#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core mac os x
#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core install
#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core upgrade

Next, I upgraded the memory to 800MHz and 16GB, again populating the first two memory slots on both cards with the same memory resulting in the following pick up: Single Core score: 1778, and Multi-Core score: 12441. Next, I upgraded the CPU to 2 Intel Xeon E5472 3.00 GHz (2 processors, 8 cores) which resulted in a single core score of: 1740 and a multi-core score of: 11638 Result was a single core score of: 1647, and a multi core score of: 5743 (pretty substantial increase in memory read/write speeds). Upgraded RAM to 8GB to populate slots 1 & 2 on both memory cards.

#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core upgrade

I performed the following upgrades in stages and re-ran GeekBench 3 to get a base-line of what each upgrade offered in incremental performance.

It produced the following GeekBench 3 results: I purchased a 2008 Mac Pro (3,1) with single quad core processor (Intel Xeon E5462 2.80 GHzġ processor, 4 cores), and 4GB of RAM running at 667 MHz. Exposé will work fine on the NVIDIA8800 you have, but X-Plane (among other 3D things) will be noticeably faster with a new video card. Yes, if you upgrade the RAM to something other than the 2GB and yes to the video card if you do 3d intensive stuff.

#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core install

OS X Doesn’t support SLI/Crossfire for using more than 1 video card in parallel (you can install more than one, but it’s not the same thing), so forget about getting two super video cards for running crysis y super-top-ultra-maximum quality. I brought it with the Bluetooth/Wifi module (it was optional back then) and tho I haven’t used it a lot, it came in handy in a few occasions.

I use a SSD and 4 Hard Drives in the bays, if that counts as an upgrade (my original drive was 750gb, up from the stock 500). I haven’t thought about upgrading the CPUs because getting faster XEONs (I wouldn’t be able to upgrade to Nehalem or anything new) won’t really make a big difference for me. The difference was really noticeable in 3d apps. I’ve upgraded the RAM (from the lame 2GB to 10 OWC liked above), and I ordered the machine with the NVIDIA card (8800? I don’t remember), which was the only option other than the stock ATI2600 or something lame like that.Ī couple of years later, the NVIDIA died (the Apple guy told me it had bugs and used to fail), so I got the new ATI 4780 512MB (it was 100€ less expensive than the out of warranty NVIDIA apple replacement). I have an early 2008 Mac Pro with 2x4 Intel XEON 2.8 and 10GB RAM. Hard drives/SuperDrives are generic and can be replaced, as you may have already guessed.Īny other component is probably “custom” designed for a Mac Pro (the power supply for example) and you won’t be able to get away with it… But If you google around there are some posts about people who managed to make other cards work.įorget about upgrading your Motherboard, as it’s a custom design. Sadly, no other video card has that, other than the Apple’s offerings.

#Upgrade 8 core mac pro to 12 core mac os x

That is to say, a PCIe video card designed exclusively for other operating systems will not work properly under Mac OS X without appropriate drivers and/or firmware” Video card: Unless you want to experiment with modified firmwares, your only choice in that model is the ATI 4870, which is considerably faster than the regular NVidia (it’s very noticeable in x-plane and 3d applications) but still lagging behind the “latest offerings”.Īccording to Wikipedia: 'The Mac Pro, as with other Macintosh platforms, requires Mac OS X firmware. OWC Mac Sales does have memory upgrades (there are others). Certain upgrades are possible, but it’s not that simple.Īccelerate your Mac is a nice source of information, you can find them here.ĪNandtech did change the CPU of a Mac Pro.