins in a pressed-in connector.

 

 

Step 12 

·         With the Mac Pro's structure dominated by the central heat sink, we'd best start by peeling parts off.

·         A clamp and four screws hold each of the dual AMD FirePro D300 graphics cards in place.

·         Amidst the usual processing power and cost comparison with a similar home-built desktop PC, these graphics cards may be the key to Apple finally undercutting homebrew systems on a pure power basis.

·         While this stacks up fairly well for current Apple GPU offerings, the proprietary nature, and lack of an elegant external GPU option, may age this device before its time.

 

Step 13 

·         The back side of each graphics card contains:

o    AMD FirePro D300 graphics processor

o    Elpida W2032BBBG 2 Gb (8 x 2 Gb = 16 Gb = 2 GB) GDDR5 VRAM

o    Intersil ISL 6336 6-Phase PWM Controller with Light Load Efficiency Enhancement and Current Monitoring

·         The front side has the following ICs:

o    Fairchild Semiconductor DD30AJ

o    IR C F3575 CCIRP

 

Step 14 

·         But wait, there's more. Just one more: a second, slightly different FirePro card.

·         This GPU—same make and model—hails from Taiwan, unlike its Chinese-made twin.

·         The other important difference to note is that this card (and only this card) hosts the slot for the SSD. This seems to us like a potential opportunity for expansion—perhaps higher storage configurations make use of two of this variety, for doubling up on SSDs?

Step 15 

·         The FirePro bone's connected to the... um...

·         A novel disc-shaped daughterboard ties everything together at the base of the machine. Having spudgered away the ribbon cables, we flip it over for a closer look.

·         Dominated by inscrutable proprietary connectors, we can only hope the ICs on this interconnect board will tell us more about its purpose.

 

Step 16 

·         The logic board, dual graphics cards, and I/O port board all connect to this single board.

·         Wrangling all that data requires a small posse of ICs. We find:

o    Intel BD82C602J Platform Controller Hub

o    R4F2113 NLG A02 AE03376

o    ICS 932SQL435AL 3817528F

o    Texas Instruments LM393 Dual Differential Comparator

o    MXIC 25L6406E 64M-BIT CMOS Serial Flash

·         The back of the daughterboard features the same mysterious 980 YFC LM4FS1BH found in the Mid 2013 MacBook Air refreshes.

 

 

Step 17 

·         Pulling up a black cover grille, we discover where Apple hid the power supply: it's sandwiched between the I/O panel and the logic board.

·         The power supply's connecting cables are cleverly conceived, but a bit tricky to remove. Our handy Torx driver is helpful here...

·         ...and with that, the I/O board and power supply peel away as a unit.

 

 

 

Step 18 

·         The logic board is the next logical step. The CPU is the last to go, left clinging to the side of the heat sink via a thin smear of thermal paste.

·         After teasing it away with a spudger, we decipher its markings:

o    Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2 with 10 MB L3 cache, clocked at 3.7 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz.

·         While it took a bit of a trek, a CPU upgrade appears entirely possible—and well worth it, with an alleged cost savings of $1050 for an upgrade to 12 cores.

 

 

Step 19 

·         Let's identify the ICs on the rear of the logic board:

o    LGA 2011 (Socket R) CPU socket

o    SMSC 1428-7 3233E5A

o    IR C F3575 3X3YP

o    NXP PA9517A Level Translating I2C-Bus Repeater

o    Texas Instruments 58872D

·         The front side of the logic board:

o    Intersil ISL 6367 Hybrid Digital Dual PWM Controller

 

 

Step 20 

·         Hard to port! Port board, that is.

·         Notable ICs on the back of the port board:

o    Broadcom BCM57762 Gigabit Ethernet Controller

o    Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Controller

o    Fresco Logic FL1100 4-port USB 3.0 Host Controller

o    Parade PS8401A HDMI Jitter Cleaning Repeater

o    Delta 8904C-F

 

12 EditStep 21 

·         The front side of the port board:

o    PLX Technology PEX8723 PCI Express Switch

o    Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Controller

o    Cirrus 4208-CRZ Audio Codec (seen in theMacBook Pro 15" Retina Display)

o    Intersil 14AIRZ F335QV

o    Texas Instruments 58888D

o    Texas Instruments 58872D

·         Also along for the ride is a standard BR2032 CMOS battery.

 

 

Step 22 

·         With a rated output of 12.1 Volts and 37.2 Amps, we're looking at a 450 Watt power supply. The power supply has no dedicated cooling, and relies on the main system fan to keep cool—allowing the Mac Pro to idle at a whisper-quiet 12 dBA.

o    For comparison, we found a 450 Watt PSU in our recent Steam Machine teardown. The Steam Machine's SilverStone power supply featured a "silent running 80 mm fan with 18 dBA minimum."

·         And a quick look at what's left on the behemoth of a heat sink: Heavy gauge, flat power cables run from the PSU to the logic board and graphics cards, and remain intertwined in the heat sink.

 

 

Step 23 

·         With the I/O panel cover belly-up, we spot one last trio of unidentified ICs, labeled as follows:

o    Two M430 V380 H 39K CX88 G4

o    One M430 V380 H 39K CX7S G4

·         We speculate they may be Texas Instruments MSP430 16-bit Microcontrollers.

 

 

Step 24 

·         Mac Pro Late 2013 Repairability Score: 8 out of 10(10 is easiest to repair)

·         For being so compact, the design is surprisingly modular and easy to disassemble. Non-proprietary Torx screws are used throughout, and several components can be replaced independently.

·         The easily-opened case is designed to make RAM upgrades a snap.

·         The fan is easy to access and replace.

·         While it will require a bit of digging, the CPU is user-replaceable—meaning intrepid fixers should be able to save considerably by upgrading from the base-level processor configuration.

·         There is no room, or available port, for adding your own internal storage. Apple has addressed this with heaps of Thunderbolt, but we'd personally rather use the more widely compatible SATA if we could.

·         With some proprietary new connectors and tight cable routing, working on this $3,000 device without a repair manual could be risky.