Just Acquired a Mac Pro 1,1

[noodle654]

So I just got a Mac Pro 1,1 (2.66GHz) on Craigslist a few days ago. It came with 10GB of RAM, 1TB WD Caviar Black, Aiport/Bluetooth and 2 7300GTs. I paid $400 for everything, which I thought was a great deal.

I ordered a bunch of parts for this, but I just have a few questions as I am not very familiar with Mac Pros.

1) I checked the RAM that was installed, there are 4x2GB from 'KomputerBay'...did I search and found them on Amazon. My main concern is temperature, the 2GB modules are running around 160-180F at idle, which seems way too high to me. The Northbridge is up there too, around 160F. I inspected the hot pairs and can see what looks to me to be thermal paste between the chips and heatsink? It looks like it was over applied, could that be the culprit?

2) As for the video cards. I recently bought an ATI 4870 from someone in the marketplace. Does this thing require 2 power adapters to operate, or will it work with just 1?

3) AirPort/Bluetooth reception...it's pretty terrible. The AirPort card I think is just a plain b/g, with no n. I tried the N enabler, but that didn't work...I was under the assumption that the original Mac Pro could be draft n enabled? Also, the Bluetooth reception is terrible...my mouse is lagging all over the place and the tower is less than 2 ft away. Any fix for this?

I plan on adding 2 SSDs (1 30GB for Windows 7 and 1 120GB for OS X) both of which are OWCs, with a 1TB Black and 1TB Green...think I can still get some more years out of this thing?

 

[noodle654]

Here is a picture

 

[Omnius]

So I just got a Mac Pro 1,1 (2.66GHz) on Craigslist a few days ago. It came with 10GB of RAM, 1TB WD Caviar Black, Aiport/Bluetooth and 2 7300GTs. I paid $400 for everything, which I thought was a great deal.

I ordered a bunch of parts for this, but I just have a few questions as I am not very familiar with Mac Pros.

1) I checked the RAM that was installed, there are 4x2GB from 'KomputerBay'...did I search and found them on Amazon. My main concern is temperature, the 2GB modules are running around 160-180F at idle, which seems way too high to me. The Northbridge is up there too, around 160F. I inspected the hot pairs and can see what looks to me to be thermal paste between the chips and heatsink? It looks like it was over applied, could that be the culprit?

2) As for the video cards. I recently bought an ATI 4870 from someone in the marketplace. Does this thing require 2 power adapters to operate, or will it work with just 1?

3) AirPort/Bluetooth reception...it's pretty terrible. The AirPort card I think is just a plain b/g, with no n. I tried the N enabler, but that didn't work...I was under the assumption that the original Mac Pro could be draft n enabled? Also, the Bluetooth reception is terrible...my mouse is lagging all over the place and the tower is less than 2 ft away. Any fix for this?

I plan on adding 2 SSDs (1 30GB for Windows 7 and 1 120GB for OS X) both of which are OWCs, with a 1TB Black and 1TB Green...think I can still get some more years out of this thing?

The ram oddity with may be due to some of the old kits to add heat sinks to ram that came without it. That does sound hot but crummy ram may do that. Do yourself a favor and send us a picture of the ram, we'll be able to get a better idea of what you're dealing with.

You can still get some years out of it. Depends on what you want to do with it. you can trade a 2x dual core set of cpus for 2x quad core cpus for relatively cheap. If you're a casual user and you want an up to date machine, this won't last that long. If you're a purpose driven user and this fits your needs, I think you can get 2 maybe 3 more years before replacing it feels like a must. These old machines have their uses.

The deal was pretty good. You did well with the 2 GPUs and the usable amount of ram. The ghettoness of the ram does seem to detract from that and raises some concerns. A great deal? no. A pretty good deal and thus better than average deal? absolutely. A less upgraded machine would do a little less (around 300-350).

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That looks like one of those kits to add heat sinks on ram that didn't come with the heat sinks. If it is, you might benefit from cleaning off the old thermal paste and applying it right.

I would ask a more proficient user with those kits about how best to accomplish that.

 

[Tesselator]

Those are within operating parameters for those components. But if not addressed it will likely cause troubles down the line. Addressing it is SMCFanControl. DL and install and then set a bunch of defaults. I set a default for every 100 RPM starting at 1000. So 1000, 1100, 1200 ... 3000. And then just select a higher one when MenuMeters tells me things are too hot. I set all fan speeds equal for each preset myself - just to make it easy.

I run the system at between 1100 and 1300 for web browsing and image editing usually. It's enough to bring to the RAM down to 40 or 50C and the NB down to about the same.

 

[noodle654]

[/COLOR]That looks like one of those kits to add heat sinks on ram that didn't come with the heat sinks. If it is, you might benefit from cleaning off the old thermal paste and applying it right.

I would ask a more proficient user with those kits about how best to accomplish that.

It does look really sloppy, that one in particular was giving me temps in excess of 180F. It reminds me of my old SR MBP thermal paste! The guy I got it from said he bought them with the heatsinks, and I was able to find some reviews of people experiencing high temperatures with their RAM. I ran memtest and it came back fine, so I feel it might definitely be the heatsink/thermal paste.

If anyone can post some instructions on this that would be great. Is it as simple as applying thermal paste to CPUs and what not? Can I just use some AS5?

Those are within operating parameters for those components. But if not addressed it will likely cause troubles down the line. Addressing it is SMCFanControl. DL and install and then set a bunch of defaults. I set a default for every 100 RPM starting at 1000. So 1000, 1100, 1200 ... 3000. And then just select a higher one when MenuMeters tells me things are too hot. I set all fan speeds equal for each preset myself - just to make it easy.

I run the system at between 1100 and 1300 for web browsing and image editing usually. It's enough to bring to the RAM down to 40 or 50C and the NB down to about the same.

I did install smcFancontrol, I made the minimums around 1000RPM, however the PSU fan does not want to move from 600RPM. Temps did go down a little bit, but not a lot.

 

[thekev]

I did install smcFancontrol, I made the minimums around 1000RPM, however the PSU fan does not want to move from 600RPM. Temps did go down a little bit, but not a lot.

Check for dust around the PSU if you're concerned about it. The ram is obviously off brand. They market ram, hard drives, and whatever else. I'd test it prior to trusting your data to such memory. If you're running with 4GB, I'd stick to Snow Leopard. Lion and on don't run that well on that amount of ram once you get past really basic stuff. I read part of that wrong. 10GB.... hmm.... well komputerbay is still not a brand I'd typically suggest. They just sell a bunch of unknown parts on ebay. They may come from the same factories as what you would buy from larger brands, but it means very little regarding QA.

 

[Tesselator]

No, that's correct... The PSU fan will not drive to the specified setting. This is normal. I figured out why once and it all made sense in a relative way but I've long forgotten the motive relationships behind it.

Lion is a lot faster than Leopard, it also offers a lot of compatibility and functions not found in the previous OS versions. It IS something you want regardless of what some clingers may prescribe.

Oh, and yes, that's definitely a screw-jop on the thermal paste there. I wouldn't worry about it tho. If fan speeds of 1100 or 1200 don't being the temps down then you might wanna recondition it tho. Otherwise it's only a messy job and won't hurt anything...

 

[Giuly]

There's a reason why Apple requires FB-DIMMs to have those big heatsinks: They run hot.
Also, Komputerbay is not exactly known for high-quality RAM.

As far as the WiFi goes - You need the Apple MB363Z/A Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro if you want 802.11n.

 

[Tesselator]

Just to mention... I've run both types in my system and the difference between Apple's large heat sinks and typical thermal spreaders is only a few degrees C. Like 2˚C...

It was only the first year or so of manufacturing that the FB DIMM modules ran too hot anyway. So if it's older 1GB or 512MB modules then one might actually need thos bulky sinks... otherwise - not.

 

[Baunkjaer]

You need two power adapters for the HD 4870.

 

[666sheep]

As prevoius posters did mention, those temperatures are quite normal for FB DIMMs and Northbridge. According to Intel thermal specs AMB max operating temp is 110˚C (230˚F).
8x1GB modules in mine (with flat heatsinks) are running in 64-80˚C range for years without failures and ECC errors.

To lower overall temperatures disassemble the whole unit, give it a good cleaning, replace thermal paste on CPUs and northbridge heatsink. Expect Giant Dust Bunny under CPUs cover, especially if previous owner never cleaned this area. PSU ist worth to clean too.
Get high performance thermal paste for CPUs and northbridge. AS 5 is still quite good but there are better and non-conductive ones (I prefer IC Diamond Carat personally).

 

[noodle654]

Okay thank you all for the help. I got my 4870 today, but I am having a problem. I bought it from someone in the marketplace (I believe it is flashed), but I get no signal to my monitor for about 3 minutes before the screen goes grey, followed by my mouse in the upper left corner with a beachball soon after. I can see keyboard controls (such as volume and eject), but they seem to be distorted. I tried reseating the card numerous times but I can't get it to work .

Unfortunately, I just sold off my 7300GTs that came with the machine , so I am a bit lost as to what to do.

 

[MacVidCards]

Okay thank you all for the help. I got my 4870 today, but I am having a problem. I bought it from someone in the marketplace (I believe it is flashed), but I get no signal to my monitor for about 3 minutes before the screen goes grey, followed by my mouse in the upper left corner with a beachball soon after. I can see keyboard controls (such as volume and eject), but they seem to be distorted. I tried reseating the card numerous times but I can't get it to work .

Unfortunately, I just sold off my 7300GTs that came with the machine , so I am a bit lost as to what to do.

contact the seller and see what's going on?

Sounds like you got a bad card or it got a bad flash.

It does absolutely have to have both power cables connected.

What OS are you using it in?

If you look at the top sticky on this board, it is all about Nvidia cards working without EFI. If you have 10.7.3 or later, most Nvidia cards will work with some limitations.

 

[noodle654]

contact the seller and see what's going on?

Sounds like you got a bad card or it got a bad flash.

It does absolutely have to have both power cables connected.

What OS are you using it in?

If you look at the top sticky on this board, it is all about Nvidia cards working without EFI. If you have 10.7.3 or later, most Nvidia cards will work with some limitations.

Hmm okay, I have already contacted him hopefully we can sort this out. I am using 10.7.5. Does that mean I could use my buddies 8800GT in their gaming PC?

 

[Lesser Evets]

...think I can still get some more years out of this thing?

Absolutely. Even as a "browser" machine it will be good for another 4 years or more. If you get the RAM straightened out, maybe CPU upgrade, and use SSDs, you'll be in nice shape.

Mine is 6+ years old and I like it more than the newer minis (I have one here) and iMacs. I'll give this one 2 more years before I upgrade to a new MacPro in mid-2015. It'll be a good media server for years and year, which it will be "retired" into when I get a new Pro.

 

[Omnius]

Absolutely. Even as a "browser" machine it will be good for another 4 years or more. If you get the RAM straightened out, maybe CPU upgrade, and use SSDs, you'll be in nice shape.

Mine is 6+ years old and I like it more than the newer minis (I have one here) and iMacs. I'll give this one 2 more years before I upgrade to a new MacPro in mid-2015. It'll be a good media server for years and year, which it will be "retired" into when I get a new Pro.

It's impossible to say how much longer a machine would be viable for normal casual use.