Ten years now, Nehalem MP’s are still badass

[zephonic]

It sucks there’s no replacement (any day now, har har), but aren’t these 4,1’s the baddest Macs ever?

Knock on wood, but mine is still sitting here kicking butt daily. My 2007 iMac still works, but it stopped being a viable computer with OSX Lion. So I downgraded it to SnowLeopard and nowadays the only things that work on it are Firefox and Open Office (great how none of Apple’s own software and services work on it).

So I can’t use Mojave on my 4,1 and at some point Sierra will no longer suffice, forcing it into retirement. But for now, it does whatever I need it to do, and it does it acceptably fast.

Badass, I tell you.

 

[Macdctr]

I upgraded the firmware on my 4,1 to a 5,1 and it runs Mojave with no issues. Runs solid and my “4,1” is used as my multi-media server for my home theater setup

I recently installed a blu-ray drive so I can play back blu-ray movies on my 55” Samsung HDTV

Yes, solid computer...

 

[t8er8]

It sucks there’s no replacement (any day now, har har), but aren’t these 4,1’s the baddest Macs ever?

Knock on wood, but mine is still sitting here kicking butt daily. My 2007 iMac still works, but it stopped being a viable computer with OSX Lion. So I downgraded it to SnowLeopard and nowadays the only things that work on it are Firefox and Open Office (great how none of Apple’s own software and services work on it).

So I can’t use Mojave on my 4,1 and at some point Sierra will no longer suffice, forcing it into retirement. But for now, it does whatever I need it to do, and it does it acceptably fast.

Badass, I tell you.

Pop in some ram, a westmere cpu, and a modern gpu and you basically have yourself a mid to high tier computer even for todays standards

 

[mode11]

Yep. Also, pretty sure you can run El Capitan on that iMac.

 

[Mattww]

My 4.1 turns 10 in April & really has been such a great machine although it is now a 5.1 12-core following the firmware flash and, with an RX580 runs Mojave just fine.

Sure it would be nice if it used less electricity at idle and no doubt single core performance would be noticeably better on a newer Mac but really there is nothing worth the cost to upgrade to for me when I don’t use it to earn a living.

Would love to see a modular design eventually to get another decade from but I can’t see it happening again!

 

[mode11]

Exact same machine, and echo your comments entirely.

I look forward to the reveal of the next Mac Pro, as one way or the other it will decide my future on the platform. I fully expect it to be ruinously expensive and full of proprietary form factors, however. The ridiculously long wait suggests they are either doing something (unnecessarily) fancy with the design, or waiting for a particular technology to be ready (desktop ARM??).

As much as I've come to love my MP for its excellent build quality, upgradability and performance, it's also because it's become a latter-day bargain. When they were new, I considered them too big, too expensive and over-engineered. Ideally, I want the Mac equivalent of a decent PC desktop - i7 / Ryzen, decent graphics card, nice MATX enclosure - but alas this is the machine that Apple will always refuse to make. I may go hackintosh eventually, though that still has many of the same restrictions (e.g. no modern Nvidia on Mojave).

 

[Juicy Box]

It sucks there’s no replacement (any day now, har har), but aren’t these 4,1’s the baddest Macs ever?

I have a MP 1,1 that still gets used daily. I have upgraded a few things on over the years, and it is running El Capitan.

Even though they are pretty old, the 1,1 are still pretty powerful.

 

[nycaleksey]

I too have a perfectly functional working MP1,1 upgraded to X5365s. It's amazing how powerful this machine is given its 2006 (!) release date. But I stopped using it and switched to MBP at some point simply because of the power consumption.

 

[MacPoulet]

My 4,1 Mac Pro was the best $150 I spent. Still trying to update the firmware so it'll be a 5,1...

 

[jameslmoser]

Unfortunately it seems the reason why its still relevant today is why Apple stopped making a machine like it. If we only buy one every 10 years they aren't selling more of them. Personally I would have upgraded long ago had they gave me the option though.

I decided I'm moving to PC because I expect to be disappointed with their new "modular" mac pro. I built my own machine, and was almost overwhelmed with all the options I had. That was generally not a problem in Apple's ecosystem.

I've used the system I built pretty much exclusively now, even though the Mac Pro sits next to it hooked up to the same monitor. Its almost sad, I don't want to part with it since its still a great machine and I have had it for so long, but its just taking up space now. I need to find another use for it. =)

 

[ssgbryan]

I too have a perfectly functional working MP1,1 upgraded to X5365s. It's amazing how powerful this machine is given its 2006 (!) release date. But I stopped using it and switched to MBP at some point simply because of the power consumption.

Swap out the X5365s with a pair of low power L5335s. (50 watts TDP ea).

 

[AidenShaw]

I need to find another use for it. =)

It's winter, so it's a passable room heater. (Come summer, though, it'll just make the air conditioning work harder.)

 

[ssgbryan]

There are all kinds of things one can do with a legacy Mac Pro.

I am converting my 1,1 to an iTunes server (replacing the 5150s with a pair of low power L5335s - Cost $10.)

My current Mac Pro (see sig.) should hold out for another 2 years, then it will transition to joining my render farm.

 

[Mac Gus]

I bought my 2009 mac pro new back in... 2009. Hard to believe it's 10 years old this year. I've done a lot of upgrades to it. I'd be happy to get a few more years out of it. I'll prob buy a 4k monitor for it this year. Anyone have a good suggestion for that? I'd like one that can handle HDR.

 

[jameslmoser]

I bought my 2009 mac pro new back in... 2009. Hard to believe it's 10 years old this year. I've done a lot of upgrades to it. I'd be happy to get a few more years out of it. I'll prob buy a 4k monitor for it this year. Anyone have a good suggestion for that? I'd like one that can handle HDR.

I use this monitor and am quite happy with it:

LG 32UD99-W 32-Inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor with HDR 10 (2017)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XDY3TXW/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wouldn't mind if it had multiple display port connections though, just has a usb, two hdmi, and a single display port connection.

 

[dryjoy]

I bought my 2009 mac pro new back in... 2009. Hard to believe it's 10 years old this year. I've done a lot of upgrades to it. I'd be happy to get a few more years out of it. I'll prob buy a 4k monitor for it this year. Anyone have a good suggestion for that? I'd like one that can handle HDR.

Yes, I have had my 2009 from new. It’s turned out to be the best value computer I’ve ever had, which I did not expect at the time. However, I am currently looking at replacing it with a new 6 core Mac mini or a 13” MacBook Pro with touchbar. Tending towards the mini, but can’t decide whether I would benefit from the option of being mobile.

It is frustrating to me that I can’t upgrade to Mojave with my current NVidia GPU and clearly these machines will be sidelined for OS upgrades fairly soon. I use Logic X and want to be able to keep up to date with that and X Code.

The MP will live on a while as a windows box though.

I wouldn’t be in a hurry to replace it if it weren’t for Brexit, because as of right now today, it does everything I need it to. Once there’s a Logic update or X Code update I can’t keep up with, I’ll be ready to move on. But I’ve got this feeling that it would be wise to order before Brexit happens and I’ve pretty much got the money ready to go.

But I do love the ‘09 MP and I don’t expect to love its successor in the same way. It certainly won’t be such amazing value.