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Adding a processor to a Mac Pro

quill17

quill17

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I'm looking at buying a Mac Pro in the near future, but don't want to pay 2799.00. If I go with the single processor option can I add another processor down the road and is it easy to install?


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:apple: MBP 15" 2.4GHz, :apple: Mac Mini 2GHz, :apple: 20" Cinema Display
 
You could search, finding dozens of threads on this topic.

All roads lead to yes.

WAIT UNTIL THE NEHALEM MAC PROS COME OUT. Not only will the current model be cheaper, you might be able to swing an eight-core current model for the price of a four-core current.
 
There are links to Mac Pro heatsinks and it's part number on the Mac Pro resource guide that is linked at the top of this forum. You aren't likely to find them on eBay.
 
Umbongo said:
There are links to Mac Pro heatsinks and it's part number on the Mac Pro resource guide that is linked at the top of this forum. You aren't likely to find them on eBay.
Click to expand...

There are "xeon" processors for sale on eBay... not what you'd install in a Mac. Not sure what they are, they claim to have 1 Mb cache... and Harpertown have 12 Mb cache so... not sure wtf those are on eBay.

I was thinking about upgrading my Mac Pro (single 2.8 Ghz Xeon) since I saved a little by not getting a dual... now I see cost of just a single processor and heatsink is about twice what I saved by not having it installed, argh. Hopefully prices will drop with the Nehalems.
 
Supaklaw said:
There are "xeon" processors for sale on eBay... not what you'd install in a Mac. Not sure what they are, they claim to have 1 Mb cache... and Harpertown have 12 Mb cache so... not sure wtf those are on eBay.

I was thinking about upgrading my Mac Pro (single 2.8 Ghz Xeon) since I saved a little by not getting a dual... now I see cost of just a single processor and heatsink is about twice what I saved by not having it installed, argh. Hopefully prices will drop with the Nehalems.
Click to expand...

If you search everyday you may see some 2.8GHz Harpertowns for lower than retail. Just bare in mind that nearly all of them are in Mac Pros so there isn't a big supply out there. It's probably cheaper to sell your Mac Pro and buy someone else's used one if you need 8 cores.
 
I certainly don't "need" the extra processor, just figured it'd be easy enough to upgrade at a price relative to the reduced cost of not having it installed when I bought it, which I think was a $500 savings for not including it.

Heat sinks run $90-110, the 2.8 Ghz price off the Intel price list is around $700, but off MacPalace was around $1100. I think doubling my RAM would be a better investment. In 3 years I'd consider upgrading the processor to stay in line with overall upgrades... and also I'm saving on electricity with the single processor so until I'm crunching video I'll live. 🙂
 
Supaklaw said:
I certainly don't "need" the extra processor, just figured it'd be easy enough to upgrade at a price relative to the reduced cost of not having it installed when I bought it, which I think was a $500 savings for not including it.

Heat sinks run $90-110, the 2.8 Ghz price off the Intel price list is around $700, but off MacPalace was around $1100. I think doubling my RAM would be a better investment. In 3 years I'd consider upgrading the processor to stay in line with overall upgrades... and also I'm saving on electricity with the single processor so until I'm crunching video I'll live. 🙂
Click to expand...

You'll notice 8 cores more than extra RAM..maybe..
 
dr. shdw said:
You'll notice 8 cores more than extra RAM..maybe..
Click to expand...

Crunching Video using programs that can avail themselves of all cores yes.
In terms of avoiding beachball action and stuttering of G5 days no.
Overall responsiveness requires better disk performance. A highspeed SSD Drive or Hardware Raid setup would go a long way towards really tapping into xeon potential.
 
Don't do it. Just wait for the new ones to come out.

The only time a mac is worth buying is the week/month it comes out, or if you need it to make money with.

So just wait for the new ones, get one of those, or buy one of the current models for a lot less than you'll pay now.
 
oban14 said:
Don't do it. Just wait for the new ones to come out.

The only time a mac is worth buying is the week/month it comes out, or if you need it to make money with.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's right on. Nehalem is supposed to be a major upgrade in terms of speed, aided with new hyperthreading capabilities and improved bus.

I need a Mac Pro for pro media/web work so I went all out a few weeks ago. It took me a couple of weeks to fine tune it, add additional RAM, HDD's, video card, load & config new CS4 and VM... If I had decided to wait for Nehalem, I would have been looking at getting up and running earliest being mid-Feb and as late as end of April. That kind of delay and uncertainty just does not make business sense. Besides, MP's resell value is generally quite good, esp if you couple it with Apple Care.😉

If you have no special "need" at the moment, wait and see if you want to get a 2008 8-core at a good deal or pay a premium for that spanking new Nehalem. A word of warning though: new addons, particularly RAM, will cost you a good chunk of change, compared to the current RAM. (RAM pricing tend to go inverse bell curve: expensive when new, price-falling once common, and finally expensive again when phasing out and rarer to find.) Also, some die-hard fanboy might decide to sell off a nicely loaded 2008 8-core if Nehalem turns out to be at least 1.5X better in overall performance!😀

Start checking out Craigslist, ebay, etc for deals.😉
 
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