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MP All Models The "I just ordered/bought/got my new/refurb Mac Pro" thread [Merged]
- Thread starter Einz
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What a difference a few weeks makes.
I'm hankering for the $2,550 6-core, add 64GB of memory from macsales.com and the price is only $3,070. Still nearly $1,000 below the original (new) asking price for these things - even only a few weeks ago.
I'd have never considered this machine on April 1st. But now, at this price? Heck yeah. I was considering a 2015 27" i7 iMac, which would cost me $3,000. If I wanted to bump it to 64GB of ram, it would be another $970. So finally, the 6-Core Mac Pro price point makes it far more appealing.
No offense to anyone ordering 6,1s, but why decide to go with one over a 5,1 (or 4,1)? I can think of these reasons: smaller footprint, lower power consumption, better top-end CPU, and slightly faster memory. But those all seem negligible when you consider the price difference and lack of upgradeability. You'll also have a rat's nest of wires for all your expansions. Especially with the ability to install new GPUs in the 5,1 (or 4,1), I think they have the potential to be a much more powerful system. The same fast blade SSDs can also be installed in them.
Buying a new machine with three years f AppleCare is worth lot for peace of mind. The 4,1 & 5,1 are vastly overpriced for 5-8 year old systems with no warranty.
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Ridiculously overpriced for an old used system with no warranty.
I have done some SWOT analysis and one of those who waited for a hardware refresh folks. The price drop and I couldn't wait for another year or two were the main reasons to purchase whatever it's in store right now. Hardware upgrade was certainly do-able for the existing 5,1, but I rather spent the time elsewhere than hunting down parts and do the changes myself. In another angle, the 6,1 is a beautiful desktop since the G4 Cube IMHO.
I"ll add my thoughts on this one too. I agree it's overpriced. I think that is worth $1700 to $3000 max. Here's why:
-$500-$900 for MP 5,1 (Craigslist, eBay, etc.)
-$300 for pair of X5690 CPUs (eBay)
-$400-$600 for 128GB RAM (eBay)
-$250-$900 for 1TB SSD ($250 for an entry level 2.5" or up to $900 for new SSUBX)
-$100 for 4TB hard drive
-$150 for GTX 780 GPU
You also probably wouldn't want 128GB of RAM because you don't want to use the 4th memory slots for optimal performance. 6 sticks of 16GB each would be better. But you could save more by going with 6 8GB sticks because that's plenty of RAM for most anything. You also don't really need a 1TB SSD if you're using it for the boot drive. You can get a super fast 256GB SSUBX for $200. You could get a new GTX 1060 for the price of a used GTX 780 that would give you a little better performance and a warranty. You could also go with a pair of lower wattage 3.06GHz X5675 CPUs for 1/3rd the price of the 3.46GHz CPUs and you probably wouldn't notice much difference in performance.
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To be fair, Apple was still selling 5,1s 4 years ago, and less than that refurbished. Also keep in mind 6,1 technology is 4 years old. No warranty, but you could buy a 3rd party warranty or just swap out parts if they go bad. You can download instructions for replacing pretty much anything in a 5,1 on Apple's support website. They designed the system to be user friendly.
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Got a 6,1 and find it is almost silent even when running at 100% CPU. My 2009 would ramp up fans so much could hear it in the next room. So on a daily basis it will make my life quieter/better. Intangible value for that and knowing I am no longer running on an 8 year old machine.
Comes with a few years warranty.
Price may have dropped around the $3k level.
Agreed that if I purchased a cannibalized system myself and put it together, it would be much less. Don't have time for that as I'm slowly losing things bit by bit because of the lack of Apple support of the old MacOS.
What is the advantage of keeping the 4th memory slots open?
Is the GTX 1060 supported? Thought the Titan was the highest I could go.
Appreciate all the help!
The cMP has a 3 channel memory connection so the 4th slot shares bandwidth with the 3rd slot. So if you have 4 DIMMs then you take a performance hit with half of your memory accesses. Same thing with the 8th slot in dual CPU configurations. I don't remember the percentage but in the real world you will probably never notice unless you have a memory restrained application.
I just picked up a 2010 Apple Mac Pro 5,1 on eBay. It's scheduled to be delivered this Friday.
12-cores @ 3.06GHz, 64GB of RAM, 1TB HD, and an AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB, running macOS Sierra.
First thing I'm doing is popping in my dual intel 120GB SSD's from a Mac Pro 1,1 and software RAID them into a 240GB drive for faster boot times and other speed increases.. above and beyond that I'm curious about the FPS I'll get in Counter-Strike Source or CS:GO @ 1920x1200..
Long overdue to upgrade from my Mac Pro 1,1 quad-core @ 2.66GHz
I'm mainly looking to use it for gaming, some Illustrator and Photoshop work, and working in Ableton Live..
12-cores @ 3.06GHz, 64GB of RAM, 1TB HD, and an AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB, running macOS Sierra.
First thing I'm doing is popping in my dual intel 120GB SSD's from a Mac Pro 1,1 and software RAID them into a 240GB drive for faster boot times and other speed increases.. above and beyond that I'm curious about the FPS I'll get in Counter-Strike Source or CS:GO @ 1920x1200..
Long overdue to upgrade from my Mac Pro 1,1 quad-core @ 2.66GHz
I'm mainly looking to use it for gaming, some Illustrator and Photoshop work, and working in Ableton Live..
$1,429.29 with shipping included. Although I found a deal on eBay...
Prior to finding the deal I was eyeing iPowerResale for their prices and included 1 year warranty. Start with this: https://ipowerresale.com/product/2010-mac-pro-2-66ghz-12-core-westmere/? and upgrade the CPU / RAM for one of the better deals I was able to find, shying away from an upgraded 2009 4,1 which was something I wanted to avoid..
I just scored a 2012 Apple Mac Pro 5,1 on eBay which should be turning up this week.
It's a 6 core 3.33 with 24Gb Ram, Radeon HD 5870 and 1Tb HD. Looking forward to hooking it up and getting it all setup.
Planning on getting an SSD, maxing the RAM and possibly an upgraded graphics card.
It's a 6 core 3.33 with 24Gb Ram, Radeon HD 5870 and 1Tb HD. Looking forward to hooking it up and getting it all setup.
Planning on getting an SSD, maxing the RAM and possibly an upgraded graphics card.
Got myself a 4.1 (now a 5.1) for around 500€. Its a lot faster than my Late 2008 MB
Edit: Now with a 560 Ti inside
Edit: Now with a 560 Ti inside
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I've been really happy with my first MP1,1, a 2006 model now running Yosemite + El-Capitan.
Spent many happy hours upgrading and updating to make it all it can be.
Just had a chance to pick a MP3,1 so I'm off again to see what I make of it.
BTW I'm an 80yr looking for things to keep me busy and my mind sharp, so I enjoy the challenge of
these older Macs.
Spent many happy hours upgrading and updating to make it all it can be.
Just had a chance to pick a MP3,1 so I'm off again to see what I make of it.
BTW I'm an 80yr looking for things to keep me busy and my mind sharp, so I enjoy the challenge of
these older Macs.
Ok, I just joined the club and couldn't be happier. Started out with a 2.66 setup and 16GB of RAM in a 2009 4.1 that I received for FREE. Went online and found a deal for a 3.33 12 core, 64GB RAM, GRX 780 3GB, 1TB PCIe SSD card and 4port USB 3.0 card. So I ordered the complete tray and installed it and absolutely love it so far. Gonna do some changed to the SSD setup to get more speeds, but honestly, it's plenty fast for the read/writing that I'm doing. All in all, I'm in it at $2000 even.
Did you install a 5,1 tray? I read that will cause the fan speed to run at full speed all the time due to the incorrect SMC version.
Hey Andrew! I was shipped a dual tray from a 2009, so it cost a little more. I've read about the fan issue, also. Here's a link to one of the auctions from the gentleman that I bought the setup from. Great communications, great reputation. (here's a link to an eBay auction I just found for a 2009 dual tray!) I'm guessing prices will go down some more with the introducing of the iMac Pro.