MP 1,1-5,1 Upgrade Mac Pro 5,1 for ... the fastest working Google Chrome Browser (it's not a joke, I need help :)

[Luke_G]

Hi!

What do I have:
Mac Pro 5,1 Mid 2010, 6-core 3,46, 48GB RAM DDR3, Geforce GTX 680 2 GB, System on NVME M.2 Samsung (PCI-Express) MOJAVE

What I do:
I'm actually working on a few websites (webdesign), using wordpress and gutenberg editor. I use 3 screens (3 x 27"). The pages are very elaborate (extensive), with a lot of blocks, images, tables etc. I open a lot of windows in Google Chrome at the same time (10-15?).

And ... What is my problem:
Chrome browser (ver. 115.0.5790.170) is not fast enough. I write in an online text editor, move pictures, tables, a lot of blocks etc.
I want it to be in real time. Everywhere, half a second or 1 second escapes me. Sometimes 2-3, with more difficult things.

I've been trying to do the same operations on my wife's macbook pro m2 (13", m2, 16gb ram, 256 ssd, 2022 y.). There: Chrome is working really smoothly. And I love it.


I don't want to buy another computer for my work (I like my 5.1 ... ignoring the uncool fluidity in chrome) and I am considering whether it can be improved at no small cost.


I consider of buying Mac Studio, next year maybe, but now I'd like to upgrade my 5.1.

And my question:
Which upgrade will be most effective in this specific situation?
Upgrading CPU to 12x3,46 and 128GB of RAM is very expensive (overpriced, I think). I do not want to spend as much as I could spend on macbook air m1 - which will be faster.

Help, please
Best regards,
Luke

 

[Luke_G]

I've been trying other browsers: Safari, Opera, Firefox, Vivaldi, Tor. It seems to CHROME is the fastest one, on my Mac Pro.

 

[davidlv]

I've been trying other browsers: Safari, Opera, Firefox, Vivaldi, Tor. It seems to CHROME is the fastest one, on my Mac Pro.

Try Brave, based on Chromium, which is actually ungoogled-Chrome (Chrome without the tracking data mining, etc.)
On the Brave website, the version downloaded is a universal version. On the Github site, shown below, click on the brave-browser in blue at the top left, then on the blue Latest bottom right, which leads you to a list of versions - you want the Intel, X-64.dgm. That will be the most optimized for the Intel platform. After-during set up, disable the Rewards function so you get the fastest response. I suspect it will be better than Chrome, but whether or not it will be fast enough is still up in the air. Best solution is to buy a Mac Studio,

Brave Software

We're reinventing the browser as a user-first platform for speed, privacy, better ads, and beyond - Brave Software

github.com

 

[Luke_G]

Try Brave, based on Chromium, which is actually ungoogled-Chrome (Chrome without the tracking data mining, etc.)
On the Brave website, the version downloaded is a universal version. On the Github site, click on the brave-browser in blue at the top left, then on the blue Latest bottom right, which leads you to a list of versions - you want the Intel, X-64.dgm. That will be the most optimized for the Intel platform. After-during set up, disable the Rewards so you get the fastest response. I suspect it will be better than Chrome, but whether or not it will be fast enough is still up in the air. Best solution is to buy a Mac Studio,

Brave Software

We're reinventing the browser as a user-first platform for speed, privacy, better ads, and beyond - Brave Software

github.com

Thanks, I'll try it now.

Which mac studio should I choose? I'm also a photographer (working in capture one, lightroom, photoshop).
I consider two models: M2 studio with 32GB or 64GB of RAM. Is 32 gb in STUDIO M2 enough for me? (making websites, C1, Lr, PS). What do you think?

 

[Luke_G]

I've tried BRAVE. Everything is the same like in Chrome . No speed, pages go slow etc.

 

[davidlv]

I've tried BRAVE. Everything is the same like in Chrome . No speed, pages go slow etc.

That is too bad. I have no idea why it is like that. Brave is very quick on both my M2 MBA and an older iMac from late 2014. I think you should start saving up for that new Mac, but for the question about 32 or 64 GB, you will have to ask someone else. An expert in that field hopefully. Someone with more experience working with a similar 2012 MP should be able to chip in with some good advice. I expect the slowness is due to the GPU. There should be a better device out there, but sorry, I just don't know.

 

[Luke_G]

That is too bad. I have no idea why it is like that. Brave is very quick on both my M2 MBA and an older iMac from late 2014. I think you should start saving up for that new Mac, but for the question about 32 or 64 GB, you will have to ask someone else. An expert in that field hopefully. Someone with more experience working with a similar 2012 MP should be able to chip in with some good advice. I expect the slowness is due to the GPU. There should be a better device out there, but sorry, I just don't know.

ok, thanks.

 

[paalb]

Use Activity Monitor to find out if it is CPU or Memory that is used. If it is not you might have to look at GPU's.

 

[flaubert]

I would have to say, without much evidence, that the thing about your setup that seems most suspicious to me is the GTX 680. It's an Nvidia card, with not much memory, and I wonder how well supported it really is.

 

[avro707]

I don't want to buy another computer for my work (I like my 5.1 ... ignoring the uncool fluidity in chrome) and I am considering whether it can be improved at no small cost

If you want to avoid too much cost, look at upgrading to RX580 video card (you’ll need some cables to power it also, search forum). You can even fix it now so it supports the boot screens.

Alternatively if you can manage updating to Monterey 12.6.8 using one of the opencore methods then you can move up to much much newer GPUs like RX6600XT which works beautifully. It needs a firmware update to be compatible.

 

[Luke_G]

Ok, tkanks you, i'll check it using activity monitor and then, probably, buy RX580

I thought that speed of loading pages, moving blocks in wordpress' gutenberg etc depends on RAM/CPU ... I didn't know that GPU could cause delays. It's because of it's small capacity (2GB in my GPU vs 8GB in RX580?)?

 

[davidlv]

Ok, tkanks you, i'll check it using activity monitor and then, probably, buy RX580

I thought that speed of loading pages, moving blocks in wordpress' gutenberg etc depends on RAM/CPU ... I didn't know that GPU could cause delays. It's because of it's small capacity (2GB in my GPU vs 8GB in RX580?)?

Have you tested the speed of the browser(s) with only one display connected?
The present GPU has a limited amount of memory and that may be what is causing the delays, with 3 monitors to update. Worth a try perhaps, to see if the cause of your issue is indeed the graphics card.

 

[h9826790]

Before you upgrade any hardware, you better check Activity Monitor first. If you observed one of the web browser process stuck at ~100%. Which most likely means your situation is CPU single thread limiting. Then there is absolutely nothing you can do on the cMP to work around it (except you can re-write the software by yourself to make it multithreading).

If the situation isn't CPU single thread limiting, then highly likely you can alleviate the issue by upgrading some hardware.

Anyway, modern browser use GPU and VRAM to accelerate. The GTX680 is really outdated for this purpose. It works, but won't be fast. And if you work extensively in browsers, you better upgrade your graphic card.

For latest Mojave, the strongest card can be used is the Radeon VII, but it's expensive and hard to find now.

2nd best is the Vega FE, which also has 16GB VRAM, but it's also a rare card.

Vega64 / Vega56 should be wildly avail on the used market. 56 or 64 should be no noticeable difference in your usage.

RX580 8GB is also one of the very popular card in the cMP community. Which is a mid level card, but still at least 100% faster than your GTX680. And 3x more VRAM also help a lot. However, many of the used card are flashed for mining. So, you have to do some study and find a trustable seller.

Side topic, as you can see, my own setup is very close to yours, except I am using Radeon VII now. If you have any private link can send me (e.g. via PM), I can tell you that site works smoothly or not on my cMP. So that you can know if upgrade the GPU will help or not. For info, I am using Brave browser.

 

[ddhhddhh2]

As a side note, you might wanna give the Arc browser a try. Even though they have the same core, there's definitely a performance difference on my cMP 5,1. I can't provide exact numbers, but that's how it feels to me at least. I've totally switched from Chrome to Arc on every Mac I have.

 

[Luke_G]

Thank all of you for answers. I'll be testing 1 screen instead of 2/3, arc, maybe 580 GPU then.