Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thread 'Mac Pro CPU Compatibility List' - Content history
Formatted Raw
-
Bokkow and I have created a Mac Pro CPU compatibility list. The intent is to cover all relevant and compatible CPU upgrades for all Mac Pros. These are asked about over and over and over again, so I thought it would be nice to have it all in one place.
Constructive criticism, corrections to errors, pointing out omissions, etc. are all welcome. My intent is, after the content matures, to turn this first post into a wiki so that anyone can maintain it going forward from there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
- Any and all information here may be incorrect. Use at your own risk.
- This includes anything offered by Apple (BTO/CTO), third party upgrade guides and commercial services (such as Barefeats, OWC, or xlr8yourmac), or simply individuals claiming personal success in a forum somewhere (such as MacRumors and Netkas). There are probably many unverified CPUs that work, but these are not listed.
- Memory speed is included in these charts. This is important because in some cases the CPU choice makes a difference.
- Upgrading to a higher TDP (wattage) processor may increase temperatures and/or fan speed at max load. Macs Fan Control is a popular way to control your Mac's fan and it is available for both OS X and Windows, unlike most Mac fan software.
- Some used CPUs for sale on Ebay and elsewhere are Intel Engineering Samples. You can read more about these here, but they are basically "beta" versions of the CPU provided to OEMs for testing. These may or may not work in a Mac Pro. In my research at least one person bought an engineering sample that didn't work. Since Intel only loans them out and never sells them, they can also be considered stolen property. People have literally been arrested for selling Intel ES processors on Ebay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Key Description - Not compatible x Compatible x* Compatible, but see notes about firmware update
Mac Pro 7,1
- 1TB or 1.5TB maximum RAM depending on processor
Architecture Cores Grade CPU-Model GHz Turbo RAM Watt Max RAM Cascade Lake 28 core Xeon W W-3275M 2.5 4.4 2933 205W 1.5TB Cascade Lake 28 core Xeon W W-3275 2.5 4.4 2933 205W 1TB Cascade Lake 24 core Xeon W W-3265M 2.7 4.4 2933 205W 1.5TB Cascade Lake 24 core Xeon W W-3265 2.7 4.4 2933 205W 1TB Cascade Lake 16 core Xeon W W-3245M 3.2 4.4 2933 205W 1.5TB Cascade Lake 16 core Xeon W W-3245 3.2 4.4 2933 205W 1TB Cascade Lake 12 core Xeon W W-3235 3.3 4.4 2933 180W 1TB Cascade Lake 8 core Xeon W W-3225 3.7 4.3 2666 160W 1TB Cascade Lake 8 core Xeon W W-3223 3.5 4.0 2666 160W 1TB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mac Pro 6,1
- 128GB maximum RAM
Architecture Cores Grade CPU-Model GHz Turbo RAM Watt Ivy-Bridge 12 core Dual Xeon E5-2697 V2 2.7 3.5 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 12 core Dual Xeon E5-2696 V2 2.5 3.3 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 12 core Dual Xeon E5-2695 V2 2.4 3.2 1866 115W Ivy-Bridge 10 core Dual Xeon E5-2690 V2 3.0 3.6 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 10 core Dual Xeon E5-2680 V2 2.8 3.6 1866 115W Ivy-Bridge 8 core Dual Xeon E5-2687W V2 3.4 4.0 1866 150W Ivy-Bridge 8 core Dual Xeon E5-2667 V2 3.3 4.0 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 8 core Dual Xeon E5-2673 V2 3.3 4.0 1866 110W Ivy-Bridge 8 core Dual Xeon E5-1680 V2 3.0 3.9 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 6 core Dual Xeon E5-1660 V2 3.7 4.0 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 6 core Dual Xeon E5-1650 V2 3.5 3.9 1866 130W Ivy-Bridge 4 core Dual Xeon E5-1620 V2 3.7 3.9 1866 130W
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mac Pro 5,1 and 4,1
Xserve 3,1
- Maximum RAM:
- 56GB in a single-processor Mac Pro using a single-processor-capable Xeon
- 64GB in a single-processor Mac Pro using a dual-processor-capable Xeon
- 160GB in a dual-processor Mac Pro
- 48GB for a single-processor Xserve
- 96GB in a dual-processor Xserve
- For the 4,1 to use Westmere CPUs and run RAM at 1333, it will need the firmware upgrade to 5,1, found here: http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
- 5,1 Mac Pros shipped with 1333 RAM even when paired with a Nehalem (1066 only) processor. As shipped, the RAM runs at 1066 because of the CPU. However, if you upgrade to a 1333-capable CPU, your RAM will run at 1333 after an NVRAM reset.
- Installing a single "Dual Xeon" processor into a single-processor Mac Pro works fine, and actually increases its maximum RAM from 56 to 64GB.
- Installing just one single-processor-model CPU into a dual-processor Mac Pro technically works, but this causes an error state with the CPU fan going full blast.
- For two CPUs, you must install two "Dual Xeon" processors. You cannot use two i7 or single Xeon processors.
- The X#### CPU's tend to have a slightly higher maximum temperature rating than their W#### equivalents.
- 4,1 dual-processor Mac Pro uses a special, "lidless" CPUs (the single-processor models use normal CPUs). This has a different height than the normal CPUs, so if you upgrade a dual-processor 4,1 Mac Pro with different processors, you need to deal with the height difference. There are several ways to do this:
- Buy CPUs that someone has already de-lidded.
- Buy normal CPUs and de-lid them yourself. Here is thread about delidding yourself and here is a video. (And here is a post warning against delidding yourself.)
- Buy normal CPUs and pay for de-lidding service.
- Keep the lids on, but be extremely careful about not tightening down the heat sink too much. (If you don't remove the lids it is very easy to tighten down the heat sink screws too much on a CPU that's too large, resulting in damage to the socket, CPU, and/or board.)
- Other people have kept the lids on, but added washer stacks (of equivalent height to the lid difference) to where the tightening screws go--this is intended to prevent the heat sink from overtightening and causing damage. Here is an informational washer stack thread, and here is a really good post with pictures and a step-by-step procedure.
- If you keep the lids on, the existing heat pad won't reach the heat sink due to the extra height of the lids. You need to make up for this gap by replacing the heat pad with a thicker pad.
- The Xserve 3,1 uses lidless CPUs for both single-CPU and double-CPU models. We don't know if the washer-stack trick will work in Xserves as they are physically different than MP, but the other solutions should work.
- No, the X5687 (3.6GHz quad-core) and the X5698 (4.4GHz dual-core) do not work in Mac Pros. I don't want to list every CPU that doesn't work with a Mac, but these two are asked about often enough to include here, and they've been verified as not working.
* Requires 4,1 to 5,1 firmware upgradeArchitecture Cores Grade CPU-Model GHz Turbo RAM Watt MP4,1 MP5,1 XS3,1 Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5690 3.46 3.73 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5680 3.33 3.60 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5679 3.20 3.60 1066 115W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5675 3.06 3.46 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5670 2.93 3.33 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5660 2.80 3.20 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5650 2.66 3.06 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon E5659 2.53 2.80 1333 80W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon E5645 2.40 2.67 1333 80W x* x - Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon L5639 2.13 2.67 1333 60W x* x - Gulftown 6 core Xeon W3690 3.46 3.73 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 6 core Xeon W3680 3.33 3.60 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 6 core Xeon W3670 3.20 3.46 1066 130W x* x - Gulftown 6 core Consumer i7 990X 3.46 3.73 1333 130W x* x - Gulftown 6 core Consumer i7 980X 3.33 3.60 1333 130W x* x - Gulftown 6 core Consumer i7 970 3.20 3.46 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon X5687 3.60 3.86 1333 130W - - - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon X5677 3.46 3.73 1333 130W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon X5672 3.20 3.60 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon X5667 3.06 3.46 1333 95W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon X5647 2.93 3.20 1066 130W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon E5640 2.66 2.93 1066 80W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon E5630 2.53 2.80 1066 80W x* x - Westmere 4 core Dual Xeon E5620 2.40 2.66 1066 80W x* x - Westmere 2 core Dual Xeon X5698 4.40 4.54 1333 130W - - - Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon W5590 3.33 3.60 1333 130W x x x Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon W5580 3.20 3.46 1333 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon X5570 2.93 3.33 1333 95W x x x Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon X5560 2.80 3.20 1333 95W x x - Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon X5550 2.66 3.06 1333 95W x x x Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon E5540 2.53 2.80 1066 80W x x - Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon E5530 2.40 2.66 1066 80W x x - Nehalem 4 core Dual Xeon E5520 2.26 2.53 1066 80W x x x Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3580 3.33 3.60 1333 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3570 3.20 3.46 1333 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3565 3.20 3.46 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3540 2.93 3.20 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3530 2.80 3.06 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Xeon W3520 2.66 2.93 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 975 3.33 3.60 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 965 3.20 3.46 1066 130W x** x** - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 960 3.20 3.46 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 950 3.06 3.33 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 940 2.93 3.20 1066 130W x** x** - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 930 2.80 3.06 1066 130W x x - Nehalem 4 core Consumer i7 920 2.66 2.93 1066 130W x** x** -
** Some or all steppings of these CPUs don't work with certain newer Mac Pro firmware versions applied by High Sierra 10.13.5 updates and newer. See this thread. The thread also has a method for adding the code back to make the CPUs compatible again.
Note: Reports of GAINESTOWN (Xeon 5500-series) processors in Mojave experiencing audio related issues. See this thread for more information.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mac Pro 3,1
Xserve 2,1
- 64GB maximum RAM
- The 3,1 MP is not compatible with all steppings. Processors with a 5-digit sSpec starting with "SLB" do not work. Those that start with "SLA" work. The sSpec is marked on the top of the processor. sSpec numbers listed in this table should work.
- The 3,1 single-processor Mac Pro can be upgraded to dual-processor by adding a second CPU and appropriate heat sink. The CPUs must match including sSpec, so either get a second CPU that matches your existing CPU, or get two matching CPUs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Architecture Cores Grade CPU-Model sSpec GHz RAM Watt MP3,1 XS2,1 Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5482 SLANZ 3.2 800 150W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5460 SLANP 3.16 667 120W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5472 SLANR 3.0 800 80W x x Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5472 SLASA 3.0 800 120W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5450 SLASB 3.0 667 120W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5450 SLANQ 3.0 667 80W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5440 SLANS 2.83 667 80W x - Harpertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5462 SLANT 2.8 800 80W x x Wolfdale 2 core Dual Xeon X5272 SLANH 3.40 800 80W x - Wolfdale 2 core Dual Xeon X5260 SLANJ 3.33 667 80W x -
Mac Pro 2,1 and 1,1
Xserve 1,1
- 32GB maximum RAM for 1,1 (increases to 64GB if flashed with 2,1 firmware)
- 64GB maximum RAM for 2,1
- For the 1,1 to use Clovertown CPUs properly, it needs a firmware flashed to 2,1.
- The 1,1 to 2,1 firmware flash requires Snow Leopard (or newer) to run. It can be found here: http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1094.0.html
* 1,1 to 2,1 firmware upgrade recommended for stepping G0, _strongly_ recommended for earlier steppings.Architecture Cores Grade CPU-Model sSpec Stepping GHz RAM Watt** (TDP) Watt** (idle) MP1,1 MP2,1 XS1,1 Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5365 SLAC3 B3 3.0 667 150W 50W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5365 SLAED G0 3.0 667 120W 25W x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5355 SLAC4 B3 2.66 667 120W 50W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5355 SL9YM B3 2.66 667 120W 50W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon X5355 SLAEG G0 2.66 667 120W 25W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5345 SL9YL B3 2.33 667 80W n/a x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5345 SLAC5 B3 2.33 667 80W n/a x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5345 SLAEJ G0 2.33 667 80W n/a x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5340 SL9MY n/a 2.4 533 80W 30W x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5340 n/a G0 2.4 667 80W 25W x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon L5335 SLAEN G0 2.0 667 50W 24W x* x x Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon L5320 SLA4Q B3 1.86 533 50W 24W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon L5320 SLAC9 B3 1.86 533 50W 24W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon L5320 SLAEP G0 1.86 533 50W 24W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5320 SL9MV B3 1.86 533 80W 30W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5320 SLACB B3 1.86 533 80W 30W x* x - Clovertown 4 core Dual Xeon E5320 SLAEM G0 1.86 533 80W 30W x* x - Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5160 SL9RT B2 3.0 667 80W n/a x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5160 SLABS B2 3.0 667 80W n/a x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5160 SLAG9 G0 3.0 667 65W 8W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5150 SL9RU B2 2.66 667 65W 24W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5150 SLABM B2 2.66 667 65W 24W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5150 SLAGA G0 2.66 667 65W 8W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5130 SL9RX B2 2.0 667 65W 27W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5130 SLABP B2 2.0 667 65W 27W x x x Woodcrest 2 core Dual Xeon 5130 SLAGC G0 2.0 667 65W 27W x x x
** Values per CPU (-> x2 in a MP). Upgrade from DualCore to QuadCore CPU's usually requires fan control adjustments prior to stepping G0.
Sources used (among others): Techreport.com, Wikipedia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credit
- Thanks to Bokkow for helping with this. The information is formatted and presented nicely due to his work with BBCode tables, and he has contributed with a lot of the data as well.
- Thanks to MacEFIROM and Netkas for creating and providing the firmware updates for Mac Pro. This has enabled countless people to upgrade to a newer generation of CPUs, which wouldn't be possible without the effort made by these two.
- Thanks to everyone who ever upgraded a CPU and took the time to post about it here--there's a chance it was your post I saw that led to a CPU being verified above.
- Thanks to those who took the time, money, and risk to shove more memory in their computer than others said was possible.
- Thanks to everyone who helps to push the limits and usefulness of our computers.
- Thanks to MacRumors and the mods for providing such a great forum for the above to happen in the first place. Especially the mod Arn, for enabling BBCode tables for this.