OWC processor upgrade program for '09 / '10 systems

[Transporteur]

I just stumbled over OWCs new offer to upgrade ANY '09 or '10 system to a 12 core with up to 3.33GHz.

Check this out: Click (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor/)

Till now, anyone said that it is not possible for the '09 owners to drop in some hex cores. I'm confused. How are they doing it? Updating the firmware or replacing the hole daughterboard?

[Vylen]

Why don't you email them and ask?

[Transporteur]

I could but I doubt that they'll me how they do it, they wanna make profit with this upgrade, don't you think? ;)

Maybe anybody here has, or will do the upgrade and can give some information about it.

I'm in the UK and can't work without the Mac Pro so sending in the board for at least a week is no option for me which is why I'd like to upgrade the system myself ('09 octad).

[Vylen]

There's no harm in trying, especially since you're the one who's curious :p

Plus it's just an email... I'm sure the electrons that work to send your email won't be too hassled.

[Transporteur]

Plus it's just an email... I'm sure the electrons that work to send your email won't be too hassled.

:D :p
Ok, convinced. I'll give it a shot.

[hyram]

The site says "Processor Upgrades up to 3.33GHz 12-core ".

Let me translate.... "Your model may not be able to get to 12 cores and 3.33 GHz, but we can up it till your wallet bleeds."

[Transporteur]

The site says "Processor Upgrades up to 3.33GHz 12-core ".

Let me translate.... "Your model may not be able to get to 12 cores and 3.33 GHz, but we can up it till your wallet bleeds."

No, up to means that you can chose from other options like 2.93GHz, too.
The site clearly says that you can get a 12 core 3.33GHz out from ANY Mac Pro.

[hyram]

The site clearly says that you can get a 12 core 3.33GHz out from ANY Mac Pro.

Sorry... I don't read it that way. I hope you're right, I just don't think you are.

[cube]

This is not practical. They should sell a kit.

[Vylen]

This is not practical. They should sell a kit.

Yes and no...

If you buy a kit, it's on you if you ***** it up.

It's on them if they do - e.g. if they accidentally bend the pins on a new CPU, they have to get another one at no expense of the customer.

[cube]

Yes and no...

If you buy a kit, it's on you if you ***** it up.

It's on them if they do - e.g. if they accidentally bend the pins on a new CPU, they have to get another one at no expense of the customer.

So, are you going to ship your board from Australia?

[englishman]

Brilliant.

This could be useful once we know the prices and will get even more useful as time goes on and prices inevitably drop.

I thought they had different (what's the word? not BIOS, ROM) though between Nehalem and Westmere?

aah EFI ;)

[Umbongo]

Brilliant.

This could be useful once we know the prices and will get even more useful as time goes on and prices inevitably drop.

I thought they had different (what's the word? not BIOS, ROM) though between Nehalem and Westmere?

They will do a board swap, probably costs them $250 or so for the board. Don't expect this to be cheap. I'm curious to see how the price it and what sort of rebate you get on the processors you send them.

[jetjaguar]

jesus after hearing about this i should have kept my 2009 octad :(

[VirtualRain]

They will do a board swap, probably costs them $250 or so for the board. Don't expect this to be cheap. I'm curious to see how the price it and what sort of rebate you get on the processors you send them.

I believe when Anand replaced their CPU board (they bent some pins in the CPU socket trying to upgrade their 2009 Octo) it cost them $400 for the board.

It may be just cheaper to sell your system and buy one you want. I guess we'll know soon enough.

[Concorde Rules]

Sorry... I don't read it that way. I hope you're right, I just don't think you are.

It depends on if the EFI is on the slide in/out board or not.

If it isn't the 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 is limited to 3.33Ghz Quads and the 2010 can go to the 3.33Ghz 6-core chips.

Personally im keeping my 2009 until the SB 2011 MP comes out and buying a nearly new 3.33Ghz 2010 Mac Pro for 60% of new.

1st year of ownership is a killer :(

[englishman]

Personally im keeping my 2009 until the SB 2011 MP comes out and buying a nearly new 3.33Ghz 2010 Mac Pro for 60% of new.

1st year of ownership is a killer :(

Yeah. I like the latest and greatest but it doesn't feel much on an upgrade to me at the moment unless I could do it cheaply. 2x26 -> 2.8 or ?

[Transporteur]

Yeah. I like the latest and greatest but it doesn't feel much on an upgrade to me at the moment unless I could do it cheaply. 2x26 -> 2.8 or ?

That's exactly what I think. My current work, which is basically office, doesn't require more processor speed (2.26 octad) at all (my processors are always 100% idling), I'm constantly looking for a processor upgrade on ebay though. Maybe one can make a nice deal.
Since it is still dirt cheap to buy in the US (compared to Europe prices) the new OWC offer could be a reasonable option.

Would be even better if they found a way (firmware upgrade) to not replace the daughter board. Maybe they took the '10 firmware and put it on the old Mac Pro.
We'll see.

[Concorde Rules]

Ok, i've had Roman23 email me this info cos he is banned:

Given already that we now know that the 2010 mac pro is NOTHING more than a full breaded 2009 just with westmere firmware and new GPUS, I am happy to report that the following has now been confirmed:

THE EFI ROM IS ON THE BACKPLANE OF THE 2010.. BY REMOVING THE 09'S backplane board and replacing with the 2010's, THE 09 can now recognize westmere.. The processor tray was the same in the 09.. as westmere processors will fit in the same socket.. As you have noticed, the same part number for the single quad processor tray is the same for both 09 and 10..

SO, YES... THE 09 IS NOW A WESTMERE... This was also tested with the dual setup as well. So, there you have it. The EFI ROM is on the backplane board.. replace that, and you have the westmere..

The board can be had between 250-350 depending on the place you can find it. Applecomponents.com has the board for close to 300.. but it is WELL worth it for those not wanting to spend over 3000 or more for a "new" mac pro..

Yes, the processors are expensive, but at least the possibility of getting westmere from a 250-300 dollars board is NOW IN REACH for everyone.

Personally I can't be bothered with the faff, esp as I have a three year warranty!!

But it appears, the 2009 Quad can turn into a 2010 12-core!

[DualShock]

WOW!

Anyone wanna trade a 2009 for a 2008? :D

[Transporteur]

Personally I can't be bothered with the faff, esp as I have a three year warranty!!

But it appears, the 2009 Quad can turn into a 2010 12-core!

That's great news! Thank you very much.
But wouldn't the replacement of the main board (not a user serviceable item that's for sure) void the warranty?

[englishman]

Ok, i've had Roman23 email me this info cos he is banned:


Being nosy why'd he get banned?

[englishman]

Yes, 2 x 2.26 -> 2 x 2.4 just doesn't seem worth it for me +.14

What are the benefits of Westmere? I know I'm lazy and should look for threads but I'm quite relaxed in this nice warm one.

[Transporteur]

What are the benefits of Westmere?

Basically there are none if you keep the core count. There are some advancements in cache and instructions sets, nothing too fancy though. Not a noticeable speed bump.

If you upgrade, go for much higher clock speed (no need for a board replacement) or more cores (new board required). Both would be best of course ;)

[Concorde Rules]

Being nosy why'd he get banned?

No idea!

I think he only emailed me because I was interested in upgrading to the W3580 from the W3520 in my MP, but I decided against it.

£400 minimum when this plus another £400 or so can be used next year to get a 6 core with a 5870.

[R.OG]

If the EFI rom is on the backplane board how is OWC able to upgrade the 09 to support a Westmere Cpu by switching out the processor tray?

[englishman]

Basically there are none if you keep the core count. There are some advancements in cache and instructions sets, nothing too fancy though. Not a noticeable speed bump.

If you upgrade, go for much higher clock speed (no need for a board replacement) or more cores (new board required). Both would be best of course ;)

@Transporteur
I'm almost persuaded to keep mine then now and maybe just get a better graphics card for games and wait till next round.

Anyway I like Mary ****** Poppins, Red Buses, Blue Policeman ;)

[hyram]

More info: http://eshop.macsales.com/search/turnkey

Still implies to me that you won't be a able to go from Nehalem to Westmere.

[Concorde Rules]

More info: http://eshop.macsales.com/search/turnkey

Still implies to me that you won't be a able to go from Nehalem to Westmere.

Does that price include the CPUs!?

Thats a stupid amount of money, sell and buy new for that.

[Apple Corps]

Amen to that - $2600 and a warranty voiding hardware hack.

[ovrlrd]

Wow, those prices are just stupid. Nobody but complete idiots would pay that instead of buying a used/refurb or even brand new Mac Pro.

[Vylen]

Being nosy why'd he get banned?

He let his anger get the better of him one too any times, i think. At least, that was one of the reasons he was put in Time-Out before so I'm just assuming he was an unfortunate repeat offender.

As for the topic on hand and being lazy... What's the theoretical maximum awesome you can upgrade a 2009 to through OWC?

[mangrove]

Just so you guys know--OWC has the "cross ship" option where you get it from them and then send back whatever you've agreed to send back to them. In this way you can make the switch with very little down time.

OK, it is intended for an easy US swap, but just wanted to let you know they routinely do that. Of course, foreign shipments involve customs duties and overseas shipping costs, so I cannot comment on that situation.

[loungecorps]

So does that mean they keep your old CPU :confused:

No thanks i'll do it my self and sell the old one to off set the price:cool:

[2contagious]

It seems they have removed the offer? :confused:

[Honumaui]

It seems they have removed the offer? :confused:

still up ?

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor/

[Honumaui]

having Lloyd say its the slowest one IN PS tests is not going to help OWC sell them :)

[2contagious]

still up ?

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor/

Yeah, but it says coming soon.
The search (http://eshop.macsales.com/search/turnkey) does not find this anymore: http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=250000&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1283550887

It now lists iPod battery replacements :D

[loungecorps]

the original click link on page 1 still works

[linuxcooldude]

So does that mean they keep your old CPU :confused:

No thanks i'll do it my self and sell the old one to off set the price:cool:

I've seen where a tech website tried to do a dual cpu upgrade of a mac pro. It resulted in a lot of bent pins and having to buy a whole new processor tray. I believe dual cpu changeouts are a little more tricky then they look. They guarantee a successful upgrade without worry, if you try to do it yourself and fail.

[loungecorps]

I've seen where a tech website tried to do a dual cpu upgrade of a mac pro. It resulted in a lot of bent pins and having to buy a whole new processor tray. I believe dual cpu changeouts are a little more tricky then they look. They guarantee a successful upgrade without worry, if you try to do it yourself and fail.

I understand your concern messing up $1000 cpu would really suck, I don't plan on going from 1 cpu to dual, but I also enjoy taking risks & getting my hands dirty

[Spacedust]

How they are going to upgrade EFI on the board ???

[englishman]

... but I also enjoy taking risks & getting my hands dirty

Gardening in Chernobyl perhaps?

[Hellhammer]

OWC clearly states 3.33GHz 8-core is the maximum for 2009 Mac Pro

2009 Mac Pro

Upgrade options for up to 3.33GHz 8-Core

Model ID: MacPro4,1

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor/Upgrade

[2contagious]

wow are those prices ridiculous. If you already have a 6core 3.33 GHz, why can't they just use that one and add a second 3.33? :confused:

[Hellhammer]

wow are those prices ridiculous. If you already have a 6core 3.33 GHz, why can't they just use that one and add a second 3.33? :confused:

Because there is no socket for 2nd CPU. For dual CPU configurations, you need to use a motherboard with two CPU sockets and Xeon 5xxx series CPUs which costs more as they have dual QPI. To get 3.33GHz 12-core, you would need two X5680 which are 1663$ each

[SnoFlo]

Goodness gracious. I upgraded my 2.66 CPU to 3.33 for almost $1000. less, and I still have the original processor left over!

[oilfighter]

Goodness gracious. I upgraded my 2.66 CPU to 3.33 for almost $1000. less, and I still have the original processor left over!

was that just a straight up swapping of the CPU? Was it difficult? Tutorial? That price of OWC shattered my dream of buying a base quad, and upgrading to hex a year down the road.

[Umbongo]

was that just a straight up swapping of the CPU? Was it difficult? Tutorial? That price of OWC shattered my dream of buying a base quad, and upgrading to hex a year down the road.

There are tutorials on here. It is very simple. Especially if you have a copy of the Mac Pro 2009 tear down service manual.

[Honumaui]

I wonder what they are going to do with the extra CPU ? will your old become someones new ?
not accusing them just curious :)

as a business owner :) I say more power to them though for offering up something that might be a niche !!!!!

[SnoFlo]

was that just a straight up swapping of the CPU? Was it difficult? Tutorial? That price of OWC shattered my dream of buying a base quad, and upgrading to hex a year down the road.

Hi Oil,

Yes, very simple, on the single quad core that is. Just need to get the right torx driver and some Arctic Silver and you're good to go.

[SnoFlo]

I wonder what they are going to do with the extra CPU ? will your old become someones new ?
not accusing them just curious :)

as a business owner :) I say more power to them though for offering up something that might be a niche !!!!!

That is a very good question.

[Concorde Rules]

$1200 to upgrade my 2.66 to 3.33Ghz, which in UK money is £900 and for £1200 I can upgrade to a 3.33Ghz 6-core 2010.

I think I'll save my money :p

[Honumaui]

have to say I am curious about the niche ?

many people who will do this voiding the warranty and trying to make things go faster might do it themselves ?

the other side of people like in my industry of photography wont risk it and wont void the warranty ? they will just buy the model they need from the get go ?

if the target was say updating a Mac Pro 1,1 somehow I can see more takers ?

will be interesting to watch :) to bad their will be no way to know the outcome ! this is like seeing a fall preview for a cool show then they cancel it and you never know the outcome ;)

[GeneralAntilles]

have to say I am curious about the niche ?

many people who will do this voiding the warranty and trying to make things go faster might do it themselves ?


I'd say it's totally not worth it for the lidded CPUs on the 4-core Mac Pros. Those are fairly easy to swap out yourself, with fewer risks in general thanks to its much friendlier setup.

The 8-cores, however, are riskier business (see the AnandTech article (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2800/10) on the subject), so I can see the advantage there. However it seems like OWC may be pricing themselves out of the market based on the costs listed for the single-CPU units on their website right now.

[philipma1957]

have to say I am curious about the niche ?

many people who will do this voiding the warranty and trying to make things go faster might do it themselves ?

the other side of people like in my industry of photography wont risk it and wont void the warranty ? they will just buy the model they need from the get go ?

if the target was say updating a Mac Pro 1,1 somehow I can see more takers ?

will be interesting to watch :) to bad their will be no way to know the outcome ! this is like seeing a fall preview for a cool show then they cancel it and you never know the outcome ;)

I purchased a 2010 a few days ago. I grabbed the 2.8 quad. I will add applecare and the day apple care runs out I will decide if I want to upgrade cpu. I see a niche for a buyer of a 2009 used machine that is out of warranty.

[AZREOSpecialist]

If you actually read what it says at the OWC site, you cannot upgrade a 2009 Mac Pro to a 6 or 12 core. 2009 Pros are limited to 4-core and 8-core upgrades only. Upgrading a 2009 Quad to an 8-core 3.33 GHz will cost over $4,200 according to their configuration options! No 6-core or 12-core options for 2009 models, unfortunately.

[Eastend]

I still have a copy of Apple stores 2009 Quad prices, the upgrade from 2.66 to 3.33 GHz Quad was around $1,400 in Japan. So assuming you have the low end Quad it is just a little more than that to upgrade, around $1,500. It may not be a great deal right now, but if they still offer this a year and half from now, some people may jump on it.

With the dollars devaluation as compared with Yen it would cost me the same as people who live in the states to upgrade my low end 2009 Quad. But, I only thought about it for a few seconds, a little too expensive for me, besides I like new with all the bells and whistles that go with that. (USB 3, Sandy Bridge, a year and half from now, who knows what we will have, the middle of 2012, Beam me down.)

[AZREOSpecialist]

It's very easy to upgrade the CPU in the 2009 Quad. You can buy the retail CPU w/ lid and literally just swap them out. This is how I upgraded my 2009 Quad 2.6 GHz to a 3.33 GHz months before Apple listed that as an upgrade option. The new CPU cost $1,100 at the time, but I got back $250 when I sold my 2.6 GHz CPU on eBay, so the net cost of the upgrade was around $850 for an almost 30% improvement in performance. It was worth it for me. OWC is charging quite a bit more for this same upgrade.

The 2010 models are only marginally better than the 2009s, and 90% of the improvement comes from new 6-core and 12-core CPU options. I think we will see an entirely new architecture next year, and that will be worth waiting for. Those with 2009 Mac Pros have very little reason to upgrade.

[TheEvilZeppelin]

I'm pretty happy with my 2.8 I'll see what they have to offer in a year, the only think I'd like to do is up the RAM.

[matryxyan]

What do you think about this '09 upgrade: 2x26 -> 3.33 quad for less 1000$

It could be interesting, if someone looking for more performance, not for 3D or virtualization of course, but in case of photo or video work, what do you think ?

[Transporteur]

What do you think about this '09 upgrade: 2x26 -> 3.33 quad for less 1000$

It could be interesting, if someone looking for more performance, not for 3D or virtualization of course, but in case of photo or video work, what do you think ?

First you purchased the octad which was considerably more than the quad, than you pay again for a downgrade?

What makes it an even worse deal is that OWC keeps your dual CPU tray plus the CPUs (I recall that being stated on the site).

If you wanna do such an "upgrade", you can sell your current 5520s, buy the 3.33GHz quad and swap the dual CPU daughterboard for a single. That should cost close to nothing!

[Mac Hammer Fan]

I live in Europe and the shipping costs with these upgrades are 200 dollar, which is expensive. And I have to ship my processor to them too. I think I'd be better off with selling my MacPro 2.66 and buy a 6-core 3,66 in the future.