MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 2008 8 core as a gift from a friend

[Augustots]

Hi everyone, I am registered today, and I am a retired Mac enthusiast I have had IMAC 20 "and even 24" in the past but now they have abandoned me, I have no money to get a new mac, and then I do not use all day of the mac, so I have a friend who has a son with an old mac pro 3.1 from 2008 8 core, and now he wants to get one of the new macs, he is young, so his father says he can give me the son's mac pro 3.1, and I gladly accept, for what I have to do I would say that it goes well.
But there are some things I would like to know, another friend would have a GTX 960 4gb GPU and an AMD rx 580 4gb nitro GPU to sell me for a friend's price, so my questions are:
1) which of the two GPUs is better and supported by the mac pro 3.1?
2) do you need a special 8-pin cable to power these GPUs and is this cable already present on the mac pro?
3) In mac pro 3.1 2008 8 core which is the last supported operating system? I know that if you want there are patches to also install catalina if one wants but they tell me that they are forcing and therefore the mac pro does not work well, so I suppose that the best operating system for a mac pro 3.1 is el capitan or maybe sierra?

Sorry for the many questions friends, thank you.
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[Augustots]

Help my please

 

[KeesMacPro]

Buenvenuto,

To answer your questions :
1) The AMD RX580 is better but will not work with the OS that can be installed natively on the MP 2008.
The GTX960 should work with El Capitan ,but you will have to install nVidia web drivers first .
Test it before buying

2) Yes, you need to connect the 6- or 8-pin connector(s) on the GPU to the PCI power connectors on the MainBoard .
There are 2 connectors on the Mainboard type : mini 6-pin
You need to buy this/these cable(s) , unless the former owner left them connected inside.

3)The last officially supported OS for MP 3,1 is El Capitan .

Many people install newer OS on this model (patched or by Open Core) , so apparently that works fine, but maybe is not the best/easiest thing to do to start with .
Many info can be found in this Forum.

 

[Augustots]

Thanks friend of your answers, so el capitan with the, MSI 960 works, but if by hypothesis I install high sierra with the patch then the AMD rx 580 would work fine or in any case it is not seen by the operating system?
Anyway with el capitan any nvidia card with the right drivers would be compatible, right?

Type gtx 1060, gtx 1070, gtx 1080, gtx 980 and so on.
Thanks again.

 

[Augustots]

I would like to install all .5 "SSDs and was looking for an adapter like this below

OWC Mount PRO 2.5" Drive Sled, Compatible with Mac PRO 2009-2012

Aggiungi qualsiasi disco rigido o SSD da 2,5 \ "al tuo Apple Mac Pro! OWC Mount Pro 2.5 è il modo più semplice per aggiungere QUALSIASI disco rigido da 2,5 \" o unità a stato solido al tuo Apple Mac Pro (2009-2012 'Nehalem' Mac ID modello Pro 8-Core (metà 2010): MacPro5,1 (2,4 GHz); ID modello Ma...

www.amazon.it

But sadly it says it only works on mac pro 2009 and 2012.
Can you tell me a link where to find those compatible with mac pro 3.1 from 2008, even used are fine, thanks.

 

[mikas]

There are none available according to my findings. You'll have to use some other means for 2,5" drives, like Newertech Adaptadrive or Sabrent version of it.

Sabrent Kit
AdaptaDrive converter

 

[Augustots]

ok thanks if you say that those are fine too i will use those thanks again.

 

[Augustots]

However, it is not recommended to install sierra with the appropriate patch on mac pro 3.1 of 2008 because it will not work well?

macOS Sierra Patch Tool

dosdude1.com

thank you

 

[Augustots]

My friend just confirmed to me that his video card on the mac pro 2008 has a 6 pin cable, see attached so do I need to buy an 8 pin cable?
And where can I find it, on Amazon, do you have some links on the right cable, I wouldn't want to go wrong, thanks.

 

[KeesMacPro]

If you google " mini 6-pin to 6-pin cable mac pro" you'll find the correct cable.

 

[Augustots]

you type search on google mini 6 pin to 6 pin mac pro cable

but i need an 8 pin cable

so i have to look for mini 6 pin to 8 pin mac pro cable?
thank you

COMeap Mini 6 pin per 8 pin PCI Express Scheda video Adattatore di alimentazione Cavo per Mac Pro Tower/Power Mac G5 da 15 pollici (38 cm)

COMeap Mini 6 pin per 8 pin PCI Express Scheda video Adattatore di alimentazione Cavo per Mac Pro Tower/Power Mac G5 da 15 pollici (38 cm)

www.amazon.it

 

[KeesMacPro]

It depends on the connectors of the GPU.
So if:
- GPU has 1 6pin > buy mini6 to 6 pin
-GPU has 1 8 pin > buy mini6 to 8 pin
-GPU has 2 connectors , buy 2 cables corresponding with the GPU connectors e.g. 8pin+6pin or 8pin+8pin .

The cable in your post is for other types of GPU.

 

[Augustots]

Sorry I didn't know then I wait for the mac pro to arrive and then I'll take a more detailed picture of the cable and the socket on the motherboard and place it here ok?
Thanks again.

 

[Augustots]

here are the photos of my GPU as you see they are 8 pins, so what do you recommend?
thank you friend and sorry if I ask you too many questions.

 

[KeesMacPro]

GPU has 1 8 pin > buy mini6 to 8 pin

 

[Augustots]

ILS - Cavo 16AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin To 8 Pin PCI-e per Mac Pro GTX1080 Video Scheda Power Cable

ILS - Cavo 16AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin To 8 Pin PCI-e per Mac Pro GTX1080 Video Scheda Power Cable

www.amazon.it

 

[Augustots]

Excuse me for a clarification, then the motherboard of the mac pro 2008 has a 6pin output right?
instead the gtx 960 GPU has an 8 pin input right?
then instead of buying the cable that I linked you on amazon a little while ago, could this cable be fine that has 6 pins on one side and 8 pins on the other?
thank you.

 

[KeesMacPro]

Excuse me for a clarification, then the motherboard of the mac pro 2008 has a 6pin output right?
instead the gtx 960 GPU has an 8 pin input right?
then instead of buying the cable that I linked you on amazon a little while ago, could this cable be fine that has 6 pins on one side and 8 pins on the other?
thank you.

Yes, the motherboard power connector is 6pin but it is smaller : mini 6pin.
This cable (post #17)will not work.
You need a single mini 6-pin to 8 pin cable like this:

iHaospace Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro

Cavo adattatore di alimentazione per scheda video da mini 6 pin a standard 8 pin per Mac Pro G5 Lunghezza: 30 cm"

www.amazon.it

 

[Augustots]

Thank you so much for your help friend I just ordered the cable you recommended, you are very kind.

iHaospace Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro

Cavo adattatore di alimentazione per scheda video da mini 6 pin a standard 8 pin per Mac Pro G5 Lunghezza: 30 cm"

www.amazon.it

 

[KeesMacPro]

Prego signore

 

[Augustots]

When it will arrive in a few days, my mac pro 2008 and the gtx 960 4gb with the cable I ordered, what should I do?
Will it be enough to remove the gtx 550 already installed and also remove the power cable, and replace everything with my gtx 960 and the new cable ordered, and then start the mac pro?
Or should I behave differently? for example with the nvidia drivers I have to install them before or after installing the gtx 960?
Thanks again.

 

[Augustots]

The next time when the mac pro arrives, which now has only 8gb of RAM, we will talk about how to replace the ram and above all where to buy it since I find it difficult to find the 800 mhz DDR2 ram for my mac pro, I would like to install 16gb and in the future others 16 GB.
thank you.

 

[AlexMaximus]

The next time when the mac pro arrives, which now has only 8gb of RAM, we will talk about how to replace the ram and above all where to buy it since I find it difficult to find the 800 mhz DDR2 ram for my mac pro, I would like to install 16gb and in the future others 16 GB.
thank you.

Hi there,

I would advise to check the MHz of the existing RAM once your Mac Pro arrives. Is it a set of 800Mhz or is it the slower one from the Mac Pro 1.1
If you are lucky and you have the originals, I would stay with those modules and not mix it with older and slower ones.
Down below you can get the originals with the correct heat sink. The are the best replacements, avoid versions without proper heat sinks.

Mac Pro (Early 2008) Model ID:MacPro3,1 - TransIntl

Capacity: 8GB-32GB Memory Type: 240 pin DIMM Speed: DDR2-800MHz (PC2-6400) Cas latency: 5 Voltage: 1.8V ECC: Fully buffered ECC Rank: Dual Rank Warranty: Lifetime RoHS: Fully Compliant. Meet Apple electrical and thermal specifications. Compliant with JEDEC standards.

www.transintl.com

here is your 2,5 Sled solution as well

Pro Sled 2 [Mac Pro 2006-2008] for 2.5" Drives - TransIntl

Drive: 2.5 SAS/SATA SSD or HDD Sand blast finish Content: Sled, crews and installation instruction Warranty: Lifetime

www.transintl.com

or you go for a CD ROM 2. drive bay enhancement ..

Double Decker - Install 2 x 2.5" Drives in Mac Pro 2006-2008 3.5" Drive Bay - TransIntl

Drives: 2.5" 9.5mm HDD or SDD Ships with: Second generation Halogen free signal cables Custom designed power cable Screws and manual Warranty: Lifetime

www.transintl.com

hope this helps

 

[mikas]

Pro Sled 2 [Mac Pro 2006-2008] for 2.5" Drives - TransIntl

Drive: 2.5 SAS/SATA SSD or HDD Sand blast finish Content: Sled, crews and installation instruction Warranty: Lifetime

www.transintl.com

Hey that's a nice find and seems like a good product (aside from it's price that is).
They seem to have lowered the screw mounts accordingly to the mezzanine mount plate thickness. That should do it mechanically correct for SATA connector at the motherboard side.

They also offer a multisled for 2009-> Mac Pros. Fits both 2.5" and 3.5" drives.
Put a product to my shopping basket, but they seem not to ship outside US.
Dammit

I won't really need it anymore, but I'd wanted to see and try that in person.

 

[Augustots]

Hi there,

I would advise to check the MHz of the existing RAM once your Mac Pro arrives. Is it a set of 800Mhz or is it the slower one from the Mac Pro 1.1
If you are lucky and you have the originals, I would stay with those modules and not mix it with older and slower ones.
Down below you can get the originals with the correct heat sink. The are the best replacements, avoid versions without proper heat sinks.

Mac Pro (Early 2008) Model ID:MacPro3,1 - TransIntl

Capacity: 8GB-32GB Memory Type: 240 pin DIMM Speed: DDR2-800MHz (PC2-6400) Cas latency: 5 Voltage: 1.8V ECC: Fully buffered ECC Rank: Dual Rank Warranty: Lifetime RoHS: Fully Compliant. Meet Apple electrical and thermal specifications. Compliant with JEDEC standards.

www.transintl.com

here is your 2,5 Sled solution as well

Pro Sled 2 [Mac Pro 2006-2008] for 2.5" Drives - TransIntl

Drive: 2.5 SAS/SATA SSD or HDD Sand blast finish Content: Sled, crews and installation instruction Warranty: Lifetime

www.transintl.com

or you go for a CD ROM 2. drive bay enhancement ..

Double Decker - Install 2 x 2.5" Drives in Mac Pro 2006-2008 3.5" Drive Bay - TransIntl

Drives: 2.5" 9.5mm HDD or SDD Ships with: Second generation Halogen free signal cables Custom designed power cable Screws and manual Warranty: Lifetime

www.transintl.com

hope this helps

Thanks again, Yosemite is now installed but i will install el capitan.