Processor upgrade 1.1 macpro. is it worth it?

That 51°C is 123.8°F. I installed smcfancontrol to make sure things would be OK after the upgrade. Never 100% sure about the themal grease. Nevertheless, under light loads, the temperature indication is more like 107°F which is 41.667°C. This is a dual 3GHz upgrade. What app are you using to get these numbers? I'd like to compare apples to apples.

ok

the app is Temperature Monitor by Marcel Bresink - Software- Systeme

current reading are with little load ie Under 5%

Ambient Air: 24℃

CPU Core 1: 48℃

CPU Core 2: 46℃

CPU Core 3: 44℃

CPU Core 4: 44℃

CPU Core 5: 39℃

CPU Core 6: 42℃

CPU Core 7: 37℃

CPU Core 8: 40℃

Memory Module B3: 50℃

Memory Module B4: 47℃

CPU A Heatsink: 31℃

CPU B Heatsink: 34℃

Fanesa speeds are :

With Prime 95 running it levels out at about

Ambient Air: 25℃

CPU Core 1: 75℃

CPU Core 2: 75℃

CPU Core 3: 69℃

CPU Core 4: 70℃

CPU Core 5: 65℃

CPU Core 6: 66℃

CPU Core 7: 63℃

CPU Core 8: 66℃

Memory Module B3: 70℃

Memory Module B4: 67℃

CPU A Heatsink: 43℃

CPU B Heatsink: 48℃

thats maxed out all 8 cores.

Greetings,

I'm a late-comer to this discussion. My wife and I both have Mac Pro 1,1s, hers purchased new years ago and mine purchased used recently. We're both retired, so we have no pressing needs, but an upgrade looks attractive. Now that Mountain Lion is just over the horizon, the matter of future compatibility looms, and I infer from my reading that no processor upgrade will overcome that compatibility problem, but I would very much appreciate a confirmation or contradiction of that inference. (Upgrade processors seem to be pretty available on eBay right now, so we may do an upgrade anyway.)

It's hard to know for sure what the final specifications will be for Mountain Lion at this point of development.

It many change before it's released.

Also, don't underestimate the hackers out there. It might not be a huge roadblock even if Apple removes support for 1st gen Mac Pros in Mountain Lion.

At any rate, I'm not sorry about upgrading my Mac Pro. I've got x5365s in it with an ATi 5770. Planning to install an SSD soon. Still a very useful computer.

no processor upgrade will overcome that compatibility problem

Correct. The EFI firmware (no fix available) is what is excluding Mac Pro 1,1 and Mac Pro 2,1 from particpating in Mountain Lion 10.8

Grant,

There actually is just a file, not firmware, to allow ML. Won't allow 64-bit kernel mode.

There is a recent blog post, "Install Mountain Lion on Non-Supported Mac Models" which includes a MacPro1,1

I finally got this swap completed last night. It took less than an hour, and that was with me being really careful and overly-cautious about everything I was doing. This time also included cpu and heatsink cleaning time, which in and of itself was probably only about five or 10 minutes; further, I took the opportunity of having my case open to do a little spring cleaning to get rid of some dust that was in there, which was also about a 10-minute project. Even with all that, it was still less than an hour to complete. The most difficult part of the swap was removing the fan assembly. It was just kind of tricky to get out of the case because it's latched in there pretty well and I didn't know what kind of force it was going to take to get it out.

I used four tools total:

1. Philips screwdriver (#2 I believe)
2. Philips screwdriver (very small)
3. T-handle allen wrench (3mm)
4. Needle nose pliers (I had these handy just in case I dropped a screw, which I did)

Out of those tools, the only one I didn't already own was the T-handle allen wrench. I purchased that at my local hardware store for about $4. I highly recommend this tool for this upgrade, as it made removing the heatsinks incredibly easy — it was not a challenge at all, but I would imagine that it would be without a long-shafted allen wrench like this one.

I ran a Geekbench test before the swap and was in the 5500s. After the swap, I was in 9500s. Obviously that is a huge increase in performance. I don't have any "real world" performance stats, but I would imagine that everything is going to be pretty peppy. I'll do some work in one of my video editing applications and report back after I've had some ample time to put her through the ringer.

PS — I was able to purchase my pair of X5355 off of eBay for $160 on a buy-it-now. The seller has another pair up right now. This is the best deal I've seen, which is why I finally pulled the trigger. I really wanted to go with the X5365, but the price difference is too great and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make the swap so inexpensively.

If you have stability problems, check netkas.org for the 2,1 firmware update that can make the crashing clam down.

I just sourced a matched pair of x5365's for $340.

Hopefully will do the upgrade in a few days.

My excitement waned a bit while reading that the MP 1.1 won't be ML compatable, but hopefully the software hack fixes the final version.

i bet the fact its not support out of the box though will drive the cost of mac pro 1,1 and 2,1 way down though, making these parts more common

Just an update on my Mac Pro 1.1 update. I dropped in a pair of x5355s. One installation issue I had was with poor contact between the processor and the heatsink. I have done a lot of electronics and so knew the value of using a little as possible heatsink compound. However, this is predicated on the assumption that the processor and heatsink surfaces are flat and parallel. In my case, one processor appeared to be slightly concave - heatsink compound touching around the edges but not in the middle. This poor contact necessitated opening the box up again and applying more heat sink compound to fill in the gap. It is probably a good idea to apply the heat sink compound as very thin layer, then seat the heat sink and apply gentle downward pressure to seat it on the CPU. Then carefully remove the heatsink again it to check that the compound was indeed touching at all points. If you find gaps, you can fill them in with compound and recheck. Only when you are convinced you have good all round contact should you torque things down and close up the box. Avoid sliding the heatsink around whilst doing this, just lift on and lift off.

A persistent problem I had after upgrading was kernel panics - about one a week. The modified 2.1 firmware update available from the Netkas forum completely resolved these. I have been running some big jobs which have maxed my machine out for nearly a week, without an issue. My hottest CPU is 58 deg C. It's all good.

When using the Arctic Silver personally use one drop on to the processor, and using a Paddle Pop stick apply as a thin smear until all is covered lightly and evenly and simply assemble and never had a problem. Think too little is probably as bad as too much. Have been told that the chemical will destroy the logic board if spilt onto it, but yet to see that.

There are plenty of video guides and more on sites on how to lap a processor, even out rough surface, how to clean residue and what chemicals to use.

The old credit card method has its adherents.

One guy did a two part youtube series on Mac Pro 1,1 processor upgrade and another one rambles thru 10 parts but I think also went into pulling PSU to clean or unclog dust that got embedded.

And to think 6 yrs and for under $500 have yourself an 8-core and 10K range in Geekbench.

Crucial's m4 256GB SSD has been listed on Amazon etc $199 this weekend and Amazon has 2 x 2GB FBDIMMs $55 (and yes I picked up some and they are excellent, recommend).