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Mac Pro 1.1 Reasonable Price?

Gizmo22

Gizmo22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2009
148
3
Midwest USA
Oh so torn right now: $250 gets the following:

23" HD Cinema Display
2006 MP 1.1 "Quad 2.0"...not sure if this is two dual cores or some other hardware swap
2TB drive
320GB drive
7GB memory


Says it has issues with turning off at random and describe a "bad motherboard." I figure could be a cheap power supply, or more expensive memory, causing the issues. No idea on actual diagnosis (kernal panics, immediate power off, etc.). Would not be using it for anything serious...mostly data consumption rather than production. Larger Excel sheet work, some marginal database items, and then the usual Safari browsing.


Hot, warm, or tepid deal?
 
Sounds like a sweet deal to me, but consider:

200 for the whole setup.. The 23 inch HD Cinema Display alone is worth 200-300 dollars(yes, Mac stuff does hold its value). The 2006 1,1 Mac Pro 2.0 Ghz was a DUAL-CORE meaning: two processors, two cores.. While it also means Quad-Core, but Apple calls the 1,1's dual-core which is the same as Quad-core.

Kernel panics are caused by hardware either not playing right with the logic board or architecture. Bad memory can also caused kernel panics where at this point I am assuming some or most of the memory is bad and is the reason for the Mac Pro kernel panicking. Could also be faulty processors though this is rare, but it can happen.

My advice to you is to run Apple Hardware Test or better yet... seek out Apple Service Diagnostic version 3S108. There, it will tell you what is wrong with the Mac Pro..

Otherwise a nice deal.. just hope you won't have to put in a lot of money for repairs, should this be the case.


Gizmo22 said:
Oh so torn right now: $250 gets the following:

23" HD Cinema Display
2006 MP 1.1 "Quad 2.0"...not sure if this is two dual cores or some other hardware swap
2TB drive
320GB drive
7GB memory


Says it has issues with turning off at random and describe a "bad motherboard." I figure could be a cheap power supply, or more expensive memory, causing the issues. No idea on actual diagnosis (kernal panics, immediate power off, etc.). Would not be using it for anything serious...mostly data consumption rather than production. Larger Excel sheet work, some marginal database items, and then the usual Safari browsing.


Hot, warm, or tepid deal?
Click to expand...
 
Processor replacements do not scare me...memory does not scare me (although DDR2 is absurdly expensive)...a logic board being bad? What are the odds of that, as that is something that warrants tossing the system in the dumpster in my mind.
 
Gizmo22 said:
Oh so torn right now: $250 gets the following:

23" HD Cinema Display
2006 MP 1.1 "Quad 2.0"...not sure if this is two dual cores or some other hardware swap
2TB drive
320GB drive
7GB memory


Says it has issues with turning off at random and describe a "bad motherboard." I figure could be a cheap power supply, or more expensive memory, causing the issues. No idea on actual diagnosis (kernal panics, immediate power off, etc.). Would not be using it for anything serious...mostly data consumption rather than production. Larger Excel sheet work, some marginal database items, and then the usual Safari browsing.


Hot, warm, or tepid deal?
Click to expand...

Just one thing, the highlighted Bold is normally an OS issue and not hardware related.
 
If in that case I would recommend a total re-install of the OS. Sounds if the OS currently on the Mac Pro might be corrupt and possibly missing files, though more of along the lines of corrupt sounds about right..

Its like a used car sorta.. You buy the car because of the price but you also inherit someone else's problems and you alone have to fix them. I am running into this sort of thing when I bought a car off Craigslist.. Caveat Emptor, if you know what I mean..

As Tessalator had pointed out this does sound like a software issue within the OS, not a hardware problem.. Most kernel panics are caused by hardware, yes.. but even a fatal OS problem could trigger a panic attack. Most panic attacks I have seen are due to bad memory and the like.. The earlier Mac Pro logic boards, before Foxconn(09,10, etc) were designed by Intel and are very stable.

Before you decide if the problem is a logic board related issue, try to re-install Snow Leopard of what ever OS came with the machine. But, compared to my situation with a car off of Craigslist, you bought a machine with some else's mess.

Otherwise, a bargain if you ask me.
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
If in that case I would recommend a total re-install of the OS. Sounds if the OS currently on the Mac Pro might be corrupt and possibly missing files, though more of along the lines of corrupt sounds about right..

Its like a used car sorta.. You buy the car because of the price but you also inherit someone else's problems and you alone have to fix them. I am running into this sort of thing when I bought a car off Craigslist.. Caveat Emptor, if you know what I mean..

As Justperry had pointed out this does sound like a software issue within the OS, not a hardware problem.. Most kernel panics are caused by hardware, yes.. but even a fatal OS problem could trigger a panic attack. Most panic attacks I have seen are due to bad memory and the like.. The earlier Mac Pro logic boards, before Foxconn(09,10, etc) were designed by Intel and are very stable.

Before you decide if the problem is a logic board related issue, try to re-install Snow Leopard of what ever OS came with the machine. But, compared to my situation with a car off of Craigslist, you bought a machine with some else's mess.

Otherwise, a bargain if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Two things.

Bold : Fixed that for you.:p

Bold #2 : Most kernel panics are caused by software, not hardware!
 
justperry said:
Two things.

Bold : Fixed that for you.:p

Bold #2 : Most kernel panics are caused by software, not hardware!
Click to expand...



I also believe that most KPs are caused either by poor or conflicting hardware configurations (I guess we can call that software) or actual bad or failing components - like RAM.
 
From experience, parting out old mac pros is actually worth more than selling them as a whole. That monitor can fetch up to 200 by itself on craigslist.

The ram can sell for a decent amount despise being inadequately small for most peoples' purposes.

Used HDs dont sell for nearly as much as they retail for but there is some money to be had in the 2 TB HD.

The dual 2.0ghz cpus are basically junk.

the cases sell for 50 bucks on craigslist.


Honestly, I'd seriously consider buying it and selling it for parts.

As for the quality of the deal without the monitor and without all the problems, it'd go for 300-350ish anyway.

The problems are questionable because the computer turning off by itself can be a big indicator of impending logic board or power supply death. I'd really want to know more before just buying a machine with documented issues despise the excitement of a few others on the forum. The components that it may have issues with are potentially expensive if you plan on keeping it and using it.
 
Get yourself an external firwire hard drive OR an internal hard drive.
Install OSx onto it from a known working mac.
Then go take a look at the pro that is for sale.
Boot onto your fresh OSX drive to rule out OS issues.
You could also do this if you have an Intel macbook or macbook pro boot target mode.
my 0.02
 
Omnius said:
The problems are questionable because the computer turning off by itself can be a big indicator of impending logic board or power supply death.
Click to expand...
Could as well be as simple as resetting the SMC. From Apple's Knowledge Base entry:

"[...]these symptoms may indicate that an SMC reset may be necessary: [...] The computer sleeps or shuts down unexpectedly."
 
You can build one heck of a PC with the MP or you can make it a boring server, either way you cannot get burned.
 
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