Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Resolved Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1 firmware upgrade without processor change

N

NorCalLights

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 24, 2006
600
89
Hello,
I'm thinking about upgrading the firmware on my stock Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1 so I can upgrade the OS to Sierra (and then to High Sierra). I've tried reading through the threads on this forum, but most of them are dedicated to processor or GPU upgrades. I have a stock 2 x 2.26 GHz, HD4870 512MB model. Can I do this firmware upgrade without making any hardware changes?
Thanks
 
I'm just reporting back that my 4,1 upgraded to 5,1 without a hitch. For anyone attempting this from OS X 10.11, remember that you need to turn off System Integrity Protection (SIP) before you upgrade the firmware. Once the upgrade is complete, you can turn SIP back on.

10.12 is running great with 8GB of RAM and my poor old HD4870 512MB. I'm looking at a graphics card upgrade next, and maybe splurging for new processors too. Apple announcing that 10.13 is supported on 5,1 Mac Pros is really encouraging to me, though I expect 10.13 will be the end of the line. With a new graphics card and processors, I estimate I could get another 24 to 36 months of use out of this machine, even if I can't ever upgrade to 10.14.
 
I also agree that 3x8GB is a very good choice now. For 10.12, that can help to speed up the system quite a bit. Greatly avoid the need of swap. And the are really very very cheap on the net.
 
I have a dual-processor machine, so I need to install RAM in pairs. I might buy a couple of OWC's 2x2GB upgrade kits (to get me up to 16GB total) since they sell them used for so, so cheap... but it's hard for me to justify at this point. I keep a close eye on my memory usage with iStat Menus, and it's always really low. My usage tends to be more processor and graphics usage-heavy, and less memory intensive.

On the occasions when it does need to page, my SSDs are plenty fast for that...

... but the point is well-taken... It's just that I only ever upgrade when my workflow suffers. And so far, I haven't seen any evidence that extra memory would help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Naimfan
NorCalLights said:
I might buy a couple of OWC's 2x2GB upgrade kits (to get me up to 16GB total) since they sell them used for so, so cheap
Click to expand...

You can do a lot better than OWC, its too expensive.

8Gb is really the bare minumum, with 7Gb it would not even boot!
Since you have 2 cpu's (I guess you have 4x2Gb), you can add 2x8Gb...which shouldn't cost more than $30.
As soon as you start working the Mac, it will start swapping virtual memory...so you need it!
 
NorCalLights said:
I have a dual-processor machine, so I need to install RAM in pairs. I might buy a couple of OWC's 2x2GB upgrade kits (to get me up to 16GB total) since they sell them used for so, so cheap... but it's hard for me to justify at this point. I keep a close eye on my memory usage with iStat Menus, and it's always really low. My usage tends to be more processor and graphics usage-heavy, and less memory intensive.

On the occasions when it does need to page, my SSDs are plenty fast for that...

... but the point is well-taken... It's just that I only ever upgrade when my workflow suffers. And so far, I haven't seen any evidence that extra memory would help.
Click to expand...

Which OS?
 
h9826790 said:
Which OS?
Click to expand...

10.12

carpsafari said:
You can do a lot better than OWC, its too expensive.
Click to expand...

They're currently selling 4GB (2x2GB) for $5.00. 8GB would run me $12.00 including shipping. That's pretty darn cheap... And I have the extra slots, so I may as well fill them up.

carpsafari said:
8Gb is really the bare minumum, with 7Gb it would not even boot!
Click to expand...

Again... with my workflow, this hasn't been an issue. I'm not seeing memory pressure or swaps noticeably higher than my 16GB Macbook Pro. I assure you, as soon as it is, I'll look to upgrade my RAM.
 
NorCalLights said:
10.12



They're currently selling 4GB (2x2GB) for $5.00. 8GB would run me $12.00 including shipping. That's pretty darn cheap... And I have the extra slots, so I may as well fill them up.



Again... with my workflow, this hasn't been an issue. I'm not seeing memory pressure or swaps noticeably higher than my 16GB Macbook Pro. I assure you, as soon as it is, I'll look to upgrade my RAM.
Click to expand...

10.12 can use extra RAM as cache quite well. Anyway, as long as the system will use swap, for just $12, I won't think twice but just do that upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orph
NorCalLights said:
I'm just reporting back that my 4,1 upgraded to 5,1 without a hitch. For anyone attempting this from OS X 10.11, remember that you need to turn off System Integrity Protection (SIP) before you upgrade the firmware. Once the upgrade is complete, you can turn SIP back on.
Click to expand...
Thank you, thank you, thank you for mentioning this! Lots of conversations about these updates, but this was the only place I heard about this—and it did the trick. Did I say thank you?
 
NorCalLights said:
I'm just reporting back that my 4,1 upgraded to 5,1 without a hitch. For anyone attempting this from OS X 10.11, remember that you need to turn off System Integrity Protection (SIP) before you upgrade the firmware. Once the upgrade is complete, you can turn SIP back on.

10.12 is running great with 8GB of RAM and my poor old HD4870 512MB. I'm looking at a graphics card upgrade next, and maybe splurging for new processors too. Apple announcing that 10.13 is supported on 5,1 Mac Pros is really encouraging to me, though I expect 10.13 will be the end of the line. With a new graphics card and processors, I estimate I could get another 24 to 36 months of use out of this machine, even if I can't ever upgrade to 10.14.
Click to expand...

Actually, as long as you have a Metal supported graphics card you can upgrade a 5,1 Mac Pro to Mojave (OS 10.14). Unless it is an EFI Radeon 7950 or an EFI GTX 680,(factory or flashed) you won't get an Apple boot screen. If you don't care about a boot screen and want a cheap option, a reference model RX 560 works nicely. If you have the cash and want more power, an RX 580 is a good option.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back