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So call me crazy...but a couple months ago I purchased a used 2013 Mac Pro via eBay.
Pretty much no one out there has anything positive to say about 2013 Mac Pro's ("Trash Can", no video card upgrades, over-priced, etc). Fortunately...2013 Mac Pro RAM and internal SSD storage are upgradeable.
Why did I get it? I've always had a liking for the Apple unusual compact designs (Original All-In-One design's, G4 Mac Cube, G4 lamp Shade iMac's, Mac Mini's, Mac Studio, etc.).
My main plan for the 2013 Mac Pro was as a replacement for the 2012 Mac Pro I've been using for quite some time. I don't do any "serious" stuff with these computers (photo/video editing for example).
When I first received & unboxed the 2013 Mac Pro...I thought wow...that's "cute". It was quite a bit smaller than the 2012 Mac Pro (Everymac.com says it's just 1/8th the volume of a 2012 Mac Pro)...lighter (11 vs. 40+ pounds)...and 2013 Mac Pro uses less electricity (2012 Mac Pro can really heat up a room)! Lol
When first picking it up...even though it's supposed to only weigh 11lbs...it seemed much heavier than I expected for such a small package. Of course after looking inside...you understand why...no wasted space in there. I was also really impressed at the build quality. The cylindrical aluminum black shroud housing once removed...is really quite sturdy. I measured its thickness with a digital caliper...and it was 6mm thick at the top & about 4mm at the bottom. You're definitely not going to be able to crush this like an aluminum soda can. Lol
The original specs on the 2013 Mac Pro I purchased were 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage, 3.5GHz 6-Core CPU. Purchase price was $250. My plan was also to upgrade the the original 6-Core CPU to a CPU with more cores...replace all thermal paste inside...and give it a good cleaning.
Yes for about $100-$150 more ($350-$400)...I could have purchased a used M1 Mac Mini...which would have been smaller, lighter, much faster, and use a lot less electricity. But part of the fun of purchasing the 2013 Mac Pro was it's design...upgrading the CPU..and disassembling it.
One of my big concerns purchasing a used computer via eBay (especially for a computer that's partially purchased for its design/beauty)...was it's physical/cosmetic condition. So many eBay sellers out there that purchase these used Mac's by the pallet load...then post them on eBay with a "Buy It Now" price...and have 20, 30, 40 or more of them for sale at one time...and may or may not handle them with care.
The eBay seller I purchased from was very much one of these folks (had more than 78,000 items sold on eBay)...thus I was a bit concerned that it may not be in the best of shape cosmetically. But to my pleasant surprise...after unboxing...it looked absolutely spotless. No dents, nick's, scratches...no cosmetic issues at all. When something has a glossy black surface like this...ANY cosmetic issue show's up VERY easily. Previous owner & eBay seller did a really good job keeping it pristine.
My other big concern with a 10 year old computer...how hard was it used in its previous life/lives? Thus this is why part of my plan was to open it up...replace all thermal paste...and give it a good cleaning. Luckily when I checked the 2013 Mac Pro's serial number...it was actually manufactured in 2017 (thus only 6 years old)...and upon initial internal examination...it had very little dust/fuzz build up. Both good signs (on top of the great cosmetic condition)...that this 2013 Mac Pro was taken care of...and most likely may have seen fewer hours of use than average (not sitting on a photo/video professional's desk for 6 years...constantly chugging away on projects 24-7 all its life).
Another concern with 2013 Mac Pro's is over-heating. Because of the tightly packed nature inside the case...some 2013 Mac Pro's could suffer from thermal issues (over-heating)...and maybe if used a lot...some components inside could have limited remaining life.
The 2013 Mac Pro's came with dual video cards...there were 3 options:
* 2x D300 with 2GB VRAM each
* 2x D500 with 3GB VRAM each
* 2x D700 with 6GB VRAM each
As can be seen...the D700 video cards have much more VRAM...and it's exactly the D700 video card models that had over-heating issues (especially if we're talking 12-Core 2013 Mac Pro's...that were pushed hard often). It's the D700 video cards themselves that eventually fail...replacement D700 video cards are hard to find...and those that are for sale are VERY expensive. Almost as expensive as purchasing another complete used 2013 Mac Pro with D700 video cards.
Many experts out there actually recommend NOT purchasing a used 2013 Mac Pro with D700 video cards...since the D700 video cards in them could already be starting to fail...or be close to failing. These same experts recommend getting a D300 video card model (for the most confidence & longevity)...or a D500 video card model. I decided on the D500 model for the little bit of extra VRAM/performance.
So now that I had the 2013 Mac Pro...it was time to disassemble it...upgrade the CPU...replace all thermal paste...and give it a good cleaning. But before I did this...I needed to decide on what CPU to upgrade to. The 2013 Mac Pro's came with 4 CPU options (4 Core, 6 Core, 8 Core, and 12 Core)...my 2013 Mac Pro came with a 6-Core CPU.
After some research...including the 4 CPU options Apple offered...turns out there are actually 12 different CPU possibilities that could be installed in a 2013 Mac Pro (maybe even more). In the image/list below...the 4 Apple options are highlighted in red...the blue highlighted option is the CPU upgrade I went with.
I chose this option because I wanted the most cores possible...but at the same time being careful not to make a choice that would also generate a lot of heat...and possibly cause thermal issues with the video cards. Thus I chose the 10-core CPU upgrade...which also has a 115 watt rating...while many of the other choices were 130 watts. I figured 2 fewer cores than max possible...and a 115 watt rating could help a little bit with any possible thermal issues.
Here's a photo of the completely disassembled Mac Pro:
Replacing the thermal paste on the dual video cards & CPU went smoothly. Upgrading the CPU is also actually pretty straight forward. The main possible issue some folks upgrading the CPU might run into. The CPU is held in place with spring-loaded plastic pins. These pins can get brittle/inflexible over time...and when removing them...they can either easily break...or get damaged to the point they're not reusable.
Luckily I was aware of this weakness...was super careful removing them as to not break them...was also very lucky they didn't get damaged on removal...and I was able to reuse them. Would have been much better if I had simply ordered replacements ahead of time...and used the new CPU hold down pins upon reassembly.
Here are the Geekbench 5 CPU scores (before & after the CPU upgrade):
Original 6-Core CPU:
Upgraded 10-core CPU:
All in all a fun computer project. Been using the 2013 Mac Pro for a couple months now...and all goes well. 2013 Mac Pro's can also support up to 6 displays...which was also one of my needs (I usually have a 3 display setup).
- Nick
Pretty much no one out there has anything positive to say about 2013 Mac Pro's ("Trash Can", no video card upgrades, over-priced, etc). Fortunately...2013 Mac Pro RAM and internal SSD storage are upgradeable.
Why did I get it? I've always had a liking for the Apple unusual compact designs (Original All-In-One design's, G4 Mac Cube, G4 lamp Shade iMac's, Mac Mini's, Mac Studio, etc.).
My main plan for the 2013 Mac Pro was as a replacement for the 2012 Mac Pro I've been using for quite some time. I don't do any "serious" stuff with these computers (photo/video editing for example).
When I first received & unboxed the 2013 Mac Pro...I thought wow...that's "cute".
It was quite a bit smaller than the 2012 Mac Pro (Everymac.com says it's just 1/8th the volume of a 2012 Mac Pro)...lighter (11 vs. 40+ pounds)...and 2013 Mac Pro uses less electricity (2012 Mac Pro can really heat up a room)! LolWhen first picking it up...even though it's supposed to only weigh 11lbs...it seemed much heavier than I expected for such a small package. Of course after looking inside...you understand why...no wasted space in there. I was also really impressed at the build quality. The cylindrical aluminum black shroud housing once removed...is really quite sturdy. I measured its thickness with a digital caliper...and it was 6mm thick at the top & about 4mm at the bottom. You're definitely not going to be able to crush this like an aluminum soda can. Lol
The original specs on the 2013 Mac Pro I purchased were 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage, 3.5GHz 6-Core CPU. Purchase price was $250. My plan was also to upgrade the the original 6-Core CPU to a CPU with more cores...replace all thermal paste inside...and give it a good cleaning.
Yes for about $100-$150 more ($350-$400)...I could have purchased a used M1 Mac Mini...which would have been smaller, lighter, much faster, and use a lot less electricity. But part of the fun of purchasing the 2013 Mac Pro was it's design...upgrading the CPU..and disassembling it.
One of my big concerns purchasing a used computer via eBay (especially for a computer that's partially purchased for its design/beauty)...was it's physical/cosmetic condition. So many eBay sellers out there that purchase these used Mac's by the pallet load...then post them on eBay with a "Buy It Now" price...and have 20, 30, 40 or more of them for sale at one time...and may or may not handle them with care.
The eBay seller I purchased from was very much one of these folks (had more than 78,000 items sold on eBay)...thus I was a bit concerned that it may not be in the best of shape cosmetically. But to my pleasant surprise...after unboxing...it looked absolutely spotless. No dents, nick's, scratches...no cosmetic issues at all. When something has a glossy black surface like this...ANY cosmetic issue show's up VERY easily. Previous owner & eBay seller did a really good job keeping it pristine.
My other big concern with a 10 year old computer...how hard was it used in its previous life/lives? Thus this is why part of my plan was to open it up...replace all thermal paste...and give it a good cleaning. Luckily when I checked the 2013 Mac Pro's serial number...it was actually manufactured in 2017 (thus only 6 years old)...and upon initial internal examination...it had very little dust/fuzz build up. Both good signs (on top of the great cosmetic condition)...that this 2013 Mac Pro was taken care of...and most likely may have seen fewer hours of use than average (not sitting on a photo/video professional's desk for 6 years...constantly chugging away on projects 24-7 all its life).
Another concern with 2013 Mac Pro's is over-heating. Because of the tightly packed nature inside the case...some 2013 Mac Pro's could suffer from thermal issues (over-heating)...and maybe if used a lot...some components inside could have limited remaining life.
The 2013 Mac Pro's came with dual video cards...there were 3 options:
* 2x D300 with 2GB VRAM each
* 2x D500 with 3GB VRAM each
* 2x D700 with 6GB VRAM each
As can be seen...the D700 video cards have much more VRAM...and it's exactly the D700 video card models that had over-heating issues (especially if we're talking 12-Core 2013 Mac Pro's...that were pushed hard often). It's the D700 video cards themselves that eventually fail...replacement D700 video cards are hard to find...and those that are for sale are VERY expensive. Almost as expensive as purchasing another complete used 2013 Mac Pro with D700 video cards.
Many experts out there actually recommend NOT purchasing a used 2013 Mac Pro with D700 video cards...since the D700 video cards in them could already be starting to fail...or be close to failing. These same experts recommend getting a D300 video card model (for the most confidence & longevity)...or a D500 video card model. I decided on the D500 model for the little bit of extra VRAM/performance.
So now that I had the 2013 Mac Pro...it was time to disassemble it...upgrade the CPU...replace all thermal paste...and give it a good cleaning. But before I did this...I needed to decide on what CPU to upgrade to. The 2013 Mac Pro's came with 4 CPU options (4 Core, 6 Core, 8 Core, and 12 Core)...my 2013 Mac Pro came with a 6-Core CPU.
After some research...including the 4 CPU options Apple offered...turns out there are actually 12 different CPU possibilities that could be installed in a 2013 Mac Pro (maybe even more). In the image/list below...the 4 Apple options are highlighted in red...the blue highlighted option is the CPU upgrade I went with.
I chose this option because I wanted the most cores possible...but at the same time being careful not to make a choice that would also generate a lot of heat...and possibly cause thermal issues with the video cards. Thus I chose the 10-core CPU upgrade...which also has a 115 watt rating...while many of the other choices were 130 watts. I figured 2 fewer cores than max possible...and a 115 watt rating could help a little bit with any possible thermal issues.
Here's a photo of the completely disassembled Mac Pro:
Replacing the thermal paste on the dual video cards & CPU went smoothly. Upgrading the CPU is also actually pretty straight forward. The main possible issue some folks upgrading the CPU might run into. The CPU is held in place with spring-loaded plastic pins. These pins can get brittle/inflexible over time...and when removing them...they can either easily break...or get damaged to the point they're not reusable.
Luckily I was aware of this weakness...was super careful removing them as to not break them...was also very lucky they didn't get damaged on removal...and I was able to reuse them. Would have been much better if I had simply ordered replacements ahead of time...and used the new CPU hold down pins upon reassembly.
Here are the Geekbench 5 CPU scores (before & after the CPU upgrade):
Original 6-Core CPU:
Upgraded 10-core CPU:
All in all a fun computer project. Been using the 2013 Mac Pro for a couple months now...and all goes well. 2013 Mac Pro's can also support up to 6 displays...which was also one of my needs (I usually have a 3 display setup).
- Nick
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