CPU upgrade for Mac Pro 1,1 5150 to 5345

[haddockichi]

I've got a 1,1 mac pro - 2 x 2.66ghz 5150 dual core xeons, SSD for booting and 32gb ram. I've always been happy enough with it, apart from needing a new logic board recently.

I also have a hackintosh - a Dell 490 with 2 x 2.33 5345 quad core Xeons which I use intermittently, just to see what the state of play is with the hack scene.

I've noticed that the hack (noisy, greedy, hot and brutish - no finesse!) rips DVDs using handbrake much quicker than the Mac Pro, so I propose to do a processor swap and put the 8 core 5345s into the Mac Pro, and the dual cores into the Dell. So, less speed, but more CPU bandwidth in the Mac Pro, but as I am about to embark on moving my dvd collection to disc, it would make sense.

I''ve had a search of the forum, and it seems this generation of Macs aren't that fussy about the speed of the chips as long as they are clovertowns so I should be able to fit the 5345s with no problems?

My question is - is it a worthwhile upgrade/crossgrade? What would you do in my shoes?

//R

 

[juanm]

I swapped my 5150s yesterday with two 5355s and so far, so good...

There are already threads about this, although I'm not sure about the x5345s...

 

[666sheep]

If your goal is to have more cores to use with multithreaded apps - do it. X5345 will work and it has better performance per watt than 5150.

 

[bearcatrp]

Do it. You wont regret it. I did my 2 ghz quad to 2.33 octo and made a big difference with handbrake. Use smcfancontrol to bump up the fans when needed. Sold it later for a 2008 mac pro. Not that hard to do. Patience and it will be done. Let us know how it goes. Do a benchmark test before and after.

 

[haddockichi]

Brilliant, thats a no-brainer then. I'll set to and do the swap this weekend. I'll do some benchmarking beforehand and let you all know how it went.

An interesting point about the new processors being more efficient - I'll start tracking the existing CPUs temperature variations now, and see what the differences are once the new ones go in.

Thanks all...


//R

 

[jsurpless]

I'd like to see your CPU temps on the existing 5150s... mine idle around 125F because 10.5.3 and later turned off the low-power idle...

I wonder if it would apply to a CPU upgrade...

 

[haddockichi]

At the moment, with an ambient temperature of 23c and a load of between 20-25% :

CPU A heatsink = 28c
CPU B heatsink = 30c

Core 1 = 35c
Core 2 = 37c
Core 3 = 31c
Core 4 = 34c

SL 10.6.4 - hope that helps...

//R

 

[jsurpless]

Thanks for the info...

Interesting that your temps are so much lower than mine - at the moment, one might attribute it to my higher ambient (30C) but what's odd for me is that my CPU temps are relatively constant... even in the winter when my ambient is around your current, my temps remain the same...

I tracked it down to my CPU power draw... after 10.5.3, they draw around 30W at idle - this doesn't really change when I do things either... beforehand, it was around 10W or so...

I'm curious what your power draw is at idle?

Thanks!

-Justin

 

[666sheep]

My MP 1.1 with 5150s draws at idle 10 - 11W for each CPU.
Temps (idle, in C):

Ambient 28
Core1 32
Core2 31
Core3 31
Core4 31

OS 10.5.8

 

[Spacedust]

I was switching in the old days from 2xIntel Xeon 5130 2.0 GHz Dual Core to 2xIntel Xeon E5345 2.33 Quad Core in Mac Pro 2006 without any problems. Do it - cooling is not a problem !

 

[Spacedust]

My MP 1.1 with 5150s draws at idle 10 - 11W for each CPU.
Temps (idle, in C):

Ambient 28
Core1 32
Core2 31
Core3 31
Core4 31

OS 10.5.8

My current E5462's even less 9-10W in idle.

 

[jsurpless]

My MP 1.1 with 5150s draws at idle 10 - 11W for each CPU.
Temps (idle, in C):

Ambient 28
Core1 32
Core2 31
Core3 31
Core4 31

OS 10.5.8

What is wrong with my machine then? Seriously... 10.5.2, I draw 8-10W idle... >= 10.5.3 and BOOM => 30W at idle...

I tried talking with Apple last year when I first discovered this but nothing came of it...

It's frustrating because of the extra heat (not to mention extra electric $$$) it puts out...

P.S.

Here are my temps now at 2% load

CPU1 = 53C
CPU2 = 52C
CPU3 = 53C
CPU4 = 50C

CPU A = 29.1W
CPU B = 30.6W

 

[Spacedust]

What is wrong with my machine then? Seriously... 10.5.2, I draw 8-10W idle... >= 10.5.3 and BOOM => 30W at idle...

I tried talking with Apple last year when I first discovered this but nothing came of it...

It's frustrating because of the extra heat (not to mention extra electric $$$) it puts out...

P.S.

Here are my temps now at 2% load

CPU1 = 53C
CPU2 = 52C
CPU3 = 53C
CPU4 = 50C

CPU A = 29.1W
CPU B = 30.6W

Don't worry my HD4870 is taking 90W in idle. 32 GB RAM (8 modules) is taking 2x29W in idle/load. Switch to Snow Leopard and try again. Upgrade is really cheap.

 

[jsurpless]

Don't worry my HD4870 is taking 90W in idle. 32 GB RAM (8 modules) is taking 2x29W in idle/load. Switch to Snow Leopard and try again. Upgrade is really cheap.

Sorry, should have mentioned I've been running SL since it was released... am currently at 10.6.4...

I'm not overly concerned by the total power usage... I recognize that I have 4GB of RAM in here and if I get a HD4870 or whatever that power use will go up... my concern is why through a mere software revision, my CPU power usage triples... particularly, since the level to which it triples is the level it goes to in 10.5.2 when it's doing things (i.e, not idle)...

It makes me think that some sort of low power idle has been disabled for me, but not apparently others?!?!?

 

[audio_inside]

I swapped the dual-core 5130's that came in my 2006 Mac1,1 for quad-core 5355's ($155 each on eBay, and the seller gave me an additional $150 credit for the old CPUs) and I've had great performance from them.

I didn't watch before/after CPU temps but I haven't perceived any additional fan activity; on the other hand, I was only bumping the speed up to 2.66.

But I have definitely perceived the increase in performance, and the benchmark scores were of course more than doubled. I did the upgrade mostly to accelerate Aperture and it definitely works all 8 cores when doing big batch processes like exports.

The only hard part of the operation was buying the VERY LONG hex key needed for dis/assembly of my Mac for the install.

 

[jsurpless]

I swapped the dual-core 5130's that came in my 2006 Mac1,1 for quad-core 5355's ($155 each on eBay, and the seller gave me an additional $150 credit for the old CPUs) and I've had great performance from them.

If I search on eBay right now for 5355, I get results of around $700...