Upgrading the 2X2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro(early 2009, 5,1) in 2024

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Level 1

4 points

Upgrading the 2X2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro(early 2009, 5,1) in 2024

I am living in South Korea(I am not an engineer. English is not my native language.) and I have a M1 MacBook Pro, a G4 and a Macintosh II. And I recently bought an Mac Pro A1289, early 2009, dual CPU, firmware 5,1(originally 4,1). It was an old system but I bought it because it was still good and also very cheap. It did not work; the seller did not know how fix it. Its firmware was flashed to 5,1 and six 2 Gb rams were already installed. For the first time I replaced the power supply and installed two DDR3 16Gb 1333MHz ECC Samsung RAMs on #1, 5 and four 2Gb rams on #2, 3, 6 and 7. #4 and 8 remained empty. The system did not work(display was white screen). So, I removed every 2Gb rams. Now it works. 16Gb rams are on #1 and #5.

I have many 1/2/3/6TB HDDs to install and about to upgrade the CPUs, add new SSD and rams, and also update Mac OS for this workstation soon.

1) Can I install both 16Gb and 8/4/2Gb rams on one system? If it is possible, how to arrange them? Or this won't be good choice?

2) If I buy 1600MHz 16Gb rams, they can be installed with 1333MHz rams?

3) The Mac Pro shows me that the memories are 1066MHz although I installed 1333MHz ones. 1333MHz or 1600MHz rams are all become 1066MHz on the 2009 system?

4) The graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024Mb. If I set the resolution to 2560X1440, it's my monitors max res., the display becomes bad. I cannot read the characters. It's best when 1920X1080. I am not sure it is the limit of the graphics card or it is out of order. Should I change the graphics card for the higher res.? What would be recommended then?

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Jan 27, 2024 4:59 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

132,577 points

Jan 27, 2024 6:43 PM in response to rushin61

1666 DIMMs will work today, but may show as 1066. That is not a defect, the older Nehalem processor can't run them any faster. But having ENOUGH RAM is MUCH faster than 1066 vs 1333.

ECC stands for Error Correcting Code. These memories correct single-bit errors on the fly, and only halt on double-bit errors. These Macs ALWAYS execute correct data. Memory problems do not fester, undetected.

you can always do a processor upgrade later.

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Answer 2

Jan 27, 2024 6:48 PM in response to rushin61

<< 4) The graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024Mb. If I set the resolution to 2560X1440, it's my monitors max res., the display becomes bad. I cannot read the characters. It's best when 1920X1080. I am not sure it is the limit of the graphics card or it is out of order. Should I change the graphics card for the higher res.? What would be recommended then? >>

2560 by 1440 is the limit for that graphics card. but it can support up to three displays simultaneously.

¿What display are you connecting with what cables/adapters?

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Answer 3

Jan 28, 2024 7:22 AM in response to rushin61

There are two varieties of DVI.

Single-link DVI works up to 1920 wide, but then stops working properly. It works on any cables, any connectors.

Dual-Link DVI adds three more color conductors, so that it can go MUCH wider. The 'trick' is that All your ports, cables, and adapters MUST support Dual-Link DVI. Some cables are only Single-Link DVI, so they will not work well, sometimes not at all. You can not tell just by the connectors in all cases, because sometimes fully-pinned connectors were used, but not connected end-to-end.

This pin-out diagram from WikiPedia helps explain:

(drag and drop on Previes to view larger)

Dual-link DVI adds the six center pins in the grid (medium blue)

your cable MUST connect them end-to-end for good pictures at higher than 1920 wide.

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Answer 4

Jan 27, 2024 5:19 PM in response to rushin61

there are two types of RAMs, and they do not work together.

Ordinary RAMs like your 2GB or 4GB or 8GB. There there are so many chip devices on larger DIMMs that the traditional way of just wiring all the outputs tighter does not work. Instead, an Output Register is used to boost the signal. The larger sizes are called Registered DIMMs (because they have an output Register. they do not work with any small DIMMs on the same side.

There are separate addresses for THREE slots on each side. The fourth slot shares its address space with the third slot, and at the edges, the fourth slot MAY fall apart and not work properly. Do not count on being able to fully use all four slots at maximum densities and speeds.

1333 is fast as it can go, do not waste your money on higher. That speed can only be attained with a Westmere family processor upgrade. That Mac Pro 4,1 Dual-chip uses LID-less processors, which are hard-to find (or hard to make).

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Answer 5

rushin61 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 27, 2024 6:28 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for the quick reply. Everything about the memory became clear.

1) I remember the former user also filled 2Gb RAMs on 6 slots out of 8 slots.

2) 16Gb RAMs are "REG ECC RAM" on eBay and Aliexpress. That means Registered DIMMs you said.

3) I think 1666MHz RAMs can be used because they are not more expensive than 1333MHz RAMs here. All of them must be used ones.

4) CPUs should be DELIDDED and I watched the process on Youtube. It looked liked a hard work.

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Answer 6

Capibara

Level 1

8 points

Jul 14, 2024 2:28 PM in response to rushin61

Hi, can you help me decide which GPU could have optimal performance to work on my system:?

Mac Pro A1289 (early 2009)

MB871LL/A

EMC: 2314

Firmware:

was 4,1

upgraded to:

5,1

OS Currently running on:

Mojave 10.14.6

CPU

Westmere 6 core Dual Xeon X5690

3.46 3.73 1333 130W

Thanks for your help.

MEMORY

16 x 2 1066mhz DDR3 ECC SDRAM

I have an cinema display 20 in + led cinema display A1316 (as second) but i want to plug a 34 in curved ultrawide 21:9. Not for gaming just calcs, video edit.

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