Can I use E5620 8-core CPUs in MP 1.1

[macster1]

Hi all,

(Should say 4 core, not 8 in title)

Quick question.... Can I upgrade my 2006 Mac Pro 1.1 with 2 x Intel Quad-Core Xeon E5620 / 2.4 GHz processors, part number 587476-B21? (Taken from an HP Server).

I have been looking for the Quad core 2.66GHz and 3.0GHz but can't find any cheap enough, but I have the option of these, if they are usable?

Thanks in advance

 

[Pressure]

Nope, different socket and architecture.

Replacement processors for the Mac Pro 1.1 are dirt cheap on eBay.

 

[macster1]

Nope, different socket and architecture.

Replacement processors for the Mac Pro 1.1 are dirt cheap on eBay.

That was quick, thanks!

Cheap 3.0 GHz ones on eBay, (what do you call cheap?) Will take a look


Thanks again

 

[paulrbeers]

That was quick, thanks!

Cheap 3.0 GHz ones on eBay, (what do you call cheap?) Will take a look


Thanks again

3.0ghz quad core processors (x5365) is considerably more expensive than the next step down which is the 2.66ghz quad cores (x5355's). I picked up 2 X5355's used for $100 just a month or so ago. The x5365's are the fastest chip made for the 1,1's socket so they go for a lot more... Up to you to decide whether it is worth it or not.

Edit: You said you can't find them reasonably priced on ebay, is this not cheap enough? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...sor-/290764944606?pt=CPUs&hash=item43b2f0f4de

Cheapest pair of X5365's I could find on ebay (although only looked for a few minutes) http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHED-PAI...US_Server_CPUs_Processors&hash=item2574a35d65

 

[macster1]

Hey, not bad prices! Might go for the 2.66GHz ones and get a friend to ship to UK as USA only.

Might be tempted with the 3GHz ones but zero warranty

Has the upgrade to yours made much noticeable difference?

Thanks

 

[thekev]

Hey, not bad prices! Might go for the 2.66GHz ones and get a friend to ship to UK as USA only.

Might be tempted with the 3GHz ones but zero warranty

Has the upgrade to yours made much noticeable difference?

Thanks

You should consider your uses. For some things the difference will be more significant than others.

 

[paulrbeers]

Hey, not bad prices! Might go for the 2.66GHz ones and get a friend to ship to UK as USA only.

Might be tempted with the 3GHz ones but zero warranty

Has the upgrade to yours made much noticeable difference?

Thanks

Obviously for anything simple like browsing, word processing, etc no. An SSD helps more with that, but for things like handbrake, running more VM's at a time, etc. it makes a world of difference!

 

[macster1]

Thanks Guys,

I was thinking more for FCPX and Motion primarily, and was also going to upgrade XT1900 GPU for either an Apple HD5770 or a PC ATi 6870 for same

I'm not a heavy/hardcore user but as I can't stump up for a new Mac yet, I'd just like to make it the best I can [for now]


Regards

 

[Neodym]

Edit: You said you can't find them reasonably priced on ebay, is this not cheap enough? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...sor-/290764944606?pt=CPUs&hash=item43b2f0f4de

Would not take one of those, as it's not the G0 / SLAEG revision... Apart from that indeed a very reasonable price.

 

[macster1]

Would not take one of those, as it's not the G0 / SLAEG revision... Apart from that indeed a very reasonable price.

Thanks, so they MUST be SLAEG, nothing else?

I'll keep that in mind when looking

 

[Neodym]

Thanks, so they MUST be SLAEG, nothing else?

Other revisions will work as well and you could even mix different revisions, but you would have to deal with a higher power consumption, leading to a higher heat dissipation and thus probably requiring fan speed adjustments (e.g. with smcFanControl).

G0 / SLAEG would also include latest microcode updates and are thus less likely to produce kernel panics or startup problems (some people need to flash the firmware to MP 2,1 in order to boot their 1,1 with x53x5 CPU's, though I don't know whether that is directly related to the revision - I was fine with SLAEG's, firmware 1,1 and default fan settings).

 

[macster1]

Other revisions will work as well and you could even mix different revisions, but you would have to deal with a higher power consumption, leading to a higher heat dissipation and thus probably requiring fan speed adjustments (e.g. with smcFanControl).

G0 / SLAEG would also include latest microcode updates and are thus less likely to produce kernel panics or startup problems (some people need to flash the firmware to MP 2,1 in order to boot their 1,1 with x53x5 CPU's, though I don't know whether that is directly related to the revision - I was fine with SLAEG's, firmware 1,1 and default fan settings).

Thanks, I'll stick with the G0/SLAEG ones to keep it as simple as possible

 

[thekev]

Obviously for anything simple like browsing, word processing, etc no. An SSD helps more with that, but for things like handbrake, running more VM's at a time, etc. it makes a world of difference!

I wasn't suggesting anything extreme. VMs benefit more from ram unless you're taxing them simultaneously anyway. We aren't talking about running ESX hypervisors over servers here. Some programs are just better threaded than others or make use of more cores in different parts of their programming. Not every function operates the same way, so it is realistic to figure whether this is a worthwhile improvement on an older piece of hardware in terms of whether it will help the user better meet their needs past this point.

 

[macster1]

I think as long as Motion and FCPX speed up, (also with a better GPU added), it'll be worth the upgrade

Any opinions on the Apple Radeon HD 5770 vs the PC XFX Radeon 6870 (would leave unflashed)? Not that much difference in new prices [in the UK]

And any ideas how much better FCPX and Motion would improve; or are they more GPU users than CPU?

Thanks again for all your answers