MP 1,1-5,1 4.1>5.1 W3520 to X5690 Upgrade Help!

[taiji212]

Yes, it will work, but you need to upgrade to MP51.0089.B00 before and this one requires a GPU with Mac EFI support. MP51.0089.B00 -> 144.0.0.0.0 requires the METAL GPU. It's a two steps upgrade for anyone with an earlier firmware than MP51.0089.B00, your case.

So, I successfully upgraded to 144.0.0.0.0 using your guide.
Unfortunately, issue persists. W3520 has no problem booting. X5690 boots whenever it wants. Once it does, everything runs normally and recognized as correct CPU.

Both X5690’s I purchased are used. Should I try getting a new one? Could it be my PSU?

Would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[tsialex]

So, I successfully upgraded to 144.0.0.0.0 using your guide.
Unfortunately, issue persists. W3520 has no problem booting. X5690 boots whenever it wants. Once it does, everything runs normally and recognized as correct CPU.

Both X5690’s I purchased are used. Should I try getting a new one? Could it be my PSU?

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Send me your CPU tray SN by PM, let me check the build date to see if you have a rev1 board that don't work right with X5680/X5690.

Better yet, send me a full SystemInformation report, zip it first.

 

[Macbookprodude]

GPU METAL support is a pre-requisite of the Mojave firmware upgrade, you asked this before. Even a $30 NVIDIA GT710 will work for the upgrade.

Thats all ? 30 dollars for simple metal card ?

 

[Macbookprodude]

Maybe off topic.. back in 2010, I bought the logic board and processor board for 2010.. my mac pro is originally 2009, however the person who install these boards used some program to put 2009 on them, is there a way to get rid of the 2009 serial and use a 2010 one, since these boards in the mac pro are 2010 and not 4.1 -> 5,1 ?

 

[tsialex]

Maybe off topic.. back in 2010, I bought the logic board and processor board for 2010.. my mac pro is originally 2009, however the person who install these boards used some program to put 2009 on them, is there a way to get rid of the 2009 serial and use a 2010 one, since these boards in the mac pro are 2010 and not 4.1 -> 5,1 ?

Complete off-topic.

A firmware engineer with Mac experience can rebuild your firmware with the correct SSN - but where you gonna get the SSN? You can't just use any serial or create one. You gonna probably need to buy a 2010 case to do this correctly.

 

[tsialex]

Thats all ? 30 dollars for simple metal card ?

Cheapest NVIDIA GT710 I could find today on eBay USA is $35 with free shipping within USA, no affiliation, I've found it cheaper some weeks ago.

Low Profile ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 2GB DDR3 PCI-E2.0 ZT-71302-20L Graphics Card | eBay

ITEM : Zotac Geforce GT 710 Zone Edition 2GB 64Bit DDR3 Low Profile video card. This card is used, pulled from a working computer and been fully tested. These fees are non-negotiable and are calculated at checkout.

www.ebay.com

It's the weakest and cheapest METAL supported GPU, but works good if you have one HD display and don't run anything 3D. AFAIK, this card can't be flashed for Mac EFI for pre-boot support.

A better option still affordable at ~$57 could be a GT 630 (one very commonly used with corporate HP PCs, the GT630 model with part numbers 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT can be flashed with a Mac EFI and the Mac EFI is public):

Mojave Compatible ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT630 2GB Graphics Card (HP 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT) - loremipsum.info

This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognised by the Mojave installer as a metal card. It does give you the option of a cheap general use metal EFI compatible card, it will drive 1 monior to 4k resolutions. You’ll need a windows PC and NVFlash […]

www.loremipsum.info

The Mac EFI above works perfectly for the listed HP GT 630 GPUs, I bought two cards back in the last AliExpress Black Friday and I already flashed and installed one in my father's Mac Pro running Big Sur that have a 29" LG 29UM68-P ultra-wide display.

This is the AliExpress seller that I bought the two HP GT630, no affiliation:

Used FOR Nvidia GeForce GT630 2GB PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card 684455-002 702084-001 - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

The GT630 is the "modern" equivalent of Apple's GT120 of early-2009 Mac Pros, it's single-slot and only powered by the PCIe slot. Even the Display Port audio works with Windows, didn't test it with macOS. It's fast enough for office work/browsing/media consumption and it's fully supported from Mountain Lion to Big Sur (Apple removed NVIDIA drivers from Monterey). You can't get anything cheaper than this HP card that can be flashed with a public Mac EFI.

 

[franktc55]

???

 

[trifero]

Cheapest NVIDIA GT710 I could find today on eBay USA is $35 with free shipping within USA, no affiliation, I've found it cheaper some weeks ago.

Low Profile ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 2GB DDR3 PCI-E2.0 ZT-71302-20L Graphics Card | eBay

ITEM : Zotac Geforce GT 710 Zone Edition 2GB 64Bit DDR3 Low Profile video card. This card is used, pulled from a working computer and been fully tested. These fees are non-negotiable and are calculated at checkout.

www.ebay.com

It's the weakest and cheapest METAL supported GPU, but works good if you have one HD display and don't run anything 3D. AFAIK, this card can't be flashed for Mac EFI for pre-boot support.

A better option still affordable at ~$57 could be a GT 630 (one very commonly used with corporate HP PCs, the GT630 model with part numbers 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT can be flashed with a Mac EFI and the Mac EFI is public):

Mojave Compatible ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT630 2GB Graphics Card (HP 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT) - loremipsum.info

This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognised by the Mojave installer as a metal card. It does give you the option of a cheap general use metal EFI compatible card, it will drive 1 monior to 4k resolutions. You’ll need a windows PC and NVFlash […]

www.loremipsum.info

The Mac EFI above works perfectly for the listed HP GT 630 GPUs, I bought two cards back in the last AliExpress Black Friday and I already flashed and installed one in my father's Mac Pro running Big Sur that have a 29" LG 29UM68-P ultra-wide display.

This is the AliExpress seller that I bought the two HP GT630, no affiliation:

Used FOR Nvidia GeForce GT630 2GB PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card 684455-002 702084-001 - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

The GT630 is the "modern" equivalent of Apple's GT120 of early-2009 Mac Pros, it's single-slot and only powered by the PCIe slot. Even the Display Port audio works with Windows, didn't test it with macOS. It's fast enough for office work/browsing/media consumption and it's fully supported from Mountain Lion to Big Sur (Apple removed NVIDIA drivers from Monterey). You can't get anything cheaper than this HP card that can be flashed with a public Mac EFI.

What´s the cheaper option with Monterey support? Thank you.

 

[tsialex]

What´s the cheaper option with Monterey support? Thank you.

With native Monterey support, there are no really cheap options with NVIDIA GPUs out of the picture. Apple has never supported low-end AMD GPUs and you are limited to mid-range and high-end AMD GPUs that are supported by Apple drivers. Unfortunately, most of these are still highly sought after by crypto miners.

If you need preboot configuration support, probably the only option is a Tahiti-based AMD GPU (HD 7950/R9 280/HD 7970/R9 280X) that you can self flash. Earlier/cheaper GCN family GPUs like HD 7750/7770/7850/7870 will no longer work after Mojave without some serious hacking, so, forget about it. Tahiti GPUs are fully supported, but being an ancient GPU design, from Q1-2012, you won't have any VideoToolbox hardware assistance (aka AMD hardware acceleration) for video decompression/compression/color grading.

If you don't need preboot configuration support, search for a AMD Polaris GPU, like RX-460/560/470/570 and newer. All Polaris and newer AMD GPUs have VideoToolbox hardware assistance fully supported.

 

[trifero]

With native Monterey support, there are no really cheap options with NVIDIA GPUs out of the picture. Apple has never supported low-end AMD GPUs and you are limited to mid-range and high-end AMD GPUs that are supported by Apple drivers. Unfortunately, most of these are still highly sought after by crypto miners.

If you need preboot configuration support, probably the only option is a Tahiti-based AMD GPU (HD 7950/R9 280/HD 7970/R9 280X) that you can self flash. Earlier/cheaper GCN family GPUs like HD 7750/7770/7850/7870 will no longer work after Mojave without some serious hacking, so, forget about it. Tahiti GPUs are fully supported, but being an ancient GPU design, from Q1-2012, you won't have any VideoToolbox hardware assistance (aka AMD hardware acceleration) for video decompression/compression/color grading.

If you don't need preboot configuration support, search for a AMD Polaris GPU, like RX-460/560/470/570 and newer. All Polaris and newer AMD GPUs have VideoToolbox hardware assistance fully supported.

Thank so so much. Much appreciated.