Shall I buy this Mac pro?

[Jaap-Jan Willig]

Hello,

I am using my macbook pro as a 'main' computer, and I saw this Mac Pro on the internet for 730 euros (specs are bellow). Is this a good price for an old mac pro with these specs and do you recommend to buy this for a 'main' computer?

Proccessor
Processor Intel Xeon
Processor Speed 2x 2.66 GHz
RAM 4 GB
Type RAM 8x PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM (matched pair)
Architecture 64-bit
System Bus 1.33 GHz
Processor Type 5150 ("woodcrest")
Number of Cores 4
Cache 4 MB L3
Hard Drive 250 GB (7200-rpm, SATA)
Hard Drive Bus 4x 3.0 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) controllers
Grafische processors
Graphics Memory 1 GB GDDR5 SDRAM
Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD 5770

 

[benwiggy]

That's an original MacPro, around six or seven years old. It's not the fastest computer out there by a long stretch.
You'll find that a lot of recent iMacs and MacMinis will be much faster. New MacMinis start at €629.

It is certainly expandable, durable, and should continue to work well for several years. (Though the age might mean hardware problems will arise.) You will probably want to expand the storage space with larger hard drives and/or SSDs, and add more memory.

However, it can't update to Mountain Lion -- the max OS version it will support is 10.7.5.

All in all, I would say it's possibly overpriced.

 

[Osirison]

What are the specs of your MBP?

And what will you be doing on the Mac?

If it's just for browsing the web, listening music you will be fine, about the price I think its a bit expencive.
Just did a quick search at Marktplaats and saw a slightly better machine for 699,-

 

[Jaap-Jan Willig]

The specs of my macbook pro:

Processor: 2,3 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 mb
320 GB SATA Disk

I will use it as a main computer for doing school stuff, no heavy stuff.

----------

Just did a quick search at Marktplaats and saw a slightly better machine for 699,-[/QUOTE]

Could you send me the link?

 

[Macsonic]

Hi Jaap-Jan Willig If you're doing basic general computing, your Macbook Pro may be adequate for your purpose. The Mac Pro offered for sale is a first gen model and only 32bit. It's also a bit overpriced and cannot run Mountain Lion.

 

[Jaap-Jan Willig]

If you're doing basic general computing, your Macbook Pro may be adequate for your purpose. -[/QUOTE]

I am also running windows on my macbook pro for programs which cannot run on mac osx. When I use windows my macbook sounds like a vacuum cleaner. I think running windows on the macbook is to much for it. That's why i wan't a bigger and stronger computer.

 

[Willis]

I'd stay away from a vintage machine that old. My parents 2006 Mac Pro has recently bitten the dust (MLB failure) since they bought it Oct '06. They've now ordered a 27" iMac.

For that kind of money, as someone has already mentioned, a 2012 Mac mini is not only more power and faster than your current machine and that Mac Pro, it's also cheaper.

 

[Tesselator]

However, it can't update to Mountain Lion -- the max OS version it will support is 10.7.5.

All in all, I would say it's possibly overpriced.

Maybe yes. But it can be upgraded to 10.8.x - you just need to do a little setup work - and then it works.


The MacPro1,1 isn't a bad machine. You can put two new 4-core processors ($100 total), up to 64GB RAM ($500), and new GPUs ($200) in it and it becomes pretty fast.

I think it's kinda weird comparing a tower workstation to a mini or MBP. Totally different computing concepts.

 

[blanka]

Get the Mini. The only possitive thing of this thing is the videocard is still pretty fast, and it will probably keep your room hot in the winter. And if you want extra RAM, it will cost you a fortune.

 

[Willis]

Maybe yes. But it can be upgraded to 10.8.x - you just need to do a little setup work - and then it works.


The MacPro1,1 isn't a bad machine. You can put new processors, up to 64GB RAM, and new GPUs in it and it becomes pretty fast.

I think it's kinda weird comparing a tower workstation to a mini or MBP. Totally different computing concepts.

While tis is true, in regards to what the OP actually wants to use the machine for, it's massively overkill and uneconomical

 

[benwiggy]

I think it's kinda weird comparing a tower workstation to a mini or MBP. Totally different computing concepts.

Agreed. A chisel isn't a screwdriver. There are still reasons to prefer some ageing MacPros over a brand new "other" type of Mac, mostly expandability.

The OP is doing "no heavy stuff" and want to use Windows. He should check about what versions of Windows he can run in BootCamp or in a VM on an earlier machine.

However, even if it's possible to get it to run 10.8, will it run 10.9, due out later this year?

As already said, an MP uses a lot of electricity and creates a lot of heat. A newer Mac will be much more efficient.

As a sidenote: I looked heavily into buying a secondhand MP last year, and I came to the conclusion that none of the Quad-core MPs were worth buying, when you could buy more efficient, better specced newer iMacs or even Minis, unless you needed the expandability of the bigger box.

 

[Jaap-Jan Willig]

That's the reason why I have chosen for the mac pro, you can upgrade it. Not that it will be an old machine that you cannot upgrade and constantly need to buy a whole new machine to have a fast computer. BUT, if i buy this computer, and it is now already slower than the mbp....

 

[GermanyChris]

That's the reason why I have chosen for the mac pro, you can upgrade it. Not that it will be an old machine that you cannot upgrade and constantly need to buy a whole new machine to have a fast computer. BUT, if i buy this computer, and it is now already slower than the mbp....

Remember you're talking to people in the states mostly, where these $400-$550 not europe where original Mac Pros still bring $1000. There are many posts on these forums that will guide you through the upgrade process. You can take this machine as far as your budget will allow.

It costs money to go fast. How fast do you want to go?

 

[Macsonic]

Hi Jaap-Jan Willig. If the Mac Pro is your preference, the better option would be the 2009 Mac Pro though you may need to stretch your budget a bit. But if you have budget constraints, the 2008 Mac Pro is an alternate option as it's 64bit and the ram of this model is more expensive than the ram of the 2009 Mac Pro. Try to search around for other deals.

 

[Jaap-Jan Willig]

You can take this machine as far as your budget will allow.

It costs money to go fast. How fast do you want to go?[/QUOTE]

I want to make it, at least, faster than my macbook pro. Maybe as fast like the 27 inch iMac late 2009. But my budget is not that big.

 

[Tesselator]

He should check about what versions of Windows he can run in BootCamp or in a VM on an earlier machine.

It runs all versions. XP, Vista, Win7, Win8, all in either 64 or 32 bit.

However, even if it's possible to get it to run 10.8, will it run 10.9, due out later this year?

Of course it will.

As already said, an MP uses a lot of electricity and creates a lot of heat. A newer Mac will be much more efficient.

Mine has 32GB RAM. a GT8800, 6 (3TB)HDDs, two X5355 (8-cores), and an upgraded (faster) DVD. It uses 190W when idle and 275 or 280 when everything is going at 100% (100% CPU, 100% GPU, and All six HDDs writing, and OOD writing from a RAMD Drive. I don't think that's inefficient and it doesn't run very hot at all. So whoever said that I think is mistaken.

I do agree that the 2009 or 2008 MacPro (3,2 or 4,1) would be better if he has a budget for it tho.

As a sidenote: I looked heavily into buying a secondhand MP last year, and I came to the conclusion that none of the Quad-core MPs were worth buying, when you could buy more efficient, better specced newer iMacs or even Minis, unless you needed the expandability of the bigger box.

I started out with the MP1,1 and have been upgrading it. When I look at newer models I'm not impressed enough to upgrade to the newer models. 2013 may be the year this changes tho. But I also have quite a few other workstations (from companies other than Apple) too so that may be a factor.

 

[Tesselator]

I want to make it, at least, faster than my macbook pro. Maybe as fast like the 27 inch iMac late 2009. But my budget is not that big.

The 2006 MacPro with the specifications you mentioned is the same speed under your mouse as your Late-2009 Apple iMac "Core i5" 2.66 more or less. When you use it for photo editing, video editing, DVD and CD ripping, 3D rendering, and so on the MacPro will be about 30% faster. If you upgrade the processors to X5355 ($100, 8core 2.67) or X5365 ($180, 8core 3.0GHz) then the 2006 MapPro will be about two to 2.5 times faster than your iMac when performing those operations - but it will feel about the same speed under your mouse. If you upgrade the GPU to something like the GTX 570 ($120) then the MacPro will also feel somewhat faster under your mouse + video and 3D rendering will feel considerably faster. If you upgrade to and place your OS on an SSD or upgrade to 10.8.3 and create a Fusion Drive then the system will feel the same under your mouse as stock budget 2012 12-core MacPro but video editing and all the other operations I mentioned will be about 30% slower than the 2012.

Those are generalizations but fairly accurate in my experience.

With a fully upgraded MacPro 2006 (X5365, 32GB RAM, GTX 570 (or now the GTX680), SSD, RAID0 Data drives), then it's about 2/3 to half the speed of the most expensive MacPro base model you can buy new from Apple for most of the application types I mentioned. It a few cases it will be less than 1/2 the speed but not typically. In some cases it will also be nearly the same speed as the 2012 MacPro too but again, not typically.

 

[Bwa]

I wouldn't buy this Mac Pro at any reasonable price--it's a very slow computer. I upgraded my 2008 to a 2012 last year and the difference is shocking. The 2008 (8 core, 2.8 ghz) was dog slow compared to my modern MacBook Pro and Mac mini. The older Mac pros use expensive RAM, and a lot of electricity.

 

[GermanyChris]

I wouldn't buy this Mac Pro at any reasonable price--it's a very slow computer. I upgraded my 2008 to a 2012 last year and the difference is shocking. The 2008 (8 core, 2.8 ghz) was dog slow compared to my modern MacBook Pro and Mac mini. The older Mac pros use expensive RAM, and a lot of electricity.

I mean their at least 1000 GB points slower than a 2012 MacBook Pro..dogs I tell you..

I'm gonna need you to go ahead and add a RAID card with mini SAS ports to you MacBook Pro/MM. I'm also going to need you to ad a video compressor card in there. Yea your going to need a capture card too, oh and desktop graphics.

Thats not even going into the I have 15TB in the box and 20TB backup out of the box, your route forces one to buy two huge NAS/RAID boxes..

Lets also not get into the little fact that that 1,1 can take 32GB of RAM, and will GB at 10,500-11,200 depending on processor choice..

But yea your right, they're slow and pointless.

 

[barmann]

I wouldn't buy this Mac Pro at any reasonable price--it's a very slow computer. I upgraded my 2008 to a 2012 last year and the difference is shocking. The 2008 (8 core, 2.8 ghz) was dog slow compared to my modern MacBook Pro and Mac mini. The older Mac pros use expensive RAM, and a lot of electricity.

Well, this isn't true of course; apart from the expensive RAM part .

A properly set up Intel MP is still very competitive compared to anything else Apple has to offer , even the early ones , and beats any integrated Mac in most applications .

However, I'd upgrade it if you already have one, but not buy one .
I have an 2.8 8 core 3.1, love it, can't use a non-Rosetta OS yet, need all the physical cores and processor speed, so any worthy upgrade would be quite expensive .

With an MP 1.1 , it's a little more difficult .

The above mentioned price for the base configuration is way too high ; they go for about 500 dollars/euros , if the shipping is affordable and they are in good condition.

You have to hack the 1.1 to take advantage of 64-bit-capable programs like Photoshop CS5 and up, which can be a huge difference .

RAM prices for the MP 1.1-3.1 are not nearly as cheap as Tesselator claims, depending on what size modules you will need. It's the bottleneck in upgrading the early MPs .

4x4GB are about 350-400 euros/dollars from 3rd party sources; 8x 2GB are less, but you will loose all that's already in there .
To go any cheaper, you will have to be an expert in finding working components.

None of this has anything to do with the original topic, of course .

The OP needs to maker sure his harddrive has at least 20GB left, and google Windows-OSX-101 or something . Even if this doesn't provide a solution, he might come up with questions that make any sense at all .

 

[thekev]

That's an original MacPro, around six or seven years old. It's not the fastest computer out there by a long stretch.
You'll find that a lot of recent iMacs and MacMinis will be much faster. New MacMinis start at €629.

It is certainly expandable, durable, and should continue to work well for several years. (Though the age might mean hardware problems will arise.) You will probably want to expand the storage space with larger hard drives and/or SSDs, and add more memory.

However, it can't update to Mountain Lion -- the max OS version it will support is 10.7.5.

All in all, I would say it's possibly overpriced.

As someone pointed out it can technically be forced to run Mountain Lion, but Mountain Lion has been out for some time. I wouldn't buy a machine today that lacks official software support with the current OS. If I already owned such a machine, I might continue to run with an older OS. I just wouldn't buy into 2006-2007 era hardware in 2013.

 

[lewdvig]

I paid $700 for one of those 2-3 years ago. I would only pay $400 today even with the nice video card.

 

[Tesselator]

You got a few points wrong here tho:

The above mentioned price for the base configuration is way too high ; they go for about 500 dollars/euros , if the shipping is affordable and they are in good condition.

The $500 ones are usually 4GB RAM and the GT7300 card. This one has been upgraded

You have to hack the 1.1 to take advantage of 64-bit-capable programs like Photoshop CS5 and up, which can be a huge difference .

Completely incorrect. true full 64bit apps run just fine on an unmodified MP1,1 running 10.6 or higher. Maybe 10.5 or 10.4 too I forget.

RAM prices for the MP 1.1-3.1 are not nearly as cheap as Tesselator claims, depending on what size modules you will need. It's the bottleneck in upgrading the early MPs .

Yes, they are exactly what I say they are. In every case I've ever posted here I look up a sold finished auction and check the price. So it's 100% accurate.

4x4GB are about 350-400 euros/dollars from 3rd party sources; 8x 2GB are less, but you will loose all that's already in there .
To go any cheaper, you will have to be an expert in finding working components.

Sure, new RAM from "mac" retailers goes for about that - tho you're still a little high. If you know what kind of RAM to buy you can get 32GB of MP1,1 RAM (8x4GB DIMMs) for $275 to $350 every day of the week - this includes shipping!. If someone pays $400 or 16GB they're either lazy or dumb.

The OP needs to maker sure his harddrive has at least 20GB left, and google Windows-OSX-101 or something . Even if this doesn't provide a solution, he might come up with questions that make any sense at all .

I think his questions make sense.

 

[barmann]

You got a few points wrong here tho:


The $500 ones are usually 4GB RAM and the GT7300 card. This one has been upgraded

The GPU has been upgraded, I didn't notice that, my bad .
RAM and HDD are not, so I'd say maybe 600 instead of 500 .

Completely incorrect. true full 64bit apps run just fine on an unmodified MP1,1 running 10.6 or higher. Maybe 10.5 or 10.4 too I forget.

I stand corrected, thanks for the info .

Yes, they are exactly what I say they are. In every case I've ever posted here I look up a sold finished auction and check the price. So it's 100% accurate.

Sure, new RAM from "mac" retailers goes for about that - tho you're still a little high. If you know what kind of RAM to buy you can get 32GB of MP1,1 RAM (8x4GB DIMMs) for $275 to $350 every day of the week - this includes shipping!. If someone pays $400 or 16GB they're either lazy or dumb.

I can't find that kind of prices, not for the slightly cheaper 667Mhz (MP1.1), and not for the 800Mhz , and I've been looking pretty hard for quite a while . 350 Euros for 4x4 GB for the MP 3.1 or older is the best I ever found, and that's not a Mac retailer.

I'm mostly looking in Europe, as I'm in Germany, but can't seem to find much better offers in the US either .
Do you have any stores you can recommend ?

I'd appreciate it; I've been searching this forum for sources as well, but to no avail ...

 

[Tesselator]

The GPU has been upgraded, I didn't notice that, my bad .
RAM and HDD are not, so I'd say maybe 600 instead of 500 .

The base MacPro 1,1 came with 1 GB (two 512 MB) of 667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM. So yeah, 4GB is an upgrade. The HDD is base spec tho.

I can't find that kind of prices, not for the slightly cheaper 667Mhz (MP1.1), and not for the 800Mhz , and I've been looking pretty hard for quite a while . 350 Euros for 4x4 GB for the MP 3.1 or older is the best I ever found, and that's not a Mac retailer.

I'm mostly looking in Europe, as I'm in Germany, but can't seem to find much better offers in the US either .
Do you have any stores you can recommend ?

I'd appreciate it; I've been searching this forum for sources as well, but to no avail ...

I either buy locally or I use e-bay. Right now RAM is a little cheaper on e-bay than locally tho sometimes it's the opposite. There were quite a few 32GB upgrades available in the $275 or so range till I got on here about a month ago and laughed at people spending four times more. Then they all dried up really fast and I even noticed a few active posters here updating their profile signatures. So if the deals are kinda rare I'm to blame I suppose. This should bounce back fairly soon tho - I can't imagine there's too many people who both read here and also have a MP1,1 and also are looking to upgrade to 32GB. But here's a few deals:

Currently:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-8-x-4G...0342580?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item5d3c1ab834 - $355
http://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-Samsun...6528066?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item2ec6f65542 - $360

Recently Sold Listings:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lots-8-X-4g...8758486?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item2ec67fc756 - $225
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lots-8-X-4g...9512672?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item19d8162660 - $235
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lots-8-X-4g...6937526?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item19d7eedb36 - $237.50
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lots-8-X-4g...8766823?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item19d80ac4e7 - $259
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kingston-32...3616579?pt=US_Memory_RAM_&hash=item4d0acbe5c3 - $350 (I bought this same RAM for my MP1,1 and paid about $20 less than this.)

and etc.

Also sometimes you can find old server blades with 16GB or 32GB or ram AND the x5355 CPUs for like $250 to $350 all total. I've even seen "auctions" where they will give it to you for free if you promise to take their whole inventory away with you. (Usually 20 to 60 blade units with some being stripped and some being fully loaded). Of the later free-for-hauling deals, I usually only see about one of those per month and usually not on e-bay (but sometimes...).

http://www.ebay.com/csc/i.html?_sop...nkw=x5355+blade&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc