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Mac Pro 2010 upgrade

M

mavericks7913

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Original poster
May 17, 2014
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Finally, they sent email about selling Mac Pro 2010 for just $77.50 Lower than I expected.

Specs are same except that CPUs are 2.66 6 cores(12 cores total) instead of 2.44

I guess I don't need to upgrade CPU for my uses.

Im still searching for other parts such as GPU, PCIE USB 3.0, and PCIE SSD. Gonna get RAM from OWC.

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Hyp...=1475013065&sr=1-5&keywords=pcie+m.2+ssd&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Ports-Inatec...id=1475011314&sr=8-3&keywords=mac+pro+usb+3.0

Not sure about GPU due to voltage and performance. I want GTX 1000 series but they are not supported yet so Im thinking to get 900 series like 970.

Any thoughts?
 
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I don't know your use cases, but I run on a GTX 960 and it feels very satisfying for games so far.
 
$77.5 :eek: some 5,1 on eBay still asking for $775…

Anyway, both Photoshop and LR are not that GPU intensive. I personally don't think that's worth to make to me deal with the Nvidia web driver.

A 5,1 may come with 5770 / 5870. You better try to run PS / LR with that first. At least we rarely heard these cards cause any trouble in PS / LR. Especially the 5870, it's not a powerful card, but seems optimised very well in OSX. On the other hand, we still occationally heard that the Maxwell card shows graphic glitches in PS, which may become a super annoying problem. Of course, if I have to buy a GPU now (for Mac), I only go for the new stuff (e.g. Maxwell or polaris), but if the stock GPU works well in your workflow, you don't even need to buy one, because it may bring you more trouble then benefit (at this moment).

For USB 3.0 card, the most brainless option is the Inateck KT4004. Which is good for most daily use. Sonnet produce better card, but something like 4x more expensive, not really worth IMO, unless you always transferring something with all 4 ports, otherwise it makes not much difference in real world.

PS / LR may not able to take any advantage from the PCIe SSD (especially if you use it as the boot drive, but not scratch disk). However, it's your own chocie, nothing wrong to do that. I personally still find that use a large but cheap (relatively) SSD via the native SATA 2 port is the most painless way to make use a SSD in cMP. I have a SATA 3 card (Sonnet Tempo SSD), but can't feel any difference in real world (Someone show me that a PCIe SSD unRAR 2x the speed that a SATA 3 SSD can do on a cMP, however, I rarely deal with that kind of huge file which take >10min to unRAR. So, PCIe SSD can actually provide some benefit over normal SSD, it just depends on your workflow), except it breaks the boot manager, make me can't upgrade the SSD firmware via the card, unable to boot Windows from the SSD…etc.

IMO, OWC RAM is an very expensive choice but not the best quality one. Quite a few members report their OWC RAM with different kind of problems. From memory, in one case, OWC simply ship them some Curcial RAM as replacement (with OWC price, of course).
 
Last edited:
h9826790 said:
$77.5 :eek: some 5,1 on eBay still asking for $775…

Anyway, both Photoshop and LR are not that GPU intensive. I personally don't think that's worth to make to me deal with the Nvidia web driver.

A 5,1 may come with 5770 / 5870. You better try to run PS / LR with that first. At least we rarely heard these cards cause any trouble in PS / LR. Especially the 5870, it's not a powerful card, but seems optimised very well in OSX. On the other hand, we still occationally heard that the Maxwell card shows graphic glitches in PS, which may become a super annoying problem. Of course, if I have to buy a GPU now (for Mac), I only go for the new stuff (e.g. Maxwell or polaris), but if the stock GPU works well in your workflow, you don't even need to buy one, because it may bring you more trouble then benefit (at this moment).

For USB 3.0 card, the most brainless option is the Inateck KT4004. Which is good for most daily use. Sonnet produce better card, but something like 4x more expensive, not really worth IMO, unless you always transferring something with all 4 ports, otherwise it makes not much difference in real world.

PS / LR may not able to take any advantage from the PCIe SSD (especially if you use it as the boot drive, but not scratch disk). However, it's your own chocie, nothing wrong to do that. I personally still find that use a large but cheap (relatively) SSD via the native SATA 2 port is the most painless way to make use a SSD in cMP. I have a SATA 3 card (Sonnet Tempo SSD), but can't feel any difference in real world (Someone show me that a PCIe SSD unRAR 2x the speed that a SATA 3 SSD can do on a cMP, however, I rarely deal with that kind of huge file which take >10min to unRAR. So, PCIe SSD can actually provide some benefit over normal SSD, it just depends on your workflow), except it breaks the boot manager, make me can't upgrade the SSD firmware via the card, unable to boot Windows from the SSD…etc.

IMO, OWC RAM is an very expensive choice but not the best quality one. Quite a few members report their OWC RAM with different kind of problems. From memory, in one case, OWC simply ship them some Curcial RAM as replacement (with OWC price, of course).
Click to expand...

Well, honestly not sure about getting which GPU tho. The most decent GPUs are great but AMD require MacOS Sierra which I don't want to update due to LR and GTX require supported wed driver and not yet. I def gonna replace GPU for better performance. I don't satisfy with 5870 at all when I was using old Mac Pro in school.

Im using rMBP which has M.2 SSD and I feel the speed! At least I can get benefit from booting, application, and etc for speed.

Hmmm my professor recommended OWC RAM for new products. Where should I get ECC RAMs then?
 
mavericks7913 said:
Well, honestly not sure about getting which GPU tho. The most decent GPUs are great but AMD require MacOS Sierra which I don't want to update due to LR and GTX require supported wed driver and not yet. I def gonna replace GPU for better performance. I don't satisfy with 5870 at all when I was using old Mac Pro in school.

Im using rMBP which has M.2 SSD and I feel the speed! At least I can get benefit from booting, application, and etc for speed.

Hmmm my professor recommended OWC RAM for new products. Where should I get ECC RAMs then?
Click to expand...

Interesting, PS and LR is more CPU intensive (mainly single core performance). I doubt if your bad experence was coming from CPU, GPU, or even not enough RAM. May I know how and why you can conclude that the poor experence was actually from 5870?

SSD is great, however, for booting and application, it's been proved that there is almost zero benefit jump from SATA SSD to the more expensive PCIe SSD.

There are plenty of server RAM on eBay. Which has the same spec (if not better) then the OWC RAM, but much cheaper.
 
h9826790 said:
Interesting, PS and LR is more CPU intensive (mainly single core performance). I doubt if your bad experence was coming from CPU, GPU, or even not enough RAM. May I know how and why you can conclude that the poor experence was actually from 5870?

SSD is great, however, for booting and application, it's been proved that there is almost zero benefit jump from SATA SSD to the more expensive PCIe SSD.

There are plenty of server RAM on eBay. Which has the same spec (if not better) then the OWC RAM, but much cheaper.
Click to expand...

Well That was almost 2 years ago and can't tell the exact problem unless I get Mac Pro on next week to pick it up. But basically Adobe programs require a great GPU performance since CS4. One of my professor told me that.

Im quite not sure about used RAMs from eBay. Any recommendation?
 
mavericks7913 said:
Well That was almost 2 years ago and can't tell the exact problem unless I get Mac Pro on next week to pick it up. But basically Adobe programs require a great GPU performance since CS4. One of my professor told me that.

Im quite not sure about used RAMs from eBay. Any recommendation?
Click to expand...

If you are from the school, now learn how to read the fact by yourself, I am not saying your professor is wrong. But at least double check the data / info by yourself, don't just trust anyone's comment (including my comment, of course).

Something are opinion, which may be wrong. Something are facts, always true.

I think you have to find out if your professor made an opinion, or stated the fact.

IMO, surely not ALL Adobe software require huge GPU performance. E.g. Only few functions in PS can utilise the GPU. Most of the effects are actually done by CPU. The followings are quote from Adobe.

GPU features in Photoshop CS4 and CS5

Zoom in or out.
  • Animated transitions for one-stop zoom. Press Ctrl+Plus Sign (Windows) or Command+Plus Sign (Mac OS) to zoom, and the image animates slightly between zoom levels. The zoom can be subtle.
  • Flick-panning. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences (Mac OS). In the General panel, select Enable Flick Panning. Then, select the Hand tool and click-flick the image, like a flick gesture on an iPhone. The image glides smoothly to the new position.
  • Pixel grid. A pixel grid appears when zooming in more than 500% on an image. See Hide the pixel grid.
  • Adobe Color Engine (ACE). Color conversions are faster because the GPU handles the processing instead of the CPU.
  • Draw Brush tip cursors. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences (Mac OS). In the Cursors panel, choose a Brush Preview color. Then, when you interactively adjust the size or hardness of the Brush tool, the preview color displays the change in real time. See Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging.
  • 3D acceleration


For video Video editing, of course the software can benefit from more GPU power. But for still image, if you do it correctly, GPU power may help sometime, but not that important.

For the RAM, those eBay server RAM not necessary are used RAM. I just google "eBay ddr3 1333 ECC" and have this result in 10 seconds.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/32GB-4X-8GB-D...657373?hash=item25c009cb9d:g:zaIAAOSwiYFXEE~d

You can compare the spec / price with OWC RAM and decide which is a better deal.
 
h9826790 said:
If you are from the school, now learn how to read the fact by yourself, I am not saying your professor is wrong. But at least double check the data / info by yourself, don't just trust anyone's comment (including my comment, of course).

Something are opinion, which may be wrong. Something are facts, always true.

I think you have to find out if your professor made an opinion, or stated the fact.

IMO, surely not ALL Adobe software require huge GPU performance. E.g. Only few functions in PS can utilise the GPU. Most of the effects are actually done by CPU. The followings are quote from Adobe.

GPU features in Photoshop CS4 and CS5

Zoom in or out.
  • Animated transitions for one-stop zoom. Press Ctrl+Plus Sign (Windows) or Command+Plus Sign (Mac OS) to zoom, and the image animates slightly between zoom levels. The zoom can be subtle.
  • Flick-panning. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences (Mac OS). In the General panel, select Enable Flick Panning. Then, select the Hand tool and click-flick the image, like a flick gesture on an iPhone. The image glides smoothly to the new position.
  • Pixel grid. A pixel grid appears when zooming in more than 500% on an image. See Hide the pixel grid.
  • Adobe Color Engine (ACE). Color conversions are faster because the GPU handles the processing instead of the CPU.
  • Draw Brush tip cursors. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences (Mac OS). In the Cursors panel, choose a Brush Preview color. Then, when you interactively adjust the size or hardness of the Brush tool, the preview color displays the change in real time. See Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging.
  • 3D acceleration

For video Video editing, of course the software can benefit from more GPU power. But for still image, if you do it correctly, GPU power may help sometime, but not that important.

For the RAM, those eBay server RAM not necessary are used RAM. I just google "eBay ddr3 1333 ECC" and have this result in 10 seconds.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/32GB-4X-8GB-DDR3-1333-PC3-10600-Memory-RAM-for-APPLE-MAC-PRO-5-1-Westmere-/162135657373?hash=item25c009cb9d:g:zaIAAOSwiYFXEE~d

You can compare the spec / price with OWC RAM and decide which is a better deal.
Click to expand...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/64GB-KIT-8X...726057?hash=item4af66a1069:g:iecAAOSwhkRWgusa

http://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-Kit-4X...648047?hash=item33bc7d1caf:g:Ox0AAOSwRoxXnlSe

IDK why but 64gb is cheaper than 32gb. Any thought?
 
mavericks7913 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/64GB-KIT-8X...726057?hash=item4af66a1069:g:iecAAOSwhkRWgusa

http://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-Kit-4X...648047?hash=item33bc7d1caf:g:Ox0AAOSwRoxXnlSe

IDK why but 64gb is cheaper than 32gb. Any thought?
Click to expand...

IMO, simply because you pick the expensive seller. My link only need $65 for the same stuff.
[doublepost=1475035456][/doublepost]By the way, I don't think PS LR can utilise 12 cores. A pair of X5677 is also a good upgrade for you. PS LR need CPU speed, but not core count.
 
hay for photo apps GPU is not a massive thing cpu/ram/drive speed matter the most, depending on tasks.
id recommend getting a dedicated drive for your photo library, faster the better (i use a WD black)

are you using adobe CC or older?
if you do get a GTX 9xx card you need to install the web driver before the card, see the sticky.
 
It is quite shame that Inateck 4 ports PCIE USB 3.0 does not support Yosemite or Above like El Capitan and Sierra. I also saw that it has slowdown issue if I use more than 2 usb ports. Any other suggestion for PCIE USB 3.0 ports?
 
mavericks7913 said:
It is quite shame that Inateck 4 ports PCIE USB 3.0 does not support Yosemite or Above like El Capitan and Sierra. I also saw that it has slowdown issue if I use more than 2 usb ports. Any other suggestion for PCIE USB 3.0 ports?
Click to expand...

??? I am now using the KT4004 in Sierra, no problem at all. This card also works in El Capitan.
 
mavericks7913 said:
http://www.pindelski.com/MacProTurbo/FAQ_UpgradingUSB3.html
Click to expand...

If your link is correct, that "no slow down when more than one USB3 device is used simultaneously" is the difference between the KT4004 and the Allegro (1 controller vs 4), nothing to do with Sierra.

The KT4004 is cheap because all 4 ports share 1 controller. The Allegro has a dedicated controller for each port. That's why it is so expensive.

Unless your work flow will keep sending large files between few external SSD (or very high speed RAID) for a prolonged period of time. The Allegro may be overkill for normal user.

Since you stated that you mainly use this Mac for PS / LR. I just couldn't see how you need the Allegro. Or how the KT4004 will seriously slow down your workflow.
 
mavericks7913 if your using aps for work it's always best to wait for a bit till some one else has tested it for bugs or on a second partition drive
 
CapnDavey said:
77.50 for a 5,1 is that a typo if not that was the deal of the day for sure!
Click to expand...

Not typo. Seriously. Just $77.50 Need a proof?
[doublepost=1475186937][/doublepost]
h9826790 said:
If your link is correct, that "no slow down when more than one USB3 device is used simultaneously" is the difference between the KT4004 and the Allegro (1 controller vs 4), nothing to do with Sierra.

The KT4004 is cheap because all 4 ports share 1 controller. The Allegro has a dedicated controller for each port. That's why it is so expensive.

Unless your work flow will keep sending large files between few external SSD (or very high speed RAID) for a prolonged period of time. The Allegro may be overkill for normal user.

Since you stated that you mainly use this Mac for PS / LR. I just couldn't see how you need the Allegro. Or how the KT4004 will seriously slow down your workflow.
Click to expand...

Well cause Im going to use NAS, monitor(require USB3.0 port), and USB 3.0 Hub.
 
Pretty jazzed up here. Just upgraded the cpu in my 2010 MP. I upgraded the memory earlier. Got the 6 core w3680, and the 3 mm t handle hex wrench. The upgrade went smooth. Once again I noted what an engineering marvel that machine is. That monster heat sink with its own fan--sweet. When I went to put the heat sink back on, I noted the guideposts and matching holes on the heat sink--the attention to detail is incredible. Not gonna see that in a home-brew rig--never seen a pc that had that sort of engineering except perhaps in some dell servers I have seen.

I also get perhaps an inappropriate level of satisfaction seeing the memory run at its full speed, 1333. ;)

Thanks to the folks here at macrumors who prepared the information as to what cpu would work as an upgrade, and gave the the confidence to do this. So, looking at what I can do with my 2009... Got potential for a firmware upgrade as well as the hassle of the 'lidless' cpu chips... But onward and upward!
 
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