I just noticed that the w55xx series chips will fit in the single-quad core mac pro.. what am I losing or benefiting from using the w55xx chips versus the w3580 - which I have yet to receive mine as I just submitted the payment.
I just noticed that the w55xx series chips will fit in the single-quad core mac pro.. what am I losing or benefiting from using the w55xx chips versus the w3580 - which I have yet to receive mine as I just submitted the payment.
In the case of a W5580 vs. W3580 in a single socket Mac Pro: nothing.
I will stick with the w3580 then.. it would be a waste to get the w5580 since I can't make use of a 2nd processor on this board anyway(processor tray) - the backplane logic board is the same all across the nehalem line of the mac pro.
Unless you were able to buy a dual-CPU card down the road...
Ok.. i understand now.. I saw that the processor trays are like 400 bucks, but you are also right that the processors are really expensive.. yeah, I will just stick with the w3580. Now, is the main logic board the same throughout the board with the 4,1 macs pros? I mean the backpane logic board, not the processor tray.
But its good to know that if I can get my hands on a dual processor tray and down the road dual processors, I can still grow with the nehalem mac pro.. Again, this is probably going to be my LAST MAC as it is getting expensive for me.
Upgrading to dual processors makes little financial sense. The cost of a new processor tray w/ heat sinks is around $700 plus two new W5590 CPUs at a cost of $3,400. That's a total upgrade cost over $4,000. You cannot use the W3580 in a dual processor configuration, so you might be able to sell that on eBay. Upgrading your quad to a 3.33 GHz W3580 will last you a long time. By the time you feel the need to upgrade, you won't be upgrading your existing system for $4,000 - you'll be buying a new Mac Pro that would blow your upgrade out of the water for the same or less.