Building A 2008 Mac Pro From Scratch!

[GermanyChris]

To do this correctly you'll need a 2008 Front fan assembly and heatsink cover. The 3,1 uses magnets to attach the heatsink cover to the fan side and the pins for the DIMM holders on the 3,1 are different..basically spend $20 on the front fan assembly and heatsink cover.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

To do this correctly you'll need a 2008 Front fan assembly and heatsink cover. The 3,1 uses magnets to attach the heatsink cover to the fan side and the pins for the DIMM holders on the 3,1 are different..basically spend $20 on the front fan assembly and heatsink cover.

Positive I need those? My primary reference is this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14659057/

OH funny thing I just noticed these came from you! Haha thanks for the extra information!

So I need:
Front fans PN:922-8497
Memory risers (what holds the ram) PN: Seems to change?
Heatsink cover PN:922-8527?

That correct?

Overall cost of all of those is well over $20. The front fans alone are $20 at least. The memory riser cards are expensive as hell too. Might be a waiting game for these parts to come up at a much better price then whats available now.

 

[GermanyChris]

Positive I need those? My primary reference is this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14659057/

OH funny thing I just noticed these came from you! Haha thanks for the extra information!

So I need:
Front fans
Memory risers (what holds the ram)
Heatsink cover

That correct?

You don't NEED any of them..you already have the riser holder with the cage I assume. Just get the front fan and heatsink cover when you can find them cheap on ebay.. I got a front fan assembly not to long ago for $9.00 heatsink cover are under 10 most of the time.

Remember I said I did this once..

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

You don't NEED any of them..you already have the riser holder with the cage I assume. Just get the front fan and heatsink cover when you can find them cheap on ebay.. I got a front fan assembly not to long ago for $9.00 heatsink cover are under 10 most of the time.

Remember I said I did this once..

Yep I already have the full cage with the exhaust fan and front clip so both ram risers will be held correctly in place.

You said the pins are different on the DIMM holder so you confused me like I need to get new riser cards to hold my ram, by DIMM holder you actually meant the cage not the physical cards, "riser cards," themselves that hold onto the ram dimms, right?

For example, I DONT need to buy 2 of these?:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-P...573?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23209e21a5

..basically spend $20 on the front fan assembly and heatsink cover.

So 2 things I need then, 2008 front fans and the 2008 cpu heatsink cover.

 

[GermanyChris]

Yep I already have the full cage with the exhaust fan and front clip so both ram risers will be held correctly in place.

You said the pins are different on the DIMM holder so you confused me like I need to get new riser cards to hold my ram, by DIMM holder you actually meant the cage not the physical cards, "riser cards," themselves that hold onto the ram dimms, right?

For example, I DONT need to buy 2 of these?:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-P...573?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23209e21a5


So 2 things I need then, 2008 front fans and the 2008 cpu heatsink cover.

I confused myself when I read that post too..You do not need a DIMM riser..Just what you have and a F Fan assembly and heatsink cover

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

I confused myself when I read that post too..You do not need a DIMM riser..Just what you have and a F Fan assembly and heatsink cover

Glad to know! I will keep those 2 parts last on my list. I'd be happy using my current fans and my current heatsink cover even if the fitment isn't ideal.

I fear after my new case comes in, there will be a few weeks before I can afford to buy the logic board and cpus... especially if ebay goes dry on the logic boards, because right now there are slim pickings.
After that I have to deal with what I want to do for heatsinks. I know I can use my old ones in this 1,1 but id like to use the proper ones if a good deal comes by.

Only boost I may get is from my G4 Quicksilver and iBook G4 I have for sale on Craigslist. If they ever sell, and I have them up quite cheap.

 

[GermanyChris]

Glad to know! I will keep those 2 parts last on my list. I'd be happy using my current fans and my current heatsink cover even if the fitment isn't ideal.

I fear after my new case comes in, there will be a few weeks before I can afford to buy the logic board and cpus... especially if ebay goes dry on the logic boards, because right now there are slim pickings.
After that I have to deal with what I want to do for heatsinks. I know I can use my old ones in this 1,1 but id like to use the proper ones if a good deal comes by.

Only boost I may get is from my G4 Quicksilver and iBook G4 I have for sale on Craigslist. If they ever sell, and I have them up quite cheap.

Heatsinks are kind of expensive I'd just get the northbride HS and call it a day..

What I'd actually do is only get the northbridge not worry over the fans or HS cover. I'd leave them exposed until you sell it.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Heatsinks are kind of expensive I'd just get the northbride HS and call it a day..

What I'd actually do is only get the northbridge not worry over the fans or HS cover. I'd leave them exposed until you sell it.

Yeah that will be the plan most likely. Id only end up getting 2 2008 heatsinks if i stumble on a really good deal for a pair of them.

Another thing I am wondering about is what to do for logic board screws. Im not sure if my new case comes with new screws. I think it might as there is a bag inside of it taped to the front inside of the case.
Id like to leave the 2006 board's screws alone because when im done gutting it I have to ship it to a friend.

Are the motherboard screws from your standard every-day ATX pc motherboard the same? If so I can cheaply just buy a bag of them on ebay.

 

[GermanyChris]

Yeah that will be the plan most likely. Id only end up getting 2 2008 heatsinks if i stumble on a really good deal for a pair of them.

Another thing I am wondering about is what to do for logic board screws. Im not sure if my new case comes with new screws. I think it might as there is a bag inside of it taped to the front inside of the case.
Id like to leave the 2006 board's screws alone because when im done gutting it I have to ship it to a friend.

Are the logic board screws your standard every-day ATX pc motherboard philips screw? If so I can cheaply just buy a bag of them on ebay.

I dunno…I reused them

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

I dunno…I reused them

Oop I screwed that one up lol. Fixed it after reading what you made bold. Looked like u knew what I meant anyway.
Guess I'll find out tomorrow how standard atx screws fit on the logic board posts if my case doesn't already come with new screws.

Thanks for all the info, you have been a tremendous help. Its nice to be able to clear up some of the finer details that I was going into blindly.

 

[MacPhotog]

$400 to build a 3,1 seems really cheap!! Where did you find the logic board and CPUs for so cheap?

 

[greenmeanie]

Would of been cheaper to buy one off of craigslist.

 

[MacPhotog]

Would of been cheaper to buy one off of craigslist.

It sounds like the OP wanted everything to be in pristine condition though. And "pristine" anything you get off of Craigslist AIN'T.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

It sounds like the OP wanted everything to be in pristine condition though. And "pristine" anything you get off of Craigslist AIN'T.

Correct! I want a "new to me" machine.

On craigslist people are asking between $400 and 600 for 1,1s and 2,1s go for even more... so NO I could not buy one cheaper then I am building my current one, and it wouldn't even have a full 64 bit efi. I haven't even seen anything newer then a 2,1 on craigslist yet so just buying one is out of question.
Plus building one is more fun, I got a bunch of good parts sitting in my 1,1 here just waiting to become more useful

Keep in mind when following this build, MOST of my common parts are being transferred over from my old 1,1.

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Profile of a brand new case! The case is 100% perfect! The door has 1 small ding in the back of it but doors are very easy to replace, and to be honest I can live with that small ding anyway.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Just a small bit of information for people.

Normal ATX motherboard screws for PC's dont work on mac pro cases. They thread in a little but bind up as they are just slightly different.

I found a thread on a hackintosh forum that found the original screw size which is M3.5x7.5mm from an apple dealing website. $17 for a pack of 5 screws... Yeah I didnt spend $17 on screws... lol

Someone bought these and said they fit great, so I bought these as well. Great price too!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00137MU5C/ref=pe_309540_26725410_item
Cant go wrong for $2+ shipping.

For those wondering why im not just stealing the old screws from my 1,1, its because I am mailing this machine to a friend that wants it when I am finished taking what I need from it. He plans on rebuilding it as well and id rather not have him need to go on a hunt for screws lol.

 

[Tesselator]

Just a small bit of information for people.

Normal ATX motherboard screws for PC's dont work on mac pro cases. They thread in a little but bind up as they are just slightly different.

That's interesting and a half. I wonder about the SATAII back-plane, the onboard ports, and the PSU tho.

Thanks!

 

[MacPhotog]

Granite,

I'm still curious: where did you find a MP3,1 logic board & CPUs for so cheap!??!

 

[PowerPCMacMan]

I bet I can bet that price for my 2009 boards and I will even through in the 2.66 w3525 processor. You will only need to provide the case, power supply, and the heatsink as I am currently using the heatsink which came with my 2009.

Anyone? Plus, the upgrade path with the 09 boards and the 4,1 to 5,1 firmware makes for a great Mac Pro.

Granite,

I'm still curious: where did you find a MP3,1 logic board & CPUs for so cheap!??!

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Granite,

I'm still curious: where did you find a MP3,1 logic board & CPUs for so cheap!??!

I haven't bought them yet, but for $279+ shipping I did see a deal on ebay for the logic board, both cpus, all 3 heatsinks (northbridge being the 3rd heatsink) and even 2 ram risers with 4gb of ram included. I didnt buy it because at the time I had just bought the case.

Just have to wait and watch for deals to come by.

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I bet I can bet that price for my 2009 boards and I will even through in the 2.66 w3525 processor. You will only need to provide the case, power supply, and the heatsink as I am currently using the heatsink which came with my 2009.

Anyone? Plus, the upgrade path with the 09 boards and the 4,1 to 5,1 firmware makes for a great Mac Pro.

Are you positive the logic board from an 09 would fit in an 08? I admit I am mildly curious but at the same time I highly doubt my parts from my 2006 in my new 2008 case will work with the 2009 logic board and cpu board.... that is even if the logic board would fit!

Take some detailed pictures of everything you'd have for sale. I want to see how the logic board mounts and everything. I also am curious since I know its a single cpu setup.
How hard would it be to upgrade it to a dual cpu setup? Also is that just a single quad core setup? I think I would have a lot more power going the 3,1 route with 2 quad cores.
I also cant find a w3525 cpu, do you mean w3520? I just need more information.

Lastly what kind of price are you asking to sell the logic board/cpu board and cpu all together? If I do go this route I believe I would take a dip in performance unless I would be able to add a 2nd cpu to that cpu board.
I also would take a hit to the wallet as I would have to buy some DDR3 ram.

 

[GermanyChris]

I haven't bought them yet, but for $279+ shipping I did see a deal on ebay for the logic board, both cpus, all 3 heatsinks (northbridge being the 3rd heatsink) and even 2 ram risers with 4gb of ram included. I didnt buy it because at the time I had just bought the case.

Just have to wait and watch for deals to come by.

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Are you positive the logic board from an 09 would fit in an 08? I admit I am mildly curious but at the same time I highly doubt my parts from my 2006 in my new 2008 case will work with the 2009 logic board and cpu board.... that is even if the logic board would fit!

Take some detailed pictures of everything you'd have for sale. I want to see how the logic board mounts and everything. I also am curious since I know its a single cpu setup. How hard would it be to upgrade it to a dual cpu setup? Also is that just a single quad core setup? I think I would have a lot more power going the 3,1 route with 2 quad cores.

Not gonna happen..

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Not gonna happen..

Exactly what I thought. Perhaps when my 2008 gets outdated the next build will be a 12 core.... but that would be a few years off haha...

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Just want to confirm that these fit perfectly in the logic board posts of our mac pro cases:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00137MU5C/ref=pe_309540_26725410_item

Hopefully within the next couple weeks I'll be able to score a deal on a logic board.
I could buy processors and other little bits first but I wanna wait just in case a deal comes by that includes more then just a logic board. There was one I wanted but the seller took it down and made it a big expensive bundle of 5 logic boards... and then he took that down so im hoping he lists things individually... or something.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Progress!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290916275943?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

For $280 + 24 S&H I purchased a good used and tested logic board with 2 2.8ghz quad core processors included. Bought from a seller with a good rating as well, naturally.

Will install it into my case as soon as it arrives and almost immediately begin the process of taking my 2006 machine apart to finish off the 2008 machine. All I have left to buy is a north-bridge heatsink and I can assemble it!

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

All set to go, just bought a north bridge heatsink for 25 shipped!

Going to be exciting putting the new 2008 mac pro together in my brand new case

 

[Tesselator]

Kewl get on the MB Proc combo!