Mac Pro 2009 Processor Upgrade Possibility?

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Level 1

6 points

Mac Pro 2009 Processor Upgrade Possibility?

I've searched and can not seem to find a straight answer. I have a 2009 Mac Pro with the single 2.66 quad-core processor. Since these Pro's use the daughter board (or whatever it's called) with the processor and RAM on them, can I just swap out that board with one from an official 2009 Mac Pro that has a dual 2.26 quad core processors effectively turning it into a 8-core machine? I'm not talking about tearing it down and swapping the actual processor, just pull the entire board out of a single proc machine and swap it with one from the same model year but with the dual proc machine. Anybody know if that would work?

Mac Pro (Early 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 10, 2012 10:06 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Dec 10, 2012 12:46 PM in response to Lopezzi

Possible, but since no one has made an upgrade board for it, I think you are basically stuck with what you have. Apple has very finely tuned its firmware and fans for maximum performance. You can upgrade the RAM and PCI cards, just not the CPU.

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Answer 2

Lopezzi Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 10, 2012 1:02 PM in response to a brody

Why would I need an upgrade board? Wouldn't the dual quad-core board from the other Mac Pro have all the stuff already on it? I simply am curious if I can just swap the entire board with the processors and RAM already on them with one another. Like basically plug and play.

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Answer 3

Dec 10, 2012 1:45 PM in response to Lopezzi

This program is the kind of thing you are describing. But they seem to want 2010 and later:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2010_Xeon_Processor

I suggest you contact them and ask. Maybe there is something they can do for you.

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Answer 4

Lopezzi Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 10, 2012 1:51 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

That is kinda what I'm talking about but not fully and like you mentioned they only talk about 2010. I'm still not sure if I am describing my question clearly enough so let me try again.

I have 2 2009 Mac Pro's. Both are the exact same machine except one of them is a quad core processor model and the other is a dual-quad core processor (8-core). Can I pull out the processor board out of the 8-core mac, and insert it into the single quad core mac. That's it. No other changes. No disassembly or anything, just a simple swap. Are they interchangeable?

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Answer 5

Dec 10, 2012 3:08 PM in response to Lopezzi

It is possible that there are power supply changes, but it is unlikley. The dual-processor fans are mounted on the dual -processor shelf.

If there were something that made those processor shelves incompatible, they would be keyed to avoid screw-ups in the factory and while servicing in the field.

So the bottom line is, try it. If it fits and powers up, it will work fine.

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 11, 2012 4:31 AM in response to Lopezzi

Swapping out processor for 6-core, upgrading the firmware, those are easily doable, but to go to dual you really would need to consider selling and then buying.

People use to buy the 2.26 8- core to have more DIMMs, 2nd bank, because 4GB DIMMs back then were so very expensive (and 8GB didn't exist yet).

I'd say a W3690 or 3680 is the smart bet, and for that there is tons of help on MacRumors.

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Answer 7

Lopezzi Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 11, 2012 6:29 AM in response to The hatter

Why would I consider selling and rebuying if the ENTIRE processor board with RAM and heat syncs and everything on it would simply plugin and work and I'd automatically have a dual processor setup? I'm still not sure anyone is fully understanding what I'm asking. Grant is the closest but I'm afraid of just trying it because I don't want to fry anything or break anything. If I knew it would simply work or not work, I'd just try it, but I don't want to ruin anything by trying. It's starting to sound like no one has ever tried this before. To me it seems like such a simple way to upgrade if it actually works. There would be no major disassembly, no processor swaps, no firmware upgrades, just a simple plug and play, but it sounds like no one can give me a straight answer. I'm just shocked no one has tried this. Anybody? Anybody swap the entire single-proc board for the dual-proc board?

Maybe pictures will help. Has anybody taken this out of their mac -

And then stuck this is and powered their machine up?

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Answer 8

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 11, 2012 6:36 AM in response to Lopezzi

Cost. Unless dual X55/5600s have gotten a lot cheaper, you can be looking at $3000+ for a set.

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Answer 9

Lopezzi Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 11, 2012 6:42 AM in response to The hatter

Oh wow! I didn't realize just that board would cost so much. Well that explains a reason why to sell and buy a different one, but lets say I have access to a dual-proc board like the one in the picture. Anyone know if it would still plugin and work?

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Answer 10

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 11, 2012 7:34 AM in response to Lopezzi

Intel 5580 2.8 4-core processor $1200

http://ark.intel.com/de/products/37109

3.2GHz 4-core $1600

http://ark.intel.com/de/products/37113/Intel-Xeon-Processor-W5580-8M-Cache-3_20- GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI

Don't know what ebay and Amazon will show.

It isn't the daughter board, it is the proicessor to go in.

You can easily put W3690 in and get a faster clock and GHz rule and help the most IF you need the power.

Usually take it from what you want to WHY you need to.

6-core 3.4GHz is able to help in all aspects. Dual not so much. And there is over head in having to shuffle data and use two processors. - A single 8-core would of course be interesting.

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Answer 11

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 11, 2012 7:37 AM in response to The hatter

you still need to buy and come up with daughter card and firmeware.

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Answer 12

theDave

Level 1

119 points

Feb 19, 2014 3:49 PM in response to Lopezzi

Did u get any decent answer?

It looks like nobuddy did follow u all the way...

I'm having the same dilema here...

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Answer 13

Feb 19, 2014 4:20 PM in response to theDave

Let's assume that this "just works". The rub is:

¿where do you get a replacement dual processor shelf with processors and heatsinks installed, complete and guaranteed working, for a reasonable amount of money?

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Answer 14

Lopezzi Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 19, 2014 7:18 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

No, I never did get a decent or straight answer. To answer your second question, I sometimes come across old equipment that is no longer working or has some other kind of issues. I've come across a dual proc machine that has had other issues non processor related and wanted to know if the swap would work. I also had a single proc machine that did have some processor issues and thought if I could swap the good dual proc board into the good single proc case, I'd have a good machine. But didn't want to just try it for fear of frying something and then having two completely broken machines. I still can't believe no one had tried this. Maybe I'll have to be the pioneer :)

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Answer 15

Feb 27, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Lopezzi

Someone else mentioned OWC (macsales.com) as a source. They actually do this exact thing as service. You send in your "daughter" board and they ship you a new one. In their upgrade process, you can go from a single quad core to two quad cores. I see no reason why it would not work to swap them since this is exactly what they're doing for you as a "turn key" solution. Their old page for the 2009 machines (like yours) is still up and running, but you can't order them (see link below). You can readily see that they do allow you to go from a single cpu to dual cpus. One thing to make perfectly sure of is that you're going from a 2009 machine to another 2009 machine. Dont try a 2010 to a 2009 or a 2011, 2012, etc. to your 2009.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor/Apple_Mac _Pro_2009_1

The worst that would happen is not booting up most likely. It would hit an error before you'd truly break anything. If you get booted up, check the "About This Mac" section to see that it is registering the new parts correctly. If it shows up right, you should be fine. Run Geekbench, etc. to check that it's running as fast as it should. If you see anything out of the ordinary, I'd shut down and then do more research.

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