Early 2009 Mac Pro at B and H

[riddlefitch]

So I tried to convince myself that a mini was my next desktop purchase. I have concluded though that the value just is not there. So now I am in the classic imac vs pro situation.

My wife recently took over my 20" imac C2d. She does not mind the glossy screen like I do.

I have been on my G5 powermac that I have had for a while with my two cinema screens.

B and H has a 2009 mac pro on sale for 1799 it's a :

2.66GHz Quad-Core System
3GB (3x1GB) RAM
640GB SATA Hard Drive
Dual-Layer SuperDrive
nVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB Graphics

Now I understand that this is probably too much computer for my photo, music and web needs, but I just can't justify dropping a similar amount on an imac with a screen that I don't enjoy.

Anyone have any input on the 2009 pro? It seems like a good machine that I will be able to add HD space to and maybe use a SSD when prices come down a bit. Any issues with that particular generation?

Thanks!

 

[dndlnx]

Also thinking about getting this model. The graphics card is pretty pitiful, but thats easily swapped.


Considering the price $1800, if you dont like the iMac screen, and think you'll benefit from easy upgrading...go for it.

Its good value, even if it is overkill.

 

[Evil Spoonman]

The W3520 Bloomfield chip is perfectly acceptable. You don't get the fastest QPI link, or as many memory slots as the dual socket... but it should do you fine regardless. That video card is fairly bad, and 3GB is really an insufficient amount of memory.

You'll want to grab a Radeon 5770 if you plan to do anything graphically intensive, and drop in at least another 1GB memory module for 4GB, which is kind of the bare minimum these days imo.

The price is not bad, the machine is quality. Note that the GT 120 has one dual link DVI port, and one Mini-DP port. So if you have two DVI-based monitors you'll have to get a converter. This isn't bad if your displays are standard DVI, but if they are 30" displays with dual link DVI, the converter is quite pricey.

 

[iPhoneCollector]

I think you just hit the motherload. Its perfect for your needs

 

[riddlefitch]

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback. Just pulled the trigger on the pro. I imagine it is going to be a pretty big upgrade from the G5. Looking forward to setting it up.

Thanks again

 

[jjahshik32]

So I tried to convince myself that a mini was my next desktop purchase. I have concluded though that the value just is not there. So now I am in the classic imac vs pro situation.

My wife recently took over my 20" imac C2d. She does not mind the glossy screen like I do.

I have been on my G5 powermac that I have had for a while with my two cinema screens.

B and H has a 2009 mac pro on sale for 1799 it's a :

2.66GHz Quad-Core System
3GB (3x1GB) RAM
640GB SATA Hard Drive
Dual-Layer SuperDrive
nVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB Graphics

Now I understand that this is probably too much computer for my photo, music and web needs, but I just can't justify dropping a similar amount on an imac with a screen that I don't enjoy.

Anyone have any input on the 2009 pro? It seems like a good machine that I will be able to add HD space to and maybe use a SSD when prices come down a bit. Any issues with that particular generation?

Thanks!

You can get this same deal from Amazon.

 

[naid]

This is the exact same machine I've been using since 2009, but with a Radeon HD 4870 and 8GB RAM from OWC.

It's an absolute beast and just chews up anything I throw at it -- multiple VMs, video encoding.

You'll definitely enjoy it. Just upgrade the memory because 3GB won't be enough. If you feel like the GT 120 video card is weak, there are the 5770 and 5870.

 

[derbothaus]

For xmas I got my girlfriend a 2.93GHz Quad, ATI 4870, 2x Superdrives, 6GB Memory all factory packed and CTO'd by Apple with standard warranty. 2100.00 I think. Maybe a bit less. From Smalldog. Probably a better deal as it can turbo to 3.2 on single threads. Apple sells it refurbed for 2800.00.