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Upgrade Gaming PC or sell and get Mac Pro 3,1

A

AlexxRyzhkov

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 17, 2014
133
3
So I currently have a PC with these specs:
Intel Pentium G2030
4gb Ram
Amd Radeon HD 7870
250GB Hard Drive
520W PSU

So I've been really wanting a PC that runs Mac OSX, so I've been considering upgrading my current PC to this:
Upgrade CPU to i5-4430
Add 4gb more of ram
Swapping motherboard for one thats good for hackintoshing.
This will cost me about $270, plus I can sell the Pentium and Mobo for about $50-60 on eBay. Total cost: $210-$220

But I've also considered keeping my current GPU and selling my PC to a friend.
I got offered $180 without the GPU. So I can get a 2008 Mac Pro with these specs for about $350-$400
Intel Xeon E5462
8GB DDR2 Ram
320GB HDD
And I can stick the old GPU in. Cost: $170-$220

So they will perform about the same, but the CPU will be quite a bit worse. But how much would that affect gaming performance? I'm playing games like Minecraft, Dota 2, TF2, and I want to get GTA V for windows when it comes out.
I heard you can overclock the CPU in Mac Pros, can you? And how effective is it? Also what's the best CPU I can upgrade to?

Last of all can I run Windows 8.1 without any issues on the Mac Pro?
 
I currently own an iPhone 6, an iPad, and a Win8 laptop. I used to own a retina MacBook Pro but had to sell it due to financial issues
 
I have a 3.1 Mac Pro. I love it. It's been a workhorse for me. I had the 2x x5462 and gaming wasn't a problem for me with a good GPU. If you can save a little longer, and get the 4.1, you can upgrade the firmware to 5.1, and really pimp it out over time. That's what I would do. If you don't want to wait, just pop 8-16gb ram in it, and later spend $120 bucks for two x5482 3.2ghz (SLANZ) processors which is the max.

Overclocking the CPU's is not worth it. The Mac Pro 3.1 is not that good for cooling...

With 3.2ghz and 16gb ram your scores for a Mac pro 3.1 will be 65% better then most systems. It's great for gaming. I have a gigabyte R9 280x with an external power supply, and it does a great job with gaming. (Flight Sim) (GTA 4) (Euro Truck Simulator) Pretty much max settings etc...

I mostly use it for work, but eventually I will get the 4.1 or 5.1 and upgrade that, and it should last another 5 years or so.

getting the Mac pro 3.1 to work for Sata III is a pain. I am still trying to work that out.

I installed Yosemite with no issues, and it works great. Windows 8.1 x64 pro runs just fine on Sata II. you can install it without bootcamp. I think you will like it. If you can wait a little longer you will want the 4.1 or 5.1 though.

Good luck man!
 
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My maxed out dual 3,1 was a very capable rig with the GTX 680 at 1920x1200. My son could play Minecraft with rudo plays shader pack loaded and all the settings maxed out.

Though I have upgraded to a 4,1 primarily as the Windows Intel RST AHCI 10.1.1008 driver was giving me problems with HDD's > 2.2tb. The 11.7 RST version that the 4-5,1 supports does not thankfully.
 
What about putting an i5-3570 in your current motherboard? That would be much better option than an 08 Mac Pro for gaming and I don't think there is a huge difference in performance vs 3xxx vs 4xxx i5/i7s.

For OSX maybe a 2nd hand Mac Mini?

I don't see the point in investing all of this time and effort into upgrading 2008 from a gaming perspective. My 2008 is still a capable machine to be fair but I think there are more cost effective options now.

I think the normal Windows 8.1 can only use one CPU and since 08 processors are essentially Xeon equivalents to Core 2 Quad Extremes I don't think the performance difference over the Pentium will warrent the hassle unless those games you listed take advantage of the extra cores.
 
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GameFreak348 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX4_JvOr2MI

Mac Pro 5.1s are good for gaming :D, unless you have the E5620 processor or the lower end quads

Even 4.1 is good but 3.1 is meh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k3GRzp4SJE&list=UUvDlCreFVOiCQd3IabgQe0Q
Click to expand...

4,1 and 5,1 are the same thing with a firmware update. I would recommend looking around for a deal on a 4,1 or just waiting a bit longer until you can save a little extra to be able to get one. It really will last you quite a bit longer than a 3,1 particularly if you flash the firmware.
 
Upgrade your Gaming PC. Mac Pros are overpriced in my opinion, as nice as the design is.
 
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