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.
Can I install this in my 2010 Mac Pro Quad-core?
- Thread starter Jake0604
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
DPUser
macrumors 6502a
Might as well get this one... and make your quad an "Official" hex-core:
http://www.provantage.com/intel-bx80613w3680~7ITEP374.htm
http://www.provantage.com/intel-bx80613w3680~7ITEP374.htm
Do the comparison at Intel's website. Besides .13 gHz, the 3680 has much greater QPI speed (6.4 v. 4.8) for the same price, and is a well tested CPU with tons of benchmarks. Why would you go for a slower anything when upgrading, aside from budget or reliability? The 3680 offers the best of both.
Umbongo
macrumors 601
The big difference is price. Provantage seem to be the cheapest and have them priced as follows:
W3670: $586.98
W3680: $590.58
W3690: $1048.68
http://www.provantage.com/intel-bx80613w3680~7ITEP374.htm
A lot of places have the W3680 and W3690 at similar price points, it's been discussed previously by people upgrading. I guess it comes down to what you want, the stock feel of a 3.33Ghz or the maxed out feeling of the 3.46Ghz.
It is better, which is exactly why I bought the 3690 i/o 3680. Shop around and there are deals to be found on that chip too. Also note it isn't just clock speed, but QPI that is much faster on the 3680/90. I run apps that need every ounce of power I can get, and all of those little increases add up...until you hit the inevitable bottleneck for your specific machine/app(s). To the extent Geekbench and other benchmarks mean anything, it's been money well spent.