MP 6,1 New-to-me 6,1 questions

[GlynH]

Hi there,

Apologies for what will undoubtedly be the first of a few posts having received a new-to-me 6,1 in really nice condition earlier today.

You can always tell a new driver by the flurry of posts by the same person in a short space of time...I guess for the second time since I registered here it'll be me then!

I have had a pretty much fully loaded 5,1 for the last 18 months now and it is a fine machine. Never really fancied a 6,1 as I like to tinker and there is lots of space to fill on the 5,1 but recently I quite fancied the idea of adding the 6,1 to my stable and today it arrived.

Purchased from the same Mac specialist refurb dealer as my 5,1 due mainly to their help, support and delivering a fine machine in great condition which has stood the test of time hopes were high for the new addition and it doesn't disappoint so far. 🤞

I was excited to receive the 5,1 but maybe even more so for the 6,1 which surprised me mainly I think due to the fact that it is still a supported machine and MacOS is only 1 version behind the current Ventura (running Monterey) unlike my 5,1 which is 4 versions behind only able to officially run Mojave without dabbling with OpenCore etc which I don't want to do. Spec as follows;

2.7GHz 12-Core Xeon E5-2697 v2
Apple SM1024G 1TB SSD
32GB 1866MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM (2x 16GB)
Dual AMD FirePro D700 6GB GDDR5

As they did with the last one it appears they completely strip, clean, upgrade & re-paste everything and it is pretty much in mint condition with no sign of dust.

I thought I ordered it with 64GB RAM but a quick look at the invoice and it seems I didn't but like the last one I am sure they will allow me to upgrade the memory capacity with no fuss and maybe even offer a deal in the process. Well here's hoping anyway...fingers crossed. 🤞

Which brings me to a couple of questions.

1. Similar to the 5,1 it appears if you max out the memory to the full 128GB then the RAM runs at the slower speed of 1066MHz so I would prefer to keep it under the 128GB limit. Unlike the 5,1 there doesn't appear to be the option to install 96GB RAM as I can only see options for 16GB, 32GB, 64GB & 128GB RAM. I would be happy with 64GB I guess but what would the optimum memory configuration be? 🤔
2 x 32GB in two slots?
4 x 16GB across all 4 slots?
2 x 16GB and 2 x 32GB in all 4 slots to give 96GB if at all possible?

2. I just installed MacsFanControl so I could check on the much reported heat issues and here is a screenshot showing the current idling temperatures and so I was wondering if these look OK as expected to your trained eyes?



Looking forward to using the 6,1 and if it proves to be as reliable and as much fun as the 5,1 which I will continue to use I will be a happy chappy!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

PS. Probably need to update my signature soon...

 

[avro707]

4x16GB should be the optimal RAM. What I have in mine.

Temps look similar to mine.

 

[Hrududu]

4x 16 is the ideal configuration for performance, and not terribly expensive. I believe anything over 64GB comes with a performance hit. As far as temps go, you look good. Very similar to my 12 core 6,1 rig that I just recently redid thermal paste on.

 

[GlynH]

Thanks for the replies guys...that's good to hear!

Kicking myself now for not double-checking I had in fact ordered 64GB to begin with...I was a little indecisive on what size SSD and how much RAM I wanted and so was checking/unchecking options to see just what the difference in price was.

Thought I had settled on the 1TB SSD as it was the largest original Apple drive available (although there was also 2TB & 4TB options available) along with 64GB RAM but it seems like I finalised my order without realising I had the 32GB RAM option checked.

That's good news on the temperatures...one less thing to worry about!

At least it does have a 12-month warranty for peace of mind.

Slipping the cover off and giving the internals a quick visual and apart from checking the temperatures and ability of it to resume from sleep is there anything else I should be checking to ensure all is as it should be?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[avro707]

Thanks for the replies guys...that's good to hear!

Kicking myself now for not double-checking I had in fact ordered 64GB to begin with...I was a little indecisive on what size SSD and how much RAM I wanted and so was checking/unchecking options to see just what the difference in price was.

Thought I had settled on the 1TB SSD as it was the largest original Apple drive available (although there was also 2TB & 4TB options available) along with 64GB RAM but it seems like I finalised my order without realising I had the 32GB RAM option checked.

That's good news on the temperatures...one less thing to worry about!

At least it does have a 12-month warranty for peace of mind.

Slipping the cover off and giving the internals a quick visual and apart from checking the temperatures and ability of it to resume from sleep is there anything else I should be checking to ensure all is as it should be?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

2 and 4TB options for storage?

Please tell me more! Are those third party drive options with an adapter?

 

[GlynH]

2 and 4TB options for storage?

Please tell me more! Are those third party drive options with an adapter?

There was a choice of 2 Apple OEM SSD; 512GB & 1TB with the 1TB being an uplift of £65 over the base price which seemed reasonable to me.

Both the 2TB & 4TB SSD's are 3rd party so would I assume come with an adaptor but I don't know what make/model they might be but the uplift over base price is £195 & £700 respectively which seemed excessive to me!

I went with the 1TB as 512GB is not big enough, 1TB is still Apple OEM and was a modest increase in price IMHO.

Hope that helps?

-=Glyn=-

 

[avro707]

Hope that helps?

Thanks yes, it does. I saw 2 and 4TB and was thinking "what, that's quite a lot for that time".