Looking to buy a refurb Mac Pro

[THRobinson]

Sold my old PowerPC G5 tower Xmas 2011 because was well, on it's last leg and have missed it ever since.

Looking at a refurbished on of these
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-quad-2.66-specs.html

Comes with 4GB ram and a 512MB ATI X1800, which I guess was an upgrade?

Basically, been a while since worked on MAC's and old one was a PowerPC, so hoping to avoid surprises with the newer Intels.

Memory wise, PC5300 DDR2... will it only work with PC5300? I'd want eventually 8GB total, though I read in passing somewhere that the ram performed better installed in 3's not 2's?

Video card, any Apple PCI-e (x16) card will work? Would be looking at 1GB GDDR5.

I have a PC now, Win7x64 running a Core2Duo 2.4GB, 4GB ram and an ATI HD5670 1GB card... it's currently my main system and runs a media server at the same time so, I know the MAC isn't leaps and bounds faster but, 2x2.66Ghz so should be a bit better. Retire this PC over as a devoted media server.

Also... any dual boot issues?

Any advice would be great. Between jobs, use to be a designer so, looking to get that going again, but can't afford more than the $450 being asked for the refurb. Thanks.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

Keep in mind the early Mac Pro's (1,1 and 2,1) have a 32bit EFI despite being able to run a 64 bit os. Without using a bootloader its limitations are OSX Lion and Windows 32bit of your choice. ML isnt supported and its unable to boot the installer from any 64 bit version of windows.

I'm actually taking my current 1,1 and mixing it with the heart of a 3,1 so I can go full 64 bit.

 

[Macsonic]

Sold my old PowerPC G5 tower Xmas 2011 because was well, on it's last leg and have missed it ever since.

Looking at a refurbished on of these
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-quad-2.66-specs.html

Comes with 4GB ram and a 512MB ATI X1800, which I guess was an upgrade?

Basically, been a while since worked on MAC's and old one was a PowerPC, so hoping to avoid surprises with the newer Intels.

Memory wise, PC5300 DDR2... will it only work with PC5300? I'd want eventually 8GB total, though I read in passing somewhere that the ram performed better installed in 3's not 2's?

Video card, any Apple PCI-e (x16) card will work? Would be looking at 1GB GDDR5.

I have a PC now, Win7x64 running a Core2Duo 2.4GB, 4GB ram and an ATI HD5670 1GB card... it's currently my main system and runs a media server at the same time so, I know the MAC isn't leaps and bounds faster but, 2x2.66Ghz so should be a bit better. Retire this PC over as a devoted media server.

Also... any dual boot issues?

Any advice would be great. Between jobs, use to be a designer so, looking to get that going again, but can't afford more than the $450 being asked for the refurb. Thanks.

Hi THRobinson. Though your budget is limited to the 2006 Mac Pro, not sure if Windows 7 64bit can run as this model is only 32EFi unless there is some kind of hack. If you can stretch your budget and get either a 2008 3,1 or 2009 4,1 Mac Pro, you'd get better mileage.

 

[THRobinson]

Oh poop... if not able to run Win7x64 that's a flat out deal breaker.

I found a few links, like THIS ONE but ya, seems more trouble than it's worth.

I dual booted a lot of early iMac systems, but was all WinXPx32.

So... 2008 and up is the way to go then?

I like the iMac's, but too limited on upgrades... by the time I find an iMac with 1GB video and 8GB ram, and 24" so not smaller than what I have now... the price is way way outta budget.

Pretty much a no budge on the Win7x64, and at least a future option of 8GB ram and 1GB GDDR5 video.

 

[ActionableMango]

IIRC, RAM for the 2008 is uncommonly expensive, so either make sure the computer you get includes all the RAM you need, or budget for the extra expense.

 

[GermanyChris]

Why don't you build a PC?

I think the widows issues were fixed since that thread..

 

[thekev]

IIRC, RAM for the 2008 is uncommonly expensive, so either make sure the computer you get includes all the RAM you need, or budget for the extra expense.

The 1,1 through 3,1 used fully buffered dimms with heat sinks. It was fairly expensive. You can find some okay deals on ram, but it can quickly make that machine far less budget friendly depending on how high you want to go. These aren't available as factory refurbs at this point. I'm not sure whether refurbished in this case means that they scrounged working parts from various machines then stress tested the rebuilt one. It could be the case.

 

[Macsonic]

The 1,1 Mac Pro goes for around $500-$650 on eBay and Craigslist. Some are fully upgraded and loaded with 10gig ram. Though the advise of GermanyChris is good that you just build a PC if Windows 7 will be your main OS.

 

[THRobinson]

Good information... thanks everyone.

Win7 will be 50/50... mostly for the small collection of games I have. Everything else I have I have or will buy MAC versions for, due for Adobe CS6 so, given the price, I would want the MAC first instead of buying a Windows version. For now CS4 is fine, I have MAC and PC versions for that.

I found the MAC I had, at the time although older than my PC still ran better. That's why not building a PC. What I have now runs perfect for a media server, and the board allows me to upgrade to a Core2Quad which I'll do when I find a cheap used processor. Should last a few more years as a media server. I want the MAC because doing more design work again, and photography, and I found that the Adobe stuff and font management was better on a MAC.

So, looking at the everymac.com site, the basic spec I want to watch for, is the EFI Architecture, must be 64bit not 32bit. After that, it's just researching stuff like the current cost of ram. Video cards, any apple PCI-e (x16) card will work?

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

I installed and regularly run Windows 7 x64 on my 2006 MacPro1,1 following the instructions here. Works fine.

Installing a 64-bit kernel OS X was a bit trickier, required if you want to run OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, but the best condensed instructions to install it using the Chameleon boot loader is here.