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Mac Pro 3.1 Updating

M

Merv'sG5

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 20, 2013
22
1
Melbourne Australia
Hello All,

I have bitten the bullet and bought myself a used Mac Pro 3.1, after having a Powermac G5 Quad Core for many years. I have done a lot of updating to the machine! But what I would like to know if the NVidia Quadro FX 4800 is a good GFX card or is there something better! And do you think there is something else I should update to my machine. I would love to hear your advice!

Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Processor): 12 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.25f4
Serial Number (system): YM837039XYK
Hardware UUID: 785F8F2E-3544-591A-9A29-14B56F385A59

NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1792 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x05fe
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: yoyomarvª
Displays:
Cinema HD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: CY6080WHUG1
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Cinema HD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: CY7231AQXMP
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
 

Attachments

  • DSCF2200.JPG
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Hello Robert,

I would like to know how much more power I can get out of my Mac Pro, and I want to be able to use it for the next few years until I can afford the new Mac Pro! But overall I am very happy with my Mac Pro and happy to switch from my PPC machine to Intel, something I thought I would never do!

Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent
 
Hello Merv,

Once upon a time your video card was in the region of 1300+ USD. It was the weapon of choice for Adobe Premiere use (Video editing). The card is still VERY handy today.

You can never have enough memory, but that must be tempered by the fact that 3,1s use very expensive memory.

Having carefully analysed a few interchanges on here (Macrumors forums) a processor upgrade for the 3,1 is economical in some markets, not so much, in others. The process is discussed here:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/2008_MacPro_Dual_X5482s.htm

There used to be concerns over extra heat generation, but with careful heatsink paste application, the faster processors may indeed run cooler than the originals.

As far as drives go, you've got four drive sleds there - fill 'em up! - Pop an SSD in the machine and see it fly!

To my mind, the earlier Mac Pros are still very capable machines with careful upgrades.
 
Merv'sG5 said:
Hello Robert,

I would like to know how much more power I can get out of my Mac Pro, and I want to be able to use it for the next few years until I can afford the new Mac Pro! But overall I am very happy with my Mac Pro and happy to switch from my PPC machine to Intel, something I thought I would never do!

Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent
Click to expand...

Wow you are going to be able to use that computer for a long, long time, you have really good specs on it.
 
Hello All,

Thanks for replying to my thread! I really thought my Mac Pro was very out dated by today's standards! I hope to add an SSD in the future, but I am really pleased that you think the machine is still very useful!

Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent
 
That's a great machine you have Merv :)

I have been using one for over 4 years and REALLY pushing it hard in a music
recording and processing situation.

Looking at your setup, I think the only things that would benefit would be
perhaps a USB 3.0 PCI card and an SSD "boot" drive.

It would really fly then and have fast connection / transfer to newer USB3.0
devices.

Enjoy :)
Martin.
 
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