Mac Pro 5,1 replace or upgrade

[ali_g_83]

Hi everyone

I've got a entry level Mac Pro 5,1 that I'm torn between either replacing or upgrading. Its the quad core 2.8ghz model. I've upgraded the RAM and put an SSD in but since upgrading to Sierra I've noticed its become a bit sluggish at times. I use the system to do a lot of photo editing and some video work (although the amount of video work will be increasing).

I've been debating changing the CPU to a 6 core W3680 (around £80 second hand) and putting a new GPU in there too. I would also need to replace my monitor too.

Has anyone here upgraded a base spec 5,1 and was it worth it? Is it worth it these days based on the age of the system or should I replace it with something else (iMac 5K or MBP with external monitor)?

 

[kschendel]

I upgraded a (4,1) flashed to (5,1) with a W3680 and it gave me about a 40% speedup for compile jobs, which are reasonably compute bound. My starting CPU was slower than yours though. A faster GPU is likely to help quite a bit with editing and such. How much memory did you add?

 

[ali_g_83]

It has 20gb in total (16 added to the original 4 that it came with).

I have seen both the 7970 and GTX 680 second hand on eBay at sub £200 so might go for one of those, not sure if I want to try anything newer as its my main system and I don't want to run into compatibility issues.