ULTIMATE cheap and easy Mac Pro build for 2020!

Resources:
Metal GPU support and Mojave installation: support.apple....
CPU compatibility: forums.macrumo...
4,1 to 5,1 Firmware patch: www.ifixit.com...
Parts used:
Samsung 860 QVO 1tb: amzn.to/2Kee72g
RX 580: amzn.to/3eBHkC4
PCIe NVMe adapter: amzn.to/2XAc24O
*Graphics clarification: if it was confusing in the video, by default you can use a card with up to 225W TDP; the slot and each of the 2 mini 6-pins can supply 75W each. If I had used a mini 6 to 8 pin adapter, it would try to draw 150W from one connector- you can easily fry the board with that. If your card is an 8 pin you need to draw power from both 6-pins. if your card has 2 6-pins you need to use 2 mini 6 to 6 adapters, not a mini-6 to dual 6-pin. If you want to use a card that's over 225W (Vega 64, Radeon VII) you'll need to mod the PSU. A Radeon 5700 xt draws 225 so that's the most powerful card you can run without modding.
See this resource for installing the Pixlas PSU mod:thehouseofmoth...
Follow me on Twitter: / lukemiani
Join my Subreddit! / lukemianiyoutube
Gear:
Panasonic Lumix GH5: amzn.to/2SDQrYi
Blue Snowball Mic: amzn.to/2PwASD0
Sennheiser MKE 440: amzn.to/2JRwIRU
RODE VideoMic Pro+: amzn.to/2pOCkpl
Edelkrone SliderOne V2: amzn.to/33mTZmt
Zecti Camera Slider: amzn.to/2CWmeOI

[@seanpierce3755]

I just wanted to say thank you so much for this video. As the original owner of a 2009 4,1 MacPro, this has been a great guide for keeping an ancient computer relevant. When I first purchased this computer back in the day, it was a pretty basic single CPU 2.93 GHz quad-core machine that I thought would serve as a decent desktop for routine daily use and amateur photography for a few years, which it did quite capably. I never dreamt it would still be going 11 years later. When the MacPro 6,1 came out, it didn't seem terribly appealing, so upgraded the 4,1 with a PCIe SSD, maxed out the RAM, and ran El Capitan for many years without a hitch. Having added several additional new MacBook Pros and Airs to the mix with newer operating systems led to sync issues via iCloud, and I thought I'd wait it out til the 7,1 came out to upgrade. Then came the announcement of Apple Silicon, which put those plans on hold. This led to a brief search for additional options until the dust settles. Hence, this upgrade path. Once the parts were acquired, flashed the 4,1 to 5,1, installed a 3.46 GHz 6-core Westmere, took the RAM to 48 GB, briefly upgraded to High Sierra, upgraded the WiFi/Bluetooth card, dropped in a RX580, loaded Mojave, and added USB 3.2 card. An afternoon worth of work, and the opportunity to clean out 11 years worth of dust, and feels like a fresh machine again:) We'll see what Apple Silicon brings, but at least I'm good for the moment...

[@longwelsh]

Every time I have to open my 4,1 up I'm amazed by the design. I know PC cases have caught up in that regard since the 'finger slicer' days but it's still a masterpiece, yet adaptable and configurable.

[@finndamage]

It is. It's a beauty inside and outside.

[@rysterstech]

Honestly most pc cases havent caught up to this case design in terms of its polish.

[@sharksbean]

That old Mac Pro design is so damned beautiful!

[@kahlilgarcia3995]

I agree

[@ptkelly80]

The inside is elegant as well. It’s so clean compared to my old Windows towers…so messy with cables!

[@atisbasak]

Mac Pro 2019: Hold my beer.

[@leswhite3524]

IT'S A TRAP!!! RUN!!! Once you go Mac, you CAN'T go back! And worse, you can't afford to go forward!

[@HearMeLearn]

@@ptkelly80 have you never seen cable management in your entire life?

[@gvlocke]

it's interesting to watch a KZbinr that's a lot more relatable to me who buys basically all my tech used. It seems more in reach than some people who buy and review brand-new tech that costs as much as a decent car.

[@aajeev]

Agreed. Recently watched one tech youturber, was complaining that his 34 ultra wide on top of his 38 ultra wide was too "distracting....". Guess what, he then borrow a Pro Display XDR and said he has to keep it (for now) because due to COVID19 so he can't return it yet, which I called BS. There is no way that 90% of people can even afford those setup. Even this automatic standing desk is expensive. I don't blame him because people likes to see techs, but it's great to see something relatable and most people could actually afford.

[@richiehimes7990]

Yep! My early 2009 iMac is tired and I don' think there's anything I can do to kick it into gear so as one of the newly unemployed, this may be a somewhat affordable option. Thanks Mr. Miani!

[@rodefshalom]

I’d love a follow up to these Mac Pro 5,1 videos that includes the following: 1) How to flash the GPU to show the boot screen. 2) How to install Windows 10 on this machine. It’s not officially supported in Mojave. 3) How to hack it to upgrade to Catalina. I love these videos. You inspired me to get into upgrading these cheese graters. I have two of these, I just picked up a 30” Cinema Display, and I might be looking at two more. FWIW, these also make fantastic 1080p Windows gaming machines.

[@FriscoBoatersGarage]

Opencore is the answer to that.

[@CompuKonstantin]

@JMFC Just use the DosDude Catalina patcher

[@krux7741]

I am interested in the flashed rx580 cards.. (for bootscreen, high native res support etc) how's that done? flashing services are asking for more $ than the card itself to have that done... Aware of OpenCore... but it's a bit fiddly.

[@fmlazar]

FriscoBoater's Garage How is opencore relevant? THIS IS NOT a Hackintosh.

[@tfitzgex]

@@fmlazar Doesn't need to bea hackintosh, clover and opencore help you get to catalina, and will help me get thunderbolt 3 on my 5,1

[@stephengrace4389]

"This RX 580 I got for $90..." *cries in 2021*

[@hadishawki7270]

ahahahhaahha. 90$, for what the box?

[@ptkelly80]

I paid several hundred for one two years ago. 😳

[@00SNIVY00]

this was the comment I came down to find LMAO

[@the_hybridgarage]

@@00SNIVY00 2021: I got this RX for 500$

[@carlbaroni1595]

i was going to buy a rx580 for $200 aud but now on ebay its like $550 aud

[@JamesJLaRue]

I don’t think this video could have been made any better. Concise, clear, good pace, clean all around.

Oh gosh I hope that nobody that follows this forget to put thermal paste in the processor... But great video Luke! :D

[@nadeemsilat6710]

He said he would add it to the heat sink

[@jimmysavile69]

It probably came with thermal paste pre-applied

[@othmanalshammari2111]

Play the video in x0.25 speed from 8:34 and you will see the white thermal paste on the cpu try to see it just before he put the heatsink.

[@lucasrem]

Como Ser Boladão This is apple, it will never get real hot inside, u reused it? was it still good enough?

[@omaroe666]

If people forget to put thermal paste on the cpu/heatsink, then they shouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

[@jarran.]

You really make the best APPLE videos on the internet. Thank you for making this

[@DonRossMusic]

Thanks, Luke. Used this video to do many upgrades on my 2010 Pro. One very small thing: the long-handled hex wrench is a 3mm, not 3.5mm. 3.5mm wrenches are extremely rare. :-)

[@kethean22]

This was cool. I love my 5,1 and it's my main computer! The only thing I'd add in terms of value and/or creature comfort is a cheap USB3 card (~$25). It won't be able to power multiple external HDDs but USB3 vs USB2 is a big difference! Similarly with speed, I think it's important to note that the hard drive bays are SATA2 not SATA3, which means the theoretical max read/write is 300MB/s. Mine has an old apple 128gb SSD and I get about 225 MB/s read and 150 MB/s write. This is just to say, don't buy some crazy fast SSD unless you are going to get a PCIE card to put it in! I really enjoy your videos and am always interested in what fun purchase/repair you make next!

[@WillCate]

Yes, good advice on the SSDs. I got a couple of the biggest cheapest ones I could find. My 5,1 MacPro: 2 x 6 core 3.46 gHz. 64 GB ram, same video card Luke installs here, USB 3 and latest Wifi/Bluetooth with external antenna port. The only other major upgrade I could make would be SSD on a PCI card.

[@kethean22]

​@盧昱翔40709 Based on a quick google search, it seems the theoretical maximum is 500 MB/s per PCI-E 2.0 lane. On a 4x slot that's a theoretical max of 2000MB/s but realistically it seems people get 1200-1500 MB/s with an NVME card. Seems pretty fast to me!

[@diegoflores8626]

what ssd's do you recommend? Sorry, a little new to this so trying to figure it out still. Thanks!

[@douglaslin5469]

@@diegoflores8626 Check out Macrumors for info on classic Mac Pro upgrades; many issues, not all compatible. For speed you probably would need the latest Mac firmware too. Put in a raid card into the spare 16 lane slot and you get double the speed of Thunderbolt 3; if the card is multi NVME card you can have the OS on one card and raid the rest, all on the card; 4,700 write and 5,300 MBPS is achieved by many that way. That hardware costs though and the used market might not be great for the best card because so far as Windows 10 goes it doesn't currently take advantage of the tech; strangely the old Mac benefits a lot. forums.macrumors.com/threads/pcie-ssds-nvme-ahci.2146725/ And with the best card the latest version is much quieter, so fan noise speed and heat sinks are important, after one is assured it will work. Probably half the speed or a third the speed of a new Mac Pro though, more issues too as these units are far from new!

[@TuNnL]

Thanks so much for using Final Cut Pro as a "real world" test for your upgrade. So many KZbinrs run a "test bench" or play a game, and leave you wondering, "how will this affect what I really bought this computer for?' This answers a lot of questions and leaves no doubt in my mind. 🏆

[@wimbraber944]

It’s worth 500 bucks just to have it open and look at. What a craftsmanship!!

[@geekdomo]

I did this a few years ago. Made a killer mac pro. 128GB RAM 3 SSDs 1060 running High Sierra. Ended up selling it on ebay for a pretty great profit. I have 3 cheesgrater chassis left over from the combine operation. So now I am converting one to ATX to put a hackintosh in. Such an aesthetically pleasing case. I cant believe how thick the aluminum is compared to even my best PC case.

[@joeschmeaux]

Don't forget the cost of power. For people who leave the computer on 24/7, if they can accomplish what they need to do on a mini, the savings in electricity costs over the pro will pay for the machine in short order. Mac pros are definitely machines one should put to sleep when not in use.

[@beeldbuijs1003]

This is more applicable to the pre-2008 models: The 2,1 1,1 Mac Pro and the G5. Those had significantly higher power usage. That being said, sleep is on per default on macOS and why would you keep your Mac on 24/7?

[@jas_bataille]

@@beeldbuijs1003 Well for 3D rendering you might definitely let it on all night.

[@VocalOfficial]

i love the design of the old cheese graters. i remember when i was in an apple store for the first time and i saw one of those, i wanted one so badly. now you can get them for a few bucks. but atm i prefer my self built hackintosh. maybe i'll get one in the future as a second system. great video as always, keep it up luke!

[@joshuaaxelio7631]

Hackintosh is pain in the ass

[@LeeMatches]

Joshua Axelio I agree, but it’s less painful to me than paying 3 times as much for machine which offers little to no upgrade options.

[@ryanclouse299]

@@LeeMatches Pretty true. Why I am looking at this. I have a windows machine and an older iMac. This seems like the perfect medium in that it's not super expensive, compromisable upgradability and more stable and less pain in the arse then a hackintosh. It's also pretty darn simple to upgrade to a Catalina. Catalina was supported in the beta release but was not supported in the official release.

[@hennarkilsen1389]

I Love those old cheese graters.

[@manuel-xax]

Hennark Ilsen same, I would have get one if they weren’t so loud and power hungry compared to the computer I finally bought : an I3 NUC :-)

[@claytonberg721]

I nearly bought a 12 core. What stopped me was the realization that it was as much a powerful computer as it was a spaceheater. My little place gets hot enough in the summer as is.

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

Had the Quad-Core G5 cheesegrater, indeed it was the most stylish, most imposing Workstation/PC I've ever had.

[@greasysteve5671]

Ikr! They're so modular and space age

[@seungkyeom]

ANYONE ELSE USE IT FOR CHEESE?

[@TheJohnob1]

Definitely a good value... after loading Mojave, I added a cheap NVME (adapter and chip - $13 for adapter and $47 for chip) and the read/write speed are 4-5x faster than without it. I think in total I spent $400 on machine and upgrades.

[@petervansan1054]

Luke: We can put whatever card we want in it Me: *sad nvidia noises*

[@ecmorgan69]

Yeah, sorry, no Titans need apply here. 😒

[@WarriorsPhoto]

You could put nVidia cards into these Mac Pros. You'll be on High Sierra though. ;)

[@ldfox11]

Everything I've read say's, if you put a Thunderbolt card in one these Pro's it wont works because the Motherboard was not designed for it. The card would cost as much if not more then the mac

[@andrewholst9656]

@@ldfox11 They do, you just have to boot into Windows first then reboot into macOS if you want it to work in macOS. So you haven't read everything then.

[@cylo5770]

@@WarriorsPhoto Just install OpenCore and go with Catalina almost "plug-n-play", plus install whatever VGA you want with boot screen as well ,)

[@BARTOZZI-OFFICIAL]

Great video. I love this channel and the direction of your work, so here's some constructive criticism:.. You missed a bunch of very important points: 1. The processor you're recommending (as every other one for this platform) features a triple-channel memory controller. The CPU actually performs worse with two or four modules. So to take full advantage of the CPU you should go with 24GB(3x8) or 48 ((3x16) The 5,1 introduced CPUs capable of handling 1333MHz memory, instead of the CPUs that came with the 4,1 (1066), tests show a 4% advantage for the higher clocked memory setup. For a dual CPU scenario it's 48GB(6x8) or 96(6x16). For low-latency audio applications the single-cpu is better. For audio multitrack mixing and video applications the inter-cpu latency won't be an issue. 2. The SATA controller is 2nd gen, so you get 300 MB/s each way per drive and the 6-socket controller maxes out at less than 900((old PCIe). So the most efficent scenario is 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs, or a dedicated SATA3 PCIe card with a dedicated 2,5" drive mounting space for every SATA3 SSD. 3. There's a list of GPUs that work with Mojave. nVidia 740/760/780 support Metal natively, not all AMD cards are suppoorted and the nVidia Web Driver is not being developed since Mojave anymore, so 900 series, 10x series and 20x series are not an option with Mojave and up. You chose the best card for this scenario, but it's not like you said that we can install ANYTHING WE WANT. 4. The main argument against pimping out a cheesegraterr is the lack of Thunderbolt. It is possible though to install an add-in-card and enable partial TB3 support (PCIe element). Depending oon your use scenario, you might get it working just fine ((Universal Audio Apollo devices work fine). Cheers and stay safe Luke!

[@TubeDancingBear]

Thank you very much, really helpful!

[@Big18s84]

I picked a 2010 up for $200 and it had the dual cpu tray then I added two of the 5675 xeons for another 45 bucks.

[@richardlane1130]

Great PRICE! Where did you purchase the Mac Pro from? Did that include shipping?

[@andrewwichman7303]

I got my 2009 for $100, flashed it and put in x5675’s also. 96gb ram and an rx580

[@baconfister]

Dayum that’s a screamin’ deal!

[@questioneverything9761]

Im a newb. Will two 5675 Xeons and 16GB ram be great for Logic Pro x? What would you compare dual processors to in today’s market?

[@rs2klee]

@@questioneverything9761 that will run nicely :) i use 1x 5680 in mine and runs really nice

[@MattyHughes]

Definitely one of the best Mac Pros to upgrade! Straight up classic here💯💸

[@carsandzombies7606]

Wanted to build one two years ago as my main build. I still want to even in 2020! Lol great video as always Luke!

[@TheBluuHouse]

Love it!! I have a 2009 5,1 - Dual 3.33GHz Xeon, 48Gb 1333MHz. Just ordered a Radeon RX 560 ITX. Thanks Luke.

[@TheBluuHouse]

Do you have a video of the best way to install Mac OS with a non flashed GPU?

[@AlphaFox78]

@@TheBluuHouse install it with the stock GPU, load sierra first, as it does another firmware flash. then swap the video card for the RX580, which is natively supported. then upgrade to mojave. thats the process I have done.

[@electronicsandewastescrapp7384]

This is the exact build I was looking for when you did the fastest mac pro in the world build. Perfect.

[@xpez9694]

ooops.. welp x5500 cpus are cheap these days..

[@Johnsormani]

Fantastic video. I love how you add a second life to these older machines and show us these are not obsolete. I still have almost my old macs and MacBook since 2007 or so and all of them have been upgraded insole way or form with SSD and max memory. Every single machine is still very useable today.

[@wickeRstick]

Still rocking my mid 2012 with Vega vii and its a beast! Running with dual 27” apple cinema displays and its such a dream setup still

[@matteialexxandru]

Much better design setup than 2020 one ☝️

[@pixeworks1]

Did you get yours to go up to Catalina, how did you get the thunderbolt displays to work, I have been looking for a thunderbolt to us b dongle.

[@accordinglyryan]

Just recently did almost the same upgrades with my 4,1. X5690, 32GB RAM, RX 580 and a cheap PNY SSD. I'm about to sell it today but it's still a very capable machine, and I spent about $480 on it total.

[@alliejr]

Excellent. And better than every “cheap” Hackintosh I’ve seen/built.

[@brandon_nope]

What about the builds from Snazzy Labs

[@rs2klee]

i tried the hackitosh idea`s and omg what a pain in the ass.. reason i bought a mac pro 5,1 single then modified it to suit wayyyy better. For what i want it for works a treat.

[@chrissoclone]

Sorry, but that's objectively wrong. Hackintoshes can have quirks, can be problematic, but if you go with a tried and tested build they can be almost as easy and painless as a used Mac, with far more modern components. You even get rid of some built-in pains of original Macs.

[@BrinkHouse]

Great video as always, Luke. It should be noted for anyone interested, the Pixlas PSU mod actually isn't necessary to power Radeon VII, as I've been doing so with just the power off the motherboard, and have gamed hard for months on it with zero issues!

[@FireAngelOfLondon]

If you fry your logic board please come back and post to let people know.

[@quangb8448]

You can connect the SSD on the connector for the second DVD drive that you probably don't have.

[@propjoe1060]

Have a 2008 model (3.1) and its still a great machine. 2 x quad core Xeons and 24GB RAM. Fitted it out with a GTX680 and have it running Mojave. Solid as a rock.

[@scottkrieger2899]

Built one of these after your last video. Dual processor though. It’s the bomb. Keep up the great videos. But, I’d split for the 2.5 to 3.5 drive adapter :)

[@alhardy1644]

What processor did u use

[@RetroPlayer93]

I pretty much did the same thing with my 2010 dual tray. I slapped two x5690s and only 64GB of ram. Amazing video! I wish this was around when I did my upgrades.

[@チャールズ-l4u]

NEXT UPGRADE (I think) Install OpenCore Add Thunderbolt3 card

[@shoian12]

I did this a couple of years ago, it’s been my main computer since then.... awesome video... very easy to follow for people wanting to do something like this. The one thing I’d add to this video is that I believe ram lanes 3 and 4 share so you might see decreased ram speeds with all 4 slots being used , something to keep in mind if upgrading ram.

[@matthewcerza]

For those wondering, the adapter is a mini 6 pin to 8 pin, not 4 pin.

[@amitabhjoshi127]

This would work with the RX 580?

[@stephengiles8005]

Dude, is that right, because I can’t find a 6 to 4 ANYWHERE?

[@CoolStuffZone]

Thanks for showing how to apply the thermal paste. That was the only step I needed help with :)

[@cedric.muschkiet]

I Have a MacPro 3,1 and I love this :) I have upgraded to a 500gb SSD and a nVidia GTX 680 (Flashed for the Mac Edition) This thing has 32GB RAM and a dual Processor 2x Quad^^ with the catalina patcher, this mac run with catalina :)

[@SignatureScentReviews]

Im about to buy a 3,1 for $220 with 16GB ram, any suggestions?

[@DaddyBear3000]

Watched a few of your videos, but this was the sub. You’re a legend

[@FoaxHawkMan19]

I just made mine 2 months ago. I love it. This video would have been helpful then. Cheese grater values are going to skyrocket.

[@mfmayes]

they already have, 2009 now going for 500 and up, dual cores are 700 and up

[@stampscapes]

These videos of yours are amazing. Thank you for all of the great info.

[@aarorasilainen]

Wait, I just did that yesterday. Well, almost. RX 590 and different SSD.

[@MirkoMancini]

Hi, where did you get the cable? I see Luke connected it straight to the motherboard, so isn't the complicated power supply cable modification, it's a new cable which provides power from the pin on the mobo ain't?

[@aajeev]

Can you tell me where did you get the RX590 and if it will work with the Mac Pro 5,1 right away? I want to upgrade my graphics so that I can drive either a 34 or 38inch ultra wide. My stock video card can only go up to 1440p. Thanks!

[@nicjasno]

I saw your videos on upgrading a mac pro and bought mine on the basis of that. Mine is a 12 core 5,1. No regrets.

[@tompelican]

When adding an SSD, I use the second connector on the DVD harness and let it live under the DVD.

[@MikeDeezy_100]

I'm always excited to see any 5,1 videos. Great video Luke! Watching in 4K on my 2009 Mac Pro.

[@visuellemontage]

Even old Macs shine in a (tasty,) new light just by the way you say "valuable Machine"!🙂

[@denntheartist3772]

Man, you are a straight up genius. I'm going to try this. I'm stuck at El Capitan. I need this upgrade. Thanks much.

[@admiralfabi]

Hey i have a question. I cliked on the amazon link and it showed me the Retro edition. It cost 177€ and is way to expensive or me. Also i cant find the RX 580 anywhere available . And you said we dont gonna get the booting screen . How can i get him ? Is the Adapter for that ? . And where can i find this power cable for the RX 580 ? . it would be nic if you could answer me

[@TheWinterwraith]

Titanic_Letsplay Yeah the cheapest I’ve seen the RX 580 is £160. That’s over $200

[@little_fluffy_clouds]

My 2010 Mac Pro has dual X5680 chips for 12 cores and 24 threads, 64 GB RAM, RX 580 and an NVME SSD in a PCIE adapter card. Really solid performance for Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve and Logic Pro.

[@desertrunner7749]

Literally was about to do this a couple months ago, ended up just buying a Dell XPS. Wish I had this video then :(

[@philippheller9439]

You can still hackintosh it

[@desertrunner7749]

@@philippheller9439 I though you had to have very specific hardware to do that

[@WincTech]

I love my 5, 1 Mac Pro! Mine came with a 6 Core Xeon X5670 processor, 32GB of RAM, standard HD 5770 GPU and a 1TB hard drive. I upgraded the GPU to an RX 570 4GB and the storage to a 250GB Samsung SSD and added a 2TB Seagate drive. Overall, pretty good for my video editing machine.

[@cookie7993]

"We can put what ever graphics card in here" Bottlenecking: Am I a joke to you?

[@mohammaddebes7681]

This isn't a Windows gaming machine. There's not much of a limit for GPU power if it can be utilized by your software (which it can on most productive Mac apps)

[@siqu7071]

@@mohammaddebes7681 So which programs need that much power?

[@cookie7993]

@@mohammaddebes7681 there's still a bottleneck dude.

[@fedism]

@@cookie7993 will there be bottlenecking if you have a 12 core xeon installed?

[@DBLCreations]

And those upgrades, after 10yrs. is exactly why a Mac Pro is worth it to me. I'm going to buy the new 2019 one. Even though there will be one with Apple silicone in the coming years, the 2019 will still be supported throughout the years. If get anywhere between 8 to 10 yrs with it i'm happy. I'm not a professional at all, more a prosumer. I do some light web/graphic design but i also like to make music with Logic Pro X and i also do a little bit of video editing. I have the 6-core trashcan Mac Pro 2013 but it's getting really slow on me. I have the D700's with 64GB of ram in it. But i'm getting it to it's limits. I'm going with a Mac Pro 16-core with 96GB of ram, 8tb SSD and the w7500 AMD gpu with 16gb. I think this machine will last me for a very long time! Thank you for this video Luke and showing exactly why a Mac Pro is worth it!

[@CompuKonstantin]

I‘m still happy with my 2008 Mac Pro with 32GB RAM I paid 130€ for.

[@ProductivePM]

I am watching this video on my 2009 Cheesegrater with 3.46 Ghz 6 core flashed to 5.1 with RX580 and 64 GB of Memory and 1 GB SSD. I saw your earlier video when you upgraded a Mac Pro and it inspired me . . . . I've been happy ever since . . . . Thanks Luke!

[@UnderEu]

I wished I could do that in my place. These 5,1, besides extremely hard to find in the used/gray market, are abusively expensive - not to mention the components to make any upgrade 😢 (In case you’re wondering where I live: 🇧🇷)

[@natthan7]

Same thing here in Mexico 🇲🇽 even though we are literally next door. That processor price is ~+$50 dls here. And the Mac Pro itself is ~$600 dls

[@MATTHEWMYTHHAVEN]

Im not wondering

[@charliekuhn1544]

Great video Luke. It is nice to see these 5,1's still being useful. I have two 5,1's that I use today.

[@ChengTeoh]

I'm curious could you put in a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU?

[@sofyanalamudi554]

You could but there a no drivers for the Nvidia videocard in Mojave or Catalina.

[@tsumii4384]

Someone Might of made the kexts

[@StuEvans]

Its bad enough with anything NVidia at the moment. I have a 5,1 with a very similar Nvidia in my studio. Its been a nightmare recently. Any security updates keep breaking any 'fixes'. I would not wish the aggravation on my enemy. They really want a 'Metal' capable card. As a user you will be stuck in the middle of corporate wars. However it will work but you have to be in it for the pain. Apple fell out big time with Nvidia and development is really not supporting anything Mac

[@emotionalintelligence776]

@@StuEvans It's funny you still have to state this in 2020!. Apple is going all in. Nvidia was dumped by Apple last year and this year they'll be dumping AMD! Even with Mohave and a Catalina hack, the metal-supported cards in these Macs will become obsolete by design when Apple silicon drops, then it'll be an Apple-only love affair. IIRC, if you have a Windows 10 dual-boot installed you may be able to do something from the Darkside then soft boot back over into the Light, but it's a PITA, YMMV. There are other great cards out there, your best bet is Google in advance Pros and Cons and hacks before you buy!

[@RonaldSaur]

@@emotionalintelligence776 Mac is going with their own CPU or they doing their own GPU ?

[@MrBargod98]

I love my 09 tower, installed a SSD drive about a ago year ago. Was looking to to upgrade the CPU and graphics card now that I can see the simplicity, Thank you for this, will be making the changes.

[@carlstanford7607]

I nearly punched my iPad i tried to hit play so fast

[@klausmeier3434]

I just had to make a decision whether to buy a Hackintosh or a Mac Pro 5,1 and all of a sudden Luke comes with a video on the MP. Fantastic, thank you!

[@ChrisOh]

RIP RX 580 for $90....

[@sabesque...7080]

Luke is reading my mind. I've been researching this for days.

[@scottkrieger2899]

Do it. Do it. I have a maxed out 5,1 and use it everyday.

[@shahmirkashif1179]

Scott Krieger is it up to date with all the software updates?

[@maechyl]

How would this handle Ableton and/or other DAWs compared to a mid 2014, 15" Retina MB Pro with 16gb ram and a 2.5 GHz Quad-Core i7?

[@DJKrikor]

technical.city/en/cpu/Core-i7-4870HQ-vs-Xeon-X5675 I'd say it's equivalent if the mac pro have a single cpu and the mac pro would be better if it's dual

[@maechyl]

Thanks for the reply! Is there a specific mac pro model # I should be looking for that I fan upgrade with two cpu's? There's a lot of options on Ebay and I wanna make sure I make the right choice.

[@rokkot8836]

Luke, i am loosing my mind with trying to upgrade this mac pro to Mojave. I love your channel and appreciate the help.

[@TheDoritopicante]

Wow now I want to make one for my self and sell my old iMac 🖥.

[@stanmunday]

Same here, I have a mid 2010 iMac. If only you could use the iMac as purely a screen!

[@FabiusMaximus1000]

This is what I have been doing. I upgraded to a 6 core CPU. I also put a RX580 GPU in it and moved the SSD to the PCIE slot. Next I want a dual CPU tray for 12 cores and an NVME SSd and a few 6 TB drives.

[@valramos2003]

Still using Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008)

[@mikeandersonwa]

I'm rocking a 2009 Mac Pro on Mojave, RX 580, 7 TB HDD and 500GB PCIe SSD, and 24GB RAM and 4k Monitor. All in I'm around $700, just bought it not too long ago and it's absolutely incredible.

[@axvingaming152]

8:34 I THINK YOU FORGOT THE THERMAL PASTE

[@Eli-si4zf]

AXVINGAMING if you slow down the playback speed to .25 you can see it as he’s setting the heatsink on

[@bigbubba0439]

The days when computers were truly upgradable were lovely. My dad has a 4,1 Mac Pro that he used up until a month or two ago when he had to get a mac studio because of software bugs. He's giving it to me so I can use it as a bootcamp computer (since I do have an M1 mac, but bootcamp is a no-go on it), and I'm going to be doing some gaming on there. I know it's not the same level as M1, but I figured I'd give it a try, since that thing is still going strong 12 years later (the only reason he stopped using it was because he had Mojave on there, and it really was meant for High Sierra, so that would've most-likely fixed the issue)! Edit: I'm so tempted to ask him if I could flash the firmware to a 5,1, since upgrading the cpu would give me better performance. Please tell me if it's worth it, though, since I have been wondering that, since I would be out about 40 bucks buying a better (but compatible) Xeon for it)

[@marsharrow357]

Yh 4,1 and 5,1 are basically the same u can flash bios to be a 5,1 like idk how to do it cus I’ve not looked but u need the original gpu slotted to do the firmware update And it is worth it

[@bigbubba0439]

@@marsharrow357 Wait... really? My dad upgraded the GPU (I'm not sure what it is). Are you sure that you need the original gpu? Also, do you know if it's worth it to upgrade the cpu on it? It gives a bit of better performance, but I don't know if the I/O will slow it down

[@caleamus]

But, can it run GTA V?

[@SandsOfArrakis]

It can run Crysis.

[@Vanga007]

on the Internet there is a how to install Windows without a boot screen and so this Mac with Windows will pull any game in full HD on high-ultra

[@haramaschabrasir8662]

I love this machine so much I wouldn't bother if you would make a video about it every week.

[@tpelegrin1320]

6:37 D I L D O

[@ch1ckenballs]

Thomas Pelegrin deeldo

[@stewsmith3536]

Luke: your video made me pull the trigger on this project. Hoping for the best!

[@avanishgh]

lol this has the gpu has a mac pro xD!!!

[@fwmtb]

What do you mean?

[@scottkrieger2899]

Just want to add to this, in case it hasn't been said. I added the OpenCore boot-loader to my 5,1 and its now running Big Sur (and Windows 10). This has been a game-changer for me.

[@ncavis]

I love my 4,1 with a Vega 56. It is by far the oldest piece of technology I use daily but the one I use most often.

[@clubbingtvofficial]

Hi, just to clarify, so if you put the MSI RX 580 ARMOR 8G OC like the card on your video (which is 500W), yo DO NEED to make the Pixlas PSU modification right ?

[@lukemiani]

A 580 is 225W so no

[@clubbingtvofficial]

@@lukemiani thanks for the prompt answer ! I saw here on their web : www.msi.com//Graphics-card/Radeon-RX-580-ARMOR-8G-OC/Specification they said : RECOMMENDED PSU 500W, so it's less in fact ? or it's not the same card as yours ?

[@Recon1109]

Luke Miani ok so I am ready to buy one, but what should I look for as a base to buy?

[@jamaxit]

Than you for putting this out there on KZbin - just Subscribed! I just about have what you listed here - went with a Radeon R9 280X with the EFI mod🤕, 512 GB PCI OTW SATA dual 128GB RAID card, 48GB.....now I just need that $20 X5676 Westmere 6 Core and I will be all set! Thank you so much!

[@garyg3]

This video is extremely helpful. Keep up the good work, Luke! And thank you so much!

[@RadekPogoda]

An old Mac brought to modern usability standards. A true trademark of a certain Mr. Miani. :)

[@Joel-ew1zm]

I was able to snag a 5,1 dual x5670 mac pro with 32gb of ram and an HD5870 last year for $500 on ebay. Upgraded that bad boy to an RX580, put in an SSD and got it up to Mojave. Needless to say it looks like those prices are a thing of the past, as these get more and more rare and as people have caught on to their unique value, they seem to have skyrocketed. Despite being a 10 year old system and actually TOP spec when new from Apple, AND being upgraded some by me, it STILL has a lot of headroom. Can always go to x5690's, can always upgrade to NVMe on a PCIe riser to eliminate the SATA II bottleneck, can always get the ram up to 48 or 96gb triple channel mode, and of course could even upgrade the GPU yet again down the road.

[@james94582]

Another awesome video... I recently picked up a 2010 5,1 to replace/upgrade from my still working quite well 2008 Mac Pro.

[@kentonwyatt5095]

Hi Sean I know that this video was done some time back. However it is still very valuable to me I would like to thank you for this tutorial.

[@mehdoux]

The only drawback of this generation of CPU is the lack of new instructions support. Otherwise, they're still performing great for their age. Nice video Luke !

[@ThePaulcarter35]

The cheese graters are still great pro machines - so many upgrade options

[@luttapigaming8923]

Watching this in my mid-2010 MacBook Pro and I said to it “don't worry you are still king of mine”

[@mozaic_channel]

You sold me on this for my first Mac since my experiment with an old G3 Mac. Just want to play with my drone footage. Now I need to find a decent base Mac Pro.

[@joshpierce05]

Thanks Luke, this is such an awesome project. I've been working one too, going to try out the PCI NVME drive adapter to get mega speeds on the hard drive.

[@jmccorsley]

Luke...... First off, Thank you for the inspiration to UpGrade my 2010 MacPro!!! Looks like I may be able to achieve what I want regarding photoshop W/O breaking the Bank. Again thank you for your work.

[@vanhan4225]

I like the way how hones you are try to help anther people. Good presentation in listing all those parts which make easy following.

[@eduardowatkinz]

I have 2 of the beasts, both running Catalina. No issues at all. One caveat, the Xeon processors do not have Intel Quick Sync (video processing).

[@ronmac1832]

Great value or not, it sure looks like a fun project. Thanks for the video!

[@landonh123]

I got a dual CPU 4,1 at an estate sale for $50. Upgraded the processors to X5675's at $40. Upgraded the GPU to a Radeon 560 at $100. Added an SSD as well.. probably spent around $250 on it total, and the CPUs outperform my Ryzen 5 2600 in cinebench.

[@BryanSnider]

Fantastic Video Luke! I have a 2010, and was wondering if I could do this and you came up randomly on my suggested video and boom. Time to upgrade now :)

[@fcwilli]

I saw a 4,1 Mac Pro on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago and just had to have it! I paid $140 for a single CPU Early 2009 base model. I upgraded the CPU to a six-core and upgraded the memory to 32GB and I’m awaiting a similar graphics card to come in fro eBay. I was happy to see the video today. I should end up with a pretty similar machine for less than $400. I am going to do a smaller SSD and an RX 460 instead.

[@fcwilli]

I’ve also found out that I probably should have just done 24 GB of RAM instead of 32GB because it does triple channel instead of dual channel.

[@mfmayes]

I bought one and added the upgrades. very happy with it, it is very fast. and i lucked out, was suppose to be a 2010 macpro, but i was sent a 2012 macpro

[@ameliaair4238]

Hmm - love this idea, and I've started upgrading but looking to do the CPU and GPU upgrades you list here. The links to the SSD and GPU are about twice the cost of what you mention in the video - has the price changed in the last week? Or did you get a discount or buy used to reduce the cost? And I couldn't find the CPU for less than $45 and that was refurb'd...