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Mac Pro 2012 - slow

C

comptalk

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 22, 2010
48
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A few years ago I purchased a Mac Pro 2012. I upgraded the ram to 32GB, the main hard drive to Samsung SSD and the video card. It is running slow again. I'd rather not have to replace the Mac pro. Is there anything else I can do to speed the Mac Pro up? Apparently, I need a new graphics card as well to upgrade to Mojave. Anyone know the cheapest graphics card I can buy so I can upgrade my Mac Pro 2012 to be Mojave compatible?

Thanks!
 
comptalk said:
A few years ago I purchased a Mac Pro 2012. I upgraded the ram to 32GB, the main hard drive to Samsung SSD and the video card. It is running slow again. I'd rather not have to replace the Mac pro. Is there anything else I can do to speed the Mac Pro up? Apparently, I need a new graphics card as well to upgrade to Mojave. Anyone know the cheapest graphics card I can buy so I can upgrade my Mac Pro 2012 to be Mojave compatible?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Well the SSD straight to the logic board is running at 3g so not a big improvement over the HDD's speed. You can buy 6G PCIE card like mine which was very expensive and you wil get 500 ish Mb/s speed, or the best option is to get nVME SSD like the samsung 970 pro and an adapter.
 
I got an Radeon RX580 8GB GPU for $150 and it does a great job under Mojave. For improved drive performance getting an M.2 PCIe card and Samsung 970 EVO storage drive (I got the 2TB drive) will really speed up drive performance. I'm currently getting 1500 MB/s (read) and 1400 MB/s (write) from my storage drive.
 
Macdctr said:
I got an Radeon RX580 8GB GPU for $150 and it does a great job under Mojave. For improved drive performance getting an M.2 PCIe card and Samsung 970 EVO storage drive (I got the 2TB drive) will really speed up drive performance. I'm currently getting 1500 MB/s (read) and 1400 MB/s (write) from my storage drive.
Click to expand...

Yea, I have the Samsung 850 EVOs. I looked for a mac compatible Radeon RX580 8GB GPU on eBay, they are around 200 bucks unless used. Anywhere else I should look?
 
startergo said:
Well the SSD straight to the logic board is running at 3g so not a big improvement over the HDD's speed. You can buy 6G PCIE card like mine which was very expensive and you wil get 500 ish Mb/s speed, or the best option is to get nVME SSD like the samsung 970 pro and an adapter.
Click to expand...
Even with the 300GB/sec SATA-II interface of the 5,1 Mac Pro an SSD makes a considerable difference for random disk access which, IME, is the bulk of many users disk access patterns. If the OP disk usage is composed of a significant number of sequential disk accesses then an upgrade to the interface, whether SATA-III or NVMe, would be beneficial.

As crjackson2134 stated: We need to know what the OP is referring to when he says his Mac Pro is slow.
 
comptalk said:
Slow in starting up parallels and Apple Mail. Just a lot of lag for some reason.
Click to expand...

Okay, these are storage speed issues mostly. Do you have TRIM enabled on you SSD’s (presuming that your OS and Apps are on SSD), and what is the remaining space on the SSD? You need to enable TRIM if you haven’t already.

I run my VM’s from dedicated SSD. It’s best not to keep them on the same SSD as your OS. The VM’s generally grow over time and consume too much space on the macOS SSD unless it’s rather large.
 
crjackson2134 said:
Okay, these are storage speed issues mostly. Do you have TRIM enabled on you SSD’s (presuming that your OS and Apps are on SSD), and what is the remaining space on the SSD? You need to enable TRIM if you haven’t already.

I run my VM’s from dedicated SSD. It’s best not to keep them on the same SSD as your OS. The VM’s generally grow over time and consume too much space on the macOS SSD unless it’s rather large.
Click to expand...

How do I enable TRIM on the SSD? There's about 500GB's left of available space. I am running Parallels 10 though. Not sure if that matters. My VM isn't that big, only about 40GB's. Only use it for my windows only apps.
[doublepost=1549760682][/doublepost]Also, where can I buy the cheapest mac flashed metal graphics card? I really do not want to spend too much as I do not need it for gaming, just to upgrade the OS. I am not seeming many flashed metal graphics cards available on eBay unless used.
 
comptalk said:
How do I enable TRIM on the SSD? There's about 500GB's left of available space. I am running Parallels 10 though. Not sure if that matters. My VM isn't that big, only about 40GB's. Only use it for my windows only apps.
Click to expand...

Open a Terminal session and enter

Code: 
sudo trimforce enable

It will ask for you password, enter it and let the command run.

Then reboot...

Leave the system up overnight so that it can trim the drive.

See if this helps your system perform better. Report back and we’ll continue.

Even though I doubt you have an issue with the GPU, tell us exactly what macOS version, and what GPU you are using.
 
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comptalk said:
Yea, I have the Samsung 850 EVOs. I looked for a mac compatible Radeon RX580 8GB GPU on eBay, they are around 200 bucks unless used. Anywhere else I should look?
Click to expand...

Interesting because I got my Radeon from eBay. I found the same identical GPU I have for $159 with free shipping. Here is the link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-N...h=item2f2b35a639:g:goAAAOSwWz5cRL1d:rk:1:pf:0

I'm running Mojave 10.14.4 Beta (18E184e) with no issues using this GPU.

In case you don't have one you will also need a dual mini 6 pin to 8 pin male PCI-E power cable for the new GPU. Here's a link to that as well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DUAL-MINI-...h=item1cc5b9e391:g:zxkAAOSwCCRcLXOf:rk:3:pf:0
 
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crjackson2134 said:
Open a Terminal session and enter

Code: 
sudo trimforce enable

It will ask for you password, enter it and let the command run.

Then reboot...

Leave the system up overnight so that it can trim the drive.

See if this helps your system perform better. Report back and we’ll continue.

Even though I doubt you have an issue with the GPU, tell us exactly what macOS version, and what GPU you are using.
Click to expand...

Enabled the TRIM.

MacOS High Sierra 10.13.16
Mac Pro Server (Mid 2012)
RAM 20 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
GPU ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB
 
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comptalk said:
Enabled the TRIM.

MacOS High Sierra 10.13.16
Mac Pro Server (Mid 2012)
GPU ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB
Click to expand...

Your GPU is fine for the tasks listed in this macOS version. A newer GPU MAY enhance your user experience a little bit, but nothing to write home about. If you wish to upgrade to macOS 10.14, then you’ll have to upgrade the GPU.

If you do a lot of web browsing and media activities beyond what you stated above, then you probably benefit enough to make this (GPU) a worthwhile upgrade with the current macOS.

If upgrading the GPU, I suggest the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB. This is the ONLY model I reccomend. Other models can work, but I personally can only reccomend this one.

You would also need to purchase a power cable for the GPU. Don’t worry, it’s cheap...
 
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Fair enough. I'll do some research on the GPU card. Thank you. What type of cable do I need?
 
comptalk said:
Also, where can I buy the cheapest mac flashed metal graphics card? I really do not want to spend too much as I do not need it for gaming, just to upgrade the OS. I am not seeming many flashed metal graphics cards available on eBay unless used.
Click to expand...

Well, if you want an EFI, Metal Capable GPU then you are very limited. My choices are Radeon HD7950, GTX680, and (EFI flashed) HD7970. There are others, but someone else would know more about that. I have an HD7970 that’s MVC flashed, but it’s collecting dust at the moment. Once you have updated your firmware, you likely won’t really need an EFI card full time.
[doublepost=1549769788][/doublepost]
comptalk said:
Fair enough. I'll do some research on the GPU card. Thank you. What type of cable do I need?
Click to expand...

https://www.moddiy.com/products/Apple-Dual-Mini-PCI%2dE-6%2dPin-to-Standard-PCI%2dE-8%2dPin-Video-Card-Cable.html
 
crjackson2134 said:
If upgrading the GPU, I suggest the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB. This is the ONLY model I reccomend. Other models can work, but I personally can only reccomend this one.
Click to expand...

If you read my post earlier you would also find that the Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU works on the MacPro 5,1 because I am currently using this GPU. The Sapphire Pulse is also a good GPU so either way he will be okay.
 
Macdctr said:
If you read my post earlier you would also find that the Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU works on the MacPro 5,1 because I am currently using this GPU. The Sapphire Pulse is also a good GPU so either way he will be okay.
Click to expand...

Software wise yes, but the Nitro+ is a 2.2 height PCIe card which makes fitting an NVMe in slot 2 quite challenging.
 
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Macdctr said:
If you read my post earlier you would also find that the Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU works on the MacPro 5,1 because I am currently using this GPU. The Sapphire Pulse is also a good GPU so either way he will be okay.
Click to expand...
I think you misunderstood what he meant. He did not mean that other cards are not good options. What he meant was the only card he could recommend was the specific card he has experience with. IOW he doesn't want to recommend something which he has no personal experience with.
 
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Macdctr said:
If you read my post earlier you would also find that the Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU works on the MacPro 5,1 because I am currently using this GPU. The Sapphire Pulse is also a good GPU so either way he will be okay.
Click to expand...

I did read your post. I won’t personally recommend hardware I have no personal experience with. It’s just common sense. I can’t recommend a doctor I’ve never been to, or a car I’ve never driven either. That doesn’t mean they won’t work for someone else.

I wouldn’t recommend that card anyway due to its oversize measurements.

If you read my post earlier, you would know that I also stated someone else (like you) would know about other cards.
 
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Waiting on the new video card. In the mean time, anyway to speed up Apple Mail? It's so slow to load.
 
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