"Just like your last report (May 25th news) on this subject - I upgraded a Dual 2Ghz (Xeon 5130, dual-cores) Mac Pro 1.1 with a pair of Xeon 5345's (2.33Ghz, Quad-Cores) I bought off ebay for £200 for the pair (I'm in the UK.)

Install took about 40 minutes and the unit powered up just fine. I also bought an additional 8 Gig ram from ebay (it now has 13 Gig so I'm aiming to get it up to 16GB in time) and have ordered a Radeon 5770. Also thinking of a small SSD to use for Windows as I have some Flight sim games I'd like to run on it under bootcamp.

I'm a fan of Geekbench and ran the free version on the original 2Ghz configured unit (Mac pro on the machine list of the page). I've since purchased Geekbench and have now run it on the upgraded Machine in both 32 & 64bit modes (Mac Pro 1.1 on the list) and compared it against my 2009 8-core 2.26GHz Mac Pro with 32 Gig ram in both 32 & 64 bit mode.
(FYI: Mac Pro 1,1 (2006) and 2,1 (2007) are EFI32 models and not able to boot to 64-bit Snow Leopard kernel as is.)
My Macbook Air and Core i7-2620M 13" MacBook Pro are there too. You can see the 5345's make a huge difference and bring it surprisingly close to the Nehalem 09 Mac pro. http://browse.geekbench.ca/user/MCal27/geekbench2
Hope it's of Interest & keep up the good work.
-Alan B."

Thanks Alan. Here's links to a few other previous Mac Pro CPU upgrade reports this year. (Some linked on Macs page and previous articles page.)

• Low-Cost 2006 Mac Pro CPU Upgrade report ($225 for Pair of E5345 Quad-Cores) (May 25th, 2011)
• 2010 Mac Pro CPU Upgrade (2.8GHz 4-core to 3.2GHz 6-Core) (April 20th, 2011)
• Water Cooled 2006 Mac Pro w/3.3GHz (OC'd 2.66's) Quad-Core CPUs (March 23, 2011)
• 3 More Mac Pro CPU Upgrade reports (w/Software OC report) (Mar 1, 2011)
• 2006 Mac Pro Quad-Core CPU Upgrade report (5350's OC'd to 3.3GHz) (Jan 13th, 2011)

• Ars detailed review of Nvidia Quadro 4000 Mac Edition (missed this earlier)
• What Thunderbolt's 10Gb/s - and $600 - buys
• (Forbes) Why Steve Jobs' keynotes matter
• Besting Apple's MacBook Air, iPad: 10 Things Competitors Must Do
• Apple tries to put the kibosh on iPad and iPhone giveaways
• Apple WWDC Schedule (full info requires dev login)
• Mac Security Threats: How Vulnerable Is Apple? (more click-bait)
• OWC extends Money-Back Guarantee On SSDs to include 6G Line

• Team Fortress 2 Update Released
• Left 4 Dead 2 Update Released
• Apple's iCloud could be free to start, later cost $25 annually
• Apple signs Universal Music to iCloud
• Apple Takes Control of iCloud Domain
• uDevGames 2011 starts July 1
• Parallels Desktop for Mac 6.0.12090.660720
• X-Plane 9.70
• Daily Deal - Tales of Monkey Island 66% off (steam)
• Apple quashes latest version of MacDefender (the ping-pong match continues)
• WoW: Cataclysm Patch 4.1 Hotfixes - [Updated 6/1]
• Steam client update released

• Troubleshooting Home Sharing
• Cannot send audio from iMovie or GarageBand via HDMI with the Apple Digital AV Adapter
• iMovie for iOS: What does a yellow triangle in my timeline mean?
• Where are my iTunes files located?
• Apple Web Server notifications

• Microsoft Windows 8 steals from Apple in a very good way
• Thermal Compound Roundup Test Results
• ASUS (Radeon) HD 6950 Review
• Sony Pictures falls victim to major data breach
• Google's Discovery of Attempted Gmail Hacking Prompts U.S. Investigation
• Sharing Netflix, Rhapsody login illegal in Tennessee
• Weekend Deal - Red Faction, Red Faction II and Red Faction Guerrilla 75% off (Steam)
• CoD: Black Ops - Free Multiplayer Weekend (Steam)
• CoD: Black Ops Escalation Content Pack released (Steam)
• What Arcades Looked Like in the 80s

Wednesday June 1st, 2011

• OWC announces 16GB dimm based RAM Kits (Up To 96GB) for 2009-2010 Mac Pros
• I Bought Apple At $35 (and sold at $36): A Tale of Woe
• What to expect from Apple's iCloud
• Apple iCloud wants films and TV shows, but HBO rains on parade
• New Apple unsafe download signatures bypassed within hours by malware authors
• Bug in Apple's Malware Detection Settings May Lead to Mistaken Preferences
• Eric Schmidt (Google Exec): Want Security? Get a Mac
• Tapjoy CEO: a single line of code could solve promo problem with Apple
• GarageBand for iPad v1.0.1
• Cocktail 4.9.3 (Snow Leopard Edition)
• VMware Fusion 3.1.3
• Team Fortress 2 Update Released
• iTunes: How to share music and video (Apple)
• Understanding Home Sharing (Apple)
• Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting (Apple)
• Setting up and using Back to My Mac with an 802.11n-based AirPort base station, or Time Capsule (Apple)
• GarageBand for iPad: What's new in GarageBand for iPad 1.0.1 (Apple)
• Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore (Apple)
• iPhoto '11: Alert message appears when burning a disc with selected photos from an event (Apple)
• iMovie for iOS: About audio playback to an HDTV using the Apple Digital AV Adapter (Apple)
• iMovie for iOS: How to optimize playback performance when using the Apple Digital AV Adapter (Apple)
• iOS: Troubleshooting cellular data (Apple)
• MobileMe: How to reset sync data (Apple)
• MobileMe: Viewing and editing To Dos with MobileMe (Apple)
• iTunes Store: All sales are final (Apple)
• Using Keynote Remote (Apple)
• Cell phones and radiation: The 10 highest- and lowest-emitting models
• Nvidia Drivers page has GeForce v275.33 (WHQL) for Win7/vista/XP. (FYI for bootcamp/VM users)
• 'Angry Birds' flying to Roku
• Massive Gmail phishing attack hits senior U.S. officials
• 3 banks process 95% of spam transactions
• Honda Data Breach Triggers Lawsuit

Tuesday May 31st, 2011

• Apple releases Security Update 2011-003 (re: Mac Malware)
• Apple's MacBook Bottom Case Replacement Program
• Apple PR - We'll Unveil Next Generation Software (iCloud, Lion, iOS5) at WWDC Keynote Address on June 6
• What to expect from Apple's WWDC next week
• Samsung demands to see Apple's next iPhone, iPad
• The Revenge of Steve Jobs
• Apple iWork Now Available For iPhone and iPod touch Users
• Keynote v1.4 (iOS app)
• Pages v1.4 (iOS app)
• Numbers v1.4 (iOS app)
• New Release - Cities in Motion: Tokyo (Expansion) (steamplay)
• Gaming on the Mac: Still playing second fiddle
• MakeMKV 1.6.10 (Beta)
• Onyx 2.2.8b2
• Google Chrome 12.0.742.68
• Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm preview
• Three $1,000 Apps Vie for "Most Expensive iPad App"
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection (Apple)
• About Security Update 2011-003 (Apple)
• Non-responsive DNS server or invalid DNS configuration can cause long delay before webpages load (Apple)
• iTunes: Setting up Home Sharing on your computer (Apple)
• iOS: Setting up Home Sharing on your device (Apple)
• How to back up your data and set up as a new device (Apple)
• Mac OS X v10.6: Mac 101 - Printing (Apple)
• iWork for iOS: Using a WebDAV service (Apple)
• Numbers for iOS: Changes when importing a Numbers for Mac spreadsheet (Apple)
• Pages for iOS: Changes when importing a Pages for Mac document (Apple)
• Keynote for iOS: Changes when importing a Keynote for Mac presentation (Apple)
• Numbers for iOS: Supported file formats (Apple)
• Pages for iOS: Supported file formats (Apple)
• Keynote for iOS: Supported file formats (Apple)
• Keynote for iOS: About builds and transitions (Apple)
• iWork for iOS: Compatible fonts (Apple)
• Keynote for iOS: How to add video to a slide (Apple)
• Using Keynote Remote (Apple)
• Adobe CS5: "Print Setting..." button may not work with multiple printer queues (Apple)
• OS X Server v10.6: iChat or Push Notification service does not start after an update (Apple)
• OS X Server v10.6: MySQL libraries available for download (Apple)
• NVIDIA Gives Notebook Gamers New Levels of Power and Portability w/GeForce GTX 560M
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M Not Just for Gaming
• Seagate, Western Digital Merger Deals Face EC Probe
• Sandisk Updates SSD Line With SATA III Models
• New DroidDream malware infects 24 Android apps
• Hands On: Asus UX21 Laptop Takes On the MacBook Air
• Gigabyte builds a 20GB Intel SSD into new Sandy Bridge motherboard
• Not Even Security Managers Immune to FakeAV Infection
• Google Kills Translate API; Irks Developers
• New Release - Hamilton's Great Adventure (steam)

Friday May 27th, 2011

• Anandtech's review of 27-inch iMac (2011)
• Updated Notes on SATA III (6Gb/sec) in various 2011 MacBook Pro models (13/15/17in)
• ChronoPay Fueling Mac Scareware Scams
• A5-equipped MacBook Air model being tested?
• Pioneer's AppRadio Puts iOS Apps in Your Dash, Sort Of
• Skype 5.1.0.968 (said to fix connect issues)
• Playback 1.7.5
• Amazon's Mac software Download Store
• New Release - Frozen Synapse (Steamplay)
• How to combine multiple audio interfaces by creating an aggregate device on Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (Apple)
• iTunes: Specific update-and-restore error messages and advanced troubleshooting (Apple)
• FaceTime for Mac: About HD video calling (Apple)
• Apple Portables: Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters (Apple)
• How to identify MacBook models (Apple)
• Final Cut Server Resources (Apple)
• Apple TV (2nd generation): About the on-screen keyboard in Apple TV software 4.2 and later (Apple)
• iPhone and iPod touch: About backups (Apple)
• Mac 101: Safari 5 (Apple)
• IE Flaw Lets Attackers Steal Cookies, Access User Accounts
• Microsoft downplays IE 'cookiejacking' bug
• PayPal sues Google, accusing it of swiping trade secrets, poaching employees
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Update Released (Steam)
• Brink Updated (Steam)
• Blackbeard's anchor recovered off NC coast