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Making Old Mac Pro new again and last a few more years .
After finding out the new Mac Pro was going to base price @ $6k
I have decided to finish upgrading my current Mac Pro so as to hopefully last another 3 to 5 years. My Mac is a Mid 2010 333GHz 6 core Westmere I had already installed a PCIe based SSD for a boot drive about 2 or 3 years ago . and upped RAM to 24 GB. I just yesterday replaced the old factory installed GPU (graphics card) With a new Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB GDDR5 ( so as to make my machine Mojave capable) And hopefully improve rendering speed in Final Cup Pro X. Next I plan on filling the last of the 4 PCIe slots with 2 Samsung PCIe NMVe 970 EVO Plus 1TB SSD blades, on a dual blade Crest controller adaptor. Which will eliminate my current use of HDD storage internal drives for Pro tools sessions and FCPX projects and SATA And should bring my machine relatively close to today's Mid-high end specs (except for RAM speed)
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 Last edited by KevWind; 07-31-2019 at 05:08 PM. |
#2
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#3
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Frankly after doing a fair amount of research to make sure I right Card and adaptor cables, I was pleasantly surprised how easy installing the card was And then what a non issue not having a boot progress screen. The total cost for card and cables was $207. And the 2 PCIe 1 TB blades and dual blade mounting adaptor will run about $500 so if it works as expected and lasts that $700 is significantly less than even a new upper end Mac Mini by itself not to mention having to purchase an outboard PCIe chassis Here is hoping
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
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Hi Kev,
Just out of curiosity I checked the Geekbench results for your processor performance. I think it is this one: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/262 Single core: 3004 All 6 cores: 13435 Here is a 2018 Mac mini: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/434 Single core: 5667 All 6 cores: 24337 According to these figures the 2018 Mac Mini with 6 core i7 is nearly twice as powerful as your 2010 Mac Pro. Let me know if I got your machine spec wrong. It makes me seriously consider a Mac Mini.
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Yamaha AC3M Acoustic Guitar Gretch G5220 Electromatic Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special Yamaha BB414 Bass Last edited by paulp1960; 07-22-2019 at 02:34 PM. Reason: missing line |
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CPU
...and if you were to build/buy a PC with an Intel i9-9900K:
Single core: 6224 All 8 cores: 34,252 I recently re-built my PC with the i9-9900K and two Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD's and have really been impressed with the performance. or to max out multi-core performance, maybe the new AMD Ryzen 9 3900X: Single core: 5620 All 12 cores: 45,269 I posted this only in fun. I know most Mac users won't switch to a PC. Cheers!
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John Tucson, AZ 2020 Kraut 00, Swiss/Brazilian, build 2018 Eady EG Pro Electric, Redwood/Mahogany 2013 Baranik Meridian, Blue Spruce/Cocobolo, build 2008 Baranik CX, Blue Spruce/African Blackwood 2008 Breedlove A20 Masterclass 12-string, Adi/IRW 2003 Thames classical, Euro/Brazilian Fodera Standard 4 Fretless bass, figured walnut Last edited by Cocobolo Kid; 07-22-2019 at 06:44 PM. |
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I think that the Mac Mini or even an iMac are both arguably a great choice for many. Unless you need to be able to access and install and additional PCIe Card/s (like I do with Pro Tools HD Native. ) Or unless you need to have additional/separate storage drives for Audio or Video Projects, or big Midi sample libraries etc. Because then you have purchase additional outboard units to facilitate (which is doable but simply means more money, cabling and units your are dealing with. Then there is the practical question Of how much computer performance do I actually need, to accomplish the specific tasks I am doing ?
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 Last edited by KevWind; 07-23-2019 at 07:56 AM. |
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Quote:
They are only slightly more complicated than plugging an electric cord into a wall socket .
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
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I think this conversation jinxed me. I came home Sunday night and checked my email to find my desktop PC (which I use for everything but music) was going a bit bonkers with large sections of the display blacking out and an error message claiming some kind of driver issue with the graphics card.
After a couple of consultations with knowledgeable people, we determined the most likely cause was the actual graphics card itself, so I ordered one and installing it has eliminated the problem of the blacked out monitor but there are still some issues that won't clear up. The machine is 10 years old so I really can't complain as this is the first problem it's given me in all that time. But I got to thinking that it's probably better to replace it now rather than waiting for a disaster to hit. My strategy 10 years ago was to put together something as future-proof as I could make it without breaking the bank too badly. I'm going to do that again this time. I've decided on the new Ryzen 9 cpu. No one has it in stock but a new supply is about 2 weeks out and I've paid in advance with B&H so it'll go out as soon as they have it. This is the rest of the build.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#9
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I am just about ready to order the PCIe dual NMVe Blade adaptor (which BTW actually turns a 16 lane PCIe 2.0 slot into 3.0 capable. ramping up read write from about 1300 to 3500 mbs ) And the two 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO blades. I just found out that my machine will not be upgradeable to Mac's new Catalina OS coming this fall, but I don't see staying with Mojave as an issue in particular
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
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The motherboard I'm buying has slots for three m.2 drives. I'm putting a 2tb in to start. I'll probably add at least one more before too long. That's always an issue with Mac computers. At some point the OS upgrades leave us behind. After that, we're on a timer as to how long we can update other software. I guess it's avoidable if we're satisfied with the current versions of our DAWs and can be happy not upgrading, but that's never been me.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#12
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Different topic... I've gotten quite an education on M.2 ssd drives in the past couple of days. I realized that the Samsung M.2 drive I was going to order was a 3.0 ssd and wouldn't take full advantage of the motherboard and cpu. So now I'm getting a Sabrent 2TB Rocket 4.0 M.2. It's going to be blazin' fast.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
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Keywind,
Just wanted to say that I have a OWC sled used for mounting SSDs in a 2010 MacPro for sale on Ebay. Might be able to get it to you once the auction ends if need be. https://www.ebay.com/itm/254310770071 Now for my story... Had a 2008 MacPro which I bought new in 2009. Decided to upgrade similar to what you've done. Bought a mid 2010 MacPro on ebay really decked out with ram, 12 cores, 3.33 ghz processors... a very fast machine. Then I bought the same gpu you have, two OWC sleds, 3 SSDs, and proceeded to migrate to Mojave. Sounds good except for the problems. 1) My Apogee Symphony did not work... had to go back to El Capitan on my 2008 to get that firmware update.. major hassle which I won't even get into. 2) My recording software, Digital Performer would not bounce to disk on the new computer... I mean it would stall making the machine pitifully slow to work on when I needed to bounce. 3) I spend hours and hours (lost about a month of recording time) trying to debug this until I finally returned the 2010 and got another similar 2010 thinking it must be the computer. But alas, my guess was wrong, and DP still was not working right. 4) Finally decided I'd be better off with a 2013 MacPro trashcan... at least I'd have access the next Mac OS because it was foretold that the 5.1 MacPros won't be able to upgrade after Mojave. 5) Got the trashcan and still DP not working, freezing during a simple bounce to disk. 6) Created a dual boot to allow me to boot to El Capitan and then do my bounces. It worked!!! Wish it didn't take since March 24th to July 7th to come up with this workaround. So I sold my GPU and one of the sleds off the 2010 MacPro. My losses amount to quite a bit of time, effort, and money but I'm back and running again. Note that Mojave can allow you to format a drive in APFS format, or Apple's new file system. If you don't format your boot with APFS, you can't get to the latest version of Mojave, 10.14.6 I've also had problems since getting the trashcan, sometimes when the computer wakes up from sleep, the screen flask or flicker making the computer quite useless. I hope 10.14.6 fixes this but yet to find out.
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Beneteau Concert cutaway Sitka/Maple 2009 Beneteau Baritone Sitka/Walnut 2005 Beneteau Concert cutaway Adi/Honduras Rosewood 2003 Maple Beneteau for sale |
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Wow sorry to hear about all the problems
As far as the SSD sleds Thanks, but they are SATA SSD . and I am wanting my storage drives to be PCIe. SSD so as to get full speed advantage and why I am going to the Dual SSD blade adaptor so I can use one TB blade for PT sessions and the other for FCPX projects storage Actually I believe High Sierra is when the switch to APFS occurred which I am currently running on my Boot SSD (specs below) I guess I should have posted my current system specs System : Avid HD Omni I/O Interface ...Mid 2010 Mac Pro/ processor- 3.33 6-core Intel Xeon "Westmere" w/ Memory- 24 GB........PTHDN 2018.12 on OS 10.13.6 High Sierra on primary boot drive (SSD PCIe 512 GB Samsung SM951) FCPX files storage on Apple 1TB HDD and PT sessions storage on Apple 2TB HDD--
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
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A question (not a challenge, a real question)….
Why are any of the participants in the thread concerned with getting the absolute fastest hard drive throughput? I'll have to admit my recording projects run fairly low track counts of actual audio (a dozen or so tops) but I never had a problem even with mechanical hard drives on disk speed (I would use a dedicated disk for recording as was the convention at the time). Are people actually having recording errors based on inadequate disk write speed without PCI based m.2 storage of the fastest spec? Is it something else you're gaining/preventing?
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----------------------------------- Creator of The Parlando Project Guitars: 20th Century Seagull S6-12, S6 Folk, Seagull M6; '00 Guild JF30-12, '01 Martin 00-15, '16 Martin 000-17, '07 Parkwood PW510, Epiphone Biscuit resonator, Merlin Dulcimer, and various electric guitars, basses.... |