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Someone is offering me a Mac Pro 3,1 in trade...not sure

Twimfy

Twimfy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 11, 2011
888
246
UK
Hi,

I'm in the need for more GPU performance from my Mac. I currently have a 13" 2012 MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz i5 with an HD4000.

Someone is offering me a 2.8 8 core Mac Pro 3,1 in trade. (4GB Ram, AMD 6570 2GB GPU) with no hard drive (but I'd be installing my own SSD).

I'm really tempted as I could in time upgrade the GPU and I'm more in need of a work station for my iOS development.

However a couple of things are putting me off, mainly the fact that the RAM is ridiculously expensive and the 3,1 model is getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm concerned about future OS X compatibility.

I know that in benchmarks the 3,1 blows my i5 out of the water but does it really in real life? Will I be taking a huge step backwards?
 
Pieterr said:
iOS development? Just put 16GB RAM and a SSD in your MBP, and you'll be fine!

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...re-i5-2.5-13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html
Click to expand...

I need something a bit beyond the HD4000 for some Unity and UED work I'll be doing soon. I'm already rocking twin SSD's.

(also I won't lie I miss doing a bit of gaming).

Don't get me wrong, my MBP is great but it does spend 99% of its life in clamshell connected to a monitor and I'm wondering if there is a better option. If I had the cash I'd upgrade to something newer but this is a straight trade with no cost involved if I want it.
 
Twimfy said:
Hi,

I'm in the need for more GPU performance from my Mac. I currently have a 13" 2012 MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz i5 with an HD4000.

Someone is offering me a 2.8 8 core Mac Pro 3,1 in trade. (4GB Ram, AMD 6570 2GB GPU) with no hard drive (but I'd be installing my own SSD).

I'm really tempted as I could in time upgrade the GPU and I'm more in need of a work station for my iOS development.

However a couple of things are putting me off, mainly the fact that the RAM is ridiculously expensive and the 3,1 model is getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm concerned about future OS X compatibility.

I know that in benchmarks the 3,1 blows my i5 out of the water but does it really in real life? Will I be taking a huge step backwards?
Click to expand...

Amazon FBDIMM DDR2 667 $23 2x2GB
For SSD, cannot go wrong with a Lycom adapter and 256GB or larger PCIe-SSD blade instead of SATA II or III
Yosemite? GTX 9xx or other NVIDIA card http://www.macvidcards.com
 
Decided to just knock the guy down and go and buy the machine outright. That way I can sit on both for a while and see how I feel.

Specs are: 4GB 800Mhz Ram
2x 4 Core Processors 2.8ghz (8 cores in total)
AMD 6570 2GB Graphics Card.

I'm getting it for £370 and I'd say my MBP is worth a bit more so if I decide to keep it I'll at least make a tiny bit of money. (paid £150 for my MBP to begin with).
 
Apple were just about the only company to use 800MHz FB-DIMMs which is why they are so expensive new or used. It's much more cost effective to buy used 667MHz FB-DIMMs pulled from Xeon servers. According to barefeats the difference in performance when benchmarked is only 4% & in real life you won't notice any difference & will probably be outweighed as you can afford to put in far more RAM. We have three Mac Pro 3,1s in the household all with 32GB 667MHz FB-DIMMs & the last set of 8x4GB for 32GB total cost me the equivalent of $120. http://barefeats.com/harper5.html
 
I own a MP 3,1 and will tell you not to get it and upgrade. The big reason is cost. The price difference in memory between a 3,1 and a 4,1 is pretty large so hold out for a MP 4,1 if you can.

If not and you go for the 3,1, get good memory and a good SSD.
 
Twimfy said:
Hi,

I'm in the need for more GPU performance from my Mac. I currently have a 13" 2012 MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz i5 with an HD4000.

Someone is offering me a 2.8 8 core Mac Pro 3,1 in trade. (4GB Ram, AMD 6570 2GB GPU) with no hard drive (but I'd be installing my own SSD).

I'm really tempted as I could in time upgrade the GPU and I'm more in need of a work station for my iOS development.

However a couple of things are putting me off, mainly the fact that the RAM is ridiculously expensive and the 3,1 model is getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm concerned about future OS X compatibility.

I know that in benchmarks the 3,1 blows my i5 out of the water but does it really in real life? Will I be taking a huge step backwards?
Click to expand...

You could attach an eGPU to your MacBook Pro 13" 2012: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20747158#post20747158
 
TonyK said:
I own a MP 3,1 and will tell you not to get it and upgrade. The big reason is cost. The price difference in memory between a 3,1 and a 4,1 is pretty large so hold out for a MP 4,1 if you can.
Click to expand...
Inexpensive memory is available for the 3,1. See post #7.

----------
Pieterr said:
For gaming, I guess you want to put in a better videocard than the 6570 too.

https://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/AMD+Radeon+HD+6570/review
Click to expand...

Who mentioned gaming? Why would you want to use a Mac Pro for gaming? For gaming get a Playstation or Xbox. If you want proper applications get a Mac Pro.
 
nigelbb said:
Inexpensive memory is available for the 3,1. See post #7.
Click to expand...

My comments about ram prices still stand based on my feelings of getting new, not used memory. Getting heat sinks such as Apple MacPro's come with and not feeling iffy about my system working or not.

But I do see that OWC has the lower speed 667 memory for less money than the 800 speed memory.

Still, between a 3,1 and a 4,1 I would, these days, take the 4,1.
 
TonyK said:
My comments about ram prices still stand based on my feelings of getting new, not used memory. Getting heat sinks such as Apple MacPro's come with and not feeling iffy about my system working or not.

But I do see that OWC has the lower speed 667 memory for less money than the 800 speed memory.

Still, between a 3,1 and a 4,1 I would, these days, take the 4,1.
Click to expand...

I already have three 3,1s in the household so would prefer a 4,1 too.

The 800MHz RAM needs the big heat sinks as they generate much more heat. There have been an awful lot more of the 667MHz sticks manufactured for DELL & HP so if you really needed those monster heat sinks for the FB-DIMMs to run reliably in a Proliant server you can be sure that they would have been manufactured that way.

32GB (8x4GB) of Crucial 800MHz RAM for the 3,1 costs about $1200 vs about $60-80 for 667MHz used pulls from a Xeon server. Frankly I think that you would have to be mad to buy the new FB-DIMMs for a 3,1 you may as well save the money & buy a Mac Pro 4,1 instead. Of course if you already own a 3,1 then the 667MHz server RAM is a steal & a very cost effective upgrade.
 
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