Upgrading Mac Pro 5,1

[ashman70]

I currently have a single 2.8 quad core CPU in my 5,1 and I want to upgrade to either a W3670, 3680 or 3690, will I have to upgrade to 1333MHz RAM from the 1066MHz I have now? Also, is there anything special I need to look for such as stepping when it comes to the CPU's? I am looking at quite a few of them on eBay right now.

Thanks

 

[flowrider]

You can leave your RAM as is. The new CPU will recognize the speed of the installed RAM and adjust accordingly. As far as the CPU goes, the ones you mentioned will work just fine. However, you can also use the X5600 series. These are meant for Dual CPU operation, but will work just fine a a single CPU application. You may do better on price with the X5600 series.

Lou

 

[Marty62]

I have the W3680 Hex 3,33 in mine, which was originally a quad 2,8

Seems like a really good upgrade, I've read that the Ram speed is not really
noticeable but I had 1,333 in my MP as delivered.

As Lou said you have some X5600 options too, prices are always getting
better so be patient and keep looking

M.

 

[Draeconis]

I upgraded my 5,1 from a W3530 to a W3670. The 5,1 ships with 1333Mhz RAM, but the W3530 and W3670 are both limited to running memory at 1066Mhz. The W3680 and above can run at 1333Mhz.

Incidentally, the W3670 is the highest chip that runs at 4.8GT/s, the W3680 and up run at 6.4GT/s. If you can afford the W3680 I'd go with that, if not the W3670 is still a great CPU and will give you a good 50% jump in performance

 

[ashman70]

You can leave your RAM as is. The new CPU will recognize the speed of the installed RAM and adjust accordingly. As far as the CPU goes, the ones you mentioned will work just fine. However, you can also use the X5600 series. These are meant for Dual CPU operation, but will work just fine a a single CPU application. You may do better on price with the X5600 series.

Lou

Is there an advantage to going with the X5600 series CPU over the W36xx series, are they hex as well?

 

[Studio K]

Is there an advantage to going with the X5600 series CPU over the W36xx series, are they hex as well?

Yes the X5600s are all hex.

I don't know if there is any advantage over the W3600s. Perhaps you can get a better price, but I haven't compared the going prices for 3.33GHz X5600 versus W3680.
I am assuming you would want I high clock speed. X5650s are quite affordable, but are only 2.66Ghz.

 

[flowrider]

Is there an advantage to going with the X5600 series CPU over the W36xx series, are they hex as well?

No, not in a single CPU installation, but they may be easier to find and more reasonably priced. I was just throwing it out there as an option. And yes the 3600 and 5600 are all Hex Core.

ou

 

[ashman70]

I just found an Intel Xeon X5660 for about $275.00 CAN which is a little under half the cheapest W3670 I could find. Wonder which is the better deal, lol. Wonder what kind of performance increase I would see from the X5660 which is really just the hex core version of the quad core I have now.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Between those two it's all about GHz. The X5660 is 2.8GHz, the W3670 is 3.2 GHz. The X5600 series chip equal to the W3670 is the X5679 or X5680 (3.2 and 3.33 GHz respectively).

Wonder what kind of performance increase I would see from the X5660 which is really just the hex core version of the quad core I have now.

It depends on the applications you use and whether or not they take advantage of multiple cores.
Lou