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Roman23 and his 2009 to 2010 Mac Pro Board Upgrade Experience!

nanofrog said:
This has currently proven possible in the US.

That may not be the case in other countries however, as they usually pay more for products from what I've seen, and for Europe (at the very least), also pay higher taxes on top. And shipping may not even be accounted for at this point. :eek: :(
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I think you're right. At least we know that upgrading a Quad 2009 single processor machine to a 3.33GHz Westmere is cheaper going the board upgrade route than buying a new machine....but only in the US.

For the duals, it's another story. The dual is cheaper just buying a whole new machine if you need the 12-core. Processor price on those is out of this world.
 
Disregard this post. Roman23 is getting his parts now and doesn't need any help anymore, they are shipping them anyways.
 
Incorrect RAM Info

WardC said:
.... A new 3.33Ghz system will cost you $3699 PLUS your RAM which will easily put you over $4000 total. ....

You do the math.

.
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Why do you keep saying $4000 for RAM? 64 gb of ram can be had for under $3000.
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unless of course you meant to say the ram will be more than $300....nevermind
 
owc is providing some interesting cpu upgrade options. 6 core to 12, quad to 8, lower mhz to higher mhz, etc.
 
jwestpro said:
owc is providing some interesting cpu upgrade options. 6 core to 12, quad to 8, lower mhz to higher mhz, etc.
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But these upgrades are only to upgrade an existing 2010 machine. To upgrade a 2009 Mac Pro to accept a Westmere chip, you must install completely new boards in your case.

Good news, Roman23 is getting his parts anyways, early next week. Disregard my earlier post, he doesn't need any help anymore (He thought he needed a 2010 Mac Pro serial number to get his order converted to a repair order so he could get his parts shipped, but it looks like they will be shipping his parts out anyways).
 
So Roman got his Mac Pro back today and now it says "MacPro5,1" -- a 2009 Mac Pro which has successfully been upgraded to a 2010 board. He can run a Westmere chip in there now and run 1333MHz memory if he chooses to do so now...

More to update later with screenshots...
 
OK, here is a clip from a screenshot he sent me showing his stats. He's running his quad-core W3580 3.33GHz chip on the new MacPro5,1 board. See here:

macprostats.jpg


And, his board is now ready for a Westmere chip and 1333MHz memory when he's ready.
 
Roman got his 1GB test stick of 1333MHz RAM to try with his 5,1 board and his W3580 3.33GHz quad-core chip, and I can report that this upgrade does work and it will run 1333MHz RAM on the W3580 with the new 5,1 boards. Here this screenshot with the 1GB test chip:

ram1333.jpg
 
WardC, thanks for the updates on this project! I just recently bought a used 2.66 Ghz Quad Core 2009 Mac Pro with the intention of doing some sort of upgrade to it. Either a W3580 or the full blown board replacement for W3680. The W3680 option is pretty attractive because the end result is a current Mac Pro for considerably less than retail price.
Looking at the 2009 vs 2010 parts lists that are posted on welovemacs, I noticed that there are some different part numbers such as case enclosure, power supply, pcie fan, etc. Did Roman23 have to change anything other than the logic board and processor board?
 
No, the backplane board and the processor board was everything he changed. We just noticed this too, that the part numbers are different for most of the other parts too, but we think most of them are actually the same parts as the 2009. We know the Processor board and Backplane board contain new firmware, and that is the only difference. Also, the dual processor board on the 2010 has latches, while the 2009 dual processor board does not have latches. . He kept his old W3580 processor for now and is running the 3.33GHz Quad-Core in the 2010 board. Today he tested a 1333MHz RAM stick and confirmed that the 1333MHz RAM does work with the W3580 in his board, it wouldn't work on his old 2009 board. He's now ready to upgrade all his RAM with 1333MHz sticks and add the Westmere W3680 when he can afford one. Right now he is pretty strapped on funds and we can't find a W3680 for under $800 or $900, even on eBay. Retail is over $1000 for the chip.
 
Good information in this thread. If someone screws up his 2009 logic board it would be the clever thing to go for a 2010 replacement. I'm glad that Apple has gone back to proper clamps on the dual socket boards. It is nerve wrecking to do CPU exchanges on the 2009 version.
 
Would it be possible to use the 2010 processor board with a 2009 backplane? Would they work together?
 
KintoVW said:
Would it be possible to use the 2010 processor board with a 2009 backplane? Would they work together?
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Unfortunately, No.

The firmware is on the Backplane board, not the processor board. And the SMC firmware is on the processor board. Roman23 replaced both boards to get the system up to a 2010 (he got good prices and had the Authorized Apple Repair location he bought them from to do the swap).
 
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