mathbishop Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Hey everyone, im in need of some advice on whether I should upgrade my 2010 mac pro or invest in a new machine. My current setup is: Mac Pro 5,1 (mid 2010) 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 32 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 My system drive is SSD as well as my session drive. I keep all my samples on a HDD. Im looking into a turnkey OWC processor tray upgrade which has a lot of options ranging from a 6 core 2.93GHz ($250) all the way to a dual 6 core 3.46GHz ($1380) My computer does surprisingly well considering its age, its only when im doing heavy mixing when it really starts to give me trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas007 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Have you taken into consideration future Logic versions vs OSX compatibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathbishop Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Have you taken into consideration future Logic versions vs OSX compatibility? Not at this point. Im still running Logic 10.4 with no desire to upgrade to 10.5 (yet). Im also still on Seirra. Ill probably upgrade my graphics card at some point but my work is primarily producing and mixing bands. Im sure ill need to bit the bullet and fork out the cash and get a new computer within the next 5 years but I would love to get the most out of my current machine without a large money investment. I just spent about 60 bucks getting a new 6 core processor. We will see if that is a noticeable improvement to what im doing. 95% of the time my computer can handle rather large sessions with heavy plugin count. I use a lot of UAD which takes off some strain from my CPU but I was struggling a bit on a recent mix session and figured its time to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas007 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Well, if your budget is low, then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Hey everyone, im in need of some advice on whether I should upgrade my 2010 mac pro or invest in a new machine. The million dollar question. Couple of things to consider: 1 - On a 2010 Mac Pro, the only thing that helps is dual-CPUs. So spending 1400 bucks on a dual tray might not be worth it when considering what other options you might have for that money. 2 - You have to spend another 200 bucks or more on a metal-capable graphics card if you want to install Mojave and get to later Logic versions. 3 - USB 3.0 thru PCIe card is the fastest external connectivity you can get. Thunderbolt hacks, which are out there, are not plug and play at all. 4 - You're limited by the PCI 2.0 bandwidth on those machines and ram won't get faster than 1333 Mhz after the CPU upgrade. 5 - Storage is no problem on those machines, you could have four 6TB internal hard drives if you wanted. You can install SSDs as well. 6 - Single-core performance is weak on these old Xeon CPUs, so heavy plugins might bring the computer down quicker. 7 - I'm typing this on a 2010 upgraded 12-core with Mojave and Logic 10.4.8 and it's great. I use FW UAD Apollo Quad and can't use too many plugins because of the FW bandwidth cap. I record and mix audio mainly and not too much midi, or at least not Kontakt-heavy midi. So in your case, to get the last drop of juice out of your mac pro, you need to go dual CPU and Mojave. You're talking over 1000 bucks. Worth it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Hey everyone, im in need of some advice on whether I should upgrade my 2010 mac pro or invest in a new machine. The million dollar question. 7 - I'm typing this on a 2010 upgraded 12-core with Mojave and Logic 10.4.8 and it's great. I use FW UAD Apollo Quad and can't use too many plugins because of the FW bandwidth cap. I record and mix audio mainly and not too much midi, or at least not Kontakt-heavy midi. So in your case, to get the last drop of juice out of your mac pro, you need to go dual CPU and Mojave. You're talking over 1000 bucks. Worth it? I find myself in a similar situation. I have a 2012 MP 5,1, 64gb, several internal SSDs... My issues is with the Video Card. Thinking I might upgrade to a RX580 to have Metal compatibility.Also thinking of updating the WIFI/Bluetooth card. Wondering, Triplets - what vid card do you have and did it make any difference in the CPU use/Heat of the MP? I have heard that a newer video Card will help the Mac run cooler. I can upgrade for around $500- thinking it would be worth it to keep my machine another 3-4 years before the Apple Chip Macs really come to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzfilth Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I have recently exchanged two 5770 cards for a RX580 card in a 2010 5.1 MacPro. Went perfectly flawless. Can recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I have recently exchanged two 5770 cards for a RX580 card in a 2010 5.1 MacPro. Went perfectly flawless. Can recommend. Excellent. Did you get one flashed for boot screen, or a generic off the shelf one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzfilth Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 flashed for boot screen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 what vid card do you have and did it make any difference in the CPU use/Heat of the MP? I got an AMD Radeon R9 280x 3GB flashed for boot screen. I did a Geekbench 4 test before and after Mojave and the card and I went from 21000 to almost 24000 in Multi-core scores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Awesome, thanks guys. Any recommendations for place to buy the cards? MacVidCards is one place I’ve found, but they go out of stock fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I found mine on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 The R9 runs about $189 while the RX580 runs about $269. I don’t have a 4K monitor, but the next one I buy will be (if I don’t buy an iMac). So go for the RX or save the $$ on the R9. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I use a 2k Apple Monitor with the R9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 That’s what I currently have as well, 2k monitors. Thinking longer term. But maybe long term is a new Mac with 5k display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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