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Refurbished Mac-Pro

B

briceman

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
82
2
Hello all,

I'm looking for the best place to get a good deal on a used/refurbished Mac-Pro. I had been eyeing a 2008 3.0 ghz 8-core with 16gb ram for about 1k (including shipping) from "mac of all trades". The primary use of this machine will be video editing 1080p-2k footage in Final Cut 7, and FCPx. I know I'll need to replace the GPU on anything I get, but looking to spend under $1200 if possible on the initial purchase.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

Thanks.
 
briceman said:
Hello all,

I'm looking for the best place to get a good deal on a used/refurbished Mac-Pro. I had been eyeing a 2008 3.0 ghz 8-core with 16gb ram for about 1k (including shipping) from "mac of all trades". The primary use of this machine will be video editing 1080p-2k footage in Final Cut 7, and FCPx. I know I'll need to replace the GPU on anything I get, but looking to spend under $1200 if possible on the initial purchase.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'd start with 2009 model at minimum, it will give you a much longer life span as there is very little difference between the 2009 model and the 2012 model. It uses less expensive RAM and there are plenty of CPU upgrade options later if you need. You should be able to get a 8-core 2.26 system or even a 8-core 2.66 system in your price range.
 
azentropy said:
I'd start with 2009 model at minimum, it will give you a much longer life span as there is very little difference between the 2009 model and the 2012 model. It uses less expensive RAM and there are plenty of CPU upgrade options later if you need. You should be able to get a 8-core 2.26 system or even a 8-core 2.66 system in your price range.
Click to expand...

Indeed good advice the OPs price on the 2008 seems just a bit on the high side. I picked up a used 8x2.26 on Ebay for under $800 delivered to my door this summer gone by.
 
macofalltrades is good pricewise. My previous Mac was a G4 purchased from them and it has served me well for many years. Still runs actually but I just bought a 2009 Mac Pro from OWC about a month ago so I'm using the MP instead. OWC had a good price for it too, and actually the other day I checked macofalltrades and they had an even better price for the same model.

Just FYI, Powermax's prices are high. I repeatedly checked their website when I was shopping around.

I agree with above post about a 2009 MP. It's highly upgradeable (more so than 2008 it seems) and the price point is great for the 2009 models right now. :)
 
Thanks for the follow up! I would like an 8 core 2.26, or 2.6 2009, but haven't yet been able to find one in my range, which at $800 I'd pull the trigger today!

Thanks!
 
briceman said:
Thanks for the follow up! I would like an 8 core 2.26, or 2.6 2009, but haven't yet been able to find one in my range, which at $800 I'd pull the trigger today!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hmm that's a tough one for sure. Right now MOAT has this one for $1299

and they have this one for $699 if you're willing to go single processor. This is a great deal IMO. I bought the exact same thing from OWC for $879 about a month ago and then bought a w3680 (6-core 3.33) CPU from Provantage for about $572 which gave me a nice speed bump (after doing the 4,1 to 5,1 flash). An excellent machine, truly, and a fraction of the cost of new or even Apple refurb.

(Incidentally, OWC is still selling their baseline 4-core at $879.)

Don't know about other options to get to your price point for the 8-core, except for maybe ebay. However if you're planning on upgrading the CPUs on an 8-core after purchase you may want to research/consider the price involved with that (can be expensive). Price-wise, the 4-core to 6-core (w3680) upgrade is sort of in a sweet spot IMO.
 
briceman said:
Thanks for the follow up! I would like an 8 core 2.26, or 2.6 2009, but haven't yet been able to find one in my range, which at $800 I'd pull the trigger today!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Will be hard to find a 8-core 2009 for $800, but if you can wait a bit and save to increase your budget to $1000-$1100 it would be worth it. I paid $1075 for my 8-core 2.66ghz 2009, shipped off of ebay from a Seller with a good reputation and couldn't have been happier. Just keep looking.

I'd even say to go with a quad core 2009 over a 2008. It isn't going to be as fast as the 8-Core 2008 out of the box, but if you are handy you can upgrade the CPU to a 6-core W3680/W3690 in the future. Search the forum and you will find those very happy with that upgrade.
 
Well, I went ahead and snagged one on Ebay from a private seller. It's a 2008 3.0 GHZ 8-Core, with 14GB RAM, and upgraded 5770 video card. Basically it should serve my needs right out of the box. Paid $798 for it total. I'm pretty happy with the purchase.
 
briceman said:
Well, I went ahead and snagged one on Ebay from a private seller. It's a 2008 3.0 GHZ 8-Core, with 14GB RAM, and upgraded 5770 video card. Basically it should serve my needs right out of the box. Paid $798 for it total. I'm pretty happy with the purchase.
Click to expand...



yeah the ram for that model is costly but you have 14gb. so you do not need to buy any ram. you could add a large ssd if you want. It should be quick for a few years.
 
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