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Will I be able to upgrade my current nehalem mac pro to gulftowns once they come out?
- Thread starter beto2k7
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That depends on a lot of technical factors, but more importantly, are you prepared for the work involved?
Are you comfortable removing processors from their sockets, exercising anti-static precautions, and re-seating the Mac Pro's massive heat sink assembly?
Are you comfortable removing processors from their sockets, exercising anti-static precautions, and re-seating the Mac Pro's massive heat sink assembly?
I've heard the Mac Pro heatsink is tough to get off/on. I wouldn't think the socket removal/anti-static part would be that hard as long as the OP generally knows what he/she is doing.
Yeah, although I wouldn't recommend it for a first try!
Which brings up the issue of cost. Apple's price on these chips is lower than you can get retail, so if you were to sell the Mac Pro you might actually come out ahead. Right now a Xeon W5580 Nehalem 3.2GHz on Newegg is a staggering $1679.
Well I've replaced several CPUs on various server grade workstations all of them pc boxes and a simple bios update to the mainboard will do most of the times as long as the CPUs are the same socket. But with apple you never know. Gulftowns and nehalems share pretty much the same architechture
While the architecture will remain largely unchanged, there will be a die shrink was well as a microcode adjustment on the 2010 Mac Pros to accommodate the new chips. Its been said they will use the same socket, but as with the '06 MP's compatibility with the 4-core Xeon 5355s, the paper data is just anecdotal until someone does a real test.
5355s had the same die and didn't require new microcode though, the shift to 45nm did and none work on 1,1 or 2,1 Mac Pros. 32nm Xeons aren't drop in replacements on existing boards, hey need an update and the realistic chance of Apple giving one is 0%. As you say though nothing is really certain until someone tests it.
More than that at MSRP. Apple gets a discount and passes that on to customers. The actual retail of the new Xeons are much higher. The Xeon 3.33 for instance has a recommended MSRP of $1600. I imagine the newest hexacore will not be a whole lot different.
Source: Intel's Website
That is a Dual Processor XEON for the 8-core models! x55xx are DP, x35xx are single socket processors!
And no, Apple does not pass their discount on to the customers. The opposite is true! You pay considerably more for a processor upgrade from Apple than you would do if you get them elsewhere!
I think you are misunderstanding what is being said.
to upgrade a dual processor mac pro nehalem to gulftown if possible would cost AT LEAST 2500 dollars, at that point, sell the nehalem and get the 2010 mac pro which hopefully maintains current price points.... apple buys thousands of chips for a better price than you can buy two or one... so its cheaper to just get the whole new machine.
I understand your point and it would indeed be cheaper to buy a new machine. I just wanted to mention that Apple charges more for the CPU upgrades than the actual chips cost.
However, upgrading the current Pro to new Gulftown CPUs is highly unlikely.
Although the Nehalem and Gulftown chips use the same socket (1366) and chipset (ICH10), which means that it would be a drop in replacement, the firmware of the current Pro's would have to be upgraded.
I reckon that Apple won't provide such an upgrade as they want to sell new units.