MP All Models Thinking of going from 5,1 to 6,1...

[zackkmac]

Hi all,

I've decided it's probably time to sell my beloved 5,1. It hasn't been my primary computer in 2+ years, plus, I'm looking to downsize my place soon and with the sheer size/weight (which I do love) it just makes more sense to downsize there as well. My current idea is to replace it with a 6,1. After some light research, I decided I would like one with the D500 GPUs and to later upgrade the processor to the E2680 V2 10-core 115w (seems to be the best balance of power, cost and wattage).

First, I'm curious what you guys think I should ask locally for the 5,1 - here's the specs:
6-core 3.06GHz Xeon single CPU
64GB RAM
2.5TB of storage (2x256GB NVMe SSD, 2x1TB HDD)
RX 590 8GB GPU
AirPort 802.11ac/BT 2.1 (using newer card from MBP)
Dual booting macOS Mojave and Windows 11
(Exterior casing is in good shape - only the top front handle has a very slight bend, but a few spots have deeper scratches)

Surely, I'd be able to ask enough to cover the purchase of some sort of 6,1, right? I was thinking of asking $699 and seeing what offers I get (or $599 with the original HD 5870).

Next question, what advice/recommendations can any of you give going from the 5,1 to to the 6,1? So far I've determined that it is usually worth the extra expense to go for the D500/D700 models, so that's what my main focus will be. But any must-have accessories/software or things to know in general? Based on recent findings, and if I am confident enough to perform the CPU swap, I could be running my ideal 10-core D500 setup for ~$500, so I have some wiggle room for any cool accessories I could add.

Also, if I do end up needing to ship it to a buyer, any tips on packaging it well or ways to minimize costs?

Part of me also wants to keep it, or forgo the 6,1 and get a Mac Mini M1, but that trash can is really speaking to me right now...

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice!

 

[1madman1]

I would suggest not shipping your 5,1 unless you either have the original packaging or really know what you're doing - the handles on the case are vulnerable to shipping damage. Cant comment on the pricing as the value of 6,1s seems to have tanked since I bought mine, 5,1s havent dropped anywhere near as much.

I sold my daily 5,1 (12 core / RX580) for a 6,1 (8 core / D700) about 2 years back. Never regretted it, faster in nearly every way for my usage - often significantly faster. It has all the capabilities I was looking for except hardware video encoding.

Went with the cheapest verified healthy 6,1 I could find with D700s. All other specs irrelevant as they can be upgraded. Ended up with a E5-1680, replaced with an imported E5-2673 v2 which was both faster and cooler running. Sold the E5-1680 locally for 75% what I paid to import the new CPU from China. Used Macs Fan Control to apply a far more aggressive fan profile linked to the primary GPU temp. I installed an OWC Angelbird SSD - don't bother with them, they behave no different from any normal M.2 SSD plus an adapter. Be sure to hold on to an Apple SSD as they seem to be needed for firmware updates.

I recently also picked up a nearly maxed out from the factory 2018 Mac Mini (everything except the SSD) at a price I couldn't refuse and already have a disused Blackmagic 580 eGPU sitting around. The combo is generally faster than the Mac Pro 6,1, but the difference is subtle so far. Its more problematic though. The eGPU hates going to sleep. I wouldn't daily drive it.

 

[zackkmac]

I would suggest not shipping your 5,1 unless you either have the original packaging or really know what you're doing - the handles on the case are vulnerable to shipping damage. Cant comment on the pricing as the value of 6,1s seems to have tanked since I bought mine, 5,1s havent dropped anywhere near as much.

I sold my daily 5,1 (12 core / RX580) for a 6,1 (8 core / D700) about 2 years back. Never regretted it, faster in nearly every way for my usage - often significantly faster. It has all the capabilities I was looking for except hardware video encoding.

Went with the cheapest verified healthy 6,1 I could find with D700s. All other specs irrelevant as they can be upgraded. Ended up with a E5-1680, replaced with an imported E5-2673 v2 which was both faster and cooler running. Sold the E5-1680 locally for 75% what I paid to import the new CPU from China. Used Macs Fan Control to apply a far more aggressive fan profile linked to the primary GPU temp. I installed an OWC Angelbird SSD - don't bother with them, they behave no different from any normal M.2 SSD plus an adapter. Be sure to hold on to an Apple SSD as they seem to be needed for firmware updates.

I recently also picked up a nearly maxed out from the factory 2018 Mac Mini (everything except the SSD) at a price I couldn't refuse and already have a disused Blackmagic 580 eGPU sitting around. The combo is generally faster than the Mac Pro 6,1, but the difference is subtle so far. Its more problematic though. The eGPU hates going to sleep. I wouldn't daily drive it.

This is super helpful, thank you. Going to try to avoid shipping the 5,1 for those reasons but I'm just worried that locally, people won't understand/agree with the pricing and I don't want to let it go for something too low. Posting it online would be a last resort but it may have to come to it, gonna give it a couple of weeks on FB Marketplace first.

I looked at those CPUs you listed - pricing for the E5-2673 V2 right now appears to be $88 or more whereas the 10-core E5-2680 V2 is as low as $17, but I'll of course check the prices on all compatible CPUs once I have a 6,1 in hand. I may be able to snag one with a CPU worth keeping, but my priority will be finding a D500 unit. Anything else can be upgraded later.

Good to know about the Mac Mini - wondering if the M1 is less problematic, as my M1 Pro MBP is fantastic. For me, this machine won't require any heavy GPU usage like the 5,1 did. I now have a gaming rig with a 3070 so the 6,1 will not see much GPU utilization, I'm mainly just looking to avoid the D300 because I hear they are more prone to issues and the price difference isn't bad at all. Now, the price difference from D500 to D700 is another story, I'm finding they cost almost twice as much as a D500 6,1. Still better than buying the cards alone for that price, but luckily I should be okay with the D500 GPU and save some costs.

 

[fiatlux]

I guess it all depends how´s the local market but, over here (EU), you’re going to have hard time financing an MP6,1 by selling an MP5,1. You’re probably better off selling your graphic card and NVME drives separately and give away the rest of the machine. There seems to be relatively little interest left for those electricity hogs.

An MP6,1 is a nice looking, power efficient machine but I would think twice before going that route. Actually, I wouldn´t go that route

Mine just died (fried logic board or graphic card), but was quite problematic before that: fragile memory connectors that might bend and create all sorts of issues if you happen to change a memory module (happened to me), graphic cards that are not terribly powerful by today’s standards and have a tendency to fry (apparently just happened to me), obsolete TB2 connectors for which relatively few native devices were produced and which require adapters to use TB3 devices, no USB-C which has become ubiquitous, you have to jump through hoops to make eGPU working (I eventually gave up)…

You get it, the MP6,1 is a machine I wanted to love but which kept causing me all sorts of issues.

Admittedly, when it runs it is a nice looking efficient machine so, if you find a good deal on a perfectly fine sample, why not? But I think that, unless you need an Intel machine or plenty of RAM, a Mac Mini M1 (or even better a Studio) would be a much better choice.

One last thing: the D500 is not that much more powerful than the D300. The D700 offers a bigger boost but is the most prone to fail… 😕

 

[zackkmac]

I guess it all depends how´s the local market but, over here (EU), you’re going to have hard time financing an MP6,1 by selling an MP5,1. You’re probably better off selling your graphic card and NVME drives separately and give away the rest of the machine. There seems to be relatively little interest left for those electricity hogs.

An MP6,1 is a nice looking, power efficient machine but I would think twice before going that route. Actually, I wouldn´t go that route

Mine just died (fried logic board or graphic card), but was quite problematic before that: fragile memory connectors that might bend and create all sorts of issues if you happen to change a memory module (happened to me), graphic cards that are not terribly powerful by today’s standards and have a tendency to fry (apparently just happened to me), obsolete TB2 connectors for which relatively few native devices were produced and which require adapters to use TB3 devices, no USB-C which has become ubiquitous, you have to jump through hoops to make eGPU working (I eventually gave up)…

You get it, the MP6,1 is a machine I wanted to love but which kept causing me all sorts of issues.

Admittedly, when it runs it is a nice looking efficient machine so, if you find a good deal on a perfectly fine sample, why not? But I think that, unless you need an Intel machine or plenty of RAM, a Mac Mini M1 (or even better a Studio) would be a much better choice.

One last thing: the D500 is not that much more powerful than the D300. The D700 offers a bigger boost but is the most prone to fail… 😕

Thank you for the insight there. The fragility of the machine is something I've been thinking about as well, it doesn't always have the best reputation for stability or serviceability.

The GPU doesn't need to be anything spectacular now that I have other machines for that. I'm just thinking D500 because the price jump from D300 > D500 is much less than D500 > D700. Figured it's worth the small jump to get the middle card.

I may end up selling the parts but hoping to not have to.

 

[fiatlux]

The GPU doesn't need to be anything spectacular now that I have other machines for that. I'm just thinking D500 because the price jump from D300 > D500 is much less than D500 > D700. Figured it's worth the small jump to get the middle card.

According to Geekbench's browser, the Metal scores are 23163, 23398 and 32000 for the D300, D500 and D700 respectively. I guess there may be cases where the increase in RAM between the D300 and D500 (from 2x2GB to 2x3GB) would widen the gap but it does not look like the performance boost would ever be significant between the two lower end options.

 

[zackkmac]

That's good to know, maybe I'll just go with the best deal/price I can find regardless of GPU, especially since it's not going to get used nearly as much as my other computers. The jump in performance with the D700 would be worth it for me if this were going to be my main machine but luckily I can save some $$$ there with this just being a secondary one.

Got some thinking to do but need to sell the 5,1 first before anything. Could end up finding a better use for the cash but the itch for the 6,1 is definitely there. 😅

 

[avro707]

The biggest difference with the 6,1 is latest Monterey just works, no opencore needed.

It’s a pretty fast machine too, at least mine is with D700s and 2.7ghz 12 core.

It probably won’t beat a 5,1 with a 6900 Radeon or a W6800X 32gb but it’s just easier. And very portable as well, no trolley needed to move it.

It’s a beautiful little machine as well - it’s a real piece of art to look at. I’d recommend keeping the 5,1 just in case anything happens to the 6,1.

I have 3 generations of Mac Pro here, I could run an exhibition showcasing them.

 

[zackkmac]

The biggest difference with the 6,1 is latest Monterey just works, no opencore needed.

It’s a pretty fast machine too, at least mine is with D700s and 2.7ghz 12 core.

It probably won’t beat a 5,1 with a 6900 Radeon or a W6800X 32gb but it’s just easier. And very portable as well, no trolley needed to move it.

It’s a beautiful little machine as well - it’s a real piece of art to look at. I’d recommend keeping the 5,1 just in case anything happens to the 6,1.

I have 3 generations of Mac Pro here, I could run an exhibition showcasing them.

I appreciate your input. Yes, though the 6,1 is lovingly known as the trashcan Mac, in my opinion it is beautiful to look at just like the other generations, including PowerMacs - I have a Cube I used to tinker with and need to get running again! I'd need to sell the 5,1 to make room for the 6,1 so for now it's either one or the other.

Your collection sounds wonderful, would especially love a 7,1 someday. I suppose I could sell my other machines and make a base 7,1 my primary...but I need to stop going down this rabbit hole.

 

[avro707]

I appreciate your input. Yes, though the 6,1 is lovingly known as the trashcan Mac, in my opinion it is beautiful to look at just like the other generations, including PowerMacs - I have a Cube I used to tinker with and need to get running again! I'd need to sell the 5,1 to make room for the 6,1 so for now it's either one or the other.

Your collection sounds wonderful, would especially love a 7,1 someday. I suppose I could sell my other machines and make a base 7,1 my primary...but I need to stop going down this rabbit hole.

My reaction to the 7,1 was amazement, my reaction to needing to get it was a collection of colourful expletives. That's a lot of money to spend in one go!

They are awesome machines however.

 

[Mac3Duser]

the 6.1 is, for me, the most beautiful compact computer design, and I would have loved a Mac Studio in such a case, since the ASI would allow this concept to really exist, with a central fan.
I use one with 12-cores, 64gb ram and D700 every day and even when it will be obsolete, I'll keep it I think, because here in Europe it costs nothing, we buy it at 500 euros even if some second-hand sellers ask for more.
I prefer the 6.1 to the intel Mac Mini.

 

[KevinClark]

I own a 2010 5.1 Mac Pro 12 Cores 3,46 + 128 Go Ram + Video Card RX 580 8G Sapphire Pulse RADEON + USBC USB 3 Inateck U25 and Titan Ridge V2 Mac running Apollo Thunderbolt and Quad DSP UAD + Wifi Bluetooth V4 Module and NVME CARD Controller Highpoint 7101A + 4 NVme Samsung 970 EVO and 970 PRO running to 2800 Mb/s each Running Monterey 12.6.1 + 3 SSD SATA SAMSUNG
Do you think it's worth to upgrade to a 6.1 ?

Thanks

 

[fiatlux]

I own a 2010 5.1 Mac Pro 12 Cores 3,46 + 128 Go Ram + Video Card RX 580 8G Sapphire Pulse RADEON + USBC USB 3 Inateck U25 and Titan Ridge V2 Mac running Apollo Thunderbolt and Quad DSP UAD + Wifi Bluetooth V4 Module and NVME CARD Controller Highpoint 7101A + 4 NVme Samsung 970 EVO and 970 PRO running to 2800 Mb/s each Running Monterey 12.6.1 + 3 SSD SATA SAMSUNG
Do you think it's worth to upgrade to a 6.1 ?

Thanks

If you want to reduce your electricity bill and ambiant noise, yes (MP6,1 idle power consumption is around 40W and it is whisper quiet).

The MP6,1 will also have a slight edge in pure CPU power and more so in memory bandwidth.

Otherwise, your MP 5.1 USB, video, thunderbolt and SSD are faster than what you could achieve on the MP6,1 (no USB-C, no TB3, D700 still significantly slower than a RX580, and SSD bandwidth limited to around 1000Mbps).

The MP6,1 is also limited to Monterey.

 

[KevinClark]

MP 6.1 can run VENTURA Now Under OCLP 052

 

[zackkmac]

I own a 2010 5.1 Mac Pro 12 Cores 3,46 + 128 Go Ram + Video Card RX 580 8G Sapphire Pulse RADEON + USBC USB 3 Inateck U25 and Titan Ridge V2 Mac running Apollo Thunderbolt and Quad DSP UAD + Wifi Bluetooth V4 Module and NVME CARD Controller Highpoint 7101A + 4 NVme Samsung 970 EVO and 970 PRO running to 2800 Mb/s each Running Monterey 12.6.1 + 3 SSD SATA SAMSUNG
Do you think it's worth to upgrade to a 6.1 ?

Thanks

Hard to say without knowing what you use this machine for specifically, but it sounds very capable, I can't imagine gaining much from an upgrade to a 6,1. In my case, even with mine having lower specs/less expansions than yours, I doubt I'd see much improvement with a 6,1. I'm mainly doing this to save some desk space and make it easier to move if I change locations in the future. That's also why I'm considering an M1 Mini instead but I like the looks of the trashcan better.

 

[ixxx69]

Part of me also wants to keep it, or forgo the 6,1 and get a Mac Mini M1, but that trash can is really speaking to me right now...

I have the 6,1 (going on 8 years) and it's an awesome (and beautiful) computer. Been completely problem-free. I just switched it out with a 2018 mini (which I already owned) as my daily driver because the 6,1 was noticeably feeling a bit sluggish with all the latest software. And Monterey is the end of the line (at least without hacks).

If you have the money for the Mini M1, and its specs serve your needs, then that's a no-brainer. It's a way better all-around desktop at this point. If you really just want to tinker with a 6,1, or have one because you want to (like a vintage sports car), it won't be as fun as a 5,1, but it will be more fun than a mini. 😉

 

[zackkmac]

I have the 6,1 (going on 8 years) and it's an awesome (and beautiful) computer. Been completely problem-free. I just switched it out with a 2018 mini (which I already owned) as my daily driver because the 6,1 was noticeably feeling a bit sluggish with all the latest software. And Monterey is the end of the line (at least without hacks).

If you have the money for the Mini M1, and its specs serve your needs, then that's a no-brainer. It's a way better all-around desktop at this point. If you really just want to tinker with a 6,1, or have one because you want to (like a vintage sports car), it won't be as fun as a 5,1, but it will be more fun than a mini. 😉

Valid points for sure...with this being a secondary machine I may even go for an M1 just for sole purpose of sticking it in my iMac G4 or G4 Cube, but what a project that would be. Definitely worth the end result, just not sure if my expertise level goes that far but it would be so cool.

Having my 14" M1 Pro and my Ryzen PC setup (for Windows) at hand, I'm really not concerned about the performance of the 6,1 if I go that route. Like you said, it's mostly just to collect, admire and tinker with and use occasionally. Or who knows, maybe my 5,1 won't sell locally and I just end up using it indefinitely. 😅

 

[MisterAndrew]

Sell all of them, get a 7,1, and don’t look back. 😎

I’ve enjoyed both my 5,1 and 6,1s (had 3 of those; 4c/D300, 6c/D500, 8c/D700), but they’re obsolete now and struggling to keep up with new software. Mostly only good as a collection piece now and very light workloads.

 

[Mac3Duser]

Sell all of them, get a 7,1, and don’t look back. 😎

ok, sell everything and get a mac studio (M1max 32 cores - 64 gb - 1 to) !

 

[zackkmac]

ok, sell everything and get a mac studio (M1max 32 cores - 64 gb - 1 to) !

I actually priced this config up the other day and gave it some serious thought as a path to take. Maybe if/when it sells!

For now I took advantage of the low part prices and scored:
2010 Dual CPU tray ($85)
2 matching X5690s ($60)
64GB RAM - 4x16GB ($30)

And that's after taxes + shipping. Now it'll be a 12-core system with 128GB of RAM so I may just keep it at this point.

 

[Mac3Duser]

I think the M1 Max 32 cores / 64gb ram/ 1to is currently the best deal for a mac.
if it's for a collection or the love of design and old machines, it's not the same.

 

[zackkmac]

Ended up selling my 5,1 locally (though the new CPUs, dual tray and extra 64GB RAM are being returned).

Ordered a 6,1 (6-core/32GB RAM/1TB/D700). Total price difference ended up being $200 to do this upgrade.

 

[Mac3Duser]

I have the D700, good choice.

 

[zackkmac]

I have the D700, good choice.

Nice, I'm excited for it. I know the D700 won't typically perform as well as the RX 590 I had in the cMP but it'll be more than enough for the tasks ahead of it.

My plan now is to snag the E5-2695 V2 12-core 115w processor to double the core count while shaving off 15w to hopefully help a bit with heat generation, haven't decided if I want to do 64GB RAM or leave it at 32GB.

 

[Mac3Duser]

I have replaced the 6-cores for a E5-2697 V2 bought on ebay and he is not too much hot. I think a lot of people didn't clean the fan very often and it's sure the trashcan is a true nest for dust.
But don't forget the best CPU is usually the 8-core. For example, for usual tasks, the 6-core is faster than the 12-cores.
geekbench single core gives a good information. the E5-2695 V2 will be a bit slow, in my opinion.