Upgrading a Mac Pro 5,1 1TB SATA to SSD

[ernie81]

Hi, so I'm looking for some advice on SSD configuration for my mac pro 5,1.

I've had this machine for many years but it's getting pretty clunky. I work in photoshop cc on large images which can be upwards of 5GB.

I'm thinking of doing one of the following options to speed things up:

Option 1: 256gb SSD for the OS plus a 500gb SSD for photoshop scratch

Or

Option 2: 1Tb for combined OS and Photoshop scratch drive.

I think #1 will have better performance and if one drive fails then the data on the other is still ok

Other upgrades I'm considering are:

- installing more RAM (it's currently 12GB)
- possibly upgrading the processor (current processor: 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon)

Any advice on the pros and cons of the above options greatly welcomed along with any alternative options....

Many thanks in advance

 

[barmann]

You might want to read through some of that .

Personally, I keep the Os on one SSD , and Photoshop scratch plus current project files on a different SSD .
A single SSD with partions should work fine as well .

I'd definitely get more RAM - 4 x 8 or 3 x 16 GB , and then look into a 6 core CPU upgrade ( 3.33 or 3.42 , check the sticky thread for details on CPU and RAM configurations ) .

 

[bsbeamer]

I'd recommend separate system SSD and scratch SSD, if it's possible and within your budget.

Are you planning on using scratch SSD literally just for Adobe scratch, or are you working on files/content from the drive as well?

Do you have any PCIe slots free? If so, you could at least run the scratch SSD off a PCIe adapter and get increased read/write speeds. The Velocity Solo X2 (if you can find one) allows bootable macOS system SSD. Some others work as well.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Do you have any PCIe slots free? If so, you could at least run the scratch SSD off a PCIe adapter and get increased read/write speeds. The Velocity Solo X2 (if you can find one) allows bootable macOS system SSD. Some others work as well.

This is what I would also suggest. A standard SATA SSD is fine in one of the existing slots for the OS and applications. It will be limited to SATA II speeds, but you won't really notice. A good PCIe blade SSD would offer really fast read/write speeds for a working drive. Since it's a working drive, you don't have to find an AHCI version for boot support or anything.

Fastest CPU you can get is either the W3690 or the X5690. They are essentially the same (6C/12T, 3.47GHz), though the X5690 supports considerably more RAM and dual socket configurations.

 

[ernie81]

You might want to read through some of that .

Personally, I keep the Os on one SSD , and Photoshop scratch plus current project files on a different SSD .
A single SSD with partions should work fine as well .

I'd definitely get more RAM - 4 x 8 or 3 x 16 GB , and then look into a 6 core CPU upgrade ( 3.33 or 3.42 , check the sticky thread for details on CPU and RAM configurations ) .

Thanks for the link - very informative and helped answer some other questions I had.

If I went with just OS, photoshop and a few other small apps what sort of SSD size do you think i should look at?

 

[bsbeamer]

Look at Samsung EVO 850 or 860 and 500GB+

 

[AidenShaw]

what sort of SSD size do you think i should look at

The correct answer is "a little bigger than I can afford".

And for two reasons:

• whatever you think that you need today is half of what you'll need next year.
• SSDs are faster and last longer if you don't run them close to full (assuming that of course you'll enable TRIM)

 

[ernie81]

Hi Guys, thanks so much for all the advice.

I've been looking into the CPU options and found a supplier offering a MacPro5,1 CPU Processor Tray with a single X5690 3.46Ghz 6 core and 32GB RAM (made up of 4 x8GB 1333MHz)

I thought that this was from a server and wondering if I can just plug it straight into my workstation and get the benefits without any additional bits to buy or drivers to install (I don't want to do the processor upgrade on my existing tray as have seen videos and looks scary).

Does this seem like a good approach?

 

[fatespawn]

Ernie,

Do you have the single processor tray? If so, there's no magic to upgrading the processor. I bought a W3690 on EBAY and once I had the tools, it was about a 15 minute job. You pop out your tray, unscrew the heat sink. Clean the bottom of the heat sink. Plop in your new processor. Apply thermal paste. Screw on your heat sink. No "delidding" or anything else required for the single processors. Seriously NOT scary.

You'll need this stuff:

Screwdriver: https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-...pID=21DXFHvP9-L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Thermal paste: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OGX5AM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

W3690: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...623673&hash=item1eda7e5c58:g:SJoAAOSwXfVaj3i-

Done.

 

[XNorth]

Option 1: 256gb SSD for the OS plus a 500gb SSD for photoshop scratch

Or

Option 2: 1Tb for combined OS and Photoshop scratch drive.

How fast is a single SSD? You might consider using two SSDs in a Apple RAID 0 set for High Sierra, which should get about 515 MB/s write and 540 MB/s read. I use two Samsung 860 Pro 256 SSDs. Be aware High Sierra can't be upgraded on the RAID. Use a single drive to update HS, then clone it to the RAID.

 

[h9826790]

How fast is a single SSD? You might consider using two SSDs in a Apple RAID 0 set for High Sierra, which should get about 515 MB/s write and 540 MB/s read. I use two Samsung 860 Pro 256 SSDs. Be aware High Sierra can't be upgraded on the RAID. Use a single drive to update HS, then clone it to the RAID.

HS not support RAID or APFS not support RAID? Or both?

 

[XNorth]

HS not support RAID or APFS not support RAID? Or both?

High Sierra works fine on a HFS+ RAID boot drive once the HS volume is cloned to the RAID. It just can't be installed directly on a HFS+ RAID. It seems HS can't install on a RAID set because currently it can't convert RAID volumes to APFS.

Would an APFS RAID work as a boot drive? I haven't read that someone has created a bootable HS RAID by installing directly or cloning to a APFS formatted RAID. High sierra still supports HFS+, so I'm playing safe keeping all my drives formatted Mac OS Extended.

 

[tripmusic]

I've been looking into the CPU options and found a supplier offering a MacPro5,1 CPU Processor Tray with a single X5690 3.46Ghz 6 core and 32GB RAM (made up of 4 x8GB 1333MHz)

(I don't want to do the processor upgrade on my existing tray as have seen videos and looks scary).

Don't waste your money buying an upgraded tray. The 4,1/5,1 single processor is probably the easiest Mac Pro CPU upgrade there is. The videos you saw are of the dual 4,1 upgrades. You already have a 5,1, so you don't even need to bother with the firmware upgrade AFAIK. You can get an X5690 for a little over $100. RAM, depending on how much you want will cost $100-200. It runs better using only 3 slots.

In regards to the SSD... I came to the conclusion that it's safer and faster to use a separate drive for scratch. Better to not stress out your boot drive if you don't have to. I just bought 2, 860 Evo m.2 SATA drives and a StarTech PCIe card. Not the fastest solution, but for a little over $200 it will be faster than my previous SATA2 speeds.

 

[ernie81]

Thanks guys - your advice has been awesome. I'm in the process of cloning my original HD to a new SSD as I write. I've got a new processor and RAM coming next week.

I'm going to start a new thread on a new storage solution

 

[MacProFreak]

You can get an X5690 for a little over $100. RAM, depending on how much you want will cost $100-200. It runs better using only 3 slots.

Why does it "run better" with only 3 slots?

I have a single tray 5,1 with 32Gb (4x 8Gb) and one 3690.

 

[kohlson]

Why does it "run better" with only 3 slots?

A function of the memory channels to the CPU. In most Nehalem and Westmere processors (those used in 4/5,1 models) there are 3 memory I/O channels. Optimal memory performance is obtained when there is memory in these three slots. See the Mac Pro Technician Guide (search the googs) for proper installation. Benchmark score are improved about 5-7% with memory in 3 slots. YMMV.

But if you need more memory (and not simply want more memory) then this small boost pales in comparison to hitting swap. So if you have applications/workflow that requires more memory than is available in the 3 slots, it's way better to configure memory into the 4th slot. Applications such as PS often demand lots of memory.

 

[ernie81]

Update: I've upgraded the CPU and RAM (all 4 slots) and from initial testing, my machine is flying! Coping very well with the larger images I would normally work on. Thanks everyone for all the advice