Hi,
I recently purchased an X5660 in the hope that I could pair it with my EVGA Classified 3-Way SLI (E760). I've read that the chip could OC very well and with 6c / 12t for 50$, it seemed like a good idea to try it. However, when I installed the CPU, I got the FF code / no beep / no POST. I made sure to download the latest BIOS but it was still not working. I put back my trusty 920 D0 and even a 930 and they both worked perfectly fine. After further research on the net, I came to the conclusion that I probably need the Westmere mod to make it work.
 
So I guess I still have tons of questions...
Am I right that I need that mod ?
If so, now that I have the gear, do you still think it's worth it to perform the mod and use the X5660 ? (I'm mainly planning on using it with tons of dockers and a few VMs, so pretty much a headless system for streaming videos and things like that, not for gaming). Or would it be better to sell the board + all 3 CPUs (I have the motherboard full cover waterblock + CPU waterblock), and buy another platform (X79 ?) ?
 
If I go with the mod, would you be able to tell me exactly what's the procedure ? Do I need 2 mods or only one ? Do I need to bridge pads with solder or do I need to move a resistor ?
 
Here are a few pictures of the board, maybe someone here could circle the pads and tell me more about the procedure ?
 
Thanks !
 

Just sell that Westmere and get a Gulftown chip (W3690). That shouldn't require a hardmod. 

I am pretty sure I heard that they did not work for some reason. Someone on here tried it a while ago and got back to us.
I can not find the post on here, search is not searching very well for me.
The w3680 is just as good and most likely cheaper. If you're going to try.  I will keep looking. Google maybe