

Mac pro 5.1 hdd tray mac os#
I updated to Mac OS Mojave, the latest version of Mac OS that was natively supported on the Mac Pro 5,1. With a metal compatible card, I was able to update to future a newer operating system.
Mac pro 5.1 hdd tray install#
I also purchased a RX580 used to install into the system.
Mac pro 5.1 hdd tray drivers#
This ended up working and I had Nvidia’s web drivers installed.įast forward many more months and I purchased an addition 4 8GB sticks of RAM to add to the system. After this I would shutdown and reset the NVRAM again. I had to reset NVRAM first and then boot into the OS. I kept trying to install the drivers, but I would get no signal.Īfter hours of research and trial and error I found out the issue. This is where I had to pour the most hours into for this project. I updated my OS to High Sierra and proceeded to install the web drivers. I had to find Nvidia web drivers to install and run on the system. Unfortunately for me, Pascal cards can’t run on Mac OS natively. Next I wanted to utilize my GTX 1070 inside the system. So, I ordered a pack of 50 spring rivets (I couldn’t get smaller packs) and replaced the rivet after repasting the chip. Taking out the tray and examining my Northbridge heatsink, lo and behold, one of the rivets was broken.

It was a chip that got very hot and had a heatsink with rivets that broke easily. It shutdown again a few minutes later.Īfter researching online for a couple days and trying different fixes I found out about the Northbridge on the CPU tray. After letting it sit for a while unplugged, I plugged it in and it booted up just fine. I went and installed Mac OS El Capitan on the system with an SSD adapted to fit with the 3.5 inch drive sleds.Īnother mishap seemed to have happened while changing the CPUs, after a while the system would shutdown. Powering on the system showed that it would boot.

I placed the CPUs in the CPU tray and tightened down the CPU coolers. With more care this time, I delidded the second CPU without any issue. Unfortunately I partially damaged the side on my first attempt, but since I didn’t have a spare I decided to continue. I preferred to delid the CPUs as I didn’t want to risk damaging the CPU tray. The 4,1 Mac Pros require delidded CPUs, but it is possible to use CPUs with their existing IHS with modifications such as spacers or tightening the cooler less. I flashed the 4,1 to a 5,1’s firmware so that I could run the newer x5675 CPU’s. I ordered 2 x5675’s and a dual mini 6 pin to 8 pin adapter off eBay. I also picked up some OWC 1333 ram from the thrift shop while I was there, but it would later turn out to have compatibility issues with the existing RAM. Only one hard drive sled came with the machine. The machine was a Mac Pro 4,1 from 2009 with dual E5520 CPUs and 16 GB of RAM in a 4 x 4GB configuration. It was sold as working but with no hard drives. I got it during an Earth Week sale, which cut the price of the machine in half. I bought my Mac Pro 4,1 at a thift store for dirt cheap.
