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Upgrading Mac Pro 2010 (Completed)

K

kennyman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 4, 2011
279
38
US
Hello,

I have a MP 5,1 with dual CPUs (currently have 8 physical cores + 6GB of memory). I got hold of a used HP DL380 server which is a dual processor system with Xeon X5690 from a data centre-recycling job:) The server looks in pretty bad shape but I have managed to open the top part of the case, there is no power module, no HDD inside, only couple of memory sticks (6) and processor heat-sink was in place. After a brief search on Google, I have managed to remove the CPU heat-sink, and took out one of the cpus. Now I have read somewhere that MP 5,1 (2010 Version) also accept X5690. but that is an Intel Box Processor. Anyone have any experience in trying HP servers processor on mac? Would it fry my MP motherboard if the cpu is faulty? Please advise.
 
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The X5690 will fit and work just fine in your 5,1 Mac Pro. The TDP is 130, a bit high, but if the processors are are not damaged, that should not be an issue. Many members here, have installed higher than stock TDP processors in their 4,1 and above Mac Pros, and they are working fine. I have a set of W5590s on order now.

A single X5690 currently goes for $1,400 used on eBay. I'd luv a set, but a bit too rich for my blood. If they are, in fact, still good, you've found yourself a gold mine. If they are still installed in their original sockets and look undamaged, I see very little reason not to try them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...sor-/121149324323?pt=CPUs&hash=item1c350ffc23

And, Good Gosh man, get some more RAM in there:eek:

Lou
 
kennyman said:
Now I have read somewhere that MP 5,1 (2010 Version) also accept X5690. but that is an Intel Box Processor. Anyone have any experience in trying HP servers processor on mac? Would it fry my MP motherboard if the cpu is faulty?
Click to expand...
The worst could happen is that it won't boot if the processors are faulty. You could have someone test these X5690 processors before installation to make sure they are working properly. Also you may need to adjust the default fan speeds after installation since the X5690 processors have a TDP of 130W, much higher than the Apple stock processors.
 
Thank you all for your help, but unfortunately the X5690 cpu did not work:confused:

After replacing one of my MP Xeon with X5690, I was unable to boot my MAC. I have immediately put back my old 4 cores Xeon and MP booted up without any problem. I am still running some tests to see whether the cpu swapped has affected my MP. I am going to remove the second CPU from HP server to give it a try on MP.
 
No luck :( I have tried the second HP CPU as well, same thing, MP did not boot. Both HP CPUs are probably junk. Should I remove my second MP Xeon and try both 6-core Xeon CPUs at the same time? Will that affect my MP motherboard?
 
OMG!!!IT WORKED, I tried both CPUs at the same time and it WORKED!!!!:p

ALIVE ALIVE

Doing some tests right now to see if MP is stable, but I can boot and login without any problem. Typing right now from it....:D

Geekbench is AWESOME

http://postimg.org/image/mwhcarbsr/
 
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kennyman said:
OMG!!!IT WORKED, I tried both CPUs at the same time and it WORKED!!!!:p

ALIVE ALIVE

Doing some tests right now to see if MP is stable, but I can boot and login without any problem. Typing right now from it....:D
Click to expand...

You have to install matching pairs of CPU's that's why it didn't work before. You can't install two different models at the same time.
 
What you probably did with one CPU is load it into try B (the front tray) that wont work nor will mismatched CPUs. If you had downloaded the manual I suggested, you would have learned that. I'm glad (and very jealous) that it worked out for you.

Lou
 
^^^^^"Nice" With more RAM, the OP probably has the fastest Mac Pro on this site and maybe the planet:eek:

Lou
 
Thank you all, I actually have additional memory, I am using it on my work MP to handle some huge files. I will add some extra memory after:p

This might sound a little crazy, but I was actually thinking of cleaning up my MAC and selling it on ebay. I am not very interested in MP 2013. So I wanted to purchase the 27" iMac with Haswell processors by the end of the year when it comes out, after I get rid of the existing MP. But now after the CPU upgrade, I am thinking of tidying up my MP and upgrading other parts. I think I can still use if for some more years.

I currently have;

1 x Blackmagic capture card
1 x Radeon Series 55XX

Thinking of adding USB 3.0 or Sata 3.0 (have only 2 pcie slots free on my MP). Any good suggestions?
 
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Was thinking along the same line of selling if you had no need for that extra raw power. In the end you may get more selling the cpu's as a set alone or individually vs installed in the pro, may need to try both with with a reserve set.
Nice score at the recyclers ;)


kennyman said:
Thank you all, I actually have additional memory, I am using it on my work MP to handle some huge files. I will add some extra memory after:p

This might sound a little crazy, but I was actually thinking of cleaning up my MAC and selling it on ebay. I am not very interested in MP 2013. So I wanted to purchase the 27" iMac with Haswell processors by the end of the year when it comes out, after I get rid of the existing MP. But now after the CPU upgrade, I am thinking of tidying up my MP and upgrading other parts. I think I can still use if for some more years.

I currently have;

1 x Blackmagic capture card
1 x Radeon Series 55XX

Thinking of adding USB 3.0 or Sata 3.0 (have only 2 pcie slots free on my MP). Any good suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
kennyman said:
I currently have;

1 x Blackmagic capture card
1 x Radeon Series 55XX

Thinking of adding USB 3.0 or Sata 3.0 (have only 2 pcie slots free on my MP). Any good suggestions?
Click to expand...

Yep, Update the Radeon and add an SATAIII card with an SSD Drive.

Lou
 
flowrider said:
Yep, Update the Radeon and add an SATAIII card with an SSD Drive.

Lou
Click to expand...

Hi Lou,

Thanks, I have decided to just add 2 SATA 3.0 cards, I do not have any USB 3.0 devices. To tell you the truth, I have to open my MP casing every now and then as I always bring either a SATA drive from work to load some stuffs or take out my HDD from home to plug it in at work.

My MP is clean though, no dust, but it does not look very good:eek:

http://postimg.org/image/62v7be235/

But I think I will clean up things very soon, I have just ordered 2 x pcie sata 3.0 card from ebay for 100 bucks. I have an old Samsung SSD on my dell laptop which I will move over to MP. Thinking of pimping my MP now :D

I also bought 2 used additional memory sticks, which gets me a total of 48 GB (totally enough for me, my max memory so far has been only up to 32GB)

I did some thermal readings, been running 100% full engine from last night, temp readings looks ok. Geekbench score is also ok, with full loaded memory sticks, with a small bump.

http://postimg.org/image/5n3o86s77/

I am now thinking of upgrading my old video card too, any idea on what to choose, NVIDIA or AMD? I use maya, adobe, cad and mari everyday. As you might have figured out, I am clueless on computer or mac parts, I just use them lol. Appreciate if you could advise me, thanks
 
I noticed in the pict that your video is the stock AMD HD5770. Your Ocean Wave test is very low. I have a Gigabyte 3 fan Nvidia GTX570 that has been flashed by MacVidCards. My Ocean Wave results appear below. My SSD is a Samaung 840 series, 500GB, and my PCIE SSD Card is an Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 it's a great card, IMHO. For the Video Card upgrade, go with the Mac Edition EVGA GTX680 or or the Sapphire HD5780. Or go to eBay and look for a MacVidCards flashed card. The choice is yours.

BTW, your Geekbench score is 2.1 times as fast as my machine, a 5.1 with the stock two E5620 processors (the same as your old CPUs) and 24GBs of RAM. I expect the W5590s that are coming will push it up to a score near 20K.

Lou
 

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flowrider said:
I noticed in the pict that your video is the stock AMD HD5770. Your Ocean Wave test is very low. I have a Gigabyte 3 fan Nvidia GTX570 that has been flashed by MacVidCards. My Ocean Wave results appear below. My SSD is a Samaung 840 series, 500GB, and my PCIE SSD Card is an Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 it's a great card, IMHO. For the Video Card upgrade, go with the Mac Edition EVGA GTX680 or or the Sapphire HD5780. Or go to eBay and look for a MacVidCards flashed card. The choice is yours.

BTW, your Geekbench score is 2.1 times as fast as my machine, a 5.1 with the stock two E5620 processors (the same as your old CPUs) and 24GBs of RAM. I expect the W5590s that are coming will push it up to a score near 20K.

Lou
Click to expand...

Hi Lou,

Thank you again, your VGA card is great!! Going to search for NVIDIA, anyway I need cuda for adobe and cad, was speaking to some of my tech team-members, going to settle for GTX 5xx Series (GTX 6xx and 7xx series are too much for my budget).

I have a Samsung SSD 840 on my lappy, only difference is mine, is a 256GB version, I guess I will not be hitting the read speed you have:eek:

Velocity card that you posted looks very interesting, dam I have already ordered these...hope it will work fine:(

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SSD-Upgrade-Kit-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-OS-X-Bootable-SATA-III-PCI-Express-2-0-/130696186620?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6e198afc

I still can return it if thing goes wrong..thanks for assisting me, appreciate it.
 
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flowrider said:
^^^^The card you bought looks a lot like the Solo x1 card. In the add (fourth line down there is a link (http://www.ebay.com/itm/SSD-Superspeed-Upgrade-Kit-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-2008-2009-2010-/130830674778?) to this card that looks like the Solo x2.

Lou
Click to expand...

Thanks Lou, I have not received the SSD card yet. I will let you know the result. I have changed the title of thread (was kind of misleading). I bought a GTX 580 for Mac, could not find one with dual/triple fans. Bought a normal one.

http://postimg.org/image/6ygphqlj7/

I also did a fresh OS install, as I wanted to delete the AMD drivers on Mac OS before installing the Nvidia card, but did not know where to look for.

Here are some benchmark scores

http://postimg.org/image/fpqpzmlgl/

1 thing that I have noticed, GTX 580 fan is very loud compare to my old AMD card. As my Mac case is always open, I feel a lot of warm air coming out of the case. Should I be worried about that? At the moment, I am thinking of returning the card or changing the VGA cooler, I am reading 80-85 degrees celsius, that too much of heat :eek:

Is that normal?
 
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