Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2008 2.8Ghz Mac Pro - is it possible to upgrade processors?
- Thread starter kultschar
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
X5482 is the highest you can use, it's 3.2GHz quad core, the same as Apple offered as BTO. Make sure to get a pair with C0 stepping, i.e. SLANZ version.
I'm happy at the moment with my 2.8ghz, but i'm wondering how much faster that really is. Probably not worth it.
Yeah your prob right!! Im on the lookout for a decent priced Mac Pro (UK/Europe) hence was wondering if in the future it can be bumped up though it would more then fill my needs (media server and Logic Pro)
How do you like yours?
I have the Octo 2.8 from 2008 and I can tell you it still does a fantastic job, you won't need to upgrade for a while. They're still fantastic performers. I will say I don't use Logic (CS4/5 and Final Cut for me mostly) but it still cooks.
As far as the media server that is not going to tax any system. I have a G4Quicksilver Power Mac from 10 years ago that I bought for $75 recently and put a Sata card and 10.5 on with about 6 TB's of hardrive space and it serves media to multiple rooms at once with no problem (all the way up to 1080p Blu-Ray Content)
Unless you find a smoking deal on a pair of compatible X5482s and appropriate heat sinks to go with them (they use different heat sinks than the 2.8/3.0 CPUs, I think), it's probably not worth the money or hassle. These chips still grab around $1,200 each on eBay.
Agreed, it's not really worth upgrading the processors on a 2008 Mac Pro (unless it's a single quad core version). The 2006 dual quad core Mac Pros are far more commonly upgraded since it's a fairly significant jump going from quad to octo core compare to going from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz.