i have a 2009 mac pro.<p>first upgrade: more ram<p>second upgrade: ssd<p>third upgrade: video card and monitor.<p>it&#x27;s on track to give me 10 years of use now, if not more (i&#x27;ll probably succumb to upgrade fever before then).  <i>knocking on wood</i>.  the ram and ssd were a given, but i was surprised at how much more 2d performance the video card delivered. i really just wanted 4k for the real estate, but the actual speed at which it renders everything jumped dramatically.