Duration 13:44

Upgrading my Mac Pro to the MAX CPU and RAM | Dual X5690 and 128gb

by Luke Miani

178 237 watched

4.1 K

Published 13 Jun 2019

Make sure to check out Skillshare Premium, free for 2 months with this link: https://skl.sh/lukemiani12 IN today's video we'll be massively upgrading the RAM and CPUs in my 2010 Mac Pro. This will be, quite simply, the most powerful CPU in a 2010 Mac Pro. Dual X5690 Xeons and 128gb of ECC DDR3 are going in here to make this thing a powerhouse. We'll look at before and after benchmarks as well as go through the upgrade process and compatibility of various parts. Resources: CPU compatibility: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/ 128gb DDR3 1333 ECC RDIMM kit (6x16gb): https://amzn.to/2X2EwYV Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LukeMiani Join my Subreddit! www.reddit.com/r/lukemianiyoutube Gear: Panasonic Lumix GH5: https://amzn.to/2SDQrYi Blue Snowball Mic: https://amzn.to/2PwASD0 Rode VideoMic: https://amzn.to/2QhgfrC Zecti Camera Slider: https://amzn.to/2CWmeOI Album with the backgrounds I use (updated regularly): https://imgur.com/a/W8wvO7I

Category Science & Technology

Comments - 450

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@notlupo24715 years ago I‘ll wait 10 years and then I will buy a 2019 Mac Pro 298
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@aj35lightning5 years ago bro hands down my favorite mac focused channel. quality content, and information. I love the passion you have for the products, but also how you also acknowledge the companies faults vs the cult like dissolution i see from many of the other apple focused channels ... 49
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@davidperrii5 years ago Timestamps for the boys on mobile
Benchmarks:
Upgrade:
Conclusion ... 95
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@donjewitt93803 years ago just upgraded my 2010 mac pro as per luke's video ... easy to do and it made a huge difference. this machine is the center piece of my home music studio... Bravo Luke! 5
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@PulpFreePress4 years ago Still a great overall explanation of the differences in upgrade paths between 2009 and 2010 models. Thanks! 2
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@InimitaPaul5 years ago I can't believe I was actually nervous about doing this with mine, you made it look remarkably easy! Thank you for all the RAM information too, that's the stuff I'd have no clue where to even start with. 20
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@paulomateusguerra5 years ago Love your soundtrack! Great video man!!
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@hudsoncarter29645 years ago Hey, great video! How much of an improvement have you seen with background render and export times in final cut pro? That is my main issue with my 8 core set up now. I'm sure there is an improvement, but how much? Thanks! ...
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@moudireifan635 years ago This channel is great !
I learned a lot watching it . 1
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@ethanconnor-hodges18994 years ago I just upgraded my 2010 Mac Pro CPU's using your tutorial. Thanks so much!!! 4
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@RandomTreeProductions5 years ago Great breakdown of the Mac Pro build. I have a 2009 one that I’ve upgraded and your past videos have been super helpful. Do you think you could do a video explaining the PSU mod you did? What graphics card are you looking to use? I have a Vega 56 with just the two mini 6 pins to two 8pins and it’s enough power for video production. Just curious what card your gonna use with the mod. ...
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@Hot_Bagel5 years ago yo dude I see you in a few years becoming as popular as Austin Evans and marques brownlee. keep up the good work :) 6
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@yanniskarlanidis94645 years ago Nice work Luke! i am curious about Catalina is it possible to run in this machine? 1
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@iqbalnatakusumah68045 years ago Thanks for giving us hope in this "New Mac Pro"-Hype 1
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@real_Nadventures4 years ago GREATLY informative video that is helping me plan my upgrades. Thank you.
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@franciscopaulino40604 years ago Hey Luke, great channel. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. It's great stuff. I have a question (I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination) I bought delidded CPUs for my Mac Pro Mid 2010 dual processor. When I removed the heat sinks, I noticed the retention system holding the CPUs down. Now I have delidded CPUs, but the retention system requires lidded CPUs. What do you recommend I should do? Just to let you know, the guy I purchased from provided me with the cover for both CPUs. I don't know what's the best way to do that. Please advice. I appreciate any help you can provide. ...
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@CarlosGarcia-yg9je5 years ago I knight thee, Sir Luke, Lord of the Macs. 22
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@daviddnelson4 years ago Just discovered this channel, really helpful information! Where's good (or good to avoid) buying the base desktop computer?
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@rodrigomeza2825 years ago Just finished upgrading my 2010 Mac Pro to dual X5680s. Couldn’t have done it without your guidance! Thanks dude. The jump from 8 to 12 cores is insane. How many people have upgraded thanks to your video? You rock! 1
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@paullikesrobots4 years ago @lukemiani I’m just about to do this weekend.
Is a dot of thermal paste in the centre of the CPU sufficient? Like you did in this video. Got a pair of x5680 on your recommendation on budget :) thanks.
5 years ago Hey Luke, What do you think about the iPad Pro's running latest IpadOS replacing any macbook for casual use? Might be a good topic for a new video. Cheers! 1
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@potato_jesus234245 years ago Could you look into fixing the CC button so it appears in this video? I watch you a lot and have a severe hearing complication so hope you can look into this for me and others who might need this as well. Love your work <3 ... 1
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@rickkarrer83705 years ago Solid video, great job! I'm a fan of the 96GB triple channel RAM myself. I most people won't see an advantage of the extra RAM, but might take advantage of the slight speed gains from going from double to triple channel. ... 17
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@markclemo1232 years ago Hi , nice video... great job ,, one question , with the new CPU's they only support 3 lanes each so if you max out the ram dosn't the last lane get shared ? if so what is the point maxing out ram ? thanks
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@r1ch4rdw4gn3r5 years ago Nice work. I think I will consider the cpu upgrade on my flashes 4,1 afterall.... :) how about WiFi and Bluetooth? Any way to get that upgraded to today’s standard with airdrop etc?
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@StephenDavisMonsignor5 years ago Assuming you’re going to upgrade the WiFi and Bluetooth module? I did on one machine and Air drop and BT things work great but don’t have Continuity or Hand-Off.. wondering if you’ll have better luck? I updated the card (combo card) AFTER upgrading to Mojave. Thinking I should have done prior to the upgrade...? ...
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@braddl94425 years ago The VALUE of these Old Mac pros was amazing. That they can keep on par with modern computers is a testament to how well designed these were. A company I used to work for would buy these top spec with 64gb of ram. And still uses them to this day. If you bought one of these fully specced back in the day as a work station. It prob more then paid for that initial cost. ... 4
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@wickeRstick5 years ago Good Choice I’m glad you are maxing this thing out. Hopefully Catalina will be unofficially supported via patch. Can’t wait to see which gpu you go with, I went with the sapphire vega 64 but vega vii should be supported...ish ...
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@richardpetersen75643 years ago Thanks for the video Luke, even though it was back in 19. I just finished upgrading my own MP 2009 4,1 to a 5,1 3.46Mhz dual Xeon with 8TB HD storage, 256GB SSD, 2 Blu-Ray burners (just because), 2 USB 3.0 cards (had them lying around) and upgraded WiFi/Bluetooth. Now I pretty much have the same machine you showed, with the exception of the GPU. Couldn't justify that cost, it was hard enough parting with the cash for a RX 580 8GB GPU. One thing, when I put in my 128GB RAM it would only show as 1066 Mhz and not 1333. But after resetting the PRAM it showed full RAM speed. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit for anyone else that runs into that issue. Love these vids man, keep up the good work. ...
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@danieldemayo62095 years ago Just ordered a 2012 with dual 3.06’s :). You had to top me! With all that ram you could make a nice RAM disk. 3
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@coochieinspector21252 years ago how did you get around with the clearance problem with the other chips around the cpu? did you add thicker thermal pads?
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@jaikumar78753 years ago Thanks for making and sharing this helpful video. I have a MacBook Pro Mid 2010. I used to use Final Cut Pro and it was working fine but now it’s very slow even though I don’t use any heavy software on it. I actually haven’t used it for some time now.
Could you suggest me a software or tool to check the issues please?
I also would like to upgrade it, so could you suggest me what part I can upgrade and what maximum capacity I should get for those parts? Thanks in advance. ...
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@bilhorinek74062 years ago Hey older video great video. I have a dual processor with quad cores. Can I switch to six core cpus?
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@fernandonardone18804 years ago hi luke! thanks for this video. Question: why some Dual X5690 had Delidded. why that different? which is for each mac pro? 2010 had delid and 2009 Delidded?
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@shidan192 years ago Great channel and videos. If you see this comment and can give advice on my situation I would be very grateful!
My primary use is photography and video editing, somewhere in the semi-pro category (nothing overkill), but I also play games through Steam. I really like the M1 Pro, and would purchase immediately, if it could still natively boot Windows for my gaming. Now I’m stuck. I’ve always owned one Mac so would like to migrate over to one computer for all uses.
Is it worth going for an intel Mac for this reason? A fully upgraded older Mac Pro like the one you built here? I run in 4K for all uses and use Adobe suite for editing.
Merci! ...
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@EdwardEns4 years ago With the 5,1 what single/ duel / tri monitor(s) setup would be best suited for today 8/2020 price wise. Is the radeon vii still best choice performance/ price wise?
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@mrbibble50725 years ago Almost broke my screen I clicked the button so fast. Been waiting on more of this series everyday. Thinking of selling my 2015 27’ iMac maxed confit and building g one of these.
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@cristianomatos72664 years ago Hello Luke! This is just amazing! Can you help me? I decide me for the Sapphire 580 nitro+ for my project. Unfortunately I become from time to time a black screen for 2-3 seconds and after that, work all the things fine again. I have similar issues like your another video about gaming with your Mac Pro. I don't know what I can do to fix this problem... can you help me? ...
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@jerrogance3 years ago Do you have to buy a kit for Mac's, or can you use any X5690 you find on Ebay?
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@johnmanderson20605 years ago Great video 🙂👍🏻✅ Very informative ! Thanks a ton 👏🏻
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@masonr35085 years ago Do you think that to get one of these machines and upgrade it would be a better solution over building a hackintosh?
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@ReggieSoares4 years ago I have a question for you what is the top radeon GPU I can use on this Mac? I am a video editor I will be working w a lot of 4k video. thank you for the video it is really good.
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@LyeraTech3 years ago I like this upgrade I might do it? do you know of any way to add thunderbolt ports to this old mac? the Mac you upgraded in this video.
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@michelbesl66554 years ago Hello Luke,
Fist of all;
you make awesome videos!keep on!
I have a Single 3,33Ghz 6 Core Xeon.
24 GB 1333 MHz RAM.
And a Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
What is the most i can Upgrade ?
Greetings ...
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@loorik094 years ago ive got a 5,1 running OS X 10.6.7 do i need to update the software to any particular OS X to perform these upgrades?
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@rendezvous00005 years ago Great video. Can you do a video of a video editing comparison between the trash can and the cheese grater one?
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@ilkbaharkunduzu14 years ago Hi,
On the macrumors forum this CPU is in the list but 130 W power just for one. Would that be a problem?
Thanks
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@bluematrix50014 years ago I see that in the Oroginal processor the Thermal Paste was all over the CPU, and here he just put a little amount in the middle, I know will spread but not in all the surface, that does not make a difference? do you have to wait for the thermal paste to be dry to turn on the mac? ...
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@cortelyouroadradio85744 years ago I followed ur vid, but the speed doesn’t seem much different. I didn’t add more ram to what I already had at 32gigs. Is it possible I need to upgrade the ram?
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@giovannicieol31874 years ago Hi luke, I write from Venice in Italy, do you know a bracket model to mount an SSD 2,5 on an Apple Mac power G5? I searched on Amazon but found nothing. Thanks Giovanni.
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@michaelbyrd40045 years ago @Luke Miami thanks for the video. I have a 1.1 that I just got custom painted, and I love it! Biggest problem with it, other that not being able to upgrade past El Capitan, is the heat. The heat coming from this machine is crazy! I'm so glad newer processors are more efficient. Heck I need to live in Canada to use this thing. Still love it though. ...
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@peterwan79455 years ago Can I install ecc reg memory on a flashed 4,1 Mac Pro? 1
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@markharris92955 years ago Are your processors a “matched pair”. I have been looking for processors on eBay and a matched pair are going for more than just picking up 2x individual ones.
Do you know if it will run on none matched processors?
Great channel by the way, looking forward to what your planning for the GPU... ...
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@NO_obslast year Could you do a video on the 2009 xserve it can be upgraded in a similar way but i haven't seen any videos on it, there is a thread on macrumours titled Xserve 2020, you need to upgrade the gpu and can add a pcie nvme card i think ...
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@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur7 months ago Could you add a NVMe drive and run the test again?
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@newheightsmediaproductions1675 years ago I love you bro. You just saved me so much dough. Respect.
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@darrenli31545 years ago Thanks, I updated my Mac Pro 5.1 to 2 x 6 core 3,46 ghz Intel Xeon CPU (12 core). But I notice that the CPU A is always hotter than the CPU B about 10 celsius degrees. Is it normal? 1
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@MyGeogy2 years ago Hi, I have a doubt.
Is there any single 12core processor available?
If it’s, Instead of adding dual 6core how about adding dual 12core?
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@dlprod112 years ago Hi I have a Red light showing from processor/memory board on 2010 mac pro. It powers up but doesn't boot at all with no signal to a monitor. Are you familiar with this?
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@rodrigo43795 years ago you should be running in triple channel mode bro. But great video! Do a video using the old G5 with watercooling :D my 2010 mac pro is still running great.
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@dillyflaps5 years ago Awesome video man, keep up this kind of content! 3
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@SomeNot5 years ago You say it can be ecc or not or registered or not but what about buffered ram? What I’m trying to say is does it support buffered ram? 1
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@12keysin12 years ago I have a 2009 8core. I did the flash firmware update. It showed that it change from a 4,1 to 5,1 but when I installed the new intel x5698s my computer powers on but it never boots up. It has no red lights on the logic board are the ram board. So I need help what I’m I missing? What could the reason for this non booting up action? ...
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@KCRickyT3 years ago So after recently watching a few of your 2010 Mac Pro upgrade videos I decided that I would do the same and I upgraded my 2010 Pro. Everything works great, the problem is that it's Dec. 2021 and I can't download Mojave which I need. Any suggestions on where/how to get Mojave? ...
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@andergerboles29474 years ago Would you please share a link of what type of 3mm screwdriver is needed?
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@bennyl39365 years ago It has been confirmed that cMP is not to be supported to run Catalina. Is it still worth it to upgrade at the moment?
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@michaelbyrd40045 years ago @Luke Miani - Hey Luke, how is the heat from your Mac Pro? I have a maxed out 1.1, and the heat is unbearable at times. The FB-DIMM's are the main culprit as far as I can tell. Add to that, 150w CPU's are no joke!
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@eichoevers41993 years ago Anyone know where you can purchase new logic/motherboards for 2009-2012 Mac pros..?
New, not eBay used.
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@newmodeav4 years ago have you tried an i9 cpu on mac pro 2013? will it work? 1
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@PeteBasel2 years ago we have a MacPro 4.1 A1289 EMC2314 with eight core 2.66. Will it run a pair of 6 core processors if we flash it to 5.1?
I'm aware that we'd have to de-lid the processors.
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@jolladevices3 years ago Hi, is ok to install 2x 130W CPUs?
The MAC PRO may be rated for x95W... Any issue happened?
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@User-cl8mn4 years ago If you do the most up to date upgrade, will it be able to run 64 bit apps?
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@Worldnewstime.4 years ago Can this upgrade can be used with the newest logicpro x 2020 for music.
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@thesailors53724 years ago Can you go from a single 5,1 cpu tray to a dual 5,1 cpu tray in a 2012? Do you still have to do all that extra work?
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@jayhattendorf85004 years ago I have a early 2008 mac pro, how do i know if it set as a 4.1 or 5.1 ?
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@eduardowatkinz5 years ago I accomplished a similar build months ago, but opted for only 32GB of RAM, a 4GB GPU and a 512 SSD. The Geekbench 4 multi-core test numbers on my system were 26400. Although impressive, it's real world testing that counts. Xeon processors lack quick sync video, or at least the ones I installed do. What does QSV do? Supports video encoding and decoding. You can really see a performance drop off when utilizing the Mac Pro 5,1 build when using FCPX or iMovie. I recently downloaded a video from youtube, 11 minutes in length, imported it into iMovie. I didn’t use any transitions, overlays, etc. It took approx. 10 minutes to export the video. I did the same with my 2012 MacBook Pro, i7, 8GB RAM, Retina, and it took 5 minutes and 10 seconds. I used 1080, fast and high quality settings. Also, did the same test on a new MacBook with a M3 processor and 8GB RAM, and the results were very close to the MacBook Pro. When tested and compared against my Dell system with a Ryzen 7 CPU, the Dell crushed the export time of the Mac Pro/MacBook Pro/Macbook by exporting in approx. 3 minutes using DaVinci Resolve 15.x. Any ways my two bits. I should state that my cost to build was approx. $550. I got lucky and found an almost new 2009 Mac Pro on Craigslist for $100. So the processors, RAM, PCIe card for the SSD, and GPU came in at $450. ... 1
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@joshferry36284 years ago I know this is a old video but I have a question. So all the work that Luke put into this. Why wouldn't this be able run the newest version of Mac OS currently Catalina soon to be "Big Sur"? I mean that thing is going to be much faster than my i7 late 2013 Macbook Pro. Yes I understand it is Apple and they want these things to go away but is there a way around this? ...
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@Ramone.A.Washington3 years ago Can I make apps on Xcode and use photoshop on this computer? The 2009-2010 MacBook Pro
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@adaermelgar53764 years ago I went with 2x 3680 on my upgrade. How does it stack up against the 5680? It seems like the same specs on paper..
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@deadpoultry10 months ago I have a 2010 Mac Peo - 5,1 2x2.4 Quad Core Zeon…. Is it possible to upgrade this to the CPU’as you used? Currently Ram is 1066mhz, will it then accept 1333mhz Ram then?
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@stevemuller31024 years ago Hello, I have a Mac pro from 2010 with a dual 3.46Ghz 6 core intel Xenon GPU. Can I upgrade this to a dual 12 core? Is this possible and do I need to upgrade my Nvidia GTX 980ti 6gb too after? Thanks, Steve
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@VictorEzell3 years ago Hey
I just bought a Mac Pro 5,1 on Ebay, but it's a single CPU. I was wondering if this computer can be transformed into a dal CPU with 12 cores and Xeons
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@nixmix35444 years ago Hello Luke, love your videos. Want to upgrade mine but please help all of the sudden my Macpro doesn’t want to power up now. It used to work when I took it home from work but now all of the suddenly it doesn’t power up. Please help. Thanks in advance. ...
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@danielrhodes75942 years ago Just to check in with you, what Mac OS would give you the best scores for those CPU's? Would it be better or worse on a Mac Yosemite?
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@ds0015 years ago Please comment on the pros and cons of starting with a 2012 5,2 and maxing that out instead. Thank you!
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@valdius855 years ago Can anyone please provide any suggestions on the used MBP 15"? I need one for full stack dev bootcamp and I wonder which model makes the most amount of "sens" for coding and future app dev.
I do not need much processing power as there is already a gaming PC at home.
I appreciate any suggestions as I am new to anything Apple. ...
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@ShadikTV4 years ago With this same part work in my Mac Pro Mid 2010 Quadcore?
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@alexk14805 years ago when you have finished the build it would be nice to calculate the total cost, including the subtraction of the parts you took out and sold, so that you can compare the price to similar new macs 1
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@peetiegonzalez18455 years ago It's been said, but bears repeating. You should get faster performance by removing 1 pair of memory sticks, as the machine will then use 3 channels instead of just 2. 46
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@WarriorsPhoto5 years ago Great video Luke. I am impressed by your choices for this MAC PRO. 128 GB of RAM!!! WOWzERs!!!
Thank you for showing us what the Geekbench numbers would be. I was pretty surprised by your find. But, that’s the thing I am seeing is that Core Count and CPU speed isn’t making that much of a difference between families. Hence, why we now have 28 Core CPUs.
I will add that this is of course till the more modern Intel chip sets. They are definitely performing better with less COREs. LOL ... 1
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@robertoiadanza3 years ago I have the same macpro. Can i install BigSur with new CPU?
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@jacolon612 years ago How do I know if I have a 4,1 mac pro or a 5? I got mine brand new in 2010.
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@Root_Pi5 years ago Please keep this up and go savage with some Led's and upgraded fans
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@the7dan7dan5 years ago X5675 x2 is a good value upgrade too, still boosts to 3.2ghz on all core 24
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@jameo36065 years ago I’ve got a 2009 Mac Pro with the base dual 2.26 Quad Core Xeons, 32GB of RAM and an R9 270X and it’s awesome, just waiting to find a good deal on a pair of delidded X5680 or X5690’s 😬 2
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@Gambler538775 years ago Hey Luke,
can you recommend to build up one of those machines? Because iam searching for a top tower which runs MacOS and is solid. Boot camp doesn’t run right ?