How do I choose between Early 2009 and Mid 2010 Mac Pros for upgrading a crashed system?

Think my Early 2009 Mac Pro is toast. I haven't been able to install new OS regardless of which one since it crashed....tried El Capitan, Mohave.

It either won't boot, recognize Installer or drive with OS installed from another same exact Mac Pro. If it does boot into OS it's choppy and freezes up within a minute or two. Chime sound like gurgling 🤷


So I'm rebuilding and upgrading my Mac Pro. My case is in great condition so going to take it apart and remove everything then rebuild.

Which of these 2 options should I go with:


1. Early 2009 Mac Pro with 2x 3.46 6-Core Intel Xeon.

2. Mid 2010 Mac Pro with 2x 2.66 6-Core Intel Xeon


Would a 2012 Mac Pro be noticeably better than either of the above?


Both would be set up with 64gb Ram (8x8gb)


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on May 9, 2025 12:14 PM

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4 replies

May 10, 2025 9:54 AM in response to cali464

If you’re looking for “better” in terms of performance and power and size and connectivity and/or software support, a slightly less old Mac mini will “better” the Mac Pro Intel Xeon boxes.


Those Intel Xeons were hot and slow, both in Mac Pro and in Xserve.


From the first two Geekbench performance configurations located, here is a 12-core Mac Pro 2010, and a ~seven year old mini Intel Core i5:




I do like the old cheese-grater Mac Pro Xeon boxes, and Xserve Xeon was a great box too, but I’d also look at some other available Mac choices as the older gear only gets harder to deal with, and those Xeons are just hot, and slow.

May 10, 2025 7:19 AM in response to cali464

if you expect to upgrade to the fastest CPU chips available, you need to know that the dual-socket 2009 models require de-lidded processors, an extreme PIA.


the single-chip 2009 and all the the 2010 and 2012 use readily-available processors, with heat-spreader intact.


the mainboard from a 2009 model does not support processor shelf from a later module without running the fans on high at all times.


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if you have a DRIVE from a comparable Mac Pro, that suggests you might have another such unit available. Rather than buy everything, I suggest you swap parts to find out exactly which of the major modules is causing your wonky problems.

How do I choose between Early 2009 and Mid 2010 Mac Pros for upgrading a crashed system?

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