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Just bought a Mac pro 4.1

M

mistasparkaru

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 19, 2010
20
0
Hello All,

I have just bought a second hand Mac pro 4.1, its in great shape with the following spec.

1 * 2.6gz 4 core
7GB ram in 1GB + 3 * 2GB
640GB HD + 2 * 1TB HD
Nvidia GT120


What would you guys recommend I upgrade first? I have heard about doing a firmware upgrade to a 5.1, but I take it I need a W3565 or could I use a single E5645/X5675?

I have some registered ECC 4GB PC3 1333 DIMMS would these work or do I need normal unregistered ram?

I have a 160GB SSD as well, but no mountain lion DVD, so looks like I will have to buy the OS if I want to install it on the SSD.

I havn't got a keyboard and mouse yet, I was thinking of a Magic mouse.


I also thought I could sell the graphics card and maybe buy a normal HD5870 and flash it, does anybody have a guide on how to do this?


What can I run to test the stability?

----------

Do dual cpu socket logic boards ever turn up cheaply?

I didn't realize there was a single and double socket option.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

Ok, once you apply the firmware to make it a 5,1.. The best processor you can get for it would be either the w3680 3.33 or w3690 3.46. Both are 6-core sweetness :)

But the w3680 is going to be cheaper than the w3690.. You can use the X series but they are mainly for dual based systems... and are much higher in price given they are dual QPI capable. The W series are for single processor boards.

Also, its not cost effective to get a dual board because then you will need to spend high amount of money to get not only the heatsinks(you need two), but also two x series processors and those can be over 2 grand themselves.. by the time you go with a dual upgrade you just spent close to what it would cost for a low end dual 8-core system..

If your needs don't require dual.. then get the 6-core w3680.. as this is the sweet spot..As for the memory, the w3680 will recognize 1333 mhz memory, so you are all good to go.. all you need is that processor.

Hope this helped you out.

mistasparkaru said:
Hello All,

I have just bought a second hand Mac pro 4.1, its in great shape with the following spec.

1 * 2.6gz 4 core
7GB ram in 1GB + 3 * 2GB
640GB HD + 2 * 1TB HD
Nvidia GT120


What would you guys recommend I upgrade first? I have heard about doing a firmware upgrade to a 5.1, but I take it I need a W3565 or could I use a single E5645/X5675?

I have some registered ECC 4GB PC3 1333 DIMMS would these work or do I need normal unregistered ram?

I have a 160GB SSD as well, but no mountain lion DVD, so looks like I will have to buy the OS if I want to install it on the SSD.

I havn't got a keyboard and mouse yet, I was thinking of a Magic mouse.


I also thought I could sell the graphics card and maybe buy a normal HD5870 and flash it, does anybody have a guide on how to do this?


What can I run to test the stability?

----------

Do dual cpu socket logic boards ever turn up cheaply?

I didn't realize there was a single and double socket option.
Click to expand...
 
PPCMan is right on.

I bought the same machine and did the 5,1 hex upgrade. Under $600 for the 3680 CPU at Provantage. 32 bit Geekbench went to something around 13,800 if I recall correctly... a big improvement.

The single-processor 4,1 CPU is a much easier upgrade than the dual. The duals used a special version of the CPU (no IHS), so upgrading is a more fiddly than it is with the single CPU models.

Lots of info on video cards here at Macrumors. Seek and ye shall find!
 
mistasparkaru said:
Hello All,

I have just bought a second hand Mac pro 4.1, its in great shape with the following spec.

1 * 2.6gz 4 core
7GB ram in 1GB + 3 * 2GB
640GB HD + 2 * 1TB HD
Nvidia GT120


What would you guys recommend I upgrade first? I have heard about doing a firmware upgrade to a 5.1, but I take it I need a W3565 or could I use a single E5645/X5675?

I have some registered ECC 4GB PC3 1333 DIMMS would these work or do I need normal unregistered ram?

I have a 160GB SSD as well, but no mountain lion DVD, so looks like I will have to buy the OS if I want to install it on the SSD.

I havn't got a keyboard and mouse yet, I was thinking of a Magic mouse.


I also thought I could sell the graphics card and maybe buy a normal HD5870 and flash it, does anybody have a guide on how to do this?


What can I run to test the stability?

----------

Do dual cpu socket logic boards ever turn up cheaply?

I didn't realize there was a single and double socket option.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. Use CarbonCopyCloner (CCC) to clone your current drive..
http://www.bombich.com/

As for videocard, suggest you read the sticky thread in the forum.
 
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