MP All Models The "I just ordered/bought/got my new/refurb Mac Pro" thread [Merged]

[jbarley]

but I'm curious, is this 2009 Mac Pro can be flashed to 5,1 firmware?

How to Upgrade the Firmware of a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Upgrade+the+Firmware+of+a+2009+Mac+Pro+41/98985

 

[fireedo]

How to Upgrade the Firmware of a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Upgrade+the+Firmware+of+a+2009+Mac+Pro+41/98985

so, if my GPU is GTX680 then I can't updated to 5,1 ?
OMG, now I have to find/buy Nvidia GT120

 

[LightBulbFun]

X5677 CPUs are westmere CPUs which require MP5,1 Firmware

so your MP is already flashed if it actually has X5677 CPUs

and if your GTX 680 is a Mac edition or Mac flashed one then you do not need to buy a GT 120 to flash your MP should you need to flash your MP. (the MP4,1-5,1 flash just requires a GPU which provides boot screens)

 

[fireedo]

X5677 CPUs are westmere CPUs which require MP5,1 Firmware

so your MP is already flashed if it actually has X5677 CPUs

and if your GTX 680 is a Mac edition or Mac flashed one then you do not need to buy a GT 120 to flash your MP should you need to flash your MP. (the MP4,1-5,1 flash just requires a GPU which provides boot screens)

ahh, correct, I'm sorry for not deeply learn about this, yes actually I just contacted the seller and yes this Mac Pro has been updated to 5,1

thank you for the information

 

[OldMacs4Me]

I will say better skip the card and simply plug the SSD into the optical bay's SATA port.
View attachment 796288

Great idea, thanks. Gave that a try. I run very slim systems, both El Cap and Snow Leopard. Spotlight is disabled, as is TimeMachine and auto updates. All user files reside on a separate Volume.

Long story short the SSD did improve boot times. Chime to Splash Screen Snow Leopard was reduced from 16 seconds to 8 seconds. El Cap was reduced from 22 seconds to 10 seconds. Other than that very little difference in application launches. Graphic Converter in Snow Leopard actually increased from 5 to 7 seconds. In El Cap the MS office apps did seem to launch faster but I hardly ever use them. Overall experience once launched was a wash. Seems that by disabling the overhead I have enjoyed the benefits of an SSD drive for years while waiting for prices to come within reason.

At this point I've concluded that for my set-up there is little benefit from the SSD. Just debating as to whether to leave it on the Mac Pro 4,1 or treat my MBP to a triple sized SSD.

 

[pepetato]

Hi. can I connect a thunderbolt display to my macpro? its any adaptar that I can use, I have a sapphire pulse rx 580.

 

[octoviaa]

Hi,

I recently purchase a used Mac Pro 5,1 2010.
Here are things I've done:
1. Install WD Blue SSD 500G into the second drive bay
2. Install 10.13.6 into the SSD
3. Install Windows 10 into the HDD using DVD (to avoid bootROM bug which can brick the Mac)
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-bootrom-thread-140-0-0-0-0.2132317/page-100#post-26835966
4. Install Palit Jetstream GTX 680 4GB (PC / non flashed)

For the GPU I'm using mini6Pin to 6pin cable bought from Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UR1654/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Even though my GTX 680 have 6 pin + 8 pin, I'm currently using 6 pin + 6 pin (picture attached)

Notes: @tsialex help me build a clean 140.0 ROM as my original ROM have the W10 certificate bug.

 

[codyv]

Picked up a sweeeet deal at the beginning of last month. 2.6 single core Mac Pro 5,1 // 32gb of ram, 480 gb ssd, hd7950 gpu, & a 27” led Cinema Display. Paid $620 for all of it. Upgraded the cpu to the 3.33, and added a UAD2 PCIe card for audio plugins. This thing is incredible. I use it for mixing and recording audio (Logic Pro). Running Mojave and it’s all sooo smooth.

Next is a Bluetooth card upgrade.

 

[atdlab]

A couple of months ago I found an old MacPro lying in a corner of the server room, together with other discarded PCs. The systems manager had no idea if it worked or not, so I asked my boss and he told me that I could try to get working if I wanted. It turned out to be a 4,1 with the 2x2,26 quads, but it had no ram and no hdd. Long story short, I equipped it with 6 8GB ECC dimms that I also found lying around in the server room, bought a 512GB SSD and an RX580 and it is now running Mojave flawlessly.
By the way, I can confirm that the Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming 8G MI works perfectly using a dual mini-6pin to 8 pin cable.

 

[sauria]

Great rescue!

 

[jbarley]

I was hoping to close a deal on this MacPro5,1, still might happen if I can arrange transportation.

 

[h9826790]

I was hoping to close a deal on this MacPro5,1, still might happen if I can arrange transportation.

View attachment 812964

The optical cage looks different then mine.

And $685 is the cheapest you can get in your city?

 

[tommy chen]

The optical cage looks different then mine.

the optical cage is a thirdparty modul

 

[jbarley]

The optical cage looks different then mine.

And $685 is the cheapest you can get in your city?

I wasn't shopping for the "cheapest", more like best value for my money.

 

[sauria]

I was hoping to close a deal on this MacPro5,1, still might happen if I can arrange transportation.

View attachment 812964

Looks clean.

 

[h9826790]

I wasn't shopping for the "cheapest", more like best value for my money.

Sure, I asked that simply because I don't think that's very good value. If it's already the cheapest you can get (with that config), then of course it's the best value cMP you can get already.

The base config cMP is cheap, Quad core Xeon is cheap, 16GB RAM is cheap, and the GPU doesn't looks like upgraded as well.

May be some good value SSD etc is hided inside that 3rd party optical cage. I can't see the full spec, hard to tell anyway.

 

[sailmac]

Picked up a refurbished 5,1 (2013 build) with pretty basic configuration. Swapped in appropriate components from a 3,1 I was retiring, then made further upgrades.

The 5,1 now has

6-Core 3.33GHz X5680
32 GB Samsung ECC RAM (server pull)
EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature 2 with EFI boot
IOCrest + 256GB 970 Evo boot + 1TB 970 Evo users
Sonnet Technologies USB3-4PM-E Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe Card
StarTech PEXSAT34RH SATA III card + MaxUpgrades backplane attachments + 4x SSDs
OSXWifi 802.11ac / BT 4.0 combo + ext antenna mod
LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray burner upper OD bay
WD Red 4TB HDD lower OD bay (for Time Machine)
FW 1.4.0.0.0
macOS 10.13.6
Innie kext — all drives appear internal

The 3,1 became

8-core 2.8 GHz
32GB RAM
AMD Radeon 5870
60GB SSD boot
1TB WD Black users
1TB WD Red
eSATA 6G PCIe controller
WiFi 801.11n + BT 2.1

(I donated this to a family who lost everything in the Paradise/Camp Fire.)

The SATA III backplane upgrade was more tedious than I expected. Many PCIe cards which enable SATA III are one or more of:

• not bootable
• x1 electrical lane = 500MB/s total throughput
• x8 electrical required
• no TRIM
• no S.M.A.R.T.
• expensive RAID overkill functionality
• inconvenient cabling for SATA + power

For my purposes I didn’t need a high-end RAID controller, but did need a card that wouldn’t be crippled in a x4 PCIe 2.0 slot. Then figuring out how to power and connect data to the 4 SSDs I planned for drive bays 1-4.

Originally I thought about physically cutting away the data connectors on 2.5”-to-3.5” adapters like the ones from NewerTech and Sabrent. That would have been relatively inexpensive ($50 total) and easy to mount on the existing drive sleds, would use power from the backplane, and have clearance to attach right-angle SATA cable connections ($9 for cables). But when I inspected the adapters up close I became concerned about electrical integrity by cutting into the adapters' built-in PCBs. If anyone has actually done this, please let me know so I can pat myself for a great idea — and then kick myself for chickening out!

So in the end I bought the MaxUpgrades backplane attachments for $150 (drat) — plus the $9 cables because the cable bundled with MaxUpgrades terminates to a miniSAS port (SFF-8087). On the bright side, the design of the MaxUpgrades attachments make it easier to work inside the computer case because they don’t have pull-handles like the OEM drive sleds

Hope this post helps somebody along the way. I’m grateful for all of the knowledge, ideas, and resources contributed by this community!

 

[BlackScorpion]

Hi Guys,had my Mac Pro 4,1 flashed to 5,1 since new, so were talking almost 9 years now, with the attached specifications.

Last upgrade to this was a few years ago, now my questions for your Mac Pro gurus is what would be the best graphic card to upgrade, without having to hassle too much with all the fuss of flashing it. I use my MP for normal web surfing but i also do alot of Graphics and digital photography stuff, so i need something that will work well with the Adobe family of products. BTW i'm not looking to spend a fortune either. LOL thanks in advanced.

Also i'm looking at these two cards, has anyone have or tried them in their Mac Pro?
1) XFX AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB Black Edition GDDR5
2) MSI RX 580 4gb Gaming Video Card

 

[Hater]

Today was a good day. First of all the car I spent the winter (It's Summer here in Australia) doing up is on the road, taxed, legal and running great, and second of all the Apple Store rang me and told me to come in and pick up my new 6-core.

 

[tpivette89]

Today was a good day. First of all the car I spent the winter (It's Summer here in Australia) doing up is on the road, taxed, legal and running great, and second of all the Apple Store rang me and told me to come in and pick up my new 6-core.

Awesome, congrats on the new purchase! Looking at your signature, is this your 3rd 6,1?!?

What kind of car did you get back on the road?

 

[Hater]

Awesome, congrats on the new purchase! Looking at your signature, is this your 3rd 6,1?!?

What kind of car did you get back on the road?

It's a 205 GTi.

Second. I sold the 4-Core in anticipation of the new Mac Mini, but I deliberated about it for weeks. That T2 chip kind of put me off. Same reason I didn't grab an iMac Pro.

I dunno. Maybe i'm paranoid.

I like having twins. I'm waiting in anticipation for the new Cinema Displays, I don't like the 5K LG ones they sell.

 

[boomspot]

It's a 205 GTi.

Second. I sold the 4-Core in anticipation of the new Mac Mini, but I deliberated about it for weeks. That T2 chip kind of put me off. Same reason I didn't grab an iMac Pro.

I dunno. Maybe i'm paranoid.

I like having twins. I'm waiting in anticipation for the new Cinema Displays, I don't like the 5K LG ones they sell.

The T2 chip was enough of a deterrent to prevent you from waiting a few weeks for the potential 7,1 announcement from Apple?

B

 

[Hater]

The T2 chip was enough of a deterrent to prevent you from waiting a few weeks for the potential 7,1 announcement from Apple?

B

It would be foolish to think that the T2 won't be in the 7,1.

I'll end up with a T2 equipped Mac eventually of course, just... not at the moment.

7,1 announcement will be good because that means it's Cinema Display time too!

Maybe they'll put T2 chips in the ACD's as well... heh

 

[SteveW928]

It would be foolish to think that the T2 won't be in the 7,1.

I'll end up with a T2 equipped Mac eventually of course, just... not at the moment.

For sure, the T2 will be in there... but I think it's going to be a LOT longer than a few weeks, just in case anyone is getting their hopes up. I'm guessing we'll hear something in June (WWDC) and it will be available in Oct-Dec. So, probably almost a year of waiting to be had, yet.

I'm not sure about the T2 either. I did buy an i7 mini, and have already disabled the encryption aspect (FileVault). Because I'm using an eGPU and Bootcamp, that made using it nearly impossible (and dangerous).

I'm pretty happy with the mini, though... but I think I'm envious of the low-noise of the Mac Pro. I've got a Blackmagic eGPU which is luxuriously quiet, so now the noisy thing is the mini (well, except for in Windows when it seems to run up to 1600+ RPMs, randomly, at times... but I think that is a driver, or lack of driver, issue).

But, cost aside, I'd have rather had a MP, even (or especially) a cylinder one, if it had been updated to TB3.

 

[Hater]

They've come a long way since the MDD days, that's for sure

That said I have a loaded up Lacie 8Big so any sound saving from the machine itself is wasted on the stupid HDD array...