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MP 1,1-5,1 My first cheese grater - Mid 2012 5,1 - what should I do first? And other questions

B

BeatCrazy

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2011
5,192
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Damn you Luke Miani! I really have no need for an Intel Mac, but when I saw this machine listed locally, I could not realistically say no. It's in near-mint condition, I paid $200.

Specs:
  • 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon
  • 16GB 1066MHz (4x4GB, though stickers show 1333MHz)
  • 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD
  • HD 5770 1GB GPU
  • I see a Wi-Fi/BT card in there
This came from a production environment, so likely few upgrades were done. This will not be a daily driver for me. I just wanted to play around with this gen MP as I've never owned one before.

A few questions:
  • Should I re-paste the CPU?
  • I have a spare 5700XT Anniversary Edition, should I try to use it? I'll need some guidance on power connectors.
  • I've done OCLP on another Mac, will probably try with this one. Will I need to use a USB 3.0 hub? I was thinking about going with Ventura.
  • Other recommendations?
 
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To answer your questions:
  1. If you want to, you can repaste it.
  2. Yes. You'll need to do the "Pixlas mod" if you want this GPU to work.
  3. Yes, you need a USB 3.0 card, but I'd hold off on Ventura for now. Monterey's perfectly fine on those machines.
  4. Maybe upgrade the CPU to an X5690, if you want the best possible performance.
 
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BeatCrazy said:
Damn you Luke Miani! I really have no need for an Intel Mac, but when I saw this machine listed locally, I could not realistically say no. It's in near-mint condition, I paid $200.

Specs:
  • 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon
  • 16GB 1066MHz (4x4GB, though stickers show 1333MHz)
  • 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD
  • HD 5770 1GB GPU
  • I see a Wi-Fi/BT card in there
This came from a production environment, so likely few upgrades were done. This will not be a daily driver for me. I just wanted to play around with this gen MP as I've never owned one before.

A few questions:
  • Should I re-paste the CPU?
  • I have a spare 5700XT Anniversary Edition, should I try to use it? I'll need some guidance on power connectors.
  • I've done OCLP on another Mac, will probably try with this one. Will I need to use a USB 3.0 hub? I was thinking about going with Ventura.
  • Other recommendations?
Click to expand...
1) Depends, I will simply run Prime95, and check how's the CPU temperature. For a good thermal paste, you should see the CPU core temperature rise slowly. In my case, it takes ~200 seconds to reach the max stabilised temperature.

If you can see that the CPU temperature go up slowly, but not something like jump to 85°C in 20 seconds. Then I will say most likely the thermal paste is still good. And don't try to fix anything that's aren't break.

2) Only do this after you upgrade macOS. Otherwise, most likely you won't get anything display on the screen. To Power a 5700XT, you may consider "Dual mini 6pin to single 8pin + single 8pin FEMALE to dual 6+2 pin". The end result should looks like this.
forums.macrumors.com

How to - downvolt a Radeon VII

Can. However, my recommendation is balancing the demand between the mini 6pins. If you re-read my post #35 again, you should able the see that the power draw via each mini 6pin is very balanced. The reason is because I use a cable combination to balance the demand. "DUAL mini 6pin -> Single...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

3) My suggestion is avoid Ventura on cMP at this moment. Monterey (unpatched) via OpenCore can do very well on cMP. You may try that first.

4) Check your cMP's BootROM version now. It should be 144.0.0.0.0, if not update it
forums.macrumors.com

MacPro5,1: BootROM thread | 144.0.0.0.0

For MacPro5,1 BootROM upgrades, please read the first post of the thread below to know how to do the firmware upgrade: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave-bootrom-upgrade-instructions-thread.2142418/ For MP4,1 to MP5,1 cross firmware flashing...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

Use the Macschrauber RomDumper to check if there is anything danger in the cMP's BootROM
forums.macrumors.com

Healthy NVRAM normal behaviour on 4,1->5,1 machines

Macschrauber's Rom Dump I needed to encrypt the disk image as DropBox has flagged it for containing Flashrom. The password is rom. What's new in the latest versions: Update from 20-2-2024 -> checking Fsys for missing items or wrong order sometimes they get into the wrong order or items...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

Then flash it with EnableGop. So that your 5700XT can display boot screen on the cMP. This will make your life much easier. Especially if you want to install OCLP.
 
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h9826790 said:
1) Depends, I will simply run Prime95, and check how's the CPU temperature. For a good thermal paste, you should see the CPU core temperature rise slowly. In my case, it takes ~200 seconds to reach the max stabilised temperature.

If you can see that the CPU temperature go up slowly, but not something like jump to 85°C in 20 seconds. Then I will say most likely the thermal paste is still good. And don't try to fix anything that's aren't break.

2) Only do this after you upgrade macOS. Otherwise, most likely you won't get anything display on the screen. To Power a 5700XT, you may consider "Dual mini 6pin to single 8pin + single 8pin FEMALE to dual 6+2 pin". The end result should looks like this.
forums.macrumors.com

How to - downvolt a Radeon VII

Can. However, my recommendation is balancing the demand between the mini 6pins. If you re-read my post #35 again, you should able the see that the power draw via each mini 6pin is very balanced. The reason is because I use a cable combination to balance the demand. "DUAL mini 6pin -> Single...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

3) My suggestion is avoid Ventura on cMP at this moment. Monterey (unpatched) via OpenCore can do very well on cMP. You may try that first.

4) Check your cMP's BootROM version now. It should be 144.0.0.0.0, if not update it
forums.macrumors.com

MacPro5,1: BootROM thread | 144.0.0.0.0

For MacPro5,1 BootROM upgrades, please read the first post of the thread below to know how to do the firmware upgrade: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave-bootrom-upgrade-instructions-thread.2142418/ For MP4,1 to MP5,1 cross firmware flashing...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

Use the Macschrauber RomDumper to check if there is anything danger in the cMP's BootROM
forums.macrumors.com

Healthy NVRAM normal behaviour on 4,1->5,1 machines

Macschrauber's Rom Dump I needed to encrypt the disk image as DropBox has flagged it for containing Flashrom. The password is rom. What's new in the latest versions: Update from 20-2-2024 -> checking Fsys for missing items or wrong order sometimes they get into the wrong order or items...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

Then flash it with EnableGop. So that your 5700XT can display boot screen on the cMP. This will make your life much easier. Especially if you want to install OCLP.
Click to expand...
Excellent 'starter guide' for a cMP, thank you!

This is exactly why I spent the $200.. I'll have a few hours of 'entertainment' over the next several weekends fooling around and learning as I follow your recommendations above.

Regarding the GPU.. why I do read about people putting waaaay more powerful GPUs than what would be supported by a dual-mini-6pin adapter? Are they ripping out the OEM PSU and putting in something more traditional + Mac-specific adapters?
 
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BeatCrazy said:
Excellent 'starter guide' for a cMP, thank you!

This is exactly why I spent the $200.. I'll have a few hours of 'entertainment' over the next several weekends fooling around and learning as I follow your recommendations above.
Click to expand...
That's because @h9826790 actually knows what they're talking about, I can provide vague/simple answers, but I'm by no means a "Mac Pro expert" like some here on this forum.

I used a 5,1 as my main machine for quite awhile (32 GB of RAM, W5500 video card, and Monterey), and it worked really well for how old it was. But here's my advice/experience:
  • Don't expect the CPU to be all that fast or powerful
  • Throw in as much RAM as you can/want to
  • PCIe 2.0 will be a bottleneck in some cases, especially when rendering videos, etc. You likely won't see your 5700 XT hit full load because of the old interface
  • If you upgrade to Westmere CPUs, you can use 1333 MHz RAM
  • If you decide to upgrade to Ventura, you will not get Rapid Security Responses (RSRs), because even OCLP isn't compatible with them.
If you want to know about some of the issues I experienced personally with my cMP, look at these, if they feel relevant to you. Don't look at them if they're irrelevant to your machine—you'll just be wasting time.
 
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Well guys, looks like I might be stuck on 10.13.6 :(

My BootROM is of course MP51.0089.B00 and I know I need to get to 144.0.0.0.0. But the only Metal-compatible GPU I have is the 5700XT. Which I learned is not supported via Mojave.

Obviously I could buy a RX 570 or similar, but I’m not sure I want to invest in that, just to update the BootROM.

I read all the great content by @tsialex, but there doesn’t appear any workaround without a compatible GPU.

I do have 144.0.0.0 BootROM on an upgraded iMac 11,1 that I have. But of course it’s a MXM GPU, not something I can use to update the 5,1. Wish there was a way to dump the BooROM from my iMac 11,1.
 
How about doing the firmware update with the 5770 GPU still in there? Then you could use OCLP, DosDude, whatever floats your boat, to upgrade past 10.13.6.
 
BeatCrazy said:
Well guys, looks like I might be stuck on 10.13.6 :(

My BootROM is of course MP51.0089.B00 and I know I need to get to 144.0.0.0.0. But the only Metal-compatible GPU I have is the 5700XT. Which I learned is not supported via Mojave.

Obviously I could buy a RX 570 or similar, but I’m not sure I want to invest in that, just to update the BootROM.

I read all the great content by @tsialex, but there doesn’t appear any workaround without a compatible GPU.

I do have 144.0.0.0 BootROM on an upgraded iMac 11,1 that I have. But of course it’s a MXM GPU, not something I can use to update the 5,1. Wish there was a way to dump the BooROM from my iMac 11,1.
Click to expand...

Why don't you pm @tsialex and have him rebuild your bootROM -- this way he can also add in the EnableGOP to allow your 5700XT to have a boot screen. Then all you have to do is upgrade from Mojave to Catalina and voila (though I honestly would recommend just going all the way to Monterey using Martin's OpenCore).
 
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rm5 said:
How about doing the firmware update with the 5770 GPU still in there? Then you could use OCLP, DosDude, whatever floats your boat, to upgrade past 10.13.6.
Click to expand...
I was thinking that OCLP required a Metal-compatible GPU to go to Mojave/Monterey?
 
prefuse07 said:
Why don't you pm @tsialex and have him rebuild your bootROM -- this way he can also add in the EnableGOP to allow your 5700XT to have a boot screen. Then all you have to do is upgrade from Mojave to Catalina and voila (though I honestly would recommend just going all the way to Monterey using Martin's OpenCore).
Click to expand...
I didn’t realize that was an option :) I’ll send him a quick note, thanks.
 
I've answered your PM.

Btw, using a non-METAL flashed GPU or an AppleOEM GPU to install BigSur/Monterey via OCLP and then replacing it with a METAL supported GPU is usually something very complicated to accomplish if you don't exactly know what to select with OCLP settings and replace the GPU at the right time. A BootROM clean-up/upgrade to the most recent components and reconstruction to 144.0.0.0.0 will workaround the MP51.0089.B00 upgrade issue and with pre-boot configuration support from EnableGop you can even run Mojave with your RX 5700XT, albeit unaccelerated and very slowly, but enough for rescue/diagnostics purposes.
 
tsialex said:
I've answered your PM.

Btw, using a non-METAL flashed GPU or an AppleOEM GPU to install BigSur/Monterey via OCLP and then replacing it with a METAL supported GPU is usually something very complicated to accomplish if you don't exactly know what to select with OCLP settings and replace the GPU at the right time. A BootROM clean-up/upgrade to the most recent components and reconstruction to 144.0.0.0.0 will workaround the MP51.0089.B00 upgrade issue and with pre-boot configuration support from EnableGop you can even run Mojave with your RX 5700XT, albeit unaccelerated and very slowly, but enough for rescue/diagnostics purposes.
Click to expand...
Received, thanks! Need some time to digest it all, I’ll be in touch 👍
 
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Another question that I've been thinking about...

Assume I get my 5700XT working with an OC installation of Monterey. Can I use my ASUS Thunderbolt 4 PCIe card, fed via DisplayPort from the 5700XT to get video output from the TB4 card? I would feed my Pro Display XDR and/or Studio Display.

This works just fine on Windows. But I'm not sure if macOS would support PCIe TB cards in this manner for video output.
 
You can make a Gigabyte GC TitanRidge to work exactly like that when flashed with a Mac compatible firmware, I don't have any info on compatibility of your Asus card, seems only one person tested the EX4 and didn't tested it with video-passthru.


For EX3, there are more info below:

github.com

thunderbolt-macpro-5-1/ThunderboltEX3.md at master · ameyrupji/thunderbolt-macpro-5-1

My story to add thunderbolt support to my Mac Pro Early 2009 (5,1) - ameyrupji/thunderbolt-macpro-5-1
github.com github.com
 
tsialex said:
You can make a Gigabyte GC TitanRidge to work exactly like that when flashed with a Mac compatible firmware, I don't have any info on compatibility of your Asus card, seems only one person tested the EX4 and didn't tested it with video-passthru.


For EX3, there are more info below:

github.com

thunderbolt-macpro-5-1/ThunderboltEX3.md at master · ameyrupji/thunderbolt-macpro-5-1

My story to add thunderbolt support to my Mac Pro Early 2009 (5,1) - ameyrupji/thunderbolt-macpro-5-1
github.com github.com
Click to expand...
Awesome!

I actually have a similar TB3 Alpine Ridge (JH6540) PCIe card, too. Lots of things to experiment with ha.
 
BeatCrazy said:
Regarding the GPU.. why I do read about people putting waaaay more powerful GPUs than what would be supported by a dual-mini-6pin adapter?
Click to expand...
They are doing it because they can. Monterey will run just fine on a 2014 Mac mini with Intel gutless integrated graphics. I have two of them both with Iris (not Iris Pro) graphics. The ludicrously base 1.4 GHz 2014 mini with HD 5000 graphics is also supported, although how well that works with Monterey is an open question.

I got a reflashed GTX 680 off of Ebay for my pro, it was easy and works fine, no mods required.

One thing to note, the SATA ports are SATA 2. Really fast SSD's won't do you much good. A PCI-e NVME card will speed things up noticeably. OWC has them, but other compatible cards may exist.
 
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