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Mac Pro 3.1 upgrades

C

Cranmac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 4, 2017
5
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Hi there guys,

New user here looking for some advice in regards to upgrading my old early 2008 Mac pro. I've ran 10.6 on this system for years, but now that I'm getting into video stuff I'd ideally like to have a bit of an overhaul, rather than spend 2000 gbp on an imac or macbook pro. End goal is to be able to edit video in final cut pro X, running el capitan. Hopefully this is possible!

Currently it has just 4gb of ram, with the 2 x 2.8 quad core CPU's. Along with 2 old hdd's. Being in the UK, parts seem to be hard to find these days, but what I'm looking at is getting an additional 16gb of ram, a Samsung evo SSD to use as a boot disc and a USB 3.0 card. I'd like to do a fresh install on to the SSD.

Another topic is the GPU, it's a 512mb geforce 8800 gt. I know this is approved for FCP X, but is it worth upgrading and what are my options?

Has anyone got any advice, or is this even worth doing? Best processes? I have no issue fitting the hardware at all, but if it's not worth it then I'd rather save money towards a new Mac.

Many thanks for any replies in advance!
 
Thanks for the reply, I have done a search of hear and Google thanks but most posts are generally couple of years old, technology advances so If anything has changed recently I wouldn't get the benefit of that information just from reading older posts.

Also as I'm in the UK it's a lot harder to find parts compared to the US, so if UK users chime in with their opinion and experience of where to buy, what's available etc it's massively helpful to me.

If you feel this thread is truly inappropriate and not needed then I'm happy to delete (or mods delete) as I'm not here to upset or annoy anyone.

Thanks again
 
carpsafari said:
Just because you find posts this fresh means you did not look at all.
You want to be rewarded for a dumb question now?
Click to expand...

Well, this forum is friendly! Ok, so please care to explain why it's acceptable to call me out on "not searching" but a post a month ago, you gave a constructive reply? Why not reply the same to that post? And the post before that? And the post before that? Because surely there must have been relevant posts beforehand!
 
The memory and SSD upgrades are entirely reasonable. I would advise buying SSD on price rather than looking for the best performer, since the cMP used SATA II and almost any SSD will max it out. I've no idea what GPU's will run on a 3,1 unfortunately. There's a thread here on the mac pro topic on USB 3 for the cMP, current advice for a cheap USB 3.0 card is the Inateck 4004 (worked for me).

It's a bit of a gamble, but the added memory should be cheap and the SSD can be reused, e.g. in an external box. I'd be more wary of spending money on GPU or CPU upgrades, since if they don't give you the results you want, they are likely money down the drain.

Ignore carpsafari, he'd clearly picked up the vinegar instead of the milk for his cheerios today. It is true that not much has changed in the 3,1 world that I know of, and you probably would have found the same answers in those old threads, but there's no need to be pissy about it.
 
Like always, topics like this draw the attention of the ones who normally will never post...because the only thing they do, is repeat what others did.
Parotting is very popular with this group. (monkey see, monkey do)

As you can see now too, the responses are the same as with the last 98 TS's who wanted to know 'how to upgrade my 3.1'.
So this is a complete waste of space.
But some must feel really good, that they finally where able to give a 'good answer'.

I will continue to show these TS's the error of their ways.
 
Cranmac said:
Hi there guys,

New user here looking for some advice in regards to upgrading my old early 2008 Mac pro. I've ran 10.6 on this system for years, but now that I'm getting into video stuff I'd ideally like to have a bit of an overhaul, rather than spend 2000 gbp on an imac or macbook pro. End goal is to be able to edit video in final cut pro X, running el capitan. Hopefully this is possible!

Currently it has just 4gb of ram, with the 2 x 2.8 quad core CPU's. Along with 2 old hdd's. Being in the UK, parts seem to be hard to find these days, but what I'm looking at is getting an additional 16gb of ram, a Samsung evo SSD to use as a boot disc and a USB 3.0 card. I'd like to do a fresh install on to the SSD.

Another topic is the GPU, it's a 512mb geforce 8800 gt. I know this is approved for FCP X, but is it worth upgrading and what are my options?

Has anyone got any advice, or is this even worth doing? Best processes? I have no issue fitting the hardware at all, but if it's not worth it then I'd rather save money towards a new Mac.

Many thanks for any replies in advance!
Click to expand...

Don't let the mean people deflate you. A few months back there was a similar question I'll link to my response. Good luck. I think it's still a quite capable machine!
 
Cranmac said:
New user here looking for some advice in regards to upgrading my old early 2008 Mac pro.
Click to expand...

What is your budget? If it's about $300, I'd consider upgrading to a 4,1/5,1. (For that price I'm factoring in sale of the 3,1 which will offset the upgrade cost.)

With that upgrade, you will get support for newer MacOS, a faster CPU, faster GPU, faster memory, faster architecture, faster Wi-Fi, faster bluetooth, larger hard drive, newer chassis and components, and a far better future upgrade path. With some luck you might get more memory and an SSD too.

I cannot think of a better or more comprehensive upgrade for the same amount of money, especially since you used the word "overhaul" as one of your goals.
 
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carpsafari said:
Just because you find posts this fresh means you did not look at all.
You want to be rewarded for a dumb question now?
Click to expand...

Nice to see such a polite and helpful person on the forum, ever heard the saying "if you can't say anything nice then just keep quiet!"
 
My MP3,1 hasd been upgraded with dual 3.2 GHz Quad Core Xeons (X5482), plus:
- PC 7950 graphics card with an EFI BIOS by MacVidCards,
- Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 SSD PCIe Adapter card with a Toshiba 120GB SSD and
- HighPoint RocketU 1144C USB 3.0 PCIe card.​

If I had to prioritize those upgrades above, I'd do them in this order:
- SSD with the Apricorn PCIe adapter card,
- Graphics card depending upon your applications requirements, and
- Processor upgrades.​
I don't know if you need USB 3/3.1 for peripherals, but that would be the last thing on my upgrade list. Good luck!
screen-shot-2018-03-02-at-1-00-41-pm-png.752997
 
TheStork said:
My MP3,1 hasd been upgraded with dual 3.2 GHz Quad Core Xeons (X5482), plus:
- PC 7950 graphics card with an EFI BIOS by MacVidCards,
- Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 SSD PCIe Adapter card with a Toshiba 120GB SSD and
- HighPoint RocketU 1144C USB 3.0 PCIe card.​

If I had to prioritize those upgrades above, I'd do them in this order:
- SSD with the Apricorn PCIe adapter card,
- Graphics card depending upon your applications requirements, and
- Processor upgrades.​
I don't know if you need USB 3/3.1 for peripherals, but that would be the last thing on my upgrade list. Good luck!
screen-shot-2018-03-02-at-1-00-41-pm-png.752997
Hi TheStork,

Thanks for the comment, do you know if these items are still current or are there any new versions available that make a 3.1 faster?

Also, any way to get the newer OS X?

I'm fairly new to upgrades so I don't have the knowledge....

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
Don't go with AMD GPUs on the 3,1. Since High Sierra, AMD cards needs SSE4.2 - Mac Pro 2008 Xeons don't have it.

GTX680 it's the only option here with boot screens, but you can use any Kepler or post-Kepler card.
 
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Dctyke said:
I have the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512 MB

Is there a better faster card?
Click to expand...
Yes, eVGA GTX 680 for Mac - but almost any PC GTX680 can be flashed to support EFI/boot screens. Check the Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX 680 Models thread.

Btw, GTX680 works with the native driver, out of the box, have Metal support and the most important: works on the 2008 Mac Pro.

It's even supported on Mojave.
Mojave_DP3_MP31.png
 
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tsialex said:
Don't go with AMD GPUs on the 3,1. Since High Sierra, AMD cards needs SSE4.2 - Mac Pro 2008 Xeons don't have it...
Click to expand...
Which is why I went with the X5482 Xeon processors as it have SSE4.1 compatibility.
 
tsialex said:
Yes, eVGA GTX 680 for Mac - but almost any PC GTX680 can be flashed to support EFI/boot screens. Check the Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX 680 Models thread.

Btw, GTX680 works with the native driver, out of the box, have Metal support and the most important: works on the 2008 Mac Pro.

It's even supported on Mojave.
View attachment 769618
Click to expand...


Thanks for your advice, may i ask a question, I was under the impression 2008 3.1 machines couldn't run anything after El Capitan?
[doublepost=1531075376][/doublepost]
TheStork said:
Which is why I went with the X5482 Xeon processors as it have SSE4.1 compatibility.
Click to expand...


Mine is the 3.2GHz 2 x quad core Intel Xeon, don't suppose you know how to find the X number for this?
 
Dctyke said:
Thanks for your advice, may I ask a question, I was under the impression 2008 3.1 machines couldn't run anything after El Capitan?
Click to expand...

Not officially, but you can patch the installer and run 10.13 on it. Take a look on the
macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread.
It's easy with a EFI flashed GTX680.

Mine is the 3.2GHz 2 x quad core Intel Xeon, don't suppose you know how to find the X number for this?
Click to expand...
Intel® Xeon® Processor X5482

[doublepost=1531075644][/doublepost]
TheStork said:
Ah, I did not know that. So, it's SSE4.2 that's the show stopper. Thank you for that information.
Click to expand...
Yes, AMD drivers since HighSierra need SSE4.2.
 
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tsialex said:
Not officially, but you can patch the installer and run 10.13 on it. Take a look on the
macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread.
It's easy with a EFI flashed GTX680.


Intel® Xeon® Processor X5482

[doublepost=1531075644][/doublepost]
Yes, AMD drivers since HighSierra need SSE4.2.
Click to expand...


Thanks
[doublepost=1531077567][/doublepost]You two have been a big help, thanks.

Could I trouble you with one last question, I have a 2008 3.2ghz quad core, 26MB memory and the Nvidia original video card.

I can't decide wether to upgrade the memory to 64 and add a SSD or go for a 4.1 or 5.1 machine.

The reason is because I have a new MacBook pro and the two can't swap some files due to the High Sierra OS.

Any thoughts?
 
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