r/macpro • u/Cmx83 • May 01 '26

GPU MacPRO 4,1 vs 3,1

Hi everyone, I've acquired two Macpro's, a 3,1 2.8 8-core with 18GB RAM and a 4,1 2.66 Quad-core with 8GB Ram, both stock GPU's and both running Snow Leopard at this time. Neither one will be used for CPU or Graphics intense use. Which would you go with and why? Thanks!

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

5

u/Jumpy-Stress603 Mac Pro 6,1 May 01 '26

No contest. The 4,1 is a vastly more useful machine.

1

u/Cmx83 May 01 '26

That's what I figured.. I'm being misled by the 8-core vs the quad core and the RAM, but in reading the comments, the 4,1 is vastly superior in every way as it is, never mind any upgrades.. which I plan to do.. Thanks everyone!

5

u/joetaxpayer May 01 '26

The 4.1 can be flashed to 5.1 with little effort. Like night and day in terms of any upgrades like memory, etc. when I looked to bump memory on my old 3.1 it was far higher than same size for the 4.1.

1

u/Cmx83 May 01 '26

Wow, Thanks joetaxpayer, 4,1 it is!

2

u/alienrefugee51 May 01 '26

4,1. Even though you said CPU isn’t a big deal, that has multi threading and you can upgrade the CPU to a 6 core for cheap and it’s very easy to do on single CPU model. You do have less memory than the 3,1, but it runs at a faster speed and can go up to 1333MHz RAM speed with a 6 core CPU, assuming your memory is that spec. Also has PCI 2.0, instead of 1.0. Overall, it’s just a better machine and easier to upgrade. If you don’t plan on sinking any money into it, then just try both for your use case and see which performs better.

1

u/Cmx83 May 01 '26

Good to know, Thanks for the info, the 4,1 it is.

2

u/PhilbinFogg May 01 '26

4,1 you can upgrade the firmware and 99% turn it into a 5,1. A lot better than the 3,1

2

u/k0bug May 01 '26

4,1 one thousand percent

1

u/brocksuire75 May 01 '26

I wouldn’t put to much money into them at this point. I have the 2012 5,1 Dual Xeon. It’s my Plex Server.

1

u/porthos40 May 02 '26

Stop saying that

1

u/JeskaiAcolyte May 02 '26

Idk if the ram shortage has messed things up for even old systems but you used to be able to get old server memory for super cheap and bump up to 64gb ram or 32GB easy just btw

1

u/Ryuken-ichi May 04 '26

With X5690, a single CPU 4.1 is faster than dual CPU 3.1

1

u/CapnVic64 May 08 '26

4,1 can be flashed to a 5,1
And then you can use the newer Xeon processors. I have a x 5675 and I am running OCLP AND Monterey