New case for 2006 Mac Pro

[JavaTheHut]

@OP Get your self a really nice desk with a small enclosure -- I mean one sexy looking desk that you will consider a family heirloom! So much so you would want to cut the handles off a mac pro to make it fit - There you go!


On a serious note Apple parts online

 

[gullySn0wCat]

HDD -> S.M.A.R.T. status (as mentioned already - but as you're replacing them anyway...)

But also other components may be damaged, though your father did not notice it as he did not use them (like e.g. optical drive, Bluetooth/WLan if installed - don't know whether Apple's hardware diagnostics even has an option to check the PSU for undervoltage or something similar).

However - I would not really expect problems, to be honest - as the MacPro has a very good thermal management...

Original MP actually had a design flaw that means that some parts of the machine (near the A RAM slot) have bad airflow and get really hot (~20 deg hotter than the others). Not that RAM is a high-failure component but just FYI.

Anyway I don't see how the TOP of the case is relevant at all. MP = air goes in front, comes out back.

 

[Squishy Tia]

I'm fully aware of this I understood it's more an aesthetic issue, thus my proposal to (glue/weld/rivet/clamp - whatever) the sawed-off handles back to the housing if still available. May not be sufficient to actually move that monster, but may be looking a little nicer than being completely off (and probably way cheaper than buying a new housing and relocating everything).

Regarding heat dissipation: I assumed (maybe wrongly) that if someone cuts away that handles to get the MP under some desk, the space/exhaust openings may have been very limited there in more directions than just above the computer. And in a cramped compartment heat accumulation can become a problem. Should have clarified that better...

Heat dissipation is still a non-factor even if the top of the computer is flush against a desk/cabinet. Same with the bottom. Because the Mac Pro is a sealed unit and the airflow is a push-pull intake/exhaust design from front to rear, there is no heat dissipation path at the top at all and all heat dissipation occurs via forced airflow in a very linear path. That's one of the reasons the Mac Pros are so quiet - there is no crossflow of air paths (HT/F fan from CPU interacting with intake/exhaust fans of the case for example), and you have equal intake/exhaust fan RPMs, which means no added accoustical noise.