Apple Mac Pro (Early 2008) vs Apple Mac Pro (Early 2009)

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Mac Pro (Early 2008) compared with Mac Pro (Early 2009)

	AppleMac Pro (Early 2008)	AppleMac Pro (Early 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2008	March 2009
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Xeon E5462, 2 × Intel Xeon E5462, 2 × Intel Xeon E5472 or 2 × Intel Xeon X5482	Intel Xeon W3520, Intel Xeon W3540, Intel Xeon W3580, 2 × Intel Xeon E5520, 2 × Intel Xeon X5550 or 2 × Intel Xeon X5570
CPU cores
CPU cores	4 or 8	4 or 8
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	8 or 16
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600	NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3), ATI Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB GDDR5), 2 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card), 3 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card) or 4 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card)
Memory
Memory	2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB	3 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB
Storage
Storage	300 GB to 1 TB	640 GB to 1 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	One 2.8 GHz quad-core Xeon or two 2.8, 3.0 or 3.2 GHz quad-core Xeons; four or eight total cores. Each processor has 12 MB L2 cache (6 MB shared by each pair of cores), SSE4 and 1600 MHz independent frontside bus. EveryMac identifies E5462, E5472 and X5482 respectively.	Single quad-core Xeon W3520 at 2.66 GHz or W3540 at 2.93 GHz; the current support sheet also includes the later 3.33 GHz W3580 option with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz. Dual-processor choices are two quad-core E5520 at 2.26 GHz, X5550 at 2.66 GHz or X5570 at 2.93 GHz (the latter up to 3.33 GHz). Exact processor identities are cross-checked with EveryMac and Intel's server processor table. All have 8 MB L3 cache per processor and Hyper-Threading; dual systems have eight physical cores and sixteen threads. Processor count means physical sockets, and chip cores/threads are per processor.
GPU
GPU	Radeon HD 2600 XT has 256 MB GDDR3, GeForce 8800 GT has 512 MB GDDR3 and Quadro FX 5600 has 1.5 GB GDDR3; each has two dual-link DVI ports. Quadro adds stereo 3D. Maker also confirms two, three or four Radeon HD 2600 XT cards; no unconfirmed mixed-card configurations expanded.	NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512 MB GDDR3 or ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512 MB GDDR5. Factory upgrades include two, three or four GT 120 cards, with memory per card. Each card has a Mini DisplayPort and a dual-link DVI port.
Memory type
Memory type	800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMMs; eight slots on two removable risers, up to 32 GB; factory options 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 GB	1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM; four slots for single-processor systems and eight for dual systems. The current factory tables list 3, 6, 8, 12 or 16 GB for single systems and 6, 8, 12, 16 or 32 GB for dual systems. The original launch announcement limited the single-processor model to 8 GB; the higher current support limit is distinguished here.
Storage type
Storage type	Four independent SATA 3 Gb/s bays and up to 4 TB. Primary SATA drive options 320/500/750 GB or 1 TB at 7200 rpm; 300 GB 15,000 rpm SAS requires optional Mac Pro RAID Card. Configurations show one primary drive; additional independent drives, RAID arrangements and one or two 16x double-layer SuperDrives are separate options.	Four 3.5-inch cable-free bays with independent 3 Gb/s SATA channels and included carriers. Factory order tables list a 640 GB 7200 rpm drive with 16 MB cache or a 1 TB 7200 rpm drive with 32 MB cache; configurations represent one selected drive. The current support sheet additionally lists 2 TB drives and a 2 TB upgrade kit, allowing up to 8 TB with four drives, versus the launch announcement's 4 TB maximum. Optional Mac Pro RAID Card has 512 MB cache and a 72-hour backup battery. Standard 18x double-layer SuperDrive; optional second optical drive.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Four full-length PCI Express slots including two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (one double-wide) and two x4 slots; mechanical support for x16 cards, 300 W combined maximum. PCI/PCI-X incompatible.	Double-wide PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics slot and three open full-length slots (one x16 and two x4), with 300 W combined maximum. All slots mechanically accept x16 cards; PCI and PCI-X cards are unsupported. Optional dual- or quad-channel 4 Gb Fibre Channel card.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 8	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Optional 802.11n	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	2.1 + EDR
Front ports
Front ports	Two USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and headphone output	Two USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports and a headphone minijack
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, two Gigabit Ethernet, optical TOSLINK input/output and analogue line input/output. DVI outputs depend on graphics configuration; included keyboard ports excluded from chassis count.	Three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports, two independent Gigabit Ethernet ports, optical TOSLINK audio input/output and analogue stereo line input/output. Optional AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi card; Wi-Fi is not standard. Included keyboard has two further USB 2.0 ports, excluded from chassis counts. Graphics outputs vary by card; FireWire, DVI and optical audio are described here because the main port list has no fields for them.
External displays
External displays	Up to eight 30-inch displays requires four Radeon HD 2600 XT cards. Digital resolutions up to 2560 × 1600, analogue up to 2048 × 1536 using included DVI-to-VGA adapter.	Up to two displays per graphics card or eight with four GT 120 cards. Digital resolution up to 2560 × 1600 and analogue up to 2048 × 1536; optional Mini DisplayPort and DVI adapters.
Speakers
Speakers	Front-panel speaker	Internal speaker, front headphone output and optical/analogue audio input/output
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separately	Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Apple Mouse; optional Apple Wireless Keyboard. The original announcement names the included mouse as Mighty Mouse.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	206 × 475 × 511 mm	206 × 475 × 511 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Standard-configuration weight 19.2 kg; actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so shared scalar weight omitted	Standard quad-core configuration weighs 18.1 kg; standard eight-core configuration 18.7 kg. Actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; a shared weight is omitted.
Power supply
Power supply	100–120 V or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase; maximum 12 A in low-voltage range or 6 A in high-voltage range	AC input 100–120 V or 200–240 V, 50–60 Hz; maximum current 12 A at low voltage or 6 A at high voltage
Noise
Noise	–	Apple gives operator-position sound pressure of 26/25 dB at idle, 26/25 dB during hard-drive access and 41 dB during optical access for the 2.66 GHz single/2.26 GHz dual models respectively. Sound power is 3.7/3.5 B at idle, 3.7/3.6 B during hard-drive access and 4.9/5.2 B during optical access.
Materials
Materials	–	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; BFR-free and internal cables PVC-free
In the box
In the box	Mac Pro, keyboard and mouse, DVI-to-VGA adapter, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '08	Mac Pro, power cord, Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Apple Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Launch announcement includes Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '09; the later support sheet lists Snow Leopard.