MP All Models Mac Pro 5.1

[Roxy.music]

I saw what i thought was a Mac Pro at a local market for only 20 pounds they said it was working,it came with a screen and only one drive bay at the front ,i understand the Mac pros came with two.So i looked it up on here and and found is was this
Power Mac G5 read the reviews of it and decided not get it because ir is old and can,t do much.So it got me thinking of buying a Mac Pro 5.1i was thinking something like this
Apple Mac Pro (5,1) 2010 3.46Ghz 6 Core 32GB 5770 240GB SSD/ 2TB HDD on ebay for £600.Would this be a step up from my Mac Mini 2012 the lowest model?it looks in good nick.I have allways liked the look of the Mac pros from that era nice well made cases.

 

[fastlanephil]

Not really.

Your Mac Mini is Catalina(10.15) compatible and the 5,1 Mac Pro is not. That’s assuming you’re using your Mac Mini for everyday tasks such as web surfing, music and light office work.

 

[Roxy.music]

Yes, just for the basic tasks,.if that had been a Mac Pro rather than the Power Mac I would have bought it

 

[Roxy.music]

I just went to the market today and saw that someone must have bought that computer.I suppose it was good for value 20 pound. to someone wgo likes retro stuf.

 

[iluvmacs99]

If you have a PPC application or two that you like to use, then the PowerMac G5 is still a good computer; albeit a power sucker. I know some people still use them for music and some basic tasks running legacy software. I have actually 2 bought legacy apps like Pagemaker and Printshop that I would wish I have a PPC computer again to run them. I know Printshop has an updated version for Intel.

Likewise, I own both a Mac Mini and a Mac Pro 5,1 and I bought the 5,1 to supplement the Mini for applications that require multi-threaded processing as well as a GPU. A 6 core or an 8 core 5,1 has a multicore performance of equal to better than a Mac Mini Core i3 2018, so to me the 5,1 was a real upgrade to both my photo and video editing and video enhancing software. But for basic tasks however, I still use the Mini as it is less power hungry. So if you photo or video edit on the side and need more speed, than the 5,1 is a good buy because it comes with PCIe slots that you can put a GPU in it. With any other computers, you need to buy an eGPU.

A few words about Catalina and that is, it won't allow older 32bit apps to run. So if you have some older legacy apps that you need to run and don't plan to upgrade, then the Mac Pro is still viable. That was my decision to upgrade to the Mac Pro because I have a number of apps that won't run under Catalina and don't plan to update them as I no longer make money/income using those apps, but use them for hobby personal use now.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I would keep the Mac mini or buy a newer Mac if you're looking to spend money. The 2012 Mac mini supports 10.15 as fastlanephil stated and may support 10.16 as well. The CPUs are still receiving microcode updates from Intel to patch security vulnerabilities. The Mac Pro 5,1 and its CPUs are no longer supported by Apple or Intel. A 2018 Mac mini would be a better buy than an old Mac Pro. Look at refurbished units at Apple's online store.

 

[Roxy.music]

I would keep the Mac mini or buy a newer Mac if you're looking to spend money. The 2012 Mac mini supports 10.15 as fastlanephil stated and may support 10.16 as well. The CPUs are still receiving microcode updates from Intel to patch security vulnerabilities. The Mac Pro 5,1 and its CPUs are no longer supported by Apple or Intel. A 2018 Mac mini would be a better buy than an old Mac Pro. Look at refurbished units at Apple's online store.

I will have to wait a few years for the price to come down, I don,t want the base model. It would be this one Core i5.£600 would be the most I want to pay that only leaves the Mac Pro 5.1. So I will stick with this for some time.