Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro processor upgrade question

HyperX13

HyperX13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 3, 2009
351
7
Guys

I have an HP 6600 workstation with dual 3.0 Gigahertz 5450 Xeon processors (quad core each). If I buy a new Mac Pro - lowest end model the one with 2.26 processor (1 processor), would I be able to move my Xeon chips from the HP onto the Mac Pro? Would it work?

The HP was my gaming rig, but to be honest, I just want a killer Mac Pro and want to kill off the last windows computer. Windows 7 has sealed the deal in turning me off.

Thanks!
 
Nope. The only Mac Pro they may work on is the 2008 version, but I've never seen report of anyone try the 1333MHz FSB ones rather than the 1600MHz versions which Apple used.

Also the single processor 2009 Mac Pro uses a single socket board, there is no expandability on it.
 
With a 2008 Mac Pro this should work. (I wouldn't swap the CPUs on a Mac that's still under warranty anyway.)

As for the different FSB: I used a pair of X5350s (FSB1066) in my Mac Pro 1,1 (FSB1333) for a while and they worked flawlessly.
As far as I know it's never a problem to put a CPU into a socket that supports a higher FSB than the CPU has.
 
thanks much!! I wonder if I would see a speed increase if I were to buy a new mac pro, single processor vs my dual processor 2006 mac pro. Right now xbench is giving me 189 score which is 10 above my 13.3 mac book pro.
 
HyperX13 said:
thanks much!! I wonder if I would see a speed increase if I were to buy a new mac pro, single processor vs my dual processor 2006 mac pro. Right now xbench is giving me 189 score which is 10 above my 13.3 mac book pro.
Click to expand...
That's going to depend on what your doing with it.

If it's single threaded applications, raw clock speed is needed for performance, but if the app can use the extra cores, then the more the merrier. :)
 
nanofrog said:
That's going to depend on what your doing with it.

If it's single threaded applications, raw clock speed is needed for performance, but if the app can use the extra cores, then the more the merrier. :)
Click to expand...

Have to remember that the current processors are two architecture refinements and a die shrink from the 2006 Macs. A 2.66GHz Nehalem will outperform a 3GHz Woodcrest across the board, but not by a huge amount 5-20% on general stuff, 50-200% on more specialised things. A 2.93GHz would be more of an upgrade though.
 
Umbongo said:
Have to remember that the current processors are two architecture refinements and a die shrink from the 2006 Macs. A 2.66GHz Nehalem will outperform a 3GHz Woodcrest across the board, but not by a huge amount 5-20% on general stuff, 50-200% on more specialised things. A 2.93GHz would be more of an upgrade though.
Click to expand...
I realize that, but even the Nehalem architecture, isn't that different when you get to the cores. It's what's around it that changed (branch prediction, some new instructions (IIRC to the Woodcrest's), QPI, DDR3, IMC,...).

It can make a difference, but seems far more "special case" for general use IMO, for now. But for usage that actually uses the improved bandwidths, it does (mostly server from what I'm aware of, and that's even been admitted by Intel). :)
 
any ideas where i can buy a new mac pro 2008 then? is there a particular manufacturing number that i can search on to buy it please?
 
HyperX13 said:
any ideas where i can buy a new mac pro 2008 then? is there a particular manufacturing number that i can search on to buy it please?
Click to expand...
Look for used and refurbished. OFTEN, as they come and go really fast.

Here's Apple's refurbished Mac Pro's (currently, only the 3.2GHz model is listed for 2008 models). It's the same cost from Apple as the current '09 Octad base model (2.26GHz). :rolleyes:

There have been better deals, but as the '09's have been out awhile, the stock is really thin now (many opted to buy '08's, given the '09's pricing). The '08's are also much better for internal hardware RAID setups (Apple's RAID Pro card is total crap).

Other places to check:
BHphotovideo.com
MacMall.com
Powermax.com
eBay
Craig's List

Good luck. :)
 
If you are considering the 2008 to put your processors in consider the following:

If you go for a single 2.8GHz quad you will need another $100 heatsink. You can find links at the bottom of one of the mac pro hardware guides for this site.

You are probably better off going with one of the 3.2GHz refurbs Nanofrog linked to and cashing in on your HP system rather than transplanting 3GHz 1333MHz FSB processors to replace 2.8GHz 1600MHz FSB processors.

Looking at eBay you can get over $1,000 for two Xeon E5450s alone.
 
Umbongo said:
You are probably better off going with one of the 3.2GHz refurbs Nanofrog linked to and cashing in on your HP system rather than transplanting 3GHz 1333MHz FSB processors to replace 2.8GHz 1600MHz FSB processors.

Looking at eBay you can get over $1,000 for two Xeon E5450s alone.
Click to expand...
It makes the most sense to me. Dropping back to the 1333MHz FSB models seems like a step backwards for all that effort.

I'd sell the old system/CPU's, and put that towards the purchase price of the 3.2GHz '08 MP.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back