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Sell or keep an old 2009 quad Mac Pro?
- Thread starter SHNXX
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Flash the firmware and upgrade it to the x5690 processor and you'll have a desktop thats more or less on par with today's computers. But that's as fast as it will ever get. You should get a few more years of use out of it this way. If you put in a GTX 960/970 in it, it should make a pretty decent gaming rig as well.
If it has just been collecting dust, there's probably no point in keeping it.
It's still a great computer, so giving to someone or selling it to someone who can make good use of it would probably make the most sense.
It's still a great computer, so giving to someone or selling it to someone who can make good use of it would probably make the most sense.
Configured properly, the Mac Pro can be more of a match for the iMac. Barefeats.com did some testing:
CPU and STORAGE SHOOTOUT: Fastest 2013 iMacs
GRAPHICS SHOOTOUT: Fastest 2013 iMacs
CPU and STORAGE SHOOTOUT: Fastest 2013 iMacs
GRAPHICS SHOOTOUT: Fastest 2013 iMacs
As an iMac core i7 4790k? Probably, that thing is gimped with poor airflow so the CPU throttles it's top speed. Better than a 4790k unthrottled? Definitely not.
With the X5690 (or W3680 and above), your machine's multicore performance will be better than the iMac with 4770k. For all core long time performance, the Mac Pro will be much better than the iMac because of cooling system can let the CPU run at full speed all the time, but the 4770k will be throttled.
For single core performance, there is no way the 4,1 can beat the 4770k.
On the other hand, you feel that your Mac Pro is much slower. Most likely because it's lacking of an SSD, which is very easy to fix. Just buy one (e.g. the 2.5" 850Evo), connect it to the cable in the optical bay and leave it there. Install the OS on to the SSD (or just clone your current partition to there). Then you will realise your machine just like a new one. Even without CPU upgrade, the Mac Pro will still be much more responsive (not faster in processing, but much faster in loading stuff, which is the big bottle in a old machine and make you feel the machine is slow). For some operation like rendering, of course the CPU is more important than the SSD.
Anyway, if you don't need it. Then better sell it. I am sure quite a few guys here have interest on it (if the price is reasonable). If you want an extra workhorse, the 4,1 can easily as good as the 2013 iMac. Or even better for some operations rely on GPU performance (assuming you also upgrade your GPU to the 2015 standard).
Then I would keep the iMac in this case, unless you're a person who does a lot of multi-threaded work, the iMac will probably be better.
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It depends on your tasks. The i7-4771 in your iMac is significantly newer than anything you can put into the Mac Pro and will be consistently better in single threaded performance. That, combined with the PCIe SSD in the iMac will make it feel snappier than the Mac Pro in general use. For most people, the iMac will always feel faster, no matter how you upgrade the Mac Pro.
There are two exceptions. Multithreaded performance and GPU performance. The Mac Pro can take a processor upgrade to bring it up to six reasonably fast cores. That will provide a small, but noticeable, performance increase to anything that can leverage all six cores. The GPU in the iMac is constrained to whatever mobile model you have in it, but the Mac Pro can take advantage of most modern full-size GPUs which will be significantly more powerful. If what you do can't leverage 12 threads on the CPU, or make significant use of a cutting edge GPU, then the iMac will be the superior machine.
okay you guys have convinced me that perhaps i should upgrade the Mac Pro's SSD and see how that feels before I give up on it.
For that I will need a 3.5 drive bay adapter like this right?
http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technol...&qid=1439238169&sr=8-1&keywords=SSD+"mac+pro"
Then perhaps a 250GB SSD?
Any recommendations on models or criteria to consider?
For that I will need a 3.5 drive bay adapter like this right?
http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technol...&qid=1439238169&sr=8-1&keywords=SSD+"mac+pro"
Then perhaps a 250GB SSD?
Any recommendations on models or criteria to consider?
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Regarding multi-threaded performance, are there many apps that take advantage of the multi-core?
First of all it's only a quad-core Mac Pro and second I don't use computationally intensive applications at the moment (xcode, photoshop, illustrator, maybe matlab).
First of all it's only a quad-core Mac Pro and second I don't use computationally intensive applications at the moment (xcode, photoshop, illustrator, maybe matlab).
Depends on what you do - I do 3d art & even my inexpensive software (Poser Pro 2014) will take every core and every bit of ram I can throw at it.
The Lycom adapter ($25) and 256GB SM951 instead of SATA II or III instead, even faster PCIe-SSD than a iMac.
4-cores for apps, one for system, and 3x8GB along with 3.3 or 3.4GHz processor.
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The quad-core currently in your Mac Pro will be outclassed by the newer i7 in your iMac, regardless of tasking. The reason multi-threaded performance is brought up is because of the option to upgrade to a six-core processor, which is one of the main benefits to the Mac Pro.
For what you're doing, Photoshop and Illustrator are unlikely to benefit from such an upgrade. Xcode will benefit at the compiling stage, and Matlab can benefit when running some operations (but not all.) Otherwise the i7 will be faster.
The Mac Pro that you have is not as fast as the iMac that you have. You would have to spend money to upgrade the Mac Pro to take advantage of its unique features. Based on what you've said, I don't think you would benefit enough from investing in a processor upgrade, nor have you mentioned anything that would really use a GPU upgrade that the Mac Pro makes possible. As much as we love the cMP around here, they are getting a bit old and aren't superior in all use cases. You should sell the Mac Pro.
Thanks for the advice.
I looked at the price that they're selling for and it seems rather low (maybe $700?).
I suppose I probably should sell it but i might just keep it as my US Mac desktop.
Selling on eBay is kind of a hassle and there seem to be lots of people who don't pay, etc.
So google this forum is great, Amazon, or world-wide-web
951 Amazon MacRmors Review Anandtech the adapter means no driver or controller, or firmware, and 5-6x faster than SATA II, 3x SATA III
24GB Sweet spot
And MacPerformanceGuide for good general understanding, tips, toward optimizing and excellent on Adobe and CC where good ROI and probably a nice GTX 9xx would be in your future.
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$700 is fairly respectable for a machine that old and not customized. What's your CPU speed specifically?
If you do want to keep it, then I would recommend installing an SSD. That upgrade will offer a huge bang-for-your-buck improvement in system responsiveness. The 3.5" drive adapter you listed will work, but it will limit the SSD to the SATA II speeds of the Mac Pro's built-in SATA. You still get the main benefit of faster random access that makes the SSD feel snappy, but you could also get a relatively inexpensive PCIe SSD sled that will allow for faster SATA III speeds (like an Apricorn Velocity Solo X2). PCIe SSD blades are also available, but that's getting fairly pricy for a secondary machine. There are a lot of good SATA SSDs out there, but the Samsung 850 Evo is an excellent choice and what I would recommend. There's also an even cheaper option of just putting the SSD in the second optical bay without any mounting (or maybe some double-sided tape).
If you do want to keep it, then I would recommend installing an SSD. That upgrade will offer a huge bang-for-your-buck improvement in system responsiveness. The 3.5" drive adapter you listed will work, but it will limit the SSD to the SATA II speeds of the Mac Pro's built-in SATA. You still get the main benefit of faster random access that makes the SSD feel snappy, but you could also get a relatively inexpensive PCIe SSD sled that will allow for faster SATA III speeds (like an Apricorn Velocity Solo X2). PCIe SSD blades are also available, but that's getting fairly pricy for a secondary machine. There are a lot of good SATA SSDs out there, but the Samsung 850 Evo is an excellent choice and what I would recommend. There's also an even cheaper option of just putting the SSD in the second optical bay without any mounting (or maybe some double-sided tape).
If you don't use it, sell it. Computers depreciate, and it will be worth less tomorrow than it is today. Would you rather have the money, or an unused computer?
Now, if only I could follow my own advice. I've got a sizable collection of obsolete equipment. I get sentimental about it.
Now, if only I could follow my own advice. I've got a sizable collection of obsolete equipment. I get sentimental about it.
I meant I don't understand this part: "4-cores for apps, one for system, and 3x8GB along with 3.3 or 3.4GHz processor."
What do you mean by this? are you suggesting that I upgrade the CPU on the Mac Pro?
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Ah I see.
Are those easy to install?
It seems pretty cheap to get those these days since they're available on eBay for under $200.
I (along with maybe hundreds of others) used this guide for my 2.66quad to 3.46 hex ...
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-2010-quad-2-8-photos-new-cpu-to-use.1122551/
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-2010-quad-2-8-photos-new-cpu-to-use.1122551/