MP 1,1-5,1 Trying to get the biggest speed/processing power upgrade for least $ for my Mac Pro 3,1 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Cores

[LeeZee1]

Hi Mac Pro experts,
I'm looking to substantially increase the speed/processing power of my Mac Pro (early 2008) 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Cores. I've read that it's possible to switch out the two processors with 3.8 GHz Quad-Cores (or 2 hex-cores) and max out the RAM at 32 GB. However, I read that these types of upgrades to the mac pro 3,1 translate into a proportionally smaller increase in performance for the price compared to just getting a Mac Pro 2009 or 2010 or 2013 or 2015 and making upgrades that max-out the speed/processing power and RAM on those machines.

I realize this was discussed back in 2013 (and elsewhere), but I know prices have changed since then.

If my goal is to get the largest performance increase to price ratio, can someone offer some insight into whether it makes more sense to buy a used Mac Pro 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015 and upgrade it to max out speed/processing power (e.g., install the highest speed/core processors that have a meaningful increase in performance, and/or max out the RAM etc.); OR upgrade my existing Mac Pro 3,1 as much as possible with respect to processors and/or RAM?

I use the Mac Pro to do machine learning, running Python packages (Anaconda/Jupyter Notebook) to model data from large datasets to predict outcomes for research. It often takes a long time to do the modeling of data from these large datasets, and I desperately need more processing power/speed to shorten the time it takes for the machine to iterate through all of a particular dataset.

Thank you in advance.
Lee

 

[AlexMaximus]

It's sad, but in my opinion the time for the MP 3,1 is over. A year ago I have helped a gentlemen from Italy to do the same that you want to do on his MP3,1. It was not worth it. There are too many limitations on the MP 3,1. Many upgrades are the same as on the 5,1, but these are just not as effective. GPUs are not there, PCIe ports are smaller on bandwidth, CPUS are a lot slower and you can't use a Titan Ridge to have TB3 ports for more advanced stuff.
My advice is to sell the 3,1 as soon as possible. Your best bet at the moment is to get a 5,1 dual quad and upgrade it to a dual hex yourself. Theses run much newer OSX versions and support much newer AMD Metal capable GPUs. I myself had a Vega7 in my single hex for two years just for kicks.
I asked the same question about six years ago when I have decided for the 5,1. You would be insane to go with a 3,1 today if you would not have one already. Since you have a MP3,1 you need to question yourself this:
How far away is your current speed, how much differs that speed compared to your desired speed goal that you want to achieve with an upgrade. If you want a substantial faster machine then you have now, you need to jump away from your MP3,1. Heck, at this point in time, it already becomes questionable to even jump into a MP5,1. Apple is almost done with the transition to Apple Silicone. It will rain Intel machines and Mac pros all over the place very soon, so my advice, wait for the right time like a predator monitors its MickeyMousy friends. You will get fully decked out MP5,1 for reasonable prices very soon after Apple Silicon schooled us the new stuff in the next view months.

 

[Dayo]

These upgrades typically result in incremental changes. One thing you need to bear in mind is that there are far more MP51 users out there than MP31 users. This is because MP31 was released when Apple still updated MP annually and therefore had a 1-year run but the MP51 had a 4-year run. In addition, when the "replacement" finally came, it was an abomination that was largely shunned and saw many deciding to buy up MP51 until stocks dried up.

Anyway, the larger user base does mean a lot of information is MP51 specific, which may have contributed to some of the inaccuracies in the previous post.

1. There is no GPU you can use on an MP51 that you can't on an MP31.
2. PCIe ports do have lower bandwidths indeed but it can be boosted easily.
3. CPU Speed difference is debatable once you step away from artificial benchmarks into the real world.
4. You can use Titan Ridge in the same way ... you just need the correct, MP31 specific, SSDT.

On your queries (BTW, Max RAM on MP31 is 64GB):

1. The outlook is that both MP31 and MP51 will most likely bite the dust at the same time in terms of usability and the differences are so small that you might as well go for a real upgrade, even if it is a MacMini, if ditching MP31. However, there is far more community support for MP51 which might be a factor to consider if still mulling a cMP swap.
2. If sticking with cMP, the biggest upgrade is to ditch HDD for SSD and this gives a big speed boost. Beyond that, it is all incremental. This applies to both MP31 and MP51.
   1. On MP31, you may need to do some additional stuff for which information is sometimes not easy to find. I have put as much of these into MyBootMgr as possible: APFS Support, NVME Support, TB3 Support, USB3 Boot Support, PCIe Speed Boost. As said though you will find MP51 info everywhere.

The most critical difference I can see between MP31 and MP51 is support on BootROM related stuff in that you can relatively easily recover from an MP51 brick by using Matt Cards etc.

 

[AlexMaximus]

I completely agree with everything Dayo mentioned. You may as well go for "work-with-what-you-have".
Below you will find some links that proved useful to me in the past:

MP3,1 Ram with good heatsink:

maxupgrades.com: 64GB kit (8x8GB) Matched Pair:Fully Buffered:PC2-6400:ECC:DDR2-800:240pin DIMM for Mac Pro 2008 Models [Model ID: 3,1]

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www.maxupgrades.com

MP3,1 SSD Slieds for SSDs:

maxupgrades.com: MaxConnect for SSD/HDD 2.5 inch Disk Drives w/ Heatsink for Mac Pro [2006/ 2007/ 2008] [Model ID: 1,1 / 2,1/3,1] Internal Drive Bays

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www.maxupgrades.com

Great resource on older posts of that 2008-2009 era:

Archives of Mac Speed Tests 2005-2009

real world speed test results for performance minded Macintosh users

barefeats.com

Other upgrades:

OWC SSD Upgrade Kits For Mac Pro 2008

Get everything you need to upgrade your Mac Pro 2008 SSD for a total system performance and capacity boost. All OWC SSDs backed by a lifetime warranty.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[tsialex]

My advice is to keep your early-2008 going just until you can find a good/cheap MacPro5,1.

If you have to upgrade your MacPro3,1 while you search for a newer one, only buy parts can be used later on with an early-2009 to mid-2012 Mac Pro, don't spend any money upgrading the early-2008 2.8GHz Xeons. If you need to buy more RAM for it, buy the cheapest 667MHz FB-DIMMs you can find, don't spend any money with overpriced 800MHz DIMMs.

 

[LeeZee1]

My advice is to keep your early-2008 going just until you can find a good/cheap MacPro5,1.

If you have to upgrade your MacPro3,1 while you search for a newer one, only buy parts can be used later on with an early-2009 to mid-2012 Mac Pro, don't spend any money upgrading the early-2008 2.8GHz Xeons. If you need to buy more RAM for it, buy the cheapest 667MHz FB-DIMMs you can find, don't spend any money with overpriced 800MHz DIMMs.

Thank you everyone for your insights and for identifying considerations/options. When I do go with investing in an early 2009 to mid-2012 Mac Pro to upgrade, and I want to maximize the chances that the computer will be in at least "good" condition, i.e., having no damaged/missing essential parts, does it make more sense to find a used one or a refurbished one? Also, until now I have been taking a look at e-bay listings; however, I'm not sure if there are other reliable sites with listings I should be sure to explore.

Thank you again,
Lee

 

[tsialex]

Thank you everyone for your insights and for identifying considerations/options. When I do go with investing in an early 2009 to mid-2012 Mac Pro to upgrade, and I want to maximize the chances that the computer will be in at least "good" condition, i.e., having no damaged/missing essential parts, does it make more sense to find a used one or a refurbished one? Also, until now I have been taking a look at e-bay listings; however, I'm not sure if there are other reliable sites with listings I should be sure to explore.

Thank you again,
Lee

Refurbished ones are extremely overpriced for something that you can do yourself. Get a nice working one, don't buy a project or a defective one to repair, this only work for people that really know what to do and already have a parts stash. Mac Pro parts are expensive to this day.

Try to look locally. Even if you pay a little more than the eBay bargains, you won't have trouble with shipping (Mac Pros cases are frequently damaged by shipping, two times happened with me already) and you can inspect/test the Mac Pro.

A lot of people buy Mac Pros from labs/Universities/corporate auctions and you can always check Craigslist.