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Mac Pro or Z800 What to keep.

Stageshoot

Stageshoot

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
125
49
Central UK
What a way to get thrown a curveball!!!

I have just upgraded my Mac Pro and have been really happy with it..

Final Upgraded Spec
4.1 to 5.1 Firmware Flash
3.33Ghz Hex Core W3680 CPU
16Gb DDR3 RAM
480Gb OWC PCIe SSD
GTX970 Graphics

The Mac Pro Cost me £675 UK including everything except the GTX970

I have settled back into the Mac way of working, and it runs everything I want it run very nicely, but I just have that niggle that a dual CPU system is what I really need going forward.

Then today I come across the following on fleabay.

HP Z800 Workstation
2x Xeon 3.33Ghz Hex Core x5680 CPUs
96Gb DDR3 ECC RAM
4Gb NVidia Quadro FX 5800 Graphics

for £695 on Ebay.. Well I could not resist.

The HP Z800 is about 1/2 what similar spec ones sell for in the UK normally

So now the quandry, do I take the OWC 480Gb SSD and the GTX970 out of the Mac Pro chuck them in the Z800 and have the dream workstation that should keep me happy for the next 2 years. Living with Windows as a main operating system and OSX as a hackintosh option on it for playing around with (Had OSX on Z800 before and it works well)

The Z800 is going to give me Top End Mac Pro horsepower and Ram or I could just sell it for a profit and live with the MMac Pro I have now!!!

What to do...
 
That's uhhh.... a darn cheap Z800. Do you mean you actually purchased it at that price? Wow.

Yeah, I'd swap components.
 
IM A TRUE APPLE FOLLOWER! ALWAYS THE MAC PRO :)

And then I will say... I still feel like the OS X is more appealing for me.
There is noway, you can have both machines?

Use the Z800 as a Working Horse with all the power and then keep the "low-end" Mac Pro for other stuff, when you need a Mac Pro?
 
If you actually need workstation performance I'd go with the Z800. If the extra CPU is just going to be idle and waste electricity I'd stick with the Mac Pro.
 
goMac said:
That's uhhh.... a darn cheap Z800. Do you mean you actually purchased it at that price? Wow.

Yeah, I'd swap components.
Click to expand...

Yep purchased for that price.

Collected it this morning, and its darn near mint condition (1 minor scratch), spec as stated and it runs like a dream, late model as well not built till May 2011 and went into Service Oct 2011

Still pinching myself about the price!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111578363257?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
I'd sell the Z800 for what t's really worth & use the profit to upgrade the Mac Pro to a dual cpu system.
 
Well its sorted,

I kept the Z800 and am selling the Mac Pro

The HP Z800 cost £695,
But I dont want the Quadro FX5800 so have found a buyer for that for £295 as I am putting my existing GTX970 in it, I also have someone who wants 48Gb of RAM and has offered £250 for that (I think 48Gb is more than enough for my needs)

So £695 - £295 - £250 = £150 Total Cost for 48Gb Z800 Dual X5680s :)

Have thown in my GTX970 and OWC Asselsior 480Gb PCI SSD and it flies/

Have installed OSX on spare 250Gb SSD and it runs OSX very will., Altough I will be using it mainly in Windows with OSX just to tinker on!!

Now have a buyer for my Mac Pro - without the OWC SSD and with just its GT120 in it for £675 UK,

So all in all not a bad couple of days, new toy to play with and in profit..
 
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