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

[cheezeit]

Just scored a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1. 2.66 Quad Core, 16gb ram and GT 120. I'm scouting a hex 3.46 cpu, ordered Wifi/Bluetooth chip for continuity and pcie usb 3.0 and ssd adapters. My question is whats a good GPU to aim for? I know the 7xx series are compatible and 9xx series work as well.

Read about the "flashed" cards vs "Stock" cards with nvidia drivers. See a lot of good deals on used 970/980s. Looking forward to this new work horse as it seems to be more powerful than the current mac mini and 13" rmbp already

 

[jbarley]

Congratulations on your score, I'm envious...

 

[buster84]

Just scored a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1. 2.66 Quad Core, 16gb ram and GT 120. I'm scouting a hex 3.46 cpu, ordered Wifi/Bluetooth chip for continuity and pcie usb 3.0 and ssd adapters. My question is whats a good GPU to aim for? I know the 7xx series are compatible and 9xx series work as well.

Read about the "flashed" cards vs "Stock" cards with nvidia drivers. See a lot of good deals on used 970/980s. Looking forward to this new work horse as it seems to be more powerful than the current mac mini and 13" rmbp already

You could also get the x5680 3.3 for around $100 each on ebay. The x5690's will cost you double for just a minor 4% increase in power. If you need it then go for the better one, but if you wanted to save a little $$ get the 3.33 chips.

As for the gpu, since you have a gt120 you could get the RX480 and use that out of the box and put the GT120 in slot 3 for the boot screen when you need it. If you dont ever need the boot screen (mostly to pick between osx and windows) you can keep it out of the computer entirely.

 

[Wiltonian]

Hi from a Mac Pro newbie!

Having given up hope that Apple would ever produce a Mac Mini that was a significant improvement on my 2011 Mini - other than a 2012 model with i7, which make silly prices, I've just bought a stock 2010 Mac Pro, Quad-core, 12Gb. First upgrades will be a 512Gb SSD for the OS etc etc, and a couple of 3Tb HDDs for alternating Time Machine back-ups. Upgrade to 6-core and more RAM might follow.

Years ago I had a 6400 and then a G4 tower, and always lusted after the G5 Power Mac, but it was outside my budget. I started my home computing on a pair of Apple ][s, doing such things as building an 80-column display card, a home-brew card to drive 8" floppies (because those new-fangled 5.25 ones are not proper floppies), and reverse engineering and adapting the p_system BIOS to drive the display and floppies. Later, I hacked Colo(u)r Classics to run PPC motherboards. But the technology raced past me a couple of decades ago!

Must say I'm hugely impressed with the whole construction of the Mac Pro. Am I right in concluding that putting the SSD on a PCIe card is unlikely to give me, who does no video editing nor gaming, much of a performance advantage over putting it on the SATA bus?

Thanks, Stuart

 

[sauria]

I like the speed of a PCI-E M.2 drive. Much snappier than one on the 300 MBps bus. I get 1.4 GBps.

 

[frou]

Am I right in concluding that putting the SSD on a PCIe card is unlikely to give me, who does no video editing nor gaming, much of a performance advantage over putting it on the SATA bus?

Most likely correct for general usage. The important thing is to get away from high-latency (mechanical disks). SATA SSD vs PCIe SSD is just Great vs Super-Great.

 

[h9826790]

Am I right in concluding that putting the SSD on a PCIe card is unlikely to give me, who does no video editing nor gaming, much of a performance advantage over putting it on the SATA bus?

Welcome onboard, anyway, I will be very surprised if you can feel any different.

As the others points out, you want to remove the high latency from the HDD, but not the bottleneck of the hard driver connection (not even SATA 2 connection for most general stuff). So, upgrade to PCIe SSD should not make any different.

This is the real reason why SSD can speed up the system so much.

As you can see, the latency make the HDD can only output 1MB/s data for small files. And the SSD is 35x faster.

However, even SSD, the 4K read / write performance not even close to the SATA 2 limit (250MB/s), therefore, make the limit become 1500MB/s is totally meaningless in most general use (e.g. OS operation which is mainly deal with small files).

The PCIe SSD is an extreme fast storage solution which build for some specific usage (e.g. very large file operation). For running OS, loading apps, which performance is more or less the same as any other SATA SSD, but just much more expensive.

 

[hartleymartin]

I have an OWC Mercury Accelsior S card which gives me the SATA-III bus speed for an SSD. I use a 240GB Sandisk SSD for the boot drive (Operating System and Applications) and I have a 1TB HDD for storing all my files.

You can get cards which will allow you to put PCIe-SSDs which are faster.

That said, even with the limitation of the SATA-II bus, an SSD in an ICY DOCK adaptor already gave a significant boots in speed. The fastest mechanical hard drives read at about 120MB/s, but an SSD on a SATA-II bus will read about 2.5 times that speed. An SSD on a SATA-III will be about 4-5 times that speed.

I can verify from personal experience that the Mac Pro will boot faster from an SSD than from an HDD (apps will load much faster too!) But depending on what you use your MP for, you may find that the speed of the RAM is the bottle-neck. (My 2008 model is limited mostly by the ram being at only 800Mhz DDR-2

 

[JamesPDX]

AFAIK, mainly the expected durability. The Pro expect have 2x the Evo's life span. And Samsung gives you double the warranty period.

In terms of performance, the difference is very minor.

The problem -as I've read on the innerwebs- is getting Samsung to honor warranties in a timely fashion.
[doublepost=1474849304][/doublepost]

I just got a 2009 4,1 that was upgraded to 5,1 with a 2.93 12-core. 64gb 1333 ram. 1tb drive. GeForce GT120.

$1250 USD.

I'm using this to run pro tools 10 and 11. I waited over a year for a trash-can update and gave up after WWDC.

I'm looking at the Lycom adapter with the Samsung SSD. Any leads on the cheapest place to buy these?
I would eventually like to put 4 2tb drives in raid 1 for audio storage and samples. Is this a smart idea?

I also want to run a dual 1080p monitor setup. Looking at 2 of the curved 29" LG. Can my current graphics card support this? what would be a good card to look at if not?

Cheers

This is what I want to do for PT12.5.x, but I want to keep the machine in the basement and run the KVM up through the floor. Or should I just stick to the 2x 2012 MacMini 2.6/2.3 setup. Everything's SSD. But that damn iLok dongle...

 

[namethisfile]

I can finally post something here since I just received my used cMP that I bought from eBay from a reseller called iPower Resale.

Here are the specs:

Mid-2010 (5,1)
3.33Ghz 6-core
16GB RAM
AMD HD5770 1GB VRAM
1TB HDD
AIRPORT & BT

I got it for $899 (free shipping and no tax)

Do you guys think this was a good deal?

I jumped on it because it was in Grade A/B condition. And, from what I can tell, the description of the product is spot on. There are scrapes, scuffs and stuff but no dents. So, this was reassuring since I am hoping to keep this cMP forever.

The upgrades I did was put in a 250GB SSD for the OS and Apps and a 120GB SSD will be a scratch disk. I am also using the 1TB HDD that came with the cMP for storage/backup. And, I had another 500GB HDD 7200rpm to spare to fill in all four of the drive bays.

In total, I spent just a little over a grand with the 2 SSD's that I added.

If, this cMP can last me for another 3-5 years I think I will be happy.

The only thing I can foresee upgrading down the road is the GPU. So, I am really hoping that Apple will support AMD Polaris cards OOB. Or almost OOB support. I don't know. How did HD7950 for PC's work for Mac Pro's? Did you have to flash them as well?

Here she is:

 

[h9826790]

I can finally post something here since I just received my used cMP that I bought from eBay from a reseller called iPower Resale.

Here are the specs:

Mid-2010 (5,1)
3.33Ghz 6-core
16GB RAM
AMD HD5770 1GB VRAM
1TB HDD
AIRPORT & BT

I got it for $899 (free shipping and no tax)

Do you guys think this was a good deal?

I jumped on it because it was in Grade A/B condition. And, from what I can tell, the description of the product is spot on. There are scrapes, scuffs and stuff but no dents. So, this was reassuring since I am hoping to keep this cMP forever.

The upgrades I did was put in a 250GB SSD for the OS and Apps and a 120GB SSD will be a scratch disk. I am also using the 1TB HDD that came with the cMP for storage/backup. And, I had another 500GB HDD 7200rpm to spare to fill in all four of the drive bays.

In total, I spent just a little over a grand with the 2 SSD's that I added.

If, this cMP can last me for another 3-5 years I think I will be happy.

The only thing I can foresee upgrading down the road is the GPU. So, I am really hoping that Apple will support AMD Polaris cards OOB. Or almost OOB support. I don't know. How did HD7950 for PC's work for Mac Pro's? Did you have to flash them as well?

Here she is:

Welcome on board. Anyway, PC 7950 is a OOTB solution for cMP, no flash required (except not boot screen support without flash). But since you have the 5770, it's no big deal. You can always install the 5770 back in when you need the boot screen.

 

[namethisfile]

Welcome on board. Anyway, PC 7950 is a OOTB solution for cMP, no flash required (except not boot screen support without flash). But since you have the 5770, it's no big deal. You can always install the 5770 back in when you need the boot screen.

Thanks! I'm glad I went back to the future and acquired a cMP. I know there are new Macs in the horizon and I was desperate to update my aging Mid-2010 MBP for FCPX and Motion5 without breaking the bank. So, I think, this cMP will tie me over for an indefinite period of time.

Anyway, to my questions...

If, Apple supports the AMD AMD RX 400 series cards in future updates of MacOS Sierra. And I want a Boot screen. So, I keep the HD5770 in there and install say, an RX470... will that work? Will the HD5770 and the RX470 work in tandem and help performance?

For example, will FCPX use both the GPU's?

Thanks in advance for answering the question.

 

[hartleymartin]

I can finally post something here since I just received my used cMP that I bought from eBay from a reseller called iPower Resale.

Here are the specs:

Mid-2010 (5,1)
3.33Ghz 6-core
16GB RAM
AMD HD5770 1GB VRAM
1TB HDD
AIRPORT & BT

I got it for $899 (free shipping and no tax)

Do you guys think this was a good deal?

I jumped on it because it was in Grade A/B condition. And, from what I can tell, the description of the product is spot on. There are scrapes, scuffs and stuff but no dents. So, this was reassuring since I am hoping to keep this cMP forever.

The upgrades I did was put in a 250GB SSD for the OS and Apps and a 120GB SSD will be a scratch disk. I am also using the 1TB HDD that came with the cMP for storage/backup. And, I had another 500GB HDD 7200rpm to spare to fill in all four of the drive bays.

In total, I spent just a little over a grand with the 2 SSD's that I added.

If, this cMP can last me for another 3-5 years I think I will be happy.

The only thing I can foresee upgrading down the road is the GPU. So, I am really hoping that Apple will support AMD Polaris cards OOB. Or almost OOB support. I don't know. How did HD7950 for PC's work for Mac Pro's? Did you have to flash them as well?

You got a pretty good deal. The Mac Pro 5,1 was discontinued in 2012, and Apple supports the hardware for 5 years after the date of withdrawal and the software for 7 years. So, it should be compatible until at least 2019. Chances are that if Apple discontinues support, there will be 3rd party patches that will allow you to run the newer versions of macOS. I am running a Mac Pro 3,1 with Sierra - it is not officially supported, but there is a 3rd-party patcher. Basically, there is a file somewhere which tells the installer which models of Mac are permitted and the patch disables that particular file, and supplies a couple of legacy drivers.

 

[avattz]

Never really showed the Mac that I bought. I bought it for a total of $300 ($35 refunded because there was a huge scratch on the side) and $50 Shipping. Excuse the mess, I'm building a rendering machine for a friend (it's the one at the far left).

My worldwide patented-pending Official Unofficial Mac SSD 3.5 to 2.5 Adapter, took months to design this and is a very sophisticated piece of technology.

If anyone thinks that the SATAII interface will limit the SSD, remember that it only limits the SEQUENTIAL read and write of SSDs. The general snappiness (random read and write) of most SATA SSDs don't surpass 60MB/s and SATAII is more than enough for SSDs. The Samsung EVOs barely hit 100MB/s in random and SATAII supports up to 300MB/s.

I was looking for a Apple Trackpad for my Mac Pro because I loved it on the MacBook Pro but it was hard to find one for less than $40. Instead I remembered that I had a Wacom Intuos Pro Small tablet in storage and fits the bill perfectly, and hell who knows I might get back into drawing again haha.

I also recently bought 32GB of DDR3 Registered ECC Samsung RAM for the Mac Pro and can't wait for it to arrive! It was a steal at $49, since it matches those "Mac-Tested" RAM sold for for nearly twice the price.

As for the people that have a Dual-CPU board, I'm super jelly, I wanted to upgrade mine to Dual-CPU but all the boards that I found go for more than what my Mac Pro sold for!

 

[TheMuffnMan]

Just completed a Xeon X5650 CPU upgrade in my 2009 Mac Pro. CPUA went perfectly, CPUB on the other hand gave me issues and I bent some pins - that was with two 1mm nylon washers in place, guess I got a little too happy with the hex wrench. Scored the Mac Pro for $300 off Craigslist, spent $100 on the 850 Evo (Best Buy) and $80 on the CPU's (eBay).

Also added a Airport Extreme card for $8 I got on eBay as well. Very happy with the performance.


2009 Mac Pro 4,1
2 x Xeon E5520 (4 core @ 2.26ghz)
32 GB ECC 1066 memory
640GB 7200rpm HDD
nVidia Geforce GT 120 (512MB)

GeekBench 4 Score: 9700

Current state:

2010 Mac Pro 5,1 (firmware upgrade)
2 x Xeon X5650 (6 core @ 2.66ghz)
32 GB ECC 1066 (it can support 1333 now though)
250GB Samsung 850 Evo
640GB 7200rpm HDD
nVidia Geforce GT 120 (512MB)

GeekBench 4 Score: 13406 (40% increase)

 

[h9826790]

Just completed a Xeon X5650 CPU upgrade in my 2009 Mac Pro. CPUA went perfectly, CPUB on the other hand gave me issues and I bent some pins - that was with two 1mm nylon washers in place, guess I got a little too happy with the hex wrench. Scored the Mac Pro for $300 off Craigslist, spent $100 on the 850 Evo (Best Buy) and $80 on the CPU's (eBay).

Also added a Airport Extreme card for $8 I got on eBay as well. Very happy with the performance.


2009 Mac Pro 4,1
2 x Xeon E5520 (4 core @ 2.26ghz)
32 GB ECC 1066 memory
640GB 7200rpm HDD
nVidia Geforce GT 120 (512MB)

GeekBench 4 Score: 9700

Current state:

2010 Mac Pro 5,1 (firmware upgrade)
2 x Xeon X5650 (6 core @ 2.66ghz)
32 GB ECC 1066 (it can support 1333 now though)
250GB Samsung 850 Evo
640GB 7200rpm HDD
nVidia Geforce GT 120 (512MB)

GeekBench 4 Score: 13406 (40% increase)

Something is wrong, your GeekBench 4 score should be much higher than this. Technically, you now have around 75% more processing power then before (not 40%).

Also, even my single W3690 can achieve 12923 in GeekBench 4. Your 12 cores setup shouldn't be only 3.7% more powerful then mine (of course, I mean the multi core performance).

 

[TheMuffnMan]

Interesting, admittedly I'm not running the paid version - just the free one so it's locked in as a 64-bit test.

I also ran GeekBench 3 which does have a ~24000 score for my new setup (32 bit test). I just assumed there was a difference in the scoring metrics.

Everything is reporting fine and I've stress tested the system. Any suggestions?

*edit* I will say, your W3690 runs significantly higher for clock speed, 3.46 vs 2.66.

 

[h9826790]

24000 in GB 3 seems much more reasonable. My W3690 can only get 16613 (64bit).

So, your dual X5650 is 50% more powerful then my single W3690 in GB3.

And technically,

12 x 2.66 = 31.92
6 x 3.46 = 20.76

31.92 is roughly 1.5x 20.76. Therefore, the GB3 score make much more sense then the GB4.

So, it seems GB4 is wrong, but not your machine.

 

[TheMuffnMan]

I just ran it again and got a 15293 on GB4 which is a 58% improvement over the original CPU's

 

[Philocetes]

I just got a 2012 cMP on ebay. Upgraded to a 6 core w3680, 32 gig ram. I plan on upgrading my 2009 cmp to dual 6 core cpu and 32 or 64 gig ram--flashed the firmware to 5,1 already. I got the washers in the mail, the dual cpus and 5 mm thermal pad are in transit... Excitement!

Also upgraded my 2010 cmp to a 6 core cpu--3680. Thanks for macrumors contributors for giving me the the information and courage to do these fun and inexpensive upgrades!

 

[jakdaniel1975]

 

[Synchro3]

GTX Titan X is a nice card. Installed one too.

 

[jakdaniel1975]

Si Molto buono!

 

[Wiltonian]

Hi from a Mac Pro newbie!

Having given up hope that Apple would ever produce a Mac Mini that was a significant improvement on my 2011 Mini - other than a 2012 model with i7, which make silly prices, I've just bought a stock 2010 Mac Pro, Quad-core, 12Gb. First upgrades will be a 512Gb SSD for the OS etc etc, and a couple of 3Tb HDDs for alternating Time Machine back-ups. Upgrade to 6-core and more RAM might follow.

Years ago I had a 6400 and then a G4 tower, and always lusted after the G5 Power Mac, but it was outside my budget. I started my home computing on a pair of Apple ][s, doing such things as building an 80-column display card, a home-brew card to drive 8" floppies (because those new-fangled 5.25 ones are not proper floppies), and reverse engineering and adapting the p_system BIOS to drive the display and floppies. Later, I hacked Colo(u)r Classics to run PPC motherboards. But the technology raced past me a couple of decades ago!

Must say I'm hugely impressed with the whole construction of the Mac Pro. Am I right in concluding that putting the SSD on a PCIe card is unlikely to give me, who does no video editing nor gaming, much of a performance advantage over putting it on the SATA bus?

Thanks, Stuart

After being away on holiday for two weeks, finally got the chance to commission my MP:
Used TM from current Mini to set up initial boot disc - the 1Tb stock disc.
Added two 2Tb HDDs and off loaded stuff to get the boot disc below 250Gb
Cloned the boot disc to a 256Gb Samsung EVO installed on top optical drive connector.
Rebooted from SSD.
Am now recreating my Dropbox folder on the 1Tb drive, with other HDDs to be used for TM and non-Dropboxed data.
Will let the system bed in for a few weeks before thinking about RAM or CPU upgrades.

Thanks to contributors to this Forum, whose past posts have been carefully studied before starting the project.

Stuart.

 

[usarioclave]

Just picked up an upgraded 4,1 with a 6-core 3.33/32GB of ram on eBay to replace my ageing Late 2009 iMac. Got a GTX 750ti, usb 3, and wifi card to fill it out. Only bummer is that Apple revved sienna and the nvidia web drivers don't work with the new Sienna rev...how annoying.

It's pretty nice, i've got a 4.2TB fusion drive with a 6TB raid 0, all backing up to my 3,1.

FYI, the Mac Pro was only $765 shipped. Item 222214930190. They still have three left.