MP 6,1 Best upgrades for 2013 Mac Pro

[EvilMonk]

Just got a 3Ghz 8 core 32gb dual D700 Mac Pro for cheap and would love to upgrade it.
Any suggestions?
What’s the fastest (not the most cores necessary) cpu I can install and ram? Sorry I know nothing about the 6,1. Thanks for your help! ?

 

[mikas]

The 8-core is the best overall performer allready in my opinion. Graphics too are the tops of it with D700's. RAM can be upgraded to 128 GB. The mass storage is upgradable with an adpter. Either with a sintech (or alike) adapter or with an Amfeltec Angelbird with 3 pcs of attachable flash storage. And that's it, internally. Externally there would be thunderbolt 2, maybe with an adapter or you can still go further a little bit with it.

The most disturbing thing for a 6,1 user would be the bug Apple has not/is not going to/is not able to/is not willing to bother/ to correct. The sleep bug. After Mojave, the machine is unstable with sleep. It will Crash.

Disclaimer: some people have reported better behavior with the "publicly unreleased beta" firmware .
I personally don't think that's a rfinal esolution to this problem.

edit. eGPU works with a patch and Apple two way TB2/3 adpater. Kryptonite, or the earlier patch for it; PurgeWrangler. I have found PurgeWrangler easier for me to apply for my 6,1s.

 

[hwojtek]

Just got a 3Ghz 8 core 32gb dual D700 Mac Pro for cheap and would love to upgrade it.
Any suggestions?
What’s the fastest (not the most cores necessary) cpu I can install and ram? Sorry I know nothing about the 6,1. Thanks for your help! ?

We've got you covered: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/

 

[EvilMonk]

So basically if I have a 1Tb Apple SSD I should focus on getting 128GB of Ram and an egpu?
That’s the easiest and pretty much it?
Thanks a lot guys ?

 

[hwojtek]

Keep in mind that while the 8-core E5-2687W V2 has base clock of 3.4 and maximum clock of 4 GHz, the 12-core E5-2697 V2 with 2.7 base/3.5 turboboost GHz is significantly faster even in single-core operations and destroys the 8-core in multicore. It also has TDP of 130W (8-core E5-2687W V2 is 150W), which is extremely important for a 6,1 Mac Pro with its cooling system working already over capacity.

 

[arw]

Keep in mind that while the 8-core E5-2687W V2 has base clock of 3.4 and maximum clock of 4 GHz, the 12-core E5-2697 V2 with 2.7 base/3.5 turboboost GHz is significantly faster even in single-core operations and destroys the 8-core in multicore. It also has TDP of 130W (8-core E5-2687W V2 is 150W), which is extremely important for a 6,1 Mac Pro with its cooling system working already over capacity.

According to Geekbench, the single-core score of the 12-core is 12% lower than the 8-core ones.
This reflects exactly the drop in turbo frequency from 4,0 to 3,5 GHz.
Multicore score of the 12-core is roughly 15% higher.
But in regard of the thermal envelope and the fact, that Apple never sold this 8-core (higher TDP), I would always chose the officially supported 12-core.
But if YOU need mainly single core performance (Photoshop a.e.), the 12-core would be a downgrade.

 

[Soba]

So basically if I have a 1Tb Apple SSD I should focus on getting 128GB of Ram and an egpu?
That’s the easiest and pretty much it?
Thanks a lot guys ?

Note that 128GB of RAM in the 2013 Mac Pro runs at a reduced speed of 1066MHz while 64GB operates at the full speed of 1866MHz. Benchmark tests suggest that there is not always a measurable difference, but there is a definite performance decrease in some tests with 128GB of RAM.

If your applications don't use more than 64GB of RAM, then for best performance, you're better off having 64GB or less.

 

[hwojtek]

According to Geekbench, the single-core score of the 12-core is 12% lower than the 8-core ones.

I looked it up on CPUBoss, now I am not exactly sure they are right with their GB3 scores http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5-2697-v2-vs-Intel-Xeon-E5-2687W-v2

 

[hwojtek]

Note that 128GB of RAM in the 2013 Mac Pro runs at a reduced speed of 1066MHz while 64GB operates at the full speed of 1866MHz. Benchmark tests suggest that there is not always a measurable difference, but there is a definite performance decrease in some tests with 128GB of RAM.

128GB kit in 2013 Mac Pro - needed? faster?

real world speed test results for performance minded Macintosh users

barefeats.com

If your applications don't use more than 64GB of RAM, then for best performance, you're better off having 64GB or less.

AFAIR if using 12-core CPU the RAM speed drops to 800 MHz.

 

[arw]

I looked it up on CPUBoss, now I am not exactly sure they are right with their GB3 scores http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5-2697-v2-vs-Intel-Xeon-E5-2687W-v2

Yeah, they don‘t make sense. Maybe it has to do with the 12-core being able to address 3-times the amount of RAM (and GB3), but that‘s irrelevant for the Mac Pro.
I have found every GB5 CPU score I tested personally to properly reflect the actual performance depending on the work scenario (Single/Multi).

 

[EvilMonk]

So 64 Gb is the sweet spot to keep the ram speed at 1866 Mhz? And I’ve been looking at GPUs and TB enclosures available in Canada and this Mac Pro can work with AMD RDNA 2 GPUs like the RX 6600 XT in TB right?

 

[mikas]

With Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter, yes. The 6800XT and Radeon VII tested with Big Sur, but 6600XT should work because Apple has lately released drivers for it. I don't know if it covers more than Monterey though, probably Big Sur too. PurgeWrangler or Kryptonite to remember with that though.

ps. I have found Razer Core X quite good, simple installation and enough power feed. I've got two of them now.

 

[iAssimilated]

With Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter, yes. The 6800XT and Radeon VII tested with Big Sur, but 6600XT should work because Apple has lately released drivers for it. I don't know if it covers more than Monterey though, probably Big Sur too. PurgeWrangler or Kryptonite to remember with that though.

ps. I have found Razer Core X quite good, simple installation and enough power feed. I've got two of them now.

I know this is slightly off topic, but the Razer Core X does indeed handle the 6800XT without issue? I've been pondering it (since prices are coming down) as an upgrade for my Vega 56.

 

[EvilMonk]

I was looking at the RX 6600 XT but I might jump the train and get the big RX 6800 to be time proof… thanks guys… I want to keep an Intel Mac Workstation and get it up to date so it’ll last me for a while… I think this might be it… probably the 12 cores E5-2697 v2 later on, 64 Gb and a Razer Core X with a RX 6800 XT. That would be a good upgrade? I just want to make sure I won’t blow up another k$ and end up with something that will half work… I have a Sonnet RX 560 TB3 puck that’s a bit of a disappointment so I’m going big with this one…

 

[mikas]

Razer Core X if perfectly capable of feeding 6800XT power wise. You just need to be aware of resolutions of your monitors, how much bandwidth they need. TB2 is not enough bandwidth for everything.

I am on the edge of upgrading two of my 6,1s, trying to find the time to do the thing. I've got 1680v2 and 2690v2 to go for those two. I did consider 2667v2 too,. I've got two of those, so I think they are going to be installed in my Z820 dual processor. Two of a kind is needed for this upgrade, so that's it.

All CPUs are now tested to be in functional state. It's gonna be Last rides for them I believe. Let that last ride to be good.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Congratulations on the new-to-you Mac Pro! That's the 2017 upper-tier model that was $3999, or a little more if the 32GB RAM is original (and closer to $6k before the 2017 price reduction). That's the same one I have, except mine came with 16GB RAM and I upgraded it to 64GB. You can find a set of genuine Apple (sk Hynix) 64GB RAM on eBay, but generic ECC server RAM of the correct spec like Samsung is fine too.

My suggestion is to leave the CPU alone. If you aren't aware, lots of people have destroyed their 6,1 attempting a CPU upgrade. The 8 core is already the best for a lot of uses.

The 2TB sk Hynix Gold P31 SSD with an adapter is also a great upgrade. It runs pretty cool. Samsung SSDs (except Apple genuine) are too hot in the 6,1.

 

[Diablo360]

I would just do ram and SSD if you need it. If you’re not making out the ram the. I think you’re good to go. I wouldn’t upgrade from the 8 core, not worth it

 

[avro707]

I would suggest 64GB 1866mhz ram and upgrading the storage.

Mine already had dual D700 Firepro, 64GB 1866mhz ram and 1TB storage, and came with a E5 2695V2 CPU which I upgraded very carefully myself to the E5 2697V2 at 2.7ghz.

 

[yellowbunny]

I had the base (4 core model). Upgraded to 12 core, 64gb ram and Samsung 1tb ssd with heat sink over two years ago. Not a single problem. I’m not very techy and found the cpu upgrade very simple following the ifixit guide.

The computer still runs so well. Use it for 4k editing in davinci resolve with no problems.

 

[mikas]

^with what OS? What about bootROM version?

My D300 (bootROM 429.60.3.0.0) uptime is 24 days now with Mojave, longer sleeps work and everything is good.
With Big Sur it crashes a lot if sleep is activated. And with Catalina too, no matter the bootROM.

I haven't tried that beta bootROM, which was later pulled by Apple.

 

[arw]

@EvilMonk : good point by @mikas :
If you haven‘t yet updated your Mac to the latest OS, check your firmware, if it by any chance still has the old „good“ one without sleep problems on Big Sur and Monterey (and apparently Catalina). It begins with 428.
If so, do NOT update via the built-in Software Update, as it automatically installs the problematic firmware.
Instead, install it from USB with Open Core to prevent the firmware from being updated.
If you still have the 428 version or lower, I can send you the files to copy on the USB stick that worked for me. Not a single crash since updating to Big Sur a year ago.
Prevent_firmware_update_with_OC

 

[EvilMonk]

^with what OS? What about bootROM version?

My D300 (bootROM 429.60.3.0.0) uptime is 24 days now with Mojave, longer sleeps work and everything is good.
With Big Sur it crashes a lot if sleep is activated. And with Catalina too, no matter the bootROM.

I haven't tried that beta bootROM, which was later pulled by Apple.

It’s on big sur for now I’ll have to check the bootrom but it’s my uncle’s old 6,1 he replaced with a M1 Pro MBP I got for peanuts

 

[EvilMonk]

@EvilMonk : good point by @mikas :
If you haven‘t yet updated your Mac to the latest OS, check your firmware, if it by any chance still has the old „good“ one without sleep problems on Big Sur and Monterey (and apparently Catalina). It begins with 428.
If so, do NOT update via the built-in Software Update, as it automatically installs the problematic firmware.
Instead, install it from USB with Open Core to prevent the firmware from being updated.
If you still have the 428 version or lower, I can send you the files to copy on the USB stick that worked for me. Not a single crash since updating to Big Sur a year ago.
Prevent_firmware_update_with_OC

Thanks for those info guys @mikas @arw ? I’ll make sure to follow that and get reading on it ?

 

[EvilMonk]

I just ordered a Xeon E5-2697 v2 -2.7Ghz 12 cores and 64Gb (4x16Gb PC3-14900R ECC) on eBay and I’m trying to find a second hand Razer Core X to put my Radeon RX 580 until I find which GPU I’ll get for it!!! ? I’m really excited to see the difference!

 

[EvilMonk]