gave a new life to my Mac Pro 4.1 2009

[francois]

I just upgraded my early 2009 4.1 8core 2 X 2.66 Mac Pro to 5.1 12 core 2 X 3.46
very easy tray swap with a prior firmware update to 5.1
the machine is running PT HDX 11 smoothly so far
the computer is benchmarking around the new 2.7 12 core "garbage can "priced at $8000.
Next to follow is a video card upgrade from the stock nvidia gt1200.

[YYR123]

Nice

[29CountsNY]

I have the same 2009 Mac, where did you buy the chips?
I've been interested in this route but not sure how to proceed.

[francois]

bought the full tray on Ebay , took 5 minutes to do.
the seller was very helpful,sent me a flash drive to update the firmware to 5.1
Got in 3 business day.
at the end you still have your original tray CPUs and memory left over
anyone need a dual 2.66 with 28 gig of ram ?
seller user was Gooffer
the new system clocks at 31859 on geekbench3 ,a little bit shy of the new 2013 2700 12 core garbage can listed at $8000

[YYR123]

Impressive geekbench score - I only can eek out 19/20k

What is your ram? DDR3?

[francois]

64 Gb 1066 DDR3

[29CountsNY]

$2700??
I gotta think about that one.
But with those scores you'll be chugging along for awhile!!!

[CME]

Fwiw the single processor models are super easy to do yourself. It's just like any other CPU swap. The dual processors are trickier as they use lidless CPUs. I upgraded my 2.66 quad to a 3.2 hexacore. Went from about 7k to 13k geekbench score. These old mac pros have plenty of power on tap.

I also have an SSD boot drive. Been keeping an eye out for a good deal on a bootable PCIe SSD. That would make it scream.

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by CME

The dual processors are trickier as they use lidless CPUs. I upgraded my 2.66 quad to a 3.2 hexacore..

Wowzers your a brave soul - I dropped $500 on my CPU I don't think I could take it apart

[francois]

I have my original tray with 2 X2.66 nehalem 8 core with 28 GB of ram for sale