Do classic Mac Pro's last? (durability)

[dfritchie]

Just updated my 1,1 in the last couple of months. Did it just because, had no real need to. It has been running 24/7 for 10 years now.......

 

[Demigod Mac]

Apple's desktop machines were the highest rated for reliability back in 2012, last year cMP was produced.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2444...ion_dell_and_hp_home_pcs_get_poor_grades.html

Not sure what they are now. Probably took a ding on account of the space-heater 100˚C iMacs.

 

[Surrat]

i have four macpros. Two were given to me because they were supposedly dead, one I bought for $40, it was in pieces. Two 2006, and a 2008. I also have a 2012 I bought new in its box.

Clean them up, one had dead HD, one had bad ram, last one didn boot because the ram was installed in the wrong order... lol.

All three 'junk' ones work perfectly now. The macpro is a rock solid computer, if you are thinking of one, and their slightly older tech is ok, then go for it. If more 'dead' macpros wander my way, i will snap them up without hesitation.

 

[pastrychef]

The RAM risers in my old 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 were weird. It took a lot of re-insertions for the RAM to be recognized. But once it was, it would continue to work indefinitely until the risers were pulled again.

 

[pat500000]

will be getting a classic Mac Pro soon - a used one.

on ebay i see sometimes a good deal on a high spec Mac Pro.. but given the nature of them are to be used more strenuously (and i intend to use it very intensively for video encoding, almost constantly for awhile) i wondered if i should get one with the warranty that some "store" sellers provide them with? but they tend to go for more (VAT difference as well). My concern is their history of use might bring them close to the 'brink' of not lasting much longer, and i might end up killing it and ending up with a massive paper weight.

this concern stems from the fact that my first Mac was a MacBook Pro (Late 2011 15inch) which suffered the dGPU failure issue, i never did much gaming on it but i did a lot of encoding on it which i felt contributed to its death. it had Apple Care so it the logic board etc was replaced. I thought Mac Pro's may run cooler with less stress (more cores) but i think i was wrong. so hence my question and my concern - do Mac Pro's die from this kind of work after a time? how durable are they? should i bother with 'warranty' with sellers on ebay?


in short, my question;

MBP 2011 died from dGPU /overheating / heavy use

Looking at Mac Pro's (12 cores)

Do they die? are there stories or a trend of cases where they have died after heavy use? or do they just keep on going for many many years?

Everything has a limit.

 

[DPUser]

Everything has a limit.

We'll all be dead soon, at least in geological time. My 2009 4,1 shows no signs of distress.

 

[pat500000]

We'll all be dead soon, at least in geological time. My 2009 4,1 shows no signs of distress.

and it's no longer supported as well. One day os x may not support 4,1.

 

[Bytehoven]

and it's no longer supported as well. One day os x may not support 4,1.

Yes, 2009 4,1 was moved to the "legacy" list. However... I think many of us wonder how a 2009 4.1 -> 5.1 might fair in the scenario you imagine. However, this consideration was one reason I decided to sell my 2009 in favor of a 2011, while a well equipped 2009 5.1 still has some value.