My first mac pro GPU + CPU questions

[al2813]

I am sure all of the questions below have been asked 150 times, but this is my first venture into the upgradable Mac Pro land, so decided to post my own thread even though I spent the last day reading about 100 posts....

After 3 years with a Hackintosh i built myself for my Son, he came and asked me for a real Mac. Something i cannot say no to . I could only find refurbished souped up machines that cost too much or very old 1.1 to 3.1. Today I think I found what I want: A 5.1 mid 2010, 8 cores 2.4 with an original ATI 5770 for 600 euros. I think it's a good buy which will enable me to spend another 400-500 Euros on upgrades spread over the next months and get a machine that will allow my son to do his gaming as well as pursuing his interest in video editing and coding and that for some time.

Now to my questions:

1. I believe I need to first upgrade the GPU and the CPU can wait a bit, or do I need to do both at the same time?
2. For CPU upgrade I am debating between 2x X5675 which I can get for 150 Euros and 2x X5680 which I can get for 199 Euros. Which one would you recommend?
3. For GPU upgrade. Can I keep my original 5770 so that I am not bothered with issues like boot screen support and flashing and place next to it a newer card which will give me the graphics performance I need? What card would you recommend in the range of 200 Euros (or dollars )?

 

[h9826790]

1) NO. Anyway, depends on OS version and usage. The very first thing you should upgrade may be SSD and RAM.

2) My personal preference is X5680. If you want to save money, then go for X5677. The most limiting factor on the 5,1 nowadays is the CPU single thread performance. So, always go for the fastest CPU if possible.

3) Yes, but boot screen is generally useless in day to day operation. I personally won't let it stay there to waste power, waste a slot, and waste a mini 6pin power supply. Just keep the 5770 in a safe place, and only install it when needed usually is a better practice.

 

[al2813]

1) NO. Anyway, depends on OS version and usage. The very first thing you should upgrade may be SSD and RAM.

2) My personal preference is X5680. If you want to save money, then go for X5677. The most limiting factor on the 5,1 nowadays is the CPU single thread performance. So, always go for the fastest CPU if possible.

3) Yes, but boot screen is generally useless in day to day operation. I personally won't let it stay there to waste power, waste a slot, and waste a mini 6pin power supply. Just keep the 5770 in a safe place, and only install it when needed usually is a better practice.

RAM and SSD I already have so did not mention them as I don't need to purchase....
Thanks for the cpu advice. This cleared the first doubt. As to the GPU, I do want the boot screen mainly because we will most probably dual boot the system. Should I than buy a card and flash it? I think AMD cards are easier for this no?

 

[h9826790]

RAM and SSD I already have so did not mention them as I don't need to purchase....
Thanks for the cpu advice. This cleared the first doubt. As to the GPU, I do want the boot screen mainly because we will most probably dual boot the system. Should I than buy a card and flash it? I think AMD cards are easier for this no?

I am also running dual boot system (MacOS High Sierra + Windows 10), and I am with an unflashed 1080Ti, no problem at all (Even it required 3rd party apps to help because I am using APFS in High Sierra). For HFS+, you can always choose your next boot partition inside system preferences (MacOS), or Bootcamp panel (Windows), no need boot screen. (In fact, I occasionally boot from Linux Live CD as well, still don't need any boot screen)

If you want to flash your own card, there are virtually only 2 choices.

1) AMD HD7xxx card (7950, 7970, R9 280, R8 280X)

2) Nvidia GTX 680

any other cards either not flashable, or not considered as an upgrade, or may be way outside your budget.

 

[kohlson]

Depending on what you're doing, the 5770 is still somewhat capable. A friend has an 3.33 2010 MP, and uses it to edit hour long, multicam HD video projects. Among other things, he just bought a 27-in Dell 4K. He connected it with the supplied DP cable, and it was able to do 4K. Too small, so he runs it at 1440p

 

[al2813]

I am also running dual boot system (MacOS High Sierra + Windows 10), and I am with an unflashed 1080Ti, no problem at all (Even it required 3rd party apps to help because I am using APFS in High Sierra). For HFS+, you can always choose your next boot partition inside system preferences (MacOS), or Bootcamp panel (Windows), no need boot screen. (In fact, I occasionally boot from Linux Live CD as well, still don't need any boot screen)

If you want to flash your own card, there are virtually only 2 choices.

1) AMD HD7xxx card (7950, 7970, R9 280, R8 280X)

2) Nvidia GTX 680

any other cards either not flashable, or not considered as an upgrade, or may be way outside your budget.

OK if not flashable what is your recommendation?

 

[William_si]

Please stop writing boot screen is useless.

Full disk encryption/filevault REQUIRES is, and running an unencrypted system especially if this easy enabled is not just a risk, but solely dumb.

- Upgrade to SSD, ideally to a PCIe one (AHCI, NOT NVMe!) as the SATA is only 3Gbit (install in slot 4)
- USB 3.0 card, you'll absolutely need it at one point and costs only few $ for shared 5/10Gbit (1 port and a hub) or like 100$ for x4 and 2x 10G or 4x 5G guaranteed (install in slot 3)
- RAM as needed but try to keep the triple channel used correctly
- CPU wise i'd love to use X5687 but they are unsupported; the X5675 should be plenty but you might be able to get a 80 for se price/some more in China (ebay), there are quad core SKUs below the 87 supported also
- GPU is still ok if your power is cheap, else i'd buy a R9 280X (or 270X but 280X works better) which is more modern and easy to flash boot EFI

 

[al2813]

Please stop writing boot screen is useless.

Full disk encryption/filevault REQUIRES is, and running an unencrypted system especially if this easy enabled is not just a risk, but solely dumb.

- Upgrade to SSD, ideally to a PCIe one (AHCI, NOT NVMe!) as the SATA is only 3Gbit (install in slot 4)
- USB 3.0 card, you'll absolutely need it at one point and costs only few $ for shared 5/10Gbit (1 port and a hub) or like 100$ for x4 and 2x 10G or 4x 5G guaranteed (install in slot 3)
- RAM as needed but try to keep the triple channel used correctly
- CPU wise i'd love to use X5687 but they are unsupported; the X5675 should be plenty but you might be able to get a 80 for se price/some more in China (ebay), there are quad core SKUs below the 87 supported also
- GPU is still ok if your power is cheap, else i'd buy a R9 280X (or 270X but 280X works better) which is more modern and easy to flash boot EFI

Many thanks for this! What's the difference between the 280X and the 270X? I saw an ad from someone close to my house selling a 270X for 65 Euros which I think is a great price!

 

[William_si]

280X has a GB memory more and more shader/texture units. It is overall - guess, did not check right now - 25%+ faster than a 270X. Compared to your 5770 even the 270X is a major upgrade.

270X vs. 280X:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-280X-vs-Radeon-R9-270X

270X vs. 5770:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-270X-vs-Radeon-HD-5770-Mac

65EUR for a 270X is excellent, just avoid to buy XFX cards as these tend to have issues (from not working at all to non working outputs). Keep also in mind that the HDMI port on a 280X for sure does not work, and i don't think the 270X one does either. DP to HDMI adapters work fine for video but also with audio i think.

 

[kohlson]

There are lots of threads on the Mac Pro section about the questions you've asked. The answers will depend on:
- How you are going to use your MP: video, photos, gaming, VM beast, etc. More cores may help, or not so much.
- Your MP: Is it really a 2010? If so, any processor upgrade will be easier. (dual processors on this are not delidded)
- Your budget: you can always spend a little more to get a little more power. For example, going for a CPU or GPU that's a little less than top-spec will help keep your budget
- Your own inclinations: You may, in fact, want to have the 3.46 GPUs, just because it's probably faster than what everyone else has.

SSD can be a big performance help. I initially had mine in the second optical bay, then moved it to a PCIe board. There's essentially no difference in performance.

Intel Xeon memory is optimized for triple channel - 3 per CPU. Adding a fourth will be a 5-7 percent decrease in CPU I/O (not overall system performance). Performance is really impacted if you don't have enough memory for what you're trying to do. Most of the memory I've priced come in sets of 2 or 4. For example, 4x8GB RAM is $100.

There's an comprehensive thread on USB3 cards. The Inateck KT4004s are under $30 - and work well in my and others' systems - but at this moment at out of stock at Amazon. But others are available for not much more.

 

[al2813]

There are lots of threads on the Mac Pro section about the questions you've asked. The answers will depend on:
- How you are going to use your MP: video, photos, gaming, VM beast, etc. More cores may help, or not so much.
- Your MP: Is it really a 2010? If so, any processor upgrade will be easier. (dual processors on this are not delidded)
- Your budget: you can always spend a little more to get a little more power. For example, going for a CPU or GPU that's a little less than top-spec will help keep your budget
- Your own inclinations: You may, in fact, want to have the 3.46 GPUs, just because it's probably faster than what everyone else has.

SSD can be a big performance help. I initially had mine in the second optical bay, then moved it to a PCIe board. There's essentially no difference in performance.

Intel Xeon memory is optimized for triple channel - 3 per CPU. Adding a fourth will be a 5-7 percent decrease in CPU I/O (not overall system performance). Performance is really impacted if you don't have enough memory for what you're trying to do. Most of the memory I've priced come in sets of 2 or 4. For example, 4x8GB RAM is $100.

There's an comprehensive thread on USB3 cards. The Inateck KT4004s are under $30 - and work well in my and others' systems - but at this moment at out of stock at Amazon. But others are available for not much more.

Many thanks for the feedback. I got the Mac Pro yesterday and at the end it is a 2.8 single CPU. at least it is a real 2010. I also managed to reduce a bit the buy price so for 550 Euros, I think it's an excellent buy.
The machine is up and running now without any upgrades. I should get an SSD bracket shipped tomorrow which will enable me first to tackle the boot drive. Need to look than at the RAM. A single CPU upgrade is cheap and will get a 3.33 (probably will order after the holidays). The GPU I feel can wait for now. again many thanks for all the advice.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Assuming you're using FCPX, I'd definitely stick with an AMD card.