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Upgrading my 2009 Mac Pro Quad Core

K

kuau

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 3, 2012
36
30
Oh well after I saw the price of the new Mac Pro 6 Core $3999.00 I decided to go ahead and just upgrade my 2009 Mac Pro.
I have already upgraded the BIOS to 5,1 now its time for a new CPU and more ram.

I think I am going for the W3690 6 core processor, yet I am confused on what type of ram to purchase.

I assume the max I can go is 48GB which would mean 3 16GB 1333 ECC memory. OWC sells this for 679.00
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1333D3X9M048/
Where can I get a better deal than this.

Thanks
Steve
 
kuau said:
Oh well after I saw the price of the new Mac Pro 6 Core $3999.00 I decided to go ahead and just upgrade my 2009 Mac Pro.
I have already upgraded the BIOS to 5,1 now its time for a new CPU and more ram.

I think I am going for the W3690 6 core processor, yet I am confused on what type of ram to purchase.

I assume the max I can go is 48GB which would mean 3 16GB 1333 ECC memory. OWC sells this for 679.00
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1333D3X9M048/
Where can I get a better deal than this.

Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...

Always have found these people have better prices than OWC. But unless you are actually going to use all that ram better off saving some money by getting less, 24gb should definitely do you..

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=296&ParentCat=404
 
kuau said:
Thanks I will take a look at that site. 24GB? Not enough IMHO for D800 files and also Medium format raw files.
Click to expand...

If you mean exporting, that is CPU/GPU intensive, 24GB is plenty. That being said, I am upping my 6x3.33 to 48GB this week for other reasons. I don't do medium format raw, just D800 and 8,000x8,000 120 scans and when the files are open in CS6 for cropping, sizing, CMYK etc then the ram pays off more.

Signed, one pro photog who is happily going back to B&W film and darkroom work..:)
 
I use 32GB from OWC for photography and video production. It's the sweet spot in terms of very little or no paging out or swap file use during my most intense video work, and very cheap.

It's plenty for Ps and Lr, and I shoot thousands of photos for every occasion. I've even done a few time-lapse projects that were about 70,000 images long, and been fine.
 
kuau said:
Thanks I will take a look at that site. 24GB? Not enough IMHO for D800 files and also Medium format raw files.

Steve
Click to expand...

Well different story if you are actually going to use it, I see many posts here going woohoo I maxed my ram now I can surf the web in style..
 
Price rises!

Geezzz, the price of RAM has gone way up!

For my "upgraded" 2009 hex core (W3690) I got 3 of these 16GB modules from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008210MDY

At the time (April 2013), it was $127 + tax per 16GB module!


Why has RAM prices gone up so much? :confused:
 
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Well I went for the upgrade, I am running a W3680 XEON CPU, I upgraded to 5,1 and purchased 3 16GB Kingston 1333 ECC memory
Everything is working except for some reason my Mac Pro is only recognizing my memory at 1066MHz,. Yes I have tried resetting the PRAM 3 times, still no change, I also did a SMC reset, no go. Computer is running fine, but would love to get the 1333mhz speed on the ram even though it will probably make no noticeable difference, yet I paid for the more expensive ram.

I did the whole upgrade for $1000.00
I am very pleased considering a new "OLD" Mac Pro 6 Core is still selling for $2999.00 new.

I wonder if OSX 10.9 is the problem.
I assume if the ram was bad, the machine would not even boot.
Anything else I am missing?
Steve
 
RAM has gotten crazy in the past few months. They have tripled in price and I believe it might be artificial inflation as well. 2012 was a great year for Ram prices.

I've posted in another thread, but would anyone know the performance decrease if I were to only use two dimms in the meantime until ram prices fall? I was thinking a 5%-8% performance hit.
 
Celedral said:
RAM has gotten crazy in the past few months. They have tripled in price and I believe it might be artificial inflation as well. 2012 was a great year for Ram prices.

I've posted in another thread, but would anyone know the performance decrease if I were to only use two dimms in the meantime until ram prices fall? I was thinking a 5%-8% performance hit.
Click to expand...

I have 4 4GB OWC if you are interested PM me I would sale them for 75.00 total
Here is what I have
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/85MP3W4M16GK/
 
kuau said:
Well I went for the upgrade, I am running a W3680 XEON CPU, I upgraded to 5,1 and purchased 3 16GB Kingston 1333 ECC memory
Everything is working except for some reason my Mac Pro is only recognizing my memory at 1066MHz,. Yes I have tried resetting the PRAM 3 times, still no change, I also did a SMC reset, no go. Computer is running fine, but would love to get the 1333mhz speed on the ram even though it will probably make no noticeable difference, yet I paid for the more expensive ram.

I did the whole upgrade for $1000.00
I am very pleased considering a new "OLD" Mac Pro 6 Core is still selling for $2999.00 new.

I wonder if OSX 10.9 is the problem.
I assume if the ram was bad, the machine would not even boot.
Anything else I am missing?
Steve
Click to expand...

My RAM (3x8GB) just worked @ 1333.

I bought RAM labeled as 1066 (not being aware at the time of the upgradeability of my MP), but after I flashed to 5,1 and upgraded to the W3680, I noticed one day the RAM was identifying as 1333. I never even reset the PRAM. I did reset SMC. I'm still on ML though.

I, too am very happy with my "new" machine and feel well-situated for, most likely, a number of years. The machine rocks my studio and I have yet to push it to its limits, even at very small audio buffer settings.
 
kuau said:
Well I went for the upgrade, I am running a W3680 XEON CPU, I upgraded to 5,1 and purchased 3 16GB Kingston 1333 ECC memory
Everything is working except for some reason my Mac Pro is only recognizing my memory at 1066MHz,. Yes I have tried resetting the PRAM 3 times, still no change, I also did a SMC reset, no go. Computer is running fine, but would love to get the 1333mhz speed on the ram even though it will probably make no noticeable difference, yet I paid for the more expensive ram.

I did the whole upgrade for $1000.00
I am very pleased considering a new "OLD" Mac Pro 6 Core is still selling for $2999.00 new.

I wonder if OSX 10.9 is the problem.
I assume if the ram was bad, the machine would not even boot.
Anything else I am missing?
Steve
Click to expand...

I'm doing the exact same upgrade! I'm in the market for a W3680 (or a W3690, if I can find a good offer) and 3x16GB 1333 Mhz ECC RAM. Where did you end up buying them?
 
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