Can I do something to enhance my Mac Pro (mid 2012) Performance?

[Zak7]

Hi,

I have a Mac Pro(mid 2012) that I wish I can enhance the performance before I go and buy a new mac

I have an HDX card put as you know we have to run lots native plugins nowadays.

Do you think more RAM will make a difference? I have 32 GB of RAM

MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6

My MacOS HD is an SDD and the Audio a SATA

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

My mac is

2 x 2.4 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
Memory : 32 GB 1333 MHz DDR3


Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Xeon
2 x 2.4 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
Total Number of Cores: 12
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per Processor): 12 MB
Memory: 32 GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB

[musicman691]

I have a single cpu 2012 cheesegrater so we both same similar but different machines. To goose up performance on your system more ram would help but do it smart. Have three identical ram modules in slots 1,2 and 3 on both sides. I'd put as much ram in as I could afford.


That ssd - is it in a drive bay? If so get a pcie card that will host ssd's, put the ssd on there and put that pcie card in one of your free slots.


Your audio drive is that a 7200 rpm unit? It better be.


Use samples? Get an ssd for that.


What OSX are you running? That's one detail you missed providing.


Upgrading that video card might well help.

[albee1952]

Would it be worth upgrading the cpu's to dual 3.3GHz? 2.4GHz is on the slow side and PT needs speed more than number of cores

[Ben Jenssen]

Doubling the ram might let you run bigger sessions with more VI's more easily. If 32 is enough, 64 would make no difference.

I second Jack's suggestion on SSD on PCI adapter card. I'd put my money into a card with two SSD's and make shure they're FAST. It really gives new life to a mac.

[Zak7]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I have a single cpu 2012 cheesegrater so we both same similar but different machines. To goose up performance on your system more ram would help but do it smart. Have three identical ram modules in slots 1,2 and 3 on both sides. I'd put as much ram in as I could afford.


That ssd - is it in a drive bay? If so get a pcie card that will host ssd's, put the ssd on there and put that pcie card in one of your free slots.


Your audio drive is that a 7200 rpm unit? It better be.


Use samples? Get an ssd for that.


What OSX are you running? That's one detail you missed providing.


Upgrading that video card might well help.

Hi guys, thanks for the reply


Yes my OS HD is in the Drive Bays
on a PCIe SDD run faster?

Yes, Audio hardrives are 7200RPM

My MacOS is High Sierra 10.13.6

Overall my system is good, but sometimes with certain plugins...and specially acustica the playback is not so stable...maybe is RAM too?

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Zak7

Hi guys, thanks for the reply


Yes my OS HD is in the Drive Bays
on a PCIe SDD run faster?

Yes, Audio hardrives are 7200RPM

My MacOS is High Sierra 10.13.6

Overall my system is good, but sometimes with certain plugins...and specially acustica the playback is not so stable...maybe is RAM too?

SSD on a pcie adapter will have roughly twice the throughput in the same amoutn of time. And if you go with an nvme type drive it'll be so fast you won't have time to blink. But the cheapest would be to get a pcie adapter from OWC, put your system SSD on that and it'll be good. That's what I did here a while back.


As fare as upgrading the cpu's to 3.33 or 3.46 GHz speeds - go ahead if you don't mind spending the money and time getting the system to work.

[Zak7]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

Doubling the ram might let you run bigger sessions with more VI's more easily. If 32 is enough, 64 would make no difference.

I second Jack's suggestion on SSD on PCI adapter card. I'd put my money into a card with two SSD's and make shure they're FAST. It really gives new life to a mac.

Great seems that both more RAM and moving my SDD to a PCIe Slot will bring a noticeable better performance to my computer

"PCIe provides a faster interface speed than SATA. An SSD connected via a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface can have a link speed of 16 Gb/s. In contrast the SATA 3.0 standard only provides 6.0 Gb/s. Solid State Drives (SSDs) come in a number of different form factors and are available with different interface connects."

any good PCIe adapter cards?

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Zak7

Great seems that both more RAM and moving my SDD to a PCIe Slot will bring a noticeable better performance to my computer

"PCIe provides a faster interface speed than SATA. An SSD connected via a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface can have a link speed of 16 Gb/s. In contrast the SATA 3.0 standard only provides 6.0 Gb/s. Solid State Drives (SSDs) come in a number of different form factors and are available with different interface connects."

any good PCIe adapter cards?

If your ssd is something like a Samsung 850/860 type drive then go to OWC and get their Accelsior adapter card.

[EGS]

SSD/RAM/CPU. I'd max-out all 3.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Zak7

any good PCIe adapter cards?

You want to get a more expensive switching type card, because 2012 Mac Pro only has PCI-express 2.0 which means you will not get full speed out of the PCIe 3.0 SSD unless your adapter card combines several 2.0 lanes to fewer 3.0 lanes