Mac Pro 3,1 2008 macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)

[mathepac]

I hope you don't mind me creating a new thread but I have bid 550euro on the following machine:

"2008 Mac Pro 3,1
2 x Intel Xeon Quad Core 2.8 Ghz processors
1 x 500GB SATA Drive
3 empty drive bays.
nVidia Quadro 4000 2GB GPU with dual link DVI socket and a DisplayPort output which allows the use of two monitors.
20GB DDR2 667Mhz, upgradable to 64GB
Bluetooth & Wi-Fi
DVD Burner
macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) installed

It's in great physical condition, apart from a few cosmetic scratches and marks"

The bit in quotes is from the seller and finalising the deal is subject to seeing it running and running a Benchmark suite on it. I have photos and screen-shots of some System Information panels I asked for. If necessary I can post them

Anything I missed or anything I should look out for? Any suggestions of a piece of bench marking software I can run from a USB key?

Is building a bootable USB key different for this Mac Pro different to any other Mac?

TIA mathepac

 

[tsialex]

I hope you don't mind me creating a new thread but I have bid 550euro on the following machine:

"2008 Mac Pro 3,1
2 x Intel Xeon Quad Core 2.8 Ghz processors
1 x 500GB SATA Drive
3 empty drive bays.
nVidia Quadro 4000 2GB GPU with dual link DVI socket and a DisplayPort output which allows the use of two monitors.
20GB DDR2 667Mhz, upgradable to 64GB
Bluetooth & Wi-Fi
DVD Burner
macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) installed

It's in great physical condition, apart from a few cosmetic scratches and marks"

The bit in quotes is from the seller and finalising the deal is subject to seeing it running and running a Benchmark suite on it. I have photos and screen-shots of some System Information panels I asked for. If necessary I can post them

Anything I missed or anything I should look out for? Any suggestions of a piece of bench marking software I can run from a USB key?

Is building a bootable USB key different for this MacBook Pro different to any other Mac?

TIA mathepac

MP3,1 last officially supported macOS is 10.11.6, all after that are hacked to run in it. Maybe you are better served with a MP4,1 or a MP5,1, you can get one for around this price or a little more.

Buying a MP3,1 nowadays for this price is throwing good money over a eleven year old computer, don't buy one unless you find it super super cheap.

MP5,1 is actively supported, even got a firmware update today.

 

[h9826790]

IMO, that's ridiculously expensive for a such spec 3,1.

 

[mathepac]

Apple Mac Pro 2008 (3,1) 3.0GHz 8 CORE | 32GB RAM | 120GB SSD + 500GB HDD | 2600XT

I spotted this one from a UK reseller at UK£495 (555 euro at today's rates) plus shipping, (WiFi but Bluetooth 2.1)

They seem expensive here (Ireland) and in the UK but they still offer a great bang for your buck at those prices IMO

Thanks for your feedback guys, a wonderful resource to have access to.

Did these used to ship with the grey aluminium USB keyboard?

 

[tsialex]

Apple Mac Pro 2008 (3,1) 3.0GHz 8 CORE | 32GB RAM | 120GB SSD + 500GB HDD | 2600XT

I spotted this one from a UK reseller at UK£495 (555 euro at today's rates) plus shipping, (WiFi but Bluetooth 2.1)

They seem expensive here (Ireland) and in the UK but they still offer a great bang for your buck at those prices IMO

Thanks for your feedback guys, a wonderful resource to have access to.

Did these used to ship with the grey aluminium USB keyboard?

Don't buy it. It's not worth.

If you are going to spend this amount of money, buy a 2009/2010/2012. 2008 can only run up to 10.11.6 officially, a macOS version that don't get security updates anymore…

Mac Pro 2008 is the last of the old platform (C2D Xeons), 2009 is the first of the new one (Nehalem Xeons).

 

[amedias]

IMO, that's ridiculously expensive for a such spec 3,1.

I concur, I've recently bought two 3,1s with specs below, and I feel like I overpaid for the more expensive one.

Mac Pro 3,1 A - £220 (shipped)
2x2.8Ghz Quad core
38GB ram
1TB drive
Nvidia GT120

Mac Pro 3,1 B - £110 (collected locally)
2x2.8Ghz Quad core
8GB ram
500GB drive
ATI 2600XT

And I bought another 32GB of ram for £13 for the second one. I also bought a quad core 1,1 locally at the same time as the second 3,1, different beast but it was only £80...

 

[mathepac]

I concur, I've recently bought two 3,1s with specs below, and I feel like I overpaid for the more expensive one.

Thanks for that - were they private purchases or refurbed by a professional supplier?

 

[amedias]

Thanks for that - were they private purchases or refurbed by a professional supplier?

The more expensive one was from a refurb seller, the cheaper one was from a local private seller (as was the 1.1)

Local sales is down to luck and what's available in your area, if you were in London for example you can often pick up ex-business 3.1's for <£100 and sometimes even with a cinema display included!