2009 - 2012 Mac Pro Upgrade Guide
There are many upgrade options for keeping a 2009, 2010, or 2012 Mac Pro on the performance fast track. After all, expandability is one of the features that makes the Mac Pro so popular.
And now that Apple has stopped producing the easily expandable cheese grater version of the Mac Pro, and moved on to the closed Mac Pro obelisk, many of you wonder whether moving to the new Mac Pro makes sense.
We won't debate that question in this article; we'll simply assume that you've decided that your 2009, 2010, or 2012 Mac Pro could use some upgrades to help it achieve better performance and a longer lifespan..
We're concentrating on the 2009, 2010, and 2012 versions of the Mac Pro for a few simple reasons. All of the expansion slots adhere to the PCIe (PCI Express) 2.0 standard, offering two 16-lane slots and two 4-lane slots. Earlier versions of the Mac Pro used either a combination of PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.1 expansion slots, or all PCIe 1.1 slots.
In addition, the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros provide better overall memory bandwidth than earlier models, which used FB-DIMMs for their memory channels.
Because the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros use PCIe 2.0 exclusively, and have better performing memory systems, we feel they're the best candidates for upgrades, to keep them current and running in tip-top shape. If you have an older Mac Pro, you may find some of these upgrade options are still usable for you, but you'll need to check to ensure that they will work with your Mac Pro model.
That's a question that's best answered by you, but we can help you decide by explaining a few of the different types of upgrades that are available as of this writing (summer 2013).
Upgrading a Mac Pro's processor(s) can be a fairly easy task for experienced DIYers. It can also turn out to be one of those projects you wish you’d never bothered to undertake.
Whether this DIY project is easy or a headache is determined mainly by when your Mac Pro was made. The 2009 models, which were manufactured from March 2009 through August 2010, and whose model identifier is MacPro4.1, present the biggest processor upgrade challenge. You can certainly accomplish the task as long as you possess a great deal of patience and time to find the right processors to use.
If you have a 2010 or 2012 Mac Pro, it’s a much easier project. These Mac Pros use standard processors that are still sold commercially by Intel and are readily available.
Upgrading a Mac Pro’s processors can provide many benefits, besides the obvious one of running at a higher processor speed. In many cases, you can add cores, taking a quad core Mac Pro to a 6-core configuration, or an 8-core Mac Pro to a 12-core model.More »
Adding RAM to a Mac Pro is by far one of the easiest upgrade projects around. Even better, it has the potential to provide the best performance increase at the lowest price. That's because memory prices for the type of RAM used in the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros have seen a nice decline over time. Current prices are probably as low as they will go, however, so there's no reason to wait any longer to add RAM.
But before you run out to buy more memory, first make sure that you'll actually benefit from adding RAM. You can use the Activity Monitor included with OS X to measure and understand RAM utilization in your Mac. If it looks like you'll benefit from adding RAM, be sure to buy the correct type for your Mac Pro and install it in the correct configuration.
You'll find everything you need to know about installing RAM in a 2009, 2010, or 2012 Mac Pro in this guide.More »
The Mac Pro has four internal drive bays; each offers a SATA II connection that provides for a theoretical peak speed of 3 Gbits/s. Because of the overhead needed in error correction, which is provided in the SATA specifications, real-world maximum speed sits around 300 MB/s under ideal conditions. That's another way of saying: expect a bit less.
That 300 MB/s maximum speed rating makes the four drive bays in a Mac Pro more than fast enough for all platter-based hard drives, and even many SSDs. But SSDs that use SATA III, also known as 6G, will be hindered by the slower SATA II interface supported by the Mac Pro. Don’t worry if you need the speed of a 6G SSD, though; it can be accommodated in a Mac Pro by using one or more PCIe expansion cards.
In addition to adding a faster SATA interface to your Mac Pro, you can also add more than four drives. There are a few nooks and crannies in a Mac Pro that can hold additional drives; the most accessible spot is the optical drive cage, which is designed to support two 5.25-inch optical drives. With a bit of adapting, the cage can easily be used for 3.5-inch hard drives or 3.5-inch SSDs.
This guide to internal storage upgrades provides the information you need to add tons of storage to your Mac Pro.More »
And now that Apple has stopped producing the easily expandable cheese grater version of the Mac Pro, and moved on to the closed Mac Pro obelisk, many of you wonder whether moving to the new Mac Pro makes sense.
We won't debate that question in this article; we'll simply assume that you've decided that your 2009, 2010, or 2012 Mac Pro could use some upgrades to help it achieve better performance and a longer lifespan..
Why 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pro models?
We're concentrating on the 2009, 2010, and 2012 versions of the Mac Pro for a few simple reasons. All of the expansion slots adhere to the PCIe (PCI Express) 2.0 standard, offering two 16-lane slots and two 4-lane slots. Earlier versions of the Mac Pro used either a combination of PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.1 expansion slots, or all PCIe 1.1 slots.
In addition, the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros provide better overall memory bandwidth than earlier models, which used FB-DIMMs for their memory channels.
Because the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros use PCIe 2.0 exclusively, and have better performing memory systems, we feel they're the best candidates for upgrades, to keep them current and running in tip-top shape. If you have an older Mac Pro, you may find some of these upgrade options are still usable for you, but you'll need to check to ensure that they will work with your Mac Pro model.
Which Upgrades Are a Good Choice for Your Mac Pro?
That's a question that's best answered by you, but we can help you decide by explaining a few of the different types of upgrades that are available as of this writing (summer 2013).
•Mac Pro Processor Upgrades
Upgrading a Mac Pro's processor(s) can be a fairly easy task for experienced DIYers. It can also turn out to be one of those projects you wish you’d never bothered to undertake.
Whether this DIY project is easy or a headache is determined mainly by when your Mac Pro was made. The 2009 models, which were manufactured from March 2009 through August 2010, and whose model identifier is MacPro4.1, present the biggest processor upgrade challenge. You can certainly accomplish the task as long as you possess a great deal of patience and time to find the right processors to use.
If you have a 2010 or 2012 Mac Pro, it’s a much easier project. These Mac Pros use standard processors that are still sold commercially by Intel and are readily available.
Upgrading a Mac Pro’s processors can provide many benefits, besides the obvious one of running at a higher processor speed. In many cases, you can add cores, taking a quad core Mac Pro to a 6-core configuration, or an 8-core Mac Pro to a 12-core model.More »
•Mac Pro Memory Upgrades
Adding RAM to a Mac Pro is by far one of the easiest upgrade projects around. Even better, it has the potential to provide the best performance increase at the lowest price. That's because memory prices for the type of RAM used in the 2009, 2010, and 2012 Mac Pros have seen a nice decline over time. Current prices are probably as low as they will go, however, so there's no reason to wait any longer to add RAM.
But before you run out to buy more memory, first make sure that you'll actually benefit from adding RAM. You can use the Activity Monitor included with OS X to measure and understand RAM utilization in your Mac. If it looks like you'll benefit from adding RAM, be sure to buy the correct type for your Mac Pro and install it in the correct configuration.
You'll find everything you need to know about installing RAM in a 2009, 2010, or 2012 Mac Pro in this guide.More »
•Mac Pro Internal Storage Upgrade Guide
The Mac Pro has four internal drive bays; each offers a SATA II connection that provides for a theoretical peak speed of 3 Gbits/s. Because of the overhead needed in error correction, which is provided in the SATA specifications, real-world maximum speed sits around 300 MB/s under ideal conditions. That's another way of saying: expect a bit less.
That 300 MB/s maximum speed rating makes the four drive bays in a Mac Pro more than fast enough for all platter-based hard drives, and even many SSDs. But SSDs that use SATA III, also known as 6G, will be hindered by the slower SATA II interface supported by the Mac Pro. Don’t worry if you need the speed of a 6G SSD, though; it can be accommodated in a Mac Pro by using one or more PCIe expansion cards.
In addition to adding a faster SATA interface to your Mac Pro, you can also add more than four drives. There are a few nooks and crannies in a Mac Pro that can hold additional drives; the most accessible spot is the optical drive cage, which is designed to support two 5.25-inch optical drives. With a bit of adapting, the cage can easily be used for 3.5-inch hard drives or 3.5-inch SSDs.
This guide to internal storage upgrades provides the information you need to add tons of storage to your Mac Pro.More »
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