Ask a Question

Is it Worth Upgrading a 2013 Mac Pro in 2024?

0 votes
by (120 points)
I currently possess a Mac Pro dating back to 2013. Would it be prudent to consider upgrading the CPU along with the thermal paste in the year 2024?

1 Answer

0 votes
by (300 points)
Even in 2024, upgrading a Mac Pro from 2013 seems to be worth it for a user who really needs enhanced performance without having to invest in a new device altogether. The performance value can be improved fairly well and at a low cost simply by upgrading to a suitable 8-core CPU like the E5 2667 v2 and reapplying thermal paste. Benchmarks show that even older Mac pros can still achieve decently respectable scores rendering them usable for the current configurable needs. Nevertheless, think of your own situation in particular – will the enhancements be worth what you need to put into them?
by (100 points)
I hold you responsible for what's become an addiction to Mac Pro 2013s. I have bought two so far. The first at 280 quid, I upgraded to an 8 core but it only had D300s. The second was too good a bargain to miss on ebay, Though without SSD or memory at 120 quid. It turned out to be slightly sqaushed somehow (so bad the fan can't spin), but did contain two D700s which I swapped out. Then listed the remaining bits on ebay, untill I couldnt resist and am currenly waiting for bits to use to repair. I'm trying to justify this as a huge saving to my employer to claim the expense. But explaining why I want to replace a 2015 4 core 27inch iMac with an 8 core 2013 Mac Pro is a bit hard. Makes perfect sense to me!  I lusted after these when they came out but could never justify thousands for one. But 300 quid.....
by (100 points)
Hi - yet another great content! Thanks to you I purchased one of these for a song ($200 shipped for 6 core w/D500 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD), upgraded the RAM to 64GB for all of $20 and with Open Core running Sonoma perfectly as my "daily driver" driving 2 27" Cinema Displays. Got $75 for my 2013 mini and I am totally delighted! However now I am having to resist spending less than $25 for that awesome 8 core Xeon that I really don't need. I can't resist a bargain and have a tinkering compulsion (as do you, I suspect LOL). A funny aside - even though these heavy-duty upgrades are insanely cheap, buying the flippin' Apple power cable with the fitted curve costs way more than any of these upgrades! I mean like around $35!!! Sheesh! Oh well, I guess I will set the cash aside for a 2TB SSD in future and stick with my generic cable. Anyway, thanks for all your efforts and entertaining, informative content! You have a new fan, hungry for more!!
by (100 points)
I just bought one with the 6 core and d500s I will definitely use this guide when I upgrade to a 12 core and redo the thermal paste
by (100 points)
It's rather crazy to look at this once magnificent beast of a workstation with a price tag that put it firmly out of reach of us mere mortals... and then run GB6 out of curiosity and see that my 7800X3D scores 2673 in single core and 15 162 in multi-core. I have to admit though, the Dust Bin still looks sexy and is in my opinion one of the coolest Mac designs ever!
by (100 points)
Looking at the results of your upgrade I personally do not see so much extra performance over the six core and I have very similar GB 6 results on the six core as you had. Also my machine does not run very hot so I will postpone renewing the thermal paste for the time being the more as I did not see much thermal improvement on some of my other machines where I did replace it. And maybe also because I’m still a bit scared taking it apart. But great content again and looking forward to see further experiments.
by (100 points)
I did the 6 to 12 core upgrade based on your previous content a few years ago. It was a great development box with 64 GB of RAM. I needed a number of VMs running simultaneously. I was even able to get it working with an eGPU and Boot Camp. I ended up replacing it with the a final generation 6 core Intel Mac mini for newer OS updates and less tinkering to get the eGPU working after OS updates.
by (100 points)
It's fun to see you tinkering and all, almost bought one myself recently for how enthusiastically you presented the little thing... but... unless I'm missing something in GB5 it appears an M3 Air achieves a single-core score of 3,157 and a multi-core score of 12,020, so roughly 3x from a fanless ultrabook? But the biggest detractor for me is getting a current modern OS running on it, and it will only get worse from here onwards.
by (100 points)
I have an opportunity to buy a 2017 model 12 core d700 2013 mac pro for $450cad, is that a good deal.
by (100 points)
Going to be doing just this, this weekend so a timely content. Have you considered upgrading the bluetooth/wifi card? I wanted to get universal control using Monteray (via OCLP) but the hardware is sub par :(
by (100 points)
After reading your content, I bought a Mac Pro 2013 with a 6-core CPU and 32 GB RAM with a 128GB SSD. (I always wanted one of these trash can Mac Pros.) I paid 218 for it it arrived in very good condition and clean, so I have bought a 1TB Apple SSD and 64 GB ram, which arrive in a few days.
Do you think that I should use an NVME PCIE SSD instead of the original 1TB Apple one?
Do you recommend updating to Sonoma using the boot loader OpenCore Legacy?
Keep up the good work. We love reading your content.
by (100 points)
TB2 to TB3 is easy. Just use the Apple adapter, A1790. I've been using it for years to connect to an OWC ThunderBay 4 drive bay with 4 drives. Easy enough, no issues.
by (100 points)
Do you know what the largest supported SSD is in this machine? I have a 1TB 970 in there but need to upgrade the storage and my 4TB 990Pro didn't seem to work.
by (100 points)
why dont you take 2967 ? its less than 20 dollars.....
by (100 points)
Can I ask, I have a old hp z240 with a E5-1650 V2. The card I have is a GTX 1660 which is held back by the CPU. If I upgraded to the Intel Xeon E5-2667 v2 (slightly lower single core speed) would I see a % improvement (as there is not much more I can do with this older PC for games) cheers all
by (100 points)
it is a shame that apple abndoned ythis idea and design, no gpu upgrades, at the apple style, using proprietary gpu cnnectors so it couldnt be upgraded after the only gpu upgrade offered

the design still looks good, the trashcan idea was abandoned so fast by everybody, only the square itx cases using the vertical approach still exist

the dual gpu idea is now a thing of the past
Welcome to Akaguide Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...