MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro Transplant? A 5,1 into 3,1 Case?

[paredown]

I've been lurking for years, finally found a cheap 5,1, and then the case was damaged in shipping.

I know that the backplane/mobo geometry changed from the 3,1 I have -- but if you stripped out a 3,1 case, is is possible to transplant all of the innards from a 5,1 machine into a gutted 3,1 case.

(Assume all of the innards from the 5,1 would be moved so no problems with PS or drive sled connections)

 

[bax2003]

You will have few problems doing that:
- Mounting points are not the same for the logic boards
- You will need the bootom reinforcement for the Fan and CPU/memory tray cage which 3.1 case does not have
- Cut-out for back I/O ports in not the same mainly because the dual FireWire 800, but this is the smallest issue
- Front panel cut-out is different - again due to dual FW800 on 5.1...And 3.1 front panel cannot be used with 5.1 logic board
- SATA drive mounts are not the same: on the 5.1 - drives are connecting to the the logic board directly but on 3.1 they are connecting to SAS brakeout screwed on metal brackets....so the drive caddies from 5.1 wont fit to 3.1 without serious metal work...Drive caddies for the 5.1 are longer because there is more room for them in 5.1 (benefit is that you can fit whole finger between drive and bracket end when you are pulling the drive out, on 1.1 - 3.1 caddie its )...

5.1 and 3.1 chassis differences

 

[AlixSPQR]

the case was damaged in shipping

How damaged? Unusable or just cosmetically?

 

[paredown]

How damaged? Unusable or just cosmetically?

Cosmectically--the shipper did a really bad job, and the box seems to have been dropped. It caved in the bottom leg loops, and sprung both sides of the case bad enough that the side panel won't open. Top loops are slightly banged down, but I could live with that.

I'm waiting to hear back from the seller--it is actually kind of heart-breaking to see such a lovely machine damaged because of lack of care.

 

[paredown]

You will have few problems doing that:
- Mounting points are not the same for the logic boards
- You will need the bootom reinforcement for the Fan and CPU/memory tray cage which 3.1 case does not have
- Cut-out for back I/O ports in not the same mainly because the dual FireWire 800, but this is the smallest issue
- Front panel cut-out is different - again due to dual FW800 on 5.1...And 3.1 front panel cannot be used with 5.1 logic board
- SATA drive mounts are not the same: on the 5.1 - drives are connecting to the the logic board directly but on 3.1 they are connecting to SAS brakeout screwed on metal brackets....so the drive caddies from 5.1 wont fit to 3.1 without serious metal work...Drive caddies for the 5.1 are longer because there is more room for them in 5.1 (benefit is that you can fit whole finger between drive and bracket end when you are pulling the drive out, on 1.1 - 3.1 caddie its )...

5.1 and 3.1 chassis differences

View attachment 2172887

Thanks for the detailed reply! I did find a couple of cheap 3,1s close which is why I asked. Sounds like it would be way easier to look for a newer case.

Are the 4,1 and 5,1 cases closer to being a straight swap?

I will wait and see what the seller wants to do--I would take a replacement, but there would be no guarantee that they would package any better on a repeat order...

 

[rpmurray]

Which shipper did the seller use?

Can you post some pictures so we can remark on the gruesome outcome?

 

[paredown]

Le carnage...

(Shipper was FEDEX Ground. But the issue was bad packing--soft box, no foam corners or offsets (just some stupid U-Line corners set loose in the box, bubble wrap not secured to the case, just laid in loose etc. I shipped a bunch of 1.1s that I sold on eBay--and I hand cut foam corner blocks for offsets, found the sturdiest boxes I could (from Home Despot) wrapped before setting in to carton etc etc. Even with that amount of care, one got squashed, and I gave a big discount rather than shipping back and forth.

 

[tsialex]

Are the 4,1 and 5,1 cases closer to being a straight swap?

Mac Pro early-2009, mid-2010 and mid-2012 have identical cases.

 

[prefuse07]

Yeah, as tsialex wrote ^, OP, keep your eye on eBay (or craigslist) for a cheap 4,1 and swap your innards over.

Hell, that will even give you an excellent opportunity to upgrade some components (Wifi/BT), and even do the pixlas mod (if you are so inclined).

 

[flat4]

Le carnage...

(Shipper was FEDEX Ground. But the issue was bad packing--soft box, no foam corners or offsets (just some stupid U-Line corners set loose in the box, bubble wrap not secured to the case, just laid in loose etc. I shipped a bunch of 1.1s that I sold on eBay--and I hand cut foam corner blocks for offsets, found the sturdiest boxes I could (from Home Despot) wrapped before setting in to carton etc etc. Even with that amount of care, one got squashed, and I gave a big discount rather than shipping back and forth.

I bought a 3,1 from ebay paid excessively for shipping still got damaged. Packaging was pretty good but once corner of the shipping box was damaged. I presume it was dropped from a big drop to cause the damage.

 

[MrScratchHook]

Le carnage...

(Shipper was FEDEX Ground. But the issue was bad packing--soft box, no foam corners or offsets (just some stupid U-Line corners set loose in the box, bubble wrap not secured to the case, just laid in loose etc. I shipped a bunch of 1.1s that I sold on eBay--and I hand cut foam corner blocks for offsets, found the sturdiest boxes I could (from Home Despot) wrapped before setting in to carton etc etc. Even with that amount of care, one got squashed, and I gave a big discount rather than shipping back and forth.

4,1 and 5,1 a straight swap. go for that move instead.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Le carnage...

(Shipper was FEDEX Ground. But the issue was bad packing--soft box, no foam corners or offsets (just some stupid U-Line corners set loose in the box, bubble wrap not secured to the case, just laid in loose etc. I shipped a bunch of 1.1s that I sold on eBay--and I hand cut foam corner blocks for offsets, found the sturdiest boxes I could (from Home Despot) wrapped before setting in to carton etc etc. Even with that amount of care, one got squashed, and I gave a big discount rather than shipping back and forth.

Hammering this case back into shape is much easier than modifying a MP3,1 case to fit MP4,1 logicboard.

 

[Macschrauber]

not hammering but bending, with pieces of wood, clamps and patience the box could at least stand straight.

also you should find the broken nuts, they are metal and not good for electronic devices.