Well can't wait to put this sucker in. Thinking I just prolonged my Mac Pro for another few years.
Attachments
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Merry Christmas to me (w3690 in 4,1 MP)
- Thread starter OrangeSVTguy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Very nice!
Went with a W3680 myself last year - hard to come by a reasonable priced W3690.
You'll enjoy processing power that CPU-wise exceed the quad nMP, you'll have a range of different video cards - that beat the video cards in nMP - to choose from, and you may keep most of your disks internal.
Solid for several more years.
Went with a W3680 myself last year - hard to come by a reasonable priced W3690.
You'll enjoy processing power that CPU-wise exceed the quad nMP, you'll have a range of different video cards - that beat the video cards in nMP - to choose from, and you may keep most of your disks internal.
Solid for several more years.
W3680
I got a W3680 for Christmas, and I just installed it into my MP5,1 that came with the 2.8 quad core. Very noticeable increase in the responsiveness of the machine. Along with the HD 7970 I installed, I am good for a while. By the way, this was the first processor swap I have done in a MP. I just took my time, and everything turned out great. Temps are right where they were with the 2.8 quad chip.
I got a W3680 for Christmas, and I just installed it into my MP5,1 that came with the 2.8 quad core. Very noticeable increase in the responsiveness of the machine. Along with the HD 7970 I installed, I am good for a while. By the way, this was the first processor swap I have done in a MP. I just took my time, and everything turned out great. Temps are right where they were with the 2.8 quad chip.
Cool. This is my first time also swapping CPUs in the Mac Pro. I have a 4,1 so I'll have to flash to the 5,1 firmware before I can install it. I am running Titan SLI so I'm good in the graphics department for a while too. I'm upgrading from a W3540 2.93ghz so I'll like the single threaded speed increase.
Nice Purchase & Congrats!
Your MP4,1/5,1 will fly with that CPU.
I did the swap about 6 months ago, and there's not much that can bring my system to it's knees. (X-Plane for example still gives me 20-25 FPS in very very heavy custom scenery areas, which buckles any of my previous systems).
On the Bootcamp side, BF4 plays "like butter" with that CPU. Your Titans will simply make mincemeat out of any game you care to throw at it, if you're into that kind of thing.
- CK.
Your MP4,1/5,1 will fly with that CPU.
I did the swap about 6 months ago, and there's not much that can bring my system to it's knees. (X-Plane for example still gives me 20-25 FPS in very very heavy custom scenery areas, which buckles any of my previous systems).
On the Bootcamp side, BF4 plays "like butter" with that CPU. Your Titans will simply make mincemeat out of any game you care to throw at it, if you're into that kind of thing.
- CK.
Congrats of the OP.. I picked up a 990x, same as the w3690, this summer at Frys for $475 + tax.
Good buy..I just upgraded my quad to w3690. So worth the upgrade and works well so far with arctic silver 5 to keep it humming along
Love my 4,1>5,1 hex, too.
I paid a tad under $600 for a new 3680 from Provantage a little over a year ago. Too bad someone bought all the inventory a month or so back... I've recently seen a few used for what I paid new.
I paid a tad under $600 for a new 3680 from Provantage a little over a year ago. Too bad someone bought all the inventory a month or so back... I've recently seen a few used for what I paid new.
Won't work...
edit -- nevermind...
Good luck with the CPU swap. Upgrading the CPUs and RAM/ EFI in the case of a Mac Pro 4,1, are an effective solution if you're coming from a lower-spec'd unit.
edit -- nevermind...
Good luck with the CPU swap. Upgrading the CPUs and RAM/ EFI in the case of a Mac Pro 4,1, are an effective solution if you're coming from a lower-spec'd unit.
The thing that worries me about spending ~600 for one of these processors now is that future OS upgrades may be stopped for my 2009 Mac Pro. I believe it is already on the border of being allowed for Mavericks. I think if you upgrade the firmware, it can be spoofed into thinking it is a 2010 model so it may last another year like that.
I don't think so, the Mac Pro 4,1 is practically identical to the 5,1, which Apple sold as new until now... I don't think they could drop OS X support for at least 4 years more for these machines, imagine what all the 5,1 users who bought the Mac Pro on 2013 would say, I'd definitely be pissed.
W3690 in my 4,1 Mac Pro
I have 1 stick of 1066mhz memory so the other 2 1333mhz downclock.
Big thanks to 4JNA for hooking me up with an EFI card. The utility wouldn't let me update without an EFI card installed.
I have 1 stick of 1066mhz memory so the other 2 1333mhz downclock.
Big thanks to 4JNA for hooking me up with an EFI card. The utility wouldn't let me update without an EFI card installed.
Attachments
Last edited:
I couldn't with the Titans installed and doing it blind or with them removed. The Mac Pro needed an EFI card installed in order for the flash to work I guess.
Popped in the 8800GT and worked on first flash.
Hey guys, I have a 4,1 that I am recently upgrading (See sig). I just installed my GPU today.
I'm interested in updating the CPUs in my 8-core. It sounds like 3680s are about $600 each, which means I'd be spending over $1200 to upgrade my CPUs - assuming I can find them for that price.
My other thought was to put in a pair of the stock 2.93MHz quad-core processors if I can find those to replace my 2.26MHz quad-cores. Does anyone know a good source for them?
I'm trying to make my Mac relevant for about 3-4 more years until I get a 2nd or 3rd generation nMP.
I'm also worried about investing in a system that might lose OS support soon. Would updating to a newer 5,1 style processor and flashing to 5,1 mitigate that problem or do you think 4,1 will maintain the same OS viability as the 2010&2012 5,1 computer?
Thanks.
I'm interested in updating the CPUs in my 8-core. It sounds like 3680s are about $600 each, which means I'd be spending over $1200 to upgrade my CPUs - assuming I can find them for that price.
My other thought was to put in a pair of the stock 2.93MHz quad-core processors if I can find those to replace my 2.26MHz quad-cores. Does anyone know a good source for them?
I'm trying to make my Mac relevant for about 3-4 more years until I get a 2nd or 3rd generation nMP.
I'm also worried about investing in a system that might lose OS support soon. Would updating to a newer 5,1 style processor and flashing to 5,1 mitigate that problem or do you think 4,1 will maintain the same OS viability as the 2010&2012 5,1 computer?
Thanks.
Hex is the most cores available in a single CPU in the 5,1 series.
8 and 12 core options are in Dual CPU packages, i.e. 2 x 4 Core or 2 x 6 Core CPU's, where the board has 2 CPU sockets available.
Any W3500 or W3600 below will work in your 5,1. These are the only chips that will fit.
Other families, Nehalem micro-architecture, Socket 1366
Xeon W3550 4 / 8 3.06 GHz 3.33 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3570 4 / 8 3.2 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
Xeon W3565 4 / 8 3.2 GHz 3.46 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
Xeon W3580 4 / 8 3.33 GHz 3.6 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3670 6 / 12 3.2 GHz 3.46 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3680 6 / 12 3.33 GHz 3.6 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3690 6 / 12 3.46 GHz 3.73 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
Other families, Nehalem micro-architecture, Socket 1366
Xeon W3550 4 / 8 3.06 GHz 3.33 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3570 4 / 8 3.2 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
Xeon W3565 4 / 8 3.2 GHz 3.46 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
Xeon W3580 4 / 8 3.33 GHz 3.6 GHz 8 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3670 6 / 12 3.2 GHz 3.46 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3680 6 / 12 3.33 GHz 3.6 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT >
Xeon W3690 6 / 12 3.46 GHz 3.73 GHz 12 MB 1 130W AES, TXT, TBT
There are also non-XEON options:
I7-970, 980X, 990 are all Socket 1366 and work in the Mac Pro 4,1 (flashed to 5,1) or 5,1.
These are all 6-core, by the way. Often cheaper than the XEONs.