Max compatible single processor upgrade for MacPro

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mristau Author

Level 1

9 points

Max compatible single processor upgrade for MacPro

This Mac has the 820-2482-A single processor tray.

What is the fastest processor that I can substitute for its 6 core 3.33 GHz (Intel Xeon W3680)?

More detail:

Apple Mac Pro 5.1 2010/11/12 A1289 820-2482-A 3.33GHz Single Six Core CPU Tray 820-2482-A

Intel Xeon W3680, 2629 EMC

Model Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

Model ID MacPro5,1

Motherboard Apple Inc. Mac-F221BEC8

Intel Xeon W3680

Topology 1 Processor, 6 Cores, 12 Threads

Base Frequency 3.33 GHz

Memory 32.00 GB DDR3 1333 MT/s

Hardware UUID: 2F1FAA32-89E3-56F9-BE17-E9990C1F7AE9

Operating System macOS 10.14.6 (Build 18G9323)

Mac Pro, OS X 10.10

Posted on Oct 14, 2021 11:17 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 14, 2021 4:35 PM in response to mristau

a careful study with Activity Monitor (all processes) or a quick report with Etrecheck would go a long way toward seeing where the bottlenecks are.

Using EtreCheck to Troubleshoot Potential… - Apple Community

What sort of work are you doing?

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Answer 2

Oct 14, 2021 3:11 PM in response to mristau

Wait, What?

What work are you doing with this Mac?

Why are you so sure that processing power is a scarce resource that could benefit from upgrading?

MANY Mac Pro users find that other, simpler upgrades yield far more performance improvements than processor upgrades -- and simpler as well.

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Answer 3

padams35

Level 4

3,613 points

Oct 15, 2021 4:10 AM in response to mristau

You already have the penultimate CPU installed. The W3690 and X5690 are marginally faster aftermarket options, but those only represent a 3-4% clock speed boost to 3.46GHz 6-cores. I wouldn't expect much real life improvement if any.

If you need more performance you probably need a newer Mac.

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Answer 4

mristau Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2021 3:15 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Already have SSDs in the machine.

Any ideas besides processor??

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Answer 5

mristau Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 15, 2021 8:05 AM in response to padams35

Thanks! Maybe a M1X!

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Max compatible single processor upgrade for MacPro

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