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So what to do with a 1,1?

W

wildmac

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 13, 2003
1,167
1
So my system for the last 7 years (and at the rate Apple is going, it might be 8 :rolleyes: ) has been a 1,1 MP (2x2.66 dual, 5MB). I'm likely going to buy one of the nMPs when those are finally out, and don't want to do any hacking on the 1,1 yet until I have a new system in place.

So.. once I get a new rig, what to do with the 1,1? (Selling is not an option, since it was a tax-write-off back in the day).

I'd like to get it running Mavericks, but that sounds like I need to do a rom flash as well as some fancy steps with a bootloader.

I'm not sure the system is worth a CPU upgrade, since it really would need more ram as well.

Thoughts? I was considering setting it up with cheap large drives to use as a backup device for my photography.
 
wildmac said:
Thoughts? I was considering setting it up with cheap large drives to use as a backup device for my photography.
Click to expand...

Is your photography not important enough to use quality drives rather than cheap drive for backup? Hard drives is an area where you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap drive that has a 1 year warranty then that is what you get.
 
brand said:
Is your photography not important enough to use quality drives rather than cheap drive for backup? Hard drives is an area where you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap drive that has a 1 year warranty then that is what you get.
Click to expand...

Well, let's say quality large slow drives. Reliable? Yes please. Speed? Not as important.

I'd likely use it as a system to backup the raw files, not as working storage.

Or I could put it in the living room to connect to the TV...
 
Can you put it in the kitchen or somewhere else in the house as a nice picture displayer (? We did that with an old iMac and now it just sits in the kitchen constantly showing off thousands of photos and is available to look up a quick recipe, etc. You can get an extra monitor for really cheap nowadays if you need it.
 
DanielCoffey said:
How much power does a 1,1 use compared to, say, a Mac Mini or iPad though. It would not be economical to keep running all day for that.
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It's probably not as economical power wise but when you factor in the fact that he already has the mac pro and doesn't need to buy the mac mini or iPad it probably is a good use of the machine if he's going to use it at all.
 
jbg232 said:
It's probably not as economical power wise but when you factor in the fact that he already has the mac pro and doesn't need to buy the mac mini or iPad it probably is a good use of the machine if he's going to use it at all.
Click to expand...

I also won't leave it on all the time. Boot it up when I want to archive a fresh batch of stuff. If I use it for that..
 
I have the same machine, with no plans to upgrade. Considering that:

1) I am not a graphics professional; and,
2) I am not independently wealthy

then I will just keep using the 1,1, and maintain my current investment in hardware. This is especially viable now thanks to Tiamo's work to enable Mavericks use on the 1,1.

I have made a few upgrades to the system over the years (SSD, CPU's to 8-core, and most recently new GPU), and they have all given new life to machine. One reason we bought this machine because it was expandable, right? These aren't expensive upgrades, either. If needed, I can get 16 GB of RAM for $250; I bought my CPU's new from eBay for $120; and the GPU was $200. You may not need to do all of these (or any), but you get the idea.

I have yet to find a task in my own daily use that this machine still doesn't handle with ease.

My advice: keep using it for a few more years! It's not just the cost of the new Mac Pro to consider: it's a whole new way of working and expanding your system. All the Thunderbolt peripherals are currently VERY expensive. I don't see this changing for some time.
 
lurkingbf said:
I have the same machine, with no plans to upgrade. Considering that:

1) I am not a graphics professional; and,
2) I am not independently wealthy

then I will just keep using the 1,1, and maintain my current investment in hardware. This is especially viable now thanks to Tiamo's work to enable Mavericks use on the 1,1.

I have made a few upgrades to the system over the years (SSD, CPU's to 8-core, and most recently new GPU), and they have all given new life to machine. One reason we bought this machine because it was expandable, right? These aren't expensive upgrades, either. If needed, I can get 16 GB of RAM for $250; I bought my CPU's new from eBay for $120; and the GPU was $200. You may not need to do all of these (or any), but you get the idea.

I have yet to find a task in my own daily use that this machine still doesn't handle with ease.

My advice: keep using it for a few more years! It's not just the cost of the new Mac Pro to consider: it's a whole new way of working and expanding your system. All the Thunderbolt peripherals are currently VERY expensive. I don't see this changing for some time.
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Well, I haven't put in a SSD, haven't upgraded the CPU, and while I did upgrade the video card, I would need to do so again.

Doing all that to a 1,1 system now, given the nMP coming eventually, seems a bit of a stretch. (if I was sitting on a 4,1 or 5,1, that might be a bit of a different story.)

But, it's still a fair point, I would probably wind up paying about $1000 to upgrade this rig.

Who knows, if we get a "Shipping in March" I might just try it.
 
wildmac said:
Well, I haven't put in a SSD, haven't upgraded the CPU, and while I did upgrade the video card, I would need to do so again.

Doing all that to a 1,1 system now, given the nMP coming eventually, seems a bit of a stretch. (if I was sitting on a 4,1 or 5,1, that might be a bit of a different story.)

But, it's still a fair point, I would probably wind up paying about $1000 to upgrade this rig.

Who knows, if we get a "Shipping in March" I might just try it.
Click to expand...


Get the SSD, you'll see immediate improvements, especially, saving loading files, startup, opening apps.

Why do you need to upgrade video card for photography?

I've a rather similar Mac Pro but I'm using that as a backup system. My main system is the Mac Mini quad 2.6 fusion drive.

----------

If I really have to upgrade, I would install Windows 8.
It's still a great machine, as another user has commented above.
 
teohyc said:
Get the SSD, you'll see immediate improvements, especially, saving loading files, startup, opening apps.

Why do you need to upgrade video card for photography?
Click to expand...

Current video card is one of those crap radeon ones that Apple sold.

Being stuck on 10.7.5 is beginning to cause issues as well.

Overall, upgrading a 1,1 to continue to be a production system just seems like a stretch, like I said elsewhere, if I had a 4,1 or above, I'd probably do the upgrades instead.
 
I've got my 1,1 (8 cores, 5770, 14 gb RAM) on craigslist for $650 with no takers. It's been three weeks. The disks alone (3 TB, 2 TB, 750 GB, 500 GB) are worth a few hundred bucks, but for whatever reason, nobody on the Big Island is interested.

So I too am thinking about what else I can do with it. My daily machine is a 5,1, so I don't really need the 1,1 for processing. I run the house on grid-tied solar power, so the cost of keep it running isn't an issue, and the whole house is wired with CAT6 so I can put it in a spare room . . . but still, it doesn't feel quite right to me.

So I'll be watching this thread for ideas.
 
Last edited:
brand said:
Is your photography not important enough to use quality drives rather than cheap drive for backup? Hard drives is an area where you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap drive that has a 1 year warranty then that is what you get.
Click to expand...

Everything you said is wrong. First: http://blog.backblaze.com/2013/12/04/enterprise-drive-reliability/
With a sampling of 25,000 drives over 4 years, they had a 4.6% failure rate with enterprise and 4.2% with consumer drives.

Second, the conclusion is all you're paying extra for with enterprise is the warranty. And that does you zero good when you've lost your data. Hard drives are one of the worst examples of getting what you pay for when you spend more.

Third, choosing to use consumer drives to back up your images doesn't mean your photography is important. I keep my pictures on internal storage, 2 external hard drives rotating one off-site, and a collection of jpegs on a flash stick I keep with me. All devices bought for best price per gigabyte. My "cheap" hardware choice doesn't mean I don't care about my pictures. This is a lot safer than a single "enterprise" grade drive.

Forth. Why did you even post that? Just to insult the OP? You were totally off-topic, condescending, and added nothing to this thread.
 
Oracle1729 said:
Hard drives are one of the worst examples of getting what you pay for when you spend more.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. I always look for the best bargain when it comes to storage.

I'm not even a pro photographer, but I certainly care about my photos. I have my photos on my main drive, my Time Machine, an external drive I backup monthly, AND socked away online with Crashplan. Overkill and paranoia? You bet! The absolute cheapest storage solutions I could find? You bet again!
 
wildmac said:
(Selling is not an option, since it was a tax-write-off back in the day).
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Dunno where you are from the tax standpoint, but in the US that could be depreciated within 3 years. There's no hit to selling it at this point.
 
Ccrew said:
Dunno where you are from the tax standpoint, but in the US that could be depreciated within 3 years. There's no hit to selling it at this point.
Click to expand...

Not to my understanding of it. If it's fully depreciated, but then you sell it, that price has to be recaptured, and essentially taxed.
 
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