Speed boost from 2007 Xeon to 2011 Nehalem?

[Bokay]

I have a 2007ish Mac Pro with two 2.66GHz Xeons. I've boosted the memory to 8GB, upgraded the video card to an (aging) X1900 and installed a SSD as the boot drive.

Of all the computers I've ever owned this one has the longest lifespan. I'm thinking though of upgrading to the current 2.8GHz Nehalem versions.

Ignoring the video aspect as well as the fact that the Mac Pro is due for a refresh, how much of a speed boost will I realistically see? I can't seem to find any benchmarks.

 

[bozz2006]

Depends on what you use it for. What kind of stuff do you do on it?

 

[Bokay]

HD video editing, 21 Megapixel photo processing, medium-heavy Photoshop work, web/flash development, and 3D Windows gaming via Boot Camp.

 

[astrorider]

I have a 2007ish Mac Pro with two 2.66GHz Xeons. I've boosted the memory to 8GB, upgraded the video card to an (aging) X1900 and installed a SSD as the boot drive.

Of all the computers I've ever owned this one has the longest lifespan. I'm thinking though of upgrading to the current 2.8GHz Nehalem versions.

Ignoring the video aspect as well as the fact that the Mac Pro is due for a refresh, how much of a speed boost will I realistically see? I can't seem to find any benchmarks.

I'm seeing a 75% difference in benchmarks (9105/5178) here, but I'm not sure I'm comparing the right models:
http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/

 

[Bokay]

Awesome benchmark site! Thanks.

Looking closer it looks like the boost would be from 5178 to 8629. Not too shabby, but hard to justify $2500. Of course the video boost would be nice for gaming...

 

[Joshuarocks]

2006-2007 mac pros

WHile they are long in the tooth, they still are good machines.. but lack the most important long term upgrade path: EFI64. Your machines only support EFI32 which means that should AMD decide to go with non-EBC based cards in the future(I doubt they will as they don't believe in Apple's philosophy of obsoleting machines so quickly), you should be able to use even the most powerful video cards coming up.

EBC is something that is a good thing for keeping those older mac pros alive, graphics processor wise. a 5870 or 6890 will surely keep your 2006-2007 mac pro going for a lot longer than the basic stock card, or a slower card. But, until Apple releases an OS that will only run on EFI64, then I would consider the 2008 mac pro which ensures long term compatibility with the most demanding of video processor cards.

 

[bearcatrp]

If you don't want to spend the money on a new one, suggest you upgrade the processors to quad cores (clovertown) if you can find them. You will definitely see a change going to 3 Ghz quads. But as was posted above, your graphics card selection stinks due to EFI 32.

 

[goMac]

upgraded the video card to an (aging) X1900 and installed a SSD as the boot drive.

Replace this. The X1900 is a horrible slow video card.

Pick up a 5770 or 5870. Both run fine with your machine.

 

[CaoCao]

I have a 2007ish Mac Pro with two 2.66GHz Xeons. I've boosted the memory to 8GB, upgraded the video card to an (aging) X1900 and installed a SSD as the boot drive.

Of all the computers I've ever owned this one has the longest lifespan. I'm thinking though of upgrading to the current 2.8GHz Nehalem versions.

Ignoring the video aspect as well as the fact that the Mac Pro is due for a refresh, how much of a speed boost will I realistically see? I can't seem to find any benchmarks.

Wait until the next Mac Pro comes out, your 2007 MP still has a lot of life left

 

[JeepGuy]

Awesome benchmark site! Thanks.

Looking closer it looks like the boost would be from 5178 to 8629. Not too shabby, but hard to justify $2500. Of course the video boost would be nice for gaming...

You are forgetting one important thing, the memory is much cheaper for the 2010, and you can easily upgrade it to a 6 core CPU, plus you can get at least $1000 for the your old machine.

 

[philipma1957]

You are forgetting one important thing, the memory is much cheaper for the 2010, and you can easily upgrade it to a 6 core CPU, plus you can get at least $1000 for the your old machine.

Very true look at this machine on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-Pro-M...le_Desktops&hash=item2c5c0253ad#ht_500wt_1130

2k for a base 2010 quad 2.8 sell your own machine for 1k and you have a killer upgrade cost is 1k. this machine will score 9700 in geekbench. down the road add some ram and if you want put a hex 3.2 w3670 cpu in it. see my upgrade thread it is easy to do.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1122551/

in a year or two the hex 3.33 w3680 and 3.46 w3690 will drop and you can do them instead

Also this machine should be under warranty. I know this is an ebay seller but if you look around you will find 2010 quad 2.8 machines for around 2k from real sellers

 

[NZed]

HD video editing, 21 Megapixel photo processing, medium-heavy Photoshop work, web/flash development, and 3D Windows gaming via Boot Camp.

5d mk2?

 

[derbothaus]

Awesome benchmark site! Thanks.

Looking closer it looks like the boost would be from 5178 to 8629. Not too shabby, but hard to justify $2500. Of course the video boost would be nice for gaming...

Please keep in mind that Geekbench only stresses the memory and cpu nothing else. Gains are not always that observable when mobo, hd, and video card are factored in. It is not a thorough benchmarks by any means. I'm saying your machine is even faster than you think.

 

[DustinT]

Very true look at this machine on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-Pro-M...le_Desktops&hash=item2c5c0253ad#ht_500wt_1130

2k for a base 2010 quad 2.8 sell your own machine for 1k and you have a killer upgrade cost is 1k. this machine will score 9700 in geekbench. down the road add some ram and if you want put a hex 3.2 w3670 cpu in it. see my upgrade thread it is easy to do.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1122551/

in a year or two the hex 3.33 w3680 and 3.46 w3690 will drop and you can do them instead

Also this machine should be under warranty. I know this is an ebay seller but if you look around you will find 2010 quad 2.8 machines for around 2k from real sellers

I agree. I wouldn't put any serious money into a computer that old. You'd never get the $ back out as you would if you sell it not. There will be tremendous performance advantages to moving to the 2010 or 2011 platforms for someone who uses it professionally.