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HELP! Unable to get Mac pro 2009 2 x 2.66 @ 1333 w/5,1

D

Daveroski

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2014
12
0
Hello,

I was hoping you could shed light why my Mac Pro 2009 with firmware 5,1 is not running memory speed at 1333mhz. It is a 2x 2.66 (x5550) processor and I have non ECC 1600mhz ram. 8gb in slot 1 and 8gb in slot 5. I did clear out the pram/vram and it still shows 1066 speed.

Am I using the wrong memory (corsair vengeance 1600mhz non ECC 9-9-9-24 1.5v) or am I forgetting to do something.



This has been driving me crazy. Is it even possible??

Help would be appreciated greatly.

Best, Dave
 
Daveroski said:
Hello,

I was hoping you could shed light why my Mac Pro 2009 with firmware 5,1 is not running memory speed at 1333mhz. It is a 2x 2.66 (x5550) processor and I have non ECC 1600mhz ram. 8gb in slot 1 and 8gb in slot 5. I did clear out the pram/vram and it still shows 1066 speed.

Am I using the wrong memory (corsair vengeance 1600mhz non ECC 9-9-9-24 1.5v) or am I forgetting to do something.



This has been driving me crazy. Is it even possible??

Help would be appreciated greatly.

Best, Dave
Click to expand...

According to apple's manual, if you have 2 modules you should put them in Slots 1 and 2 and see if that helps!
 
Thanks for the reply!

I tried one module alone in slot one and that didn't work along with 3 sticks in 1,2,3 and no dice :/

Is there something about it being 1r or 2r memory?

From what I read x5550 and up supports the 1333hz.

Hmm
 
It shouldn't be the CPU since according to intel it does support up to 1333Mhz.

In the manual it says the specs for the ram should be;

PC3-8500, 1066 MHz, DDR3 SDRAM UDIMMs
Error-correcting code (ECC)
72-bit wide, 240-pin ECC modules
36 ICs maximum per ECC UDIMM

But since you already upgraded the firmware it should allow 1333Mhz. Maybe there's an issue with the ram modules. I'm not sure.
 
Using the wrong ram. It should be PC3-10600 ECC 1333mhz. If you use the 1066mhz RAM it should still be ECC. Look on Everymac.com for correct spec.
 
While Intel says the X5550 supports 1333MHz RAM, I have NEVER, not even once heard of a Mac Pro with an X5550 running at a RAM speed of 1333MHz.

I too have a 2x 2.66 Mac pro 2009 and I just installed 1333MHz RAM. I haven't flashed to 5,1 yet (waiting on CPU's) but I don't think it will run at full speed with the x5550's as they are even after the flash.

Might be wrong.
 
1) May be the wrong RAM. I use PC-12800 non ECC RAM as well, but CL11. They can run at 1333 CL9 if I only use 3 slots (3x8G), but only 1066 CL7 for 4x8G config. I never try to only install 1 or 2 stick, so can't tell if that makes any difference.

2) Did you reset PRAM "every time" you've changed the RAM's config? Only reset PRAM once and then try different config may not work.

Anyway, no need to care about that. The latency of 1066 CL7 is 13.125ns, and 1333 CL9 is 13.5ns, just 2.8% difference. And most likely no real world difference for most software (unless RAM speed is the bottle neck for that particular software, but the overall improvement may still less then 1%).
 
@truckdrivensean

Hello, would you try updating the firmware and report back if you have the memory running at 1333? I know you will need the firmware update to make this possible along with a pram reset. You could be correct but I read one post and it sounded like someone did it with a similar processor.

Thanks, Dave.
 
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Mine stayed at 1066 until i reset PRAM (twice?) and reset SMC (just in case)

I have 3 x 8GB Kingston ECC 1333MHz Ram ('For Mac Pro with temp sensor') however.
 
Thanks for the reply. I will try 12800 in 3 slots and reset pram once again. Hopefully it will work.

----------

@sharky

What processors did you have ? So your saying its def possible in my situation?

Thanks
 
Daveroski said:
@truckdrivensean

Hello, would you try updating the firmware and report back if you have the memory running at 1333? I know you will need the firmware update to make this possible along with a pram reset. You could be correct but I read one post and it sounded like someone did it with a similar processor.

Thanks, Dave.
Click to expand...

Will do the flash soon, possibly tonight or tomorrow as the CPUs are enroute from getting de-lidded now.

I'll report back what I find before the CPU swap.
 
Thanks Sean. I was going to eventually do that myself. Do you need to de-lid the dual cpu swap only? I have applied the firmware to 5.1 and back to 4.1 then back to 5.1 So it works great fyi. I guess there's no harm keeping it at 5 ,1 that I'm aware of
 
h9826790 said:
1) May be the wrong RAM. I use PC-12800 non ECC RAM as well, but CL11. They can run at 1333 CL9 if I only use 3 slots (3x8G), but only 1066 CL7 for 4x8G config. I never try to only install 1 or 2 stick, so can't tell if that makes any difference.

2) Did you reset PRAM "every time" you've changed the RAM's config? Only reset PRAM once and then try different config may not work.

Anyway, no need to care about that. The latency of 1066 CL7 is 13.125ns, and 1333 CL9 is 13.5ns, just 2.8% difference. And most likely no real world difference for most software (unless RAM speed is the bottle neck for that particular software, but the overall improvement may still less then 1%).
Click to expand...

Thanks, all very useful information. I tried 3 sticks of 1gb of 10600 ram at 1333 in slots 1-3 and reset pram. Still no difference. I am wondering if this was ever possible...
 
Daveroski said:
Thanks Sean. I was going to eventually do that myself. Do you need to de-lid the dual cpu swap only? I have applied the firmware to 5.1 and back to 4.1 then back to 5.1 So it works great fyi. I guess there's no harm keeping it at 5 ,1 that I'm aware of
Click to expand...

OK, flashed to 5,1 (i think) and with stock X5550 CPU's, my RAM is still running at 1066MHz. Actual RAM is Hynix 1333MHz RAM from DMS (thanks to Flowrider for the suggestion)

.
 

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^^^^ Your flash looks successful. Could it be that Apple used specific X5550 CPUs that were not rated to run @ 1333MHz?

Lou
 
TruckdriverSean said:
OK, flashed to 5,1 (i think) and with stock X5550 CPU's, my RAM is still running at 1066MHz. Actual RAM is Hynix 1333MHz RAM from DMS (thanks to Flowrider for the suggestion)

.
Click to expand...

Thank you Sean for taking the time to do this!!

Can I confirm that you reset the pram after the firmware flash?
 
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Daveroski said:
Ok great. I will put that to rest that it won't work.

So what processors did you get? Please share on your results in your cpu upgrades. Did u need spacers, modify clip, etc.

Appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Will share soon, hopefully with success.

I went with a pair of x5677's and decided to go the de-liddied route, using the electrical engineer fellow mentioned on Thomas Pindelski's blog (Box185 on eBay). I'm trying to skip the DIY mods and go as close to factory drop-in method as I can get. With used x5677's running around $100 each I figured why not.

Now waiting on USPS to deliver (probably Wednesday) and for some free time with a pc friend to do the install.
 
TruckdriverSean said:
Will share soon, hopefully with success.

I went with a pair of x5677's and decided to go the de-liddied route, using the electrical engineer fellow mentioned on Thomas Pindelski's blog (Box185 on eBay). I'm trying to skip the DIY mods and go as close to factory drop-in method as I can get. With used x5677's running around $100 each I figured why not.

Now waiting on USPS to deliver (probably Wednesday) and for some free time with a pc friend to do the install.
Click to expand...

Nice,
so the processors we have are lidless? If so that makes sense..

So your going with a higher clock speed 4 core over a pricey 6 core? Never thought of that.. will the x5677 take advantage of the 1333?

Dave
 
Daveroski said:
Nice,
so the processors we have are lidless? If so that makes sense..

So your going with a higher clock speed 4 core over a pricey 6 core? Never thought of that.. will the x5677 take advantage of the 1333?

Dave
Click to expand...

X55xx are lidless. X56xx have a lid and are compatible with PC3-10600 ECC @1333mhz
 
Daveroski said:
Nice,
so the processors we have are lidless? If so that makes sense..

So your going with a higher clock speed 4 core over a pricey 6 core? Never thought of that.. will the x5677 take advantage of the 1333?

Dave
Click to expand...


The factory installed CPUs on the dual-processor 2009 model were custom manufactured for Apple without the IHS (or lid) and the heatsinks on dual-CPU 2009's are machined for that as well. (Single CPU 2009's and ALL 2010-2012 cMP's have standard lids). AFAIK only Apple ever used lidless, as even standard X55xx's used by other manufacturers had lids.

The X5677's should run RAM @ 1333MHz. I went with that CPU as it has the fastest factory clock speed you can get for a cMP but only costs 1/3rd what the X5690's are going for. For my needs (some hobby photography with Lightroom, occasional HandBrake and a little gaming in boot camp) it should be the best balance for my budget.
 
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