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2009 MP after all upgrades. Speed the same as 2012?

M

marcosmac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 2, 2014
21
0
I purchased a used 2009 Apple Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem).
I've installed the 5.1 firmware, upgraded the processor to one Xeon W3680 (Westmere), installed 4x8GB 1333 Ram, Replaced the video card with the GTX 680 mac edition, and finally a Samsung pro 256 SSD for boot drive. The computer is running fine but after I've done all that I was wondering if my computer speed now is the same as the MP 2012 with the same processor. Kind of stupid question after done all those updates. Never run any benchmark test to confirm.

Thanks
 
It's actually better than what Apple would have sold you, since they didn't come with that GTX 680. Congrats!
 
I did the more or less same update on my good old MacPro 4.1:

- Firmware-Update to 5.1
- W3680 3.3GHz
- 16 GB RAM 1333
- Zotac GTX 680 4GB
- 1 TB SSD

Unfortunatly, the Sonnet PCI/SSD Card didn't work. I'll try the Velocity X2 instead.

Anway the "new" Mac runs perfect and fast enough for daily work and also for gaming with Bootstrap.

I guess it's not a bad idea to buy an used 4.1/5.1 Mac and make an update like I did.
 
The only thing that I haven't done is to upgrade to Maverick. I'm still running ML. I'm a little afraid weather Maverick will slowdown the whole thing.
 
I upgraded my 5.1 Mac Pro to a W3680, Samsung Pro 512GB SSD, SATA3 card and a flashed ATI 7970 Graphics Card. Geekbench before was 9991 64Bit and after the upgrade 16117 64bit. I did add an extra 4GB stick of memory on the forth slot. This lowered the Geekbench score to 15691 because I understand triple channel memory is disabled.
 
I'm missing something. What is the difference between have the SDD mounted on the regular SATA bay and have a dedicated card instead. Is it a PCI card? Is so, can someone guide me to the model?

Thanks again
 
SATA bays are SATAII speed.
If you get a PCI card that is newer which is capable of SATAIII, and your drive is SATAIII then you will have faster speed.
 
marcosmac said:
I'm missing something. What is the difference between have the SDD mounted on the regular SATA bay and have a dedicated card instead. Is it a PCI card? Is so, can someone guide me to the model?

Thanks again
Click to expand...
The SATA bays are limited to 3Gbps connections (SATA II). So a modern SATA III 6Gbps SSD will not be accessed at it full speeds, it's limited by the bay connection. Moving it to a PCIe card removes that limitation and allows the SSD to operate at full speeds.

Two popular lines are the Sonnet Tempo and Apricorn Velocity Solo. Both have a couple models to choose from that allow things like 1 or 2 SSDs on one card, RAID 0, higher maximum throughput, etc.
 
I Guess I'm gonna get one. But I looks like it will only be good for one drive SSD (one drive only) how about the regular 3TB 3.5 drives?

I just checked these ones

http://www.microcenter.com/product/383012/4-port_SATA_30Gb-s_PCIe_Controller_Card

http://www.microcenter.com/product/...ATA_(IDE)_PCIe_x1_Low_Profile_Controller_Card

http://www.amazon.com/Sonnet-Technologies-Tempo-Drives-TSATA6-SSD-E2/dp/B0096P62G6

I've checked the sonnet but not sure if thats the right one. Can someone pointed to a specific MODEL#? Greatly apreciated.
 
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How much are you guys spending to update your 4,1 to W3680 3.3GHz? I have an 8 Core 2.26Ghz and I'm interested in upgrading but don't want to spend a ton of money on this computer. I've already dumped over a grand into buying a new graphics card, SSD, and RAM. I'm thinking a decent compromise would be to go to the 2.93MHz upgrade of the same processor that I currently have.

Other than being able to run the 5,1 processors (w/ faster RAM) are there any other advantages to updating firmware to 5,1? Will this allow you to run more current versions of OS down the road?
 
I've spent $575.00 Retail price (Amazon) + 13.00 Artic pro kit. Plus the help from this forum which was priceless :)
 
Donar said:
I have a "Sonnet Tempo SSD" PCIe card, and it works without a flaw, what was the deal with yours? :confused:
Click to expand...

It didn't recognize after the first reboot any drives on it. It has definitly problems with placing boot drives on it with 5.1 MacPros.

----------
Mac Gus said:
How much are you guys spending to update your 4,1 to W3680 3.3GHz? I have an 8 Core 2.26Ghz and I'm interested in upgrading but don't want to spend a ton of money on this computer. I've already dumped over a grand into buying a new graphics card, SSD, and RAM. I'm thinking a decent compromise would be to go to the 2.93MHz upgrade of the same processor that I currently have.

Other than being able to run the 5,1 processors (w/ faster RAM) are there any other advantages to updating firmware to 5,1? Will this allow you to run more current versions of OS down the road?
Click to expand...

I bought this one:

http://www.amazon.de/Intel-Prozesso...d=1388672784&sr=1-1&keywords=Intel+Xeon+W3680

This is a boxed version. (For the dual 4.1 you need an unboxed version of this CPU as much as I know!)

The firmware is only needed to recognize the 6 cores and therefor thw W3680 CPU. If you want to run 1333 RAM you need to reset PRAM after installation. But 1066 RAM is also working.

I can highly recommend the upgrade to 3.33 W3680 and a SSD, you get a new Computer with it.
 
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Reading some posts about PCI SATA card, Ive seen some people having problem with: Kernel panic, not been able to boot and so on.

OWC has those cards but some a really expensive.
 
marcosmac said:
Just for the SSD then. Thanks Riggles
Click to expand...

If you are mostly working with small files you don't need a PCI card. And even with bigger files, a ssd is much faster than a normal HDD.

I guess that the velocity X2 is the best choise for 5.1 owners/upgraders because this card seems to be compatible.
 
Coyote2006 said:
I guess that the velocity X2 is the best choise for 5.1 owners/upgraders because this card seems to be compatible.
Click to expand...
Can't speak for the Sonnet cards, but the Velocity Solo x1 was dead-easy to install. Turned my Mac off, moved the SSD from lower optical bay to the PCI card, installed PCI card into slot #2, turned my Mac back on. Done.

Edit: For reference, this $48 one.
 
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Congrats...I'm in the middle of MP build, too.

I was sorely disappointed to see its blackmagic scores after I picked up a 4,1 8-core with boot ssd drive.

The drive was installed in bay/sled #1, but as stated above, any SSD installed in the MP stock drive bays will be limited to SATA 2 speeds.

The stock bays are fine for most mechanical hard drives because they won't saturate the SATA 2 interface.

To take advantage of the SSD speeds you'll need a PCIe SATA3 card.

BTW: My '12 Mac Mini with an EVO SSD "pegs out" on black magic :)
 
CrazyNurse said:
Congrats...I'm in the middle of MP build, too.

I was sorely disappointed to see its blackmagic scores after I picked up a 4,1 8-core with boot ssd drive.

The drive was installed in bay/sled #1, but as stated above, any SSD installed in the MP stock drive bays will be limited to SATA 2 speeds.

The stock bays are fine for most mechanical hard drives because they won't saturate the SATA 2 interface.

To take advantage of the SSD speeds you'll need a PCIe SATA3 card.

BTW: My '12 Mac Mini with an EVO SSD "pegs out" on black magic :)
Click to expand...


I'm getting around 260/270 MB/s write/read without PCI card.

What PCI card are you using and how fast is it? MacPro 4.1 or 5.1?
 
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