MP 1,1-5,1 Worth it or not ?

[SevenOFF]

hey guys, there is a guy selling a 4.1 mac pro without ram and without grapics cards, and from what the guy says, the mac pro suddently shutdown when he log into his user account

And he sell that for around 100€

So idk if it's a deal and a fixable mac pro or not

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I don't know how anyone else would know either.

It's a crap shoot. At the max, you get ram and drives in it, and it's just a thermal pad replacement issue, worst, the CPU's are toast, or the board is blown, and you have a huge aluminum box.

Do you feel lucky?

 

[synergize]

How much dust/dirt did that Mac suck in, there is gobs of it in the picture on the right side?

 

[SevenOFF]

How much dust/dirt did that Mac suck in, there is gobs of it in the picture on the right side?

yeah lol

 

[SevenOFF]

I don't know how anyone else would know either.

It's a crap shoot. At the max, you get ram and drives in it, and it's just a thermal pad replacement issue, worst, the CPU's are toast, or the board is blown, and you have a huge aluminum box.

Do you feel lucky?

there is only 1 cpu tho

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

there is only 1 cpu tho

Not knowing what's going on with it, I'd say you are buying it, likely, for scrap value. If it seems high for that, pass.

As much as I love mine, I know it's ancient, and anything could have happened to it. Battery leakage, moisture damage, heat/thermal (as I mentioned above).

I've thought of putting a PC motherboard in my Mac Pro box. If you buy this, you might want to think of creative ways to use the chassis. That could be all you end up being able to use out of this, sad to say. But truth as of now. It's a box, with one CPU. Not usable. No way to triage it unless you have parts to swap in to it. Risky...

 

[tsialex]

I bet that if for some motive you don't want to repair it, you can sell the working parts for a lot more than 100€.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I bet that if for some motive you don't want to repair it, you can sell the working parts for a lot more than 100€.

If it works. If it can be recovered. It sounds like the seller has given up on it.

 

[tsialex]

If it works. If it can be recovered. It sounds like the seller has given up on it.

Ok, let's say that nothing works - just the case, fans and parts like the PCIe bracket will sell for more than 100€ on eBay.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Ok, let's say that nothing works - just the case, fans and parts like the PCIe bracket will sell for more than 100€ on eBay.

Is there much of a market for those parts?

 

[tsialex]

Is there much of a market for those parts?

Early-2009 to mid-2012 parts still are very sought after. Older Mac Pros have practically no resell value.

 

[SevenOFF]

sooo does it worth it or not lol because i want to use it has a mao computer for my studio, i'm going to buy like 64gb of ram and a dual cpu bay with pcie hard drive for speed and stuff

 

[tsialex]

sooo does it worth it or not lol because i want to use it has a mao computer for my studio, i'm going to buy like 64gb of ram and a dual cpu bay with pcie hard drive for speed and stuff

Dual CPU trays are still extremely expensive to buy, check eBay prices, you will be surprised.

Maybe it's better, and less total cost in the end, to find a working dual CPU Mac Pro.

Btw, if you never repaired a Mac Pro, nor have another working to test the components from the non-working one, don't buy a non working one.

 

[SevenOFF]

lemme explain you why you cannot do worst than the french market of mac pro??

I live in france you see, and in france we got the french version of craiglist, and people on this damn website when they see an white apple on a computer they tend to smoke on price and rn the only dual cpu mac pro i could find was for more than 1k

1k !! for a computer that is more than 10 years old !!! sooo imma buy a kit on ebay i think gonna to cost way cheaper

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Dual CPU trays are still extremely expensive to buy, check eBay prices, you will be surprised.

Maybe it's better, and less total cost in the end, to find a working dual CPU Mac Pro.

Btw, if you never repaired a Mac Pro, nor have another working to test the components from the non-working one, don't buy a non working one.

Yeah, that was my point. If the OP is hoping to actually use this machine, it sounds like they are building a thee story mansion, on the end of a thin tree branch.

There ARE other alternatives, especially if they are thinking of replacing the CPU tray. I mean, that's EXPENSIVE. That's like buying a junker BMW and thinking 'well, I was going to buy a new motor, transmission, and interior. Sounds simple, right? Um...

I looked on ebay, and saw A Whole Bunch Of Mac Pros that were WORKING! And many had DUAL CPU'S that also work, and WITH memory.

Buy that box, and who knows what you might have. But it's your money.

 

[tsialex]

lemme explain you why you cannot do worst than the french market of mac pro??

I live in france you see, and in france we got the french version of craiglist, and people on this damn website when they see an white apple on a computer they tend to smoke on price and rn the only dual cpu mac pro i could find was for more than 1k

1k !! for a computer that is more than 10 years old !!! sooo imma buy a kit on ebay i think gonna to cost way cheaper

I bet that here it's a lot worse. Anyway, think about it carefully, It's cheap because something failed and the seller didn't found the issue easily and is writing it off. Right now it's a gamble and one that you will probably lose money.

Mac Pros are extremely complex for a newbie to repair. You almost certainly will need to have a working one to test components one at a time.

If you have the parts and experience, it's easy to repair a Mac Pro, but for someone that never did it, it will be more expensive than getting a working one from the start.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

lemme explain you why you cannot do worst than the french market of mac pro??

I live in france you see, and in france we got the french version of craiglist, and people on this damn website when they see an white apple on a computer they tend to smoke on price and rn the only dual cpu mac pro i could find was for more than 1k

1k !! for a computer that is more than 10 years old !!! sooo imma buy a kit on ebay i think gonna to cost way cheaper

Or find a friend who can buy it for you, and ship it to you?

I know that a lot of people use freight forwarders and have stuff shipped to foreign countries. Look for that option. You will pay for the 'convenience', but you have a lot more options... Just thinking out loud...

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I bet that here it's a lot worse. Anyway, think about it carefully, It's cheap because something failed and the seller didn't found the issue easily and is writing it off.

Mac Pros are extremely complex for a newbie to repair. You almost certainly will need to have a working one to test components one at a time.

If you have the parts and experience, it's easy to repair a Mac Pro, but for someone that never did it, it will be more expensive than getting a working one from the start.

If the battery exploded, and traces are corroded, it's damn near impossible to fix that kind of damage. I just smell badness... No ram, no drives? Unless you have parts, yeah... Badness...

 

[tsialex]

If the battery exploded, and traces are corroded, it's damn near impossible to fix that kind of damage. I just smell badness... No ram, no drives? Unless you have parts, yeah... Badness...

This is an early-2009 Mac Pro, not a Mac from the 68K/PPC era with a Varta NI-CD battery.

The RTC battery is a BR2032 and those don't leak.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

This is an early-2009 Mac Pro, not a Mac from the 68K/PPC era with a Varta NI-CD battery.

The RTC battery is a BR2032 and those don't leak.

Yes, 2032 batteries DO LEAK!!! I lost an activity monitoring watch because the 2032 leaked. The damage was extensive, for such a little battery. The device was ruined. No chance of repairing it. It's rare, but it does happen.

 

[SevenOFF]

idk i was thinking that's like a regular computer, maybe the power supply can just be kinda dead or like the hard drive or cpu idk

 

[tsialex]

Yes, 2032 batteries DO LEAK!!! I lost an activity monitoring watch because the 2032 leaked. The damage was extensive, for such a little battery. The device was ruined. No chance of repairing it. It's rare, but it does happen.

Do you even payed attention? While CR2032 batteries do leak, industrial batteries with the BR2032 nomenclature have a complete different chemistry, Poly-carbonmonofluride Lithium, and do not leak.

CR2032 batteries are a dime a dozen, BR2032 costs around $20 each - when you find one. Even old stock on eBay will be around $10+.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

idk i was thinking that's like a regular computer, maybe the power supply can just be kinda dead or like the hard drive or cpu idk

They used at least 2 different power supplies, to my knowledge.

I don't know you, and I honestly don't care what you do, but I also would not want anyone to be taken advantage of. It's so easy, and people that do it should feel bad for doing it.

Offer half. Seriously. They might take it, and if they don't. well... Seriously consider if it is a box of hurt. If you can afford to lose that money, assuming the worst, that nothing in it is reusable, roll the dice. I wouldn't buy it. Too many bad signs.

My last comment: GOOD LUCK!