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Current Mac Pro - Swap out Quad Core for an i7?
- Thread starter rmwebs
- Start date
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indeed, exciting times
"Mac Bios is now at versions 0.8b and i finished tests on 0.8c, it lacks tests on windows. About the lacking motherboards:
* DS3 will be included on the next row of releases
* The next release will include X58 bioses (at least for GA)
* 0.8a includes vanilla audio for ALC889a boards
* 0.8b disables TCPA for G4, G5 and UD4P
* 0.8c starts the 0.8 job of device tree organization"
Theoretically, once this is finalized, one could buy a i7 PC, flash the BIOS, and then... Just pop in a Snow Leopard disc, install... And it's done. Everything working. Native, no kexts, no problems.
"Mac Bios is now at versions 0.8b and i finished tests on 0.8c, it lacks tests on windows. About the lacking motherboards:
* DS3 will be included on the next row of releases
* The next release will include X58 bioses (at least for GA)
* 0.8a includes vanilla audio for ALC889a boards
* 0.8b disables TCPA for G4, G5 and UD4P
* 0.8c starts the 0.8 job of device tree organization"
Theoretically, once this is finalized, one could buy a i7 PC, flash the BIOS, and then... Just pop in a Snow Leopard disc, install... And it's done. Everything working. Native, no kexts, no problems.
So, with flashed BIOS, could you use ANY GPU or would it still have to be GPU that is supported by OS X or flashed etc?
Upgrade MacPro
I have an eight core 2.8GHz Xeon.
I just have a hard time imagining in the next 4-6 years needing a much faster machine.
How fast are you going to browse and read email?
On a serious note, with the 8 cores I have a difficult time keeping them busy.
I have only been successful keeping all cores busy and using about 6 GB of memory when doing h264 encode.
Other than that I can't force more memory or CPU utilization.
I have an eight core 2.8GHz Xeon.
I just have a hard time imagining in the next 4-6 years needing a much faster machine.
How fast are you going to browse and read email?
On a serious note, with the 8 cores I have a difficult time keeping them busy.
I have only been successful keeping all cores busy and using about 6 GB of memory when doing h264 encode.
Other than that I can't force more memory or CPU utilization.
Now that I believe would require some time... Specially since we don't have native (ie not modified drivers or files) GTX 400s or HD 5800s support, yet.
How far out do you suspect we are for this being finalized?
I would already have a hackintosh if this were the case!
I can't help noticing you mentioned for all Gigabyte X58 boards. Yet you said in a previous post in this thread that this fix would apply to ALL (including boards from other manufacturers, like Asus) X58 boards.
Any kind of clarification or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?
It is not a "fix". It is an major editing of the BIOS firmware. It is something that is individual to every BIOS version, manufacturer, and board. Also I am not in any part of this project, just quoting Cartri. But yes, he has stated that eventually he will proceed to other boards.
I'll take a look. Thanks for the link.
It would require time, and access to the boards though. So it may or may not happen, as I presume cartri isn't being sponsored by anyone. Others could help, but that's a tad unreliable (number of volunteers, skills may not be up to it, available time by those who could produce results, and what board/s they posses).
I'm sure there's a few interested in ASUS and EVGA boards for starters.
I'll take a look. Thanks for the link.
It would require time, and access to the boards though. So it may or may not happen, as I presume cartri isn't being sponsored by anyone. Others could help, but that's a tad unreliable (number of volunteers, skills may not be up to it, available time by those who could produce results, and what board/s they posses).
I'm sure there's a few interested in ASUS and EVGA boards for starters.
Yeah I'm interested specially in Asus. My custom build is already operational, but it would be good if I could also boot SL in there.
I use an ASUS board as well. Some have Vanilla/EFI emulation methods pretty well hammered out, depending on the exact board. So give Insanelymac a thorough look, and see what pertains to your board.
For example, there's no kext to get the SAS controller on my board working, but I don't care about it (don't use it). Everything else has been made operational under OS X last I checked.
Well the thing is, my board is the newer P6X58D-E. It has the 6Gb/s SATA ports and USB 3.0. It's like the Premium version, but this one has better and updated chips for USB 3 and SATA 6Gb/s. So, I don't know if the kexts are ready for that. I'll go over and peek see if I find what I need.
Hopefully they are, or worst case, the parts are similar enough to earlier parts (i.e. same manufacturer) that existing kext files will work (even if there's an artificial throughput limit).
Basically, hoping that bacwards compatibility and the same chip maker will allow you a solution if the newer kext's need to be written.
Good luck.
... work (even if there's an artificial throughput limit).
Good luck.
Yeah, I know. USB 3 and SATA 3 speeds will be capped to 500 MB/s (instead of 600 MB/s on SATA 3 and the 625 MB/s of USB 3.0), it's a trade off for early tech, but I ensure motherboard interoperability for extra time
Also thanks!
Hi,
How about put one i7 (yes, one cpu say i7-975, not two) on dual mac pro. In this case, will it work?
No because it has only one QPI and two QPIs are required for DP system. You can only use Xeon 5xxx CPUs in DP systems