Mac Pro 1,1 CPU upgrade

[ohh epic fail]

considering what route i should take for my next upgrade. i have about $100 to spend and it's between used processors or a 120GB SSD.

two questions:
1. which should i worry about first?
2. will any CPU with the LGA771 socket work?

[JesterJJZ]

SDD gives you the most noticeable boost. It will feel like a brand new machine. Upgrading to quad cores will really only make a difference in render heavy tasks. It cut my AE renders in half.

[tousmic88]

Xeon dual core 3ghz or Xeon Quad core (4mo cache an sfb 1333 mhz) 2.33 ghz, 2 66 ghz (65eur an ebay)& 3ghz (high price).

[teameurox]

I just finished my install in my 1,1 of dual x5355 turning mine into a 8core 2,1 essiential I got my mine shipped for 99 bucks on ebay and am very pleased

[666sheep]

Originally Posted by ohh epic fail

considering what route i should take for my next upgrade. i have about $100 to spend and it's between used processors or a 120GB SSD.

two questions:
1. which should i worry about first?
2. will any CPU with the LGA771 socket work?

What software you're using? Check if it will benefit more from higher core count or faster file access (and read/write speed). For $100 you can't have both of these.

[nilk]

With a bit of luck and deal hunting, you can do both for $100. I found my pair of E5345's on Ebay for $18 (including shipping). I've seen 120GB SSD's for <= $80. Might need to factor in a mounting kit into the cost, but I can't imagine it will be that much.

The E5345's aren't the fastest possible CPUs you can get for these machines, though.

The SSD will make a bigger difference in general usage, and will be much easier to install. Of course it depends on your workload, but the SSD would probably be the better upgrade. I actually don't have an SSD in my Mac Pro yet, but if a 120GB system drive was big enough for my needs, I would have done this long ago.

[spoonie1972]

Originally Posted by teameurox

I just finished my install in my 1,1 of dual x5355 turning mine into a 8core 2,1 essiential I got my mine shipped for 99 bucks on ebay and am very pleased

Great Price! I recently paid $150 shipped. Very happy with results.

With that said, to the original poster, you *may* notice more improvement day to day, depending on what software you use, with a speedy SSD.

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by ohh epic fail

considering what route i should take for my next upgrade. i have about $100 to spend and it's between used processors or a 120GB SSD.

two questions:
1. which should i worry about first?
2. will any CPU with the LGA771 socket work?

SSD unless you do a lot of encoding. SSD will allow you to boot up faster, load applications faster, write and read from the hard drive faster, etc. etc. etc. The processor bump will only help you in processor intensive tasks, so if you feel like your Mac Pro isn't processing stuff fast enough, then go CPU. Otherwise SSD. You'll also need some kind of mount for the SSD into the Mac Pro sleds. I went with an Icy Dock from amazon for about $15 for mine.

[ohh epic fail]

i ended up going with the ocz vertex 3 120 GB SSD and a cheap 2.5/3.5 adapter. i decided i'm gonna hold off til the x5365 come down in price a bit more or i can afford them, that way i can step up to 3GHz from the 2.66 i've got as well as going to 8 cores from 4. the CPU isn't necessary as i don't do any gaming or anything, but i do run logic pro 9 and when i get several plugins going it starts to bog down a bit but the SSD should help with it at least a little bit.

[666sheep]

Originally Posted by ohh epic fail

i ended up going with the ocz vertex 3 120 GB SSD and a cheap 2.5/3.5 adapter. i decided i'm gonna hold off til the x5365 come down in price a bit more or i can afford them, that way i can step up to 3GHz from the 2.66 i've got as well as going to 8 cores from 4. the CPU isn't necessary as i don't do any gaming or anything, but i do run logic pro 9 and when i get several plugins going it starts to bog down a bit but the SSD should help with it at least a little bit.

Don't wait for 5365 price drop, not worth it.
Pair of 5355s ~$100, pair of 5365s ~$360.
Less than 30% performance difference for more than 300% cost.
When you'll get another $100 to spend, get yourself nice pair of 5355s.

[ohh epic fail]

Originally Posted by 666sheep

Don't wait for 5365 price drop, not worth it.
Pair of 5355s ~$100, pair of 5365s ~$360.
Less than 30% performance difference for more than 300% cost.
When you'll get another $100 to spend, get yourself nice pair of 5355s.

alright, thanks for putting that into perspective for me i hadn't taken that into consideration. it'll probably be a while before i can get it anyway so maybe a good deal will pop up.

[tousmic88]

High difference to Quad Core 2.66 ghz and Quad Core 3 ghz ? (120 eur vs 360 eur)....

[kenetic]

SSD price had drop alot lately. I would go for it. Replacing a CPU is a bit of a hassle for me. I might mess up the CPU installation and screw up the whole system.

[Colpeas]

Originally Posted by tousmic88

High difference to Quad Core 2.66 ghz and Quad Core 3 ghz ? (120 eur vs 360 eur)....

No, not really worth it. You can find a matched pair of X5355 SLAEG for less than $80 incl. shipping, whereas X5365 are always >$150 a piece. The difference is approximately 20-25% when paired.

It will take 5365s a few more years to become affordable.
---

Just today I purchased a pair of E5345 SLAEJ for $27 and a pair of X5355 SLAEG for $59 and now I need to decide which ones will I keep and which ones will I let go. What I really like about 5345s is lower wattage, which means less heat and quieter fans, but on the other hand, 5355s are about 10% more powerful. Tempting...

I don't know what the hell would I use the extra power for, though...