MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 5,1 - Processor Upgrade Question

[RottenCotton]

Hey Hey

Quick question for y'all.

I recently brought a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core 2.66GHz. I am giving it a full upgrade, 96 GB RAM, OSXWifi, 8GB RX580 Graphics card etc, etc.

One of the things I want to upgrade is the processor from the 2.66 GHz to either the 3.33 or 3.46 GHz.

I have zero problems going for the 3.46 processors but there are literally twice the price on eBay:

- 3.33 GHz = $180 CDN
- 3.46 GHz = $370 CDN

As I said I'm fine paying extra for the 3.46 but heck im not going to pay a ton more for the top of the line premium charge for negligible performance gains. So my questions for you fine folks is it worth it at twice the price?

For reference I am going to be using the mac for motion graphics, video editing, design work and games.

Lastly if eBay is a terrible place to look for these processors and you have a better suggestion, id love to hear it

Thanks in Advance for your replies

 

[tsialex]

Hey Hey

Quick question for y'all.

I recently brought a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core 2.66GHz. I am giving it a full upgrade, 96 GB RAM, OSXWifi, 8GB RX580 Graphics card etc, etc.

One of the things I want to upgrade is the processor from the 2.66 GHz to either the 3.33 or 3.46 GHz.

I have zero problems going for the 3.46 processors but there are literally twice the price on eBay:

- 3.33 GHz = $180 CDN
- 3.46 GHz = $370 CDN

As I said I'm fine paying extra for the 3.46 but heck im not going to pay a ton more for the top of the line premium charge for negligible performance gains. So my questions for you fine folks is it worth it at twice the price?

For reference I am going to be using the mac for motion graphics, video editing, design work and games.

Lastly if eBay is a terrible place to look for these processors and you have a better suggestion, id love to hear it

Thanks in Advance for your replies

X5690 performance gains, at best, are around 3% to 4% over a X5680. Overprice only justify with bragging rights or for people that do video compression/transcoding or compile 24/7/365.

eBay/AliExpress are the usual sources for cheap used/decommissioned Xeons of this era. Like everything on eBay/AliExpress, you have good and bad sellers.

These questions were answered zillions of times here in the past, nothing has changed, use the search - absolutely zero need to open a new thread for these.

 

[kohlson]

The prices seem high, even for CDN $$.

 

[RottenCotton]

Hi There

Thanks for the reply, I will go with the 3.33 then.

As you might have noticed that was my first post on this forum and I was clearly not aware that my inquiry had been made previously.

Thanks once again for your advice, it is appreciated

 

[Macsonic]

Hi There

Thanks for the reply, I will go with the 3.33 then.

As you might have noticed that was my first post on this forum and I was clearly not aware that my inquiry had been made previously.

Thanks once again for your advice, it is appreciated

Hi RottenCotton. No problem. There’s always the first time experience. Welcome to MR. You’ll get to learn tons of infos on Macs here. The user forum interface is great. The 3.33Ghz is a good choice. When buying, go for sellers that allow returns in case of problems.

 

[flowrider]

If you want the speed and don't need 12 cores, you may want to look at the X5677. Two of those will get you 3.46Ghz with 8 cores. I ran them when I had my 5,1 cMP?

Lou

 

[Anonymous Freak]

The highest-end CPU in any generation always costs significantly more. Because people who are going to upgrade older systems of course want the best CPU for it.

 

[Flocarino]

The prices seem high, even for CDN $$.

Exactly, I got 2 x 3.46 CPU’s in January 2019 on Ebay for about CAN $200....just shop around and keep your eyes open for fresh bargains listed daily.....just found the transaction: CAN $221 to be more precise

 

[kohlson]

Exactly, I got my Dual 3.46 in January 2019 on Ebay for about CAN $200

Perhaps a year or so ago when I purchased my x5680 off Ebay, it was USD100. Now they're under USD50.

 

[JedNZ]

I’ve upgraded 2 x Dual-CPU cMP (has to delid them) with X5680s and 3 x single-CPU cMP with either X5680 or W3680 and have saved myself a fortune not spending that huge amount more to get the 3.46GHz. I’m not doing 24/7/365 CPU intensive work so the 5% less power has been worth it for me. I have paid pretty much NZ$70 per CPU (On eBay incl shipping) over a 3 year period so the prices have stayed static.

 

[h9826790]

IMO，that extra cost is more for your own satisfaction, not really for the performance.

Is it worth? If you will be happier to "own the max out CPU", then you pay for your happiness, and only yourself know if that's worth.

 

[Macsonic]

IMO，that extra cost is more for your own satisfaction, not really for the performance.

Is it worth? If you will be happier to "own the max out CPU", then you pay for your happiness, and only yourself know if that's worth.

Yep this is correct. The speed gains are likely minimal with the max out CPU.

 

[flyproductions]

Is it worth? If you will be happier to "own the max out CPU", then you pay for your happiness, and only yourself know if that's worth.

Yes, nothing more to say!

...but i payed for my happiness too! ?

But it was only 150 Euros at some chinese seller. And today the 5690s are down to as low as 61 per piece. At least from China.

 

[Snow Tiger]

If you want the speed and don't need 12 cores, you may want to look at the X5677. Two of those will get you 3.46Ghz with 8 cores. I ran them when I had my 5,1 cMP?

Lou

A pair of X5677 Xeons cost you a total of $30 , plus shipping , to Canada from this reliable eBay seller .

Intel Xeon X5677 3.46ghz Quad Core Processor SLBV9 for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Intel Xeon X5677 3.46ghz Quad Core Processor SLBV9 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

This is really inexpensive for the power they'll provide .
[automerge]1588427798[/automerge]

"I recently brought a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core 2.66GHz. I am giving it a full upgrade, 96 GB RAM, OSXWifi, 8GB RX580 Graphics card etc, etc."

You can affordably build your own wireless upgrade system for less than USD 50 with integrated external antennas for exceptional signal strength - a better upgrade than available from OSXWiFi for nearly USD 200 . Here's the full instructional at Mac Rumor's :

Classic Mac Pro 802.11 AC and BT 4.0 Wireless Upgrade With External Antenna

Part 1 . Here's the method and bill of materials necessary to nicely upgrade a Mac Pro 5,1 ( 2009-12 ) with a high performance wireless upgrade system . The use of external antennas greatly enhances signal strength and has the advantage of providing semi-directional control for fine tuning a...

forums.macrumors.com

[automerge]1588428144[/automerge]

You can save a few bucks by going with the Gaming RX570 8GB graphics card by Gigabyte . It's available for $160 from NewEgg . It requires a standard 8 pin PCIe to dual mini 6 pin PCIe booster power splitter cable :

GIGABYTE Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 GV-RX570GAMING-8GD Rev 2.0 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 P | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GIGABYTE Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 GV-RX570GAMING-8GD Rev 2.0 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 P at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[j4c3k69]

On April 6, I ordered on eBay 2 Xeon’s X5690 for US139 which converted to CAD$ was CAD 202.71, Free shipping from China to Canada
Installed them last week, all good.

Also, if it matters to you, X5690 has 14.73% better performance per watt than X5680.

 

[h9826790]

Also, if it matters to you, X5690 has 14.73% better performance per watt than X5680.

Sounds very impossible to me. How you work that out?

 

[tsialex]

Sounds very impossible to me. How you work that out?

Whatever calculation he used to get to that value is invalid, since Intel uses the same maximum TDP for all processors of the same family. Using the same TDP for X5680 or X5690 don't mean anything to a performance per watt calculation, it's the maximum TDP that a processor from that family that system builders have to dissipate with the specified platform.

 

[MacUser2525]

Hey Hey

Quick question for y'all.

I recently brought a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core 2.66GHz. I am giving it a full upgrade, 96 GB RAM, OSXWifi, 8GB RX580 Graphics card etc, etc.

One of the things I want to upgrade is the processor from the 2.66 GHz to either the 3.33 or 3.46 GHz.

I have zero problems going for the 3.46 processors but there are literally twice the price on eBay:

- 3.33 GHz = $180 CDN
- 3.46 GHz = $370 CDN

As I said I'm fine paying extra for the 3.46 but heck im not going to pay a ton more for the top of the line premium charge for negligible performance gains. So my questions for you fine folks is it worth it at twice the price?

For reference I am going to be using the mac for motion graphics, video editing, design work and games.

Lastly if eBay is a terrible place to look for these processors and you have a better suggestion, id love to hear it

Thanks in Advance for your replies

Way too much for the purchase price. Just about the cheapest I could find for a pair in this listing. Works out to about a $125 once the exchange rate is added. The speedpak economy shipping will have it here in a week if my past experiences are any indications of it.

2x Intel XEON X5680 3.33 GHz 12MB SLBV5 6 Core 6.40GT/s LGA1366 Matched Pair CPU 735858214124 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2x Intel XEON X5680 3.33 GHz 12MB SLBV5 6 Core 6.40GT/s LGA1366 Matched Pair CPU at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[j4c3k69]

Sounds very impossible to me. How you work that out?

I didn't measure it myself. Found it on cpuboos . com

Performance per watt	7.01 pt/W		6.11 pt/W

Then I used math to work out the percentage.
[automerge]1588488114[/automerge]

Whatever calculation he used to get to that value is invalid, since Intel uses the same maximum TDP for all processors of the same family. Using the same TDP for X5680 or X5690 don't mean anything to a performance per watt calculation, it's the maximum TDP that a processor from that family that system builders have to dissipate with the specified platform.

The data was on on cpuboss .com. I just calculated the difference.

Interesting article about TDP:

AMD Ryzen TDP Explained: Deep-Dive on TDP Definitions & What Cooler Manufacturers Think | GamersNexus

stub Thermal Design Power, or TDP, is a term used by AMD and Intel to refer in an extremely broad sense to the rate at which a CPU cooler must dissipate heat from the chip to allow it to perform as advertised. Sort of. Depending on the specific formula and product, this number often ends up a...

www.gamersnexus.net

 

[tsialex]

I didn't measure it myself. Found it on cpuboos . com

Performance per watt	7.01 pt/W		6.11 pt/W

Then I used math to work out the percentage.
[automerge]1588488114[/automerge]


The data was on on cpuboss .com. I just calculated the difference.

Interesting article about TDP:

AMD Ryzen TDP Explained: Deep-Dive on TDP Definitions & What Cooler Manufacturers Think | GamersNexus

stub Thermal Design Power, or TDP, is a term used by AMD and Intel to refer in an extremely broad sense to the rate at which a CPU cooler must dissipate heat from the chip to allow it to perform as advertised. Sort of. Depending on the specific formula and product, this number often ends up a...

www.gamersnexus.net

I'm sure a site that uses points per Watt as an index and don't explain the metric or the methodology used to create it anywhere on the site is really dependable.

 

[j4c3k69]

You're right, they don't. I automatically assumed that pt in pt/W is derived from FLOP: FLoating POINT Operations.

 

[naerct]

Hey Hey

Quick question for y'all.

I recently brought a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core 2.66GHz. I am giving it a full upgrade, 96 GB RAM, OSXWifi, 8GB RX580 Graphics card etc, etc.

One of the things I want to upgrade is the processor from the 2.66 GHz to either the 3.33 or 3.46 GHz.

I have zero problems going for the 3.46 processors but there are literally twice the price on eBay:

- 3.33 GHz = $180 CDN
- 3.46 GHz = $370 CDN

As I said I'm fine paying extra for the 3.46 but heck im not going to pay a ton more for the top of the line premium charge for negligible performance gains. So my questions for you fine folks is it worth it at twice the price?

For reference I am going to be using the mac for motion graphics, video editing, design work and games.

Lastly if eBay is a terrible place to look for these processors and you have a better suggestion, id love to hear it

Thanks in Advance for your replies

About a year ago, I upgraded an 8-core 2.26 to a 12-core 3.33, but let the seller do the installation. I sent my CPU tray and $280 for the pair installed. I decided on the 3.33 because the 3.48 was $450. Even though I used to build my own Windows boxes for my business, I never liked the CPU installation. It was easy to do when the processors I could afford were under $300 new. I believe that the pair of >3GHz cost over $3000 new. I decided for this one shot, I would leave it to the pros. I upgraded the RAM to 1333 and 48GB (which was free as a friend upgraded his 6 8GB DIMMs to 6 16GB DIMMs on his 12-core 3.48) I researched this installed package several times and it was the least expensive one on eBay. I was tempted by the unmounted CPU prices, but felt it was worth the extra $. I did all the ROM flashes and put in a couple of Samsung NVMe blades on the SYBA bifurcation PCI card, and added a RX 580 w/8VRAM. I have 5, 4TB WD Enterprise drives in RAID5 inside (450MB/s) and a Superdrive. I also use a Sonnet card with SATA3 and a pair of striped 500GB SATA SSDs for a TB of fast storage (900MB/s). Finally, I added a 4-port 3.1 gen2 to fill the PCI bay. (all speeds are reads with BM tester) With the total expense of the upgrade, the extra I paid for the installation was a small amount. Good luck.