Mac Pro 1,1 upgrading

[Nimrad]

I've invested in a Mac Pro 1,1 and I'm exceptionally happy with it. I currently have 5GB RAM(plan to upgrade after a while), and the original dual 2,66GHz and 8800GT I think it is. I've bought a refurbished WiFi card, but I'd very much like to buy a new one that supports 802.11n and I'd like to buy an internal bluetooth-card.
My first question is: Where can I get these two cards pretty cheap? I've tried eBay, but I don't know which serial numbers work with my old mac.

My second question is: Which USB 3.0/Sata 6Gbps card will work with my mac?

My third question is: Which graphics card do you recommend(specifically)? I've looked at the 5870 1GB from XFX, but will the 2GB version work too? And where do I look for Mac Firmware to flash the card?

My last question is: Which CPUs can I upgrade with? Do I need to flash to upgrade the CPUs?


I'm kinda new in the hackint0sh theme, but I used to build a lot of computers back in the days, and now I'm all interested again after boring myself with laptops for a few years.

 

[Hellhammer]

1. You could always get USB cards, they don't cost much and are pretty good nowadays. Not sure on the internals ones

2. LaCie USB 3.0 card should work, assuming you're running OS X 10.5 or newer. As for eSATA, e.g. this but it does not support booting OS X (I don't think any SATA 6Gb/s card does yet)

3. http://forum.netkas.org/

4. X5365 is the best CPU you can get (3GHz quad core). No flashing required

 

[Nimrad]

1. You could always get USB cards, they don't cost much and are pretty good nowadays. Not sure on the internals ones

I have USB-cards, they aren't an option as I like to have the most of my stuff internally and I already use all of my USB-ports.

2. LaCie USB 3.0 card should work, assuming you're running OS X 10.5 or newer. As for eSATA, e.g. this but it does not support booting OS X (I don't think any SATA 6Gb/s card does yet)

I never meant eSATA, I meant S-ATA for internal SSDs(bootin OS on them). I heard of a guy using an ASUS card that had USB 3.0 externally and 2 S-ATA 6Gbps internally for internal drives (I would maybe try and put some 2,5" SSDs in one of the 5,25" slots). That's why I asked in the same question.

4. X5365 is the best CPU you can get (3GHz quad core). No flashing required

Thank you, but that CPU was extremely expensive. Will all Xeon CPUs, with socket LGA 771 work?


Thank you VERY much btw!

 

[Hellhammer]

I never meant eSATA, I meant S-ATA for internal SSDs(bootin OS on them). I heard of a guy using an ASUS card that had USB 3.0 externally and 2 S-ATA 6Gbps internally for internal drives (I would maybe try and put some 2,5" SSDs in one of the 5,25" slots). That's why I asked in the same question.

Oh, my bad then There are only two USB 3.0 PCIe cards I'm aware of (LaCie and Caldigit) and those are just USB 3.0 cards, no SATA. I don't know how practical internal SATA card would be as there is no space for extra drives. If I was you, I would just get eSATA card and move some of the HDs to an enclosure with eSATA and use them externally.

Thank you, but that CPU was extremely expensive. Will all Xeon CPUs, with socket LGA 771 work?

No. You can use Xeon 51xx or 53xx. Even then, you must pay attention to the sSpec number as some models use different steppings which are not compatible with Mac Pros. A pair of X5355s (2.66GHz quad) can be had for less than 500$

 

[Daud]

My MP 1,1 is on the way (buy.com $900 deal). I will be careful not to invest too much as then one can get the Early 2009 Quad MP new from B&H for $1800.

I just bid on two 5160 Xeons for $85 so after the swap will have essentially a 3.0GHz Quad. If stable, I will sell the 5150s for like $45.
I decided that the GHz rate is for my type of use more important than number of cores, as going multicore will cost you $500-800.
I will get more memory once I see the memory arrangement in the MP (hope no 512MB sticks used), and will try locally to haggle the 1GB price down, so maybe addtl. 4GB for $100 ?
So I will end with $1050 MP1,1 3Ghz Quad 8GB memory and will be able to use my accumulated HDD in RAID setup.
I also got the OWC 60GB SSD and IcyDock adapter for $170 but rationalized that this is not directly related to this purchase as I would get it for whatever new computer.
The videocard is ATI X1900, possibly good enough for me but will check the serial number if one of those "sick" where Apple gives you something better.
I might add WiFi and BT later, so will listen for recs here...