Worth it? Selling a Gaming PC and getting a 3,1 Mac Pro

[AlexxRyzhkov]

So a while back I built a gaming PC.
Specs are:
Amd FX 8350
Nvidia GTX 660 Ti
8GB Ram
500GB HDD
Win 8.1
Honestly I am really starting to miss Mac OSX, and I originally was considering selling the AMD CPU and the mobo and getting an i3 4130 and a Gigabyte mobo and hackintoshing it, but then I thought about getting a Mac Pro.
So I got offered $600 for the gaming PC, and with that money I can get a Mac Pro 2008 Quad Core with 10GB of ram, and Upgrade the GPU to a GTX 670. Obviously there's gonna be a drop in CPU performance, but will it be a big deal?
Also Im planning on buying a 256gb Crucial MX100 SSD for either the PC or Mac Pro
My current PC is giant and loud, and honestly really ugly, and a Mac Pro would look a lot better.

 

[Ironjer]

4,1 and up is Worth.

 

[antonis]

Why would you do that ? If you've made a gaming PC, it means that you are interested in gaming. How could a 3,1 MP cover you on that part ?

 

[greenmeanie]

If you want to game I wouldn't get the MP.
But the best upgrade and bang for buck would be the SSD upgrade.

 

[repentix]

600 $ for that PC is a good price, but I wouldn't get a 3,1 mac pro instead. I Would get a core i5 hackintosh, check tonymacx86 for infos.

 

[mcnallym]

Personally wouldn't put money down on anything below a 4,1 these days.

First thing I would do though is determine what want the machine for

Gaming = Stick with a Windows PC, Mac Gaming is improving but will always be behind Windows and Consoles.

OSX = It's an OS as opposed to something you actually do anything in. What is it in OSX that miss

 

[austinpike]

Another Hackintosh option - Quo motherboard. Based on a Gigabyte board. Sometimes shows up on Amazon for less.

It is a bit spendy for a z77 chipset, but you get an mATX form factor (smaller, nicer case options) plus Thunderbolt and Firewire. Download a "third party" BIOS flash and after that OSX installs with no kexts or other modifications required.

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Z77MX-QUO-AOS
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/285920-new-os-x-compatible-motherboard-quo/

 

[scotttnz]

I just did a similar thing. But I got a 4,1' and I'm not that into gaming.

I missed OS-X, but wanted to be able to tinker with hardware, without the compete unknown (to me) of Hackintosh. So it works for me. I will do some gaming on it, but it's not the main focus.

 

[Wardenski]

I would only consider a high clock speed Mac Pro from 2010/2012. I have an 08, it is likely CPU limited now so I don't see the point in upgrading it anymore. It also consumes > 100 W idle.

Could you not just find a really cheap 2nd hand Mac Mini or something to satisfy your OSX needs?

What about upgrading your PC fans or buying a newer less ugly case?

 

[gpzjock]

I have a MP 3,1 octo with 5870 gfx and an i7 2700k Hackintosh with a GTX 770 4GB card.
Both run 16 GB RAM and boot from SSDs.
The i7 is about 30% faster on average and cost £1200 to build last year.
Build a Hack with a decent budget.

A Corsair Carbide miniATX case and some Noctua fans would make life smaller and quieter.

 

[AlexxRyzhkov]

Alright well I decided to build a Hackintosh with an i5 and a GTX 760.
I'm not new to hackintosh, as I have buit them before, so I should be good.