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Processor Upgrade Time for Mac Pro 1,1

darwinian

darwinian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 4, 2008
600
1
In R4, more or less
Alright. Has anyone successfully upgraded his/her processors in an original MP 1,1 (2.0 GHz Xeon)? Boxed processors have finally fell to more affordable levels, and I'm considering it, to the extent that it's possible.

I know I need to match the following specifications:

1333 FSB
LGA 771

I'm looking at Quad core chips. My current processors (I think) look to be Xeon 5130s, running at 65W. Do I need to add any additional heat sink/cooling measures for 80W processors? Will they even work?

Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated!
 
haven't tried it. i personally wouldn't risk voiding the warranty. if it is out of warrant, i still wouldn't risk frying the system. i dunno, best of luck. there are resources online if you google the procedure. they have been up for a while.
 
80W TDP processors should not need any extra cooling requirements. 5400 series Xeons won't work in your Mac Pro if those were the ones you were looking at.
 
Umbongo said:
80W TDP processors should not need any extra cooling requirements. 5400 series Xeons won't work in your Mac Pro if those were the ones you were looking at.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks. I'm not a hardware guru -- what exactly is the limitation? Processor-land has always been confusing to me.
 
darwinian said:
Ah, thanks. I'm not a hardware guru -- what exactly is the limitation? Processor-land has always been confusing to me.
Click to expand...

You can use 5100 or 5300 series Xeon processors. The Mac Pro 1,1 has been confirmed not to work with 5400 series. Although technically the 5400 1333MHz FSB processors should be compatible Apple would need to release a firmware update which they won't ever do.

I'd say the only logical options are the E5345 @ 2.33GHz or the X5355 @ 2.66GHz. Buying new from an online store you are looking at $1,000 and $1,800 respectivly for a pair. You can get some good deals on eBay, but neither crop up that often as far as I know. You could recoup maybe $150-$200 from your current processors. Basically I'd keep searching eBay for "Xeon 5345" and "Xeon 5355" and if any come up that seem good deals and not dodgy then go for them. At retail prices you may as well sell your Mac Pro and buy a used eight core.
 
Hmm, thanks for the info. I guess it's still a bit too expensive. Here's to hoping that processors hit a sweet spot of availability and affordability so I can upgrade and not have to sell my current machine, etc. Doesn't seem very likely, but that's OK. This is still a great machine that has served me well for 2 years.
 
You need the clovertown xeon processors for the upgrade. I've been looking at the 3ghz upgrade too for my 2ghz macpro but the cost is just to high. Figure if I upgrade, might as well max it out. See this..
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2832&p=6 . Its doable but risky. If you watch apples refurb section, you could buy a octo for about the same price as a pair of 3ghz processors. The 2.66 chips are a little less expensive. Newegg seems to have the lowest prices unless you find some used ones.
 
Probably the cheapest way to upgrade the procs in your mac pro is to sell it and buy the new one :)
 
Hey I have a "studio"... :D
Suppp wit dat?? Either that or a nerd bunker, spare bedroom without a bed or just some dodgy office with crap all over the place. Luckily my "studio" doesn't have crap all over the place anymore.
 
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