Mac Pro 1,1 64-bit EFI Question

[goMac]

When the first Core iX architectures shipped, it was pretty close performance to the Core 2 series in a lot of situations because of the mhz loss. But these days? No comparison. The system bus in the Core iX is much more advanced.

 

[nanofrog]

Just get a 5770. The 5870 offers little benefit in the 1,1. Performance ceiling of sorts. can't say if it is just because of procs or if it is a limit on the board. Which would also mean a 6870 would suffer the same as it is a slower 5870. More or less.

The PCIe lanes are generation 1.0 for all slots in the 1,1 and 2,1 systems IIRC, which would throttle a fast enough GPU card.

What else would there be available with the flashed EFI?

The ability to add future graphics cards.

Right now, ATI's cards work as it uses EBC firmware, which works in both EFI32 and EFI64 systems. So adding a current ATI card isn't an issue.

Where it will become one however, is once OS X shifts to a 64 bit Kernel only (aka K64), the drivers won't be updated for those stuck using an older copy of OS X due to the necessitation of running K32, which would be all 1,1 and 2,1 users.

...flashing the Mac Pro's EFI - be it to the 2,1 EFI or a 64-bit EFI (which I now know is more-or-less impossible).

Unfortunately, it is for all intents and purposes (not something the avg. computer user, even when computer literate would be capable of).

I inferred that newer cards (like the 6870) could only be fully utilized with a 64-bit EFI. After this thread, it sounds like that may be true. However, since the 1,1 and 2,1 EFIs cannot be flashed to 64-bit, there seems no reason to throw the extra $70 from a 5770 to the 6870.

No, there really isn't. You'd get a marginal performance increase, but not what the GPU is actually capable of generating.

As per why, see above.

 

[theodric]

The fastest way to get 64bit EFI in a 1,1 is a 3,1 logic board and rear fan assembly..which is exactly what I did..eveything else is OK..but a refub logic board is 800 plus..last I looked 5365's were a250 to 300 each and the rear fan assemblies were 40-60 which totals 1400-1500 so it's not cost effective.

Hey GermanyChris,

Really intriguing information here, particularly considering that prices on those two components have fallen somewhat in the meantime.

Just to confirm, before I consider dropping the cash:

the Mac pro 1,1/2,1...
-case (except the rear fan assembly)
-PSU
-memory risers
-front panel interfaces
-CPU heatsinks
-FB-DDR2 667MHz RAM
-Xeon 5365/FSB1333 CPUs

...are all compatible with the 3,1's motherboard (which shipped with FSB1600/DDR2 800MHz components)?

Thanks!

 

[GermanyChris]

Hey GermanyChris,

Really intriguing information here, particularly considering that prices on those two components have fallen somewhat in the meantime.

Just to confirm, before I consider dropping the cash:

the Mac pro 1,1/2,1...
-case (except the rear fan assembly)
-PSU
-memory risers
-front panel interfaces
-CPU heatsinks
-FB-DDR2 667MHz RAM
-Xeon 5365/FSB1333 CPUs

...are all compatible with the 3,1's motherboard (which shipped with FSB1600/DDR2 800MHz components)?

Thanks!

I did this in steps..

You can retain the memory risers but you need the cage that holds them, it's actually two parts the right side is the rear fan assembly the left is an independant piece of plastic clipped into the cage.

PSU worked for me without issue

I used the original processors

I didn't upgrade to 800mhz because RAM is seriously expensive.

CPU heatsinks

Everything will plug into it's stock ports, there was nothing to modify. I didn't know about the memory riser boards until I had it all back together and the bottom didn't fit. I ran with one board until I got the situation sorted..

I still think this is going to get expensive enough that you'll either want to buy a refurb Mac Pro or build a Hackintosh like I did.

 

[theodric]

I did this in steps..

You can retain the memory risers but you need the cage that holds them, it's actually two parts the right side is the rear fan assembly the left is an independant piece of plastic clipped into the cage.

PSU worked for me without issue

I used the original processors

I didn't upgrade to 800mhz because RAM is seriously expensive.

CPU heatsinks

Everything will plug into it's stock ports, there was nothing to modify. I didn't know about the memory riser boards until I had it all back together and the bottom didn't fit. I ran with one board until I got the situation sorted..

I still think this is going to get expensive enough that you'll either want to buy a refurb Mac Pro or build a Hackintosh like I did.

Brilliant, thanks for the clarification. I'm going to do my due diligence researching the market, but it's great to know that this option exists for consideration. Kudos!

 

[pc297]

Wouldn't the 64-bit kernel give access to the full 64Gb of possible RAM under SL/Lion? I have a 2,1 flashed MP1,1 with 64Gb RAM that are fully available in El Cap (pike efi), but this isn't the case under SL (reported as only 32 available in Activity monitor, as opposed to 64Gb on El Cap), would be cool to have!