shall I buy this used 2008 Mac Pro?

[malch]

Hi there,
A few weeks ago, some of you saved me from dropping $1600 on a 2006 Mac Pro. I appreciated the advice.
Now there's a friend of a friend who's selling his 2008 3GHZ QuadCore Mac Pro for the same price.
I've heard people on this forum say good things about the 2008.
(is it Nehalem, by the way?)
Shall I go for it?
regards, malch

[philipma1957]

well a it is a better machine.

b two questions does it have applecare what is under the hood hdds ram pcoi cards etc

[pintsizemacman]

i got laptop in my signiture for 1430. but if its worth that to u go for it.:)

[malch]

two questions does it have applecare what is under the hood hdds ram pcoi cards etc

Hi phil,
I've sent an email asking about AppleCare. re RAM: 6GB, one 500GB hard drive.
I have quite a few 1TB drives that I use for editing, in a 5-bay eSATA enclosure. I'd probably want to keep using my drives this way, because it's easy to swap them out. So I'm probably good with just one drive inside the Mac Pro.
What do you think?
malch

[pastrychef]

Seems like a pretty decent deal to me...

[toxic]

$1600 for a 3GHz 8-core is a great deal...they sell on ebay for around $2400, I think.

but no, they aren't Nehalem, they're Core (like Core 2).

[malch]

thanks guys... if it's still got some AppleCare, I think I'll go for it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making a mistake like I almost made with the 2006 Mac Pro.
I really appreciate getting advice like this.
malch

[philipma1957]

Hi phil,
I've sent an email asking about AppleCare. re RAM: 6GB, one 500GB hard drive.
I have quite a few 1TB drives that I use for editing, in a 5-bay eSATA enclosure. I'd probably want to keep using my drives this way, because it's easy to swap them out. So I'm probably good with just one drive inside the Mac Pro.
What do you think?
malch

I would get it. also find out what the graphics card is.

[AlphaDogg]

$1600 for a 3GHz 8-core is a great deal...they sell on ebay for around $2400, I think.

but no, they aren't Nehalem, they're Core (like Core 2).

No, they are not Nehalem, they are Harpertown. The 2006 models had dual core processors, and the 2008 models had Intel Xeon CPU's.

It's been 17 months since Apple introduced the original Mac Pro, which shipped with two dual-core processors (an 8-core model with 2 quad-core CPU was introduced in April 2007), and the new Mac Pro is a big step forward: every configuration uses quad-core Intel Xeon CPUs for even more power. The new 45nm 'Harpertown' CPU runs at either 2.8, 3.0, or 3.2 GHz and is designed to eventurally reach 4.0 GHz; it includes 12 MB of level 2 cache per processor, and supports a very fast 1.6 GHz memory bus (vs. 1.33 GHz on the original Mac Pro). The Harpertown CPU supports lower power, cooler running 1.5V memory, which should help keep the insides of the computer cool, and Apple now uses ECC (Error Correction Code) RAM in the Mac Pro.

Source: http://lowendmac.com/macpro/mac-pro-2008.html

[philipma1957]

Details: announced 2008.01.08 at $2,199 with one 2.8 GHz quad-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT; $2,799 with two 2.8 GHz quad-core CPUs;

(((( $3,599 at 3.0 GHz; ))))))

$4,399 at 3.2 GHz; discontinued 2009.03.03
requires Mac OS X 10.5.1 or later

as lifted from this link http://lowendmac.com/macpro/mac-pro-2008.html so the machine was a 3600 dollar list .

It uses 800mhz ram and for 1600 it is a good deal if it works. if it has 5 or 6 months of apple care it is a very good deal.

[malch]

I would get it. also find out what the graphics card is.

I asked, and it's an ATI Radeon X1900 video card (512 MB VRAM). Is that good?
malch

[Weepul]

If that machine is in good condition, it's a great price. Consider that with well-threaded apps, according to GeekBench scores, it'll perform about 66% as well as the current 6-core, priced at $3600.

I asked, and it's an ATI Radeon X1900 video card (512 MB VRAM). Is that good?
The card is faster than the stock card from 2008, but the card itself has proven to be prone to failure. Apple just recently announced a replacement program (http://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/27/apple-finally-acknowledges-and-addresses-ati-x1900-xt-issue/) for that card, even if out of warranty...

[toxic]

No, they are not Nehalem, they are Harpertown. The 2006 models had dual core processors, and the 2008 models had Intel Xeon CPU's.

Harpertown is an Intel Core-based Xeon (more specifically the Penryn version of Core). MP's since '09 are Nehalem-based, specifically Bloomfield or Gainestown in '09 and Bloomfield or Gulftown in '10. Nehalem and Core are microarchitectures, Harpertown and Bloomfield are microprocessors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Pro#Specifications

[philipma1957]

If that machine is in good condition, it's a great price. Consider that with well-threaded apps, according to GeekBench scores, it'll perform about 66% as well as the current 6-core, priced at $3600.


The card is faster than the stock card from 2008, but the card itself has proven to be prone to failure. Apple just recently announced a replacement program (http://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/27/apple-finally-acknowledges-and-addresses-ati-x1900-xt-issue/) for that card, even if out of warranty...

then you have a score the graphic card can be replaced up to jan 2011 for free. it is why I asked.

[malch]

Wow... Weepul, Philip—nice call re getting a replacement card.
Question: Presumably ATI is no longer manufacturing this card. So I wonder what ATI/Apple might be replacing it with.
Can anyone hazard a guess?
malch

[pastrychef]

Wow... Weepul, Philip—nice call re getting a replacement card.
Question: Presumably ATI is no longer manufacturing this card. So I wonder what ATI/Apple might be replacing it with.
Can anyone hazard a guess?
malch

There has been some reports of people getting nVidia 8800GT cards as replacements.

[malch]

$1600 for a 3GHz 8-core is a great deal

Bear with me, people (I'm cautious). There are a couple things I'd like to confirm.

The guy selling this machine calls it a "2008 3GHZ QuadCore Mac Pro".
But people here are calling it an 8-core. I presume that's because it's a QuadCore but there are TWO quad processors? 4x2=8. Is that right?
(I know the math is right, but not sure about the TWO quad processor part)

And this is what I really find confusing: when I check EveryMac.com for the Apple Mac Pro "Eight Core" 3.0, it says that the "model identifier" is: MacPro2,1

But the guy selling this machine told me that:

"In Profiler it says: MacPro identifier = 1,1"

Can someone kindly clarify this for me? Are there any other questions I need to ask this guy to make sure I'm getting a good 2008 machine, and not a souped-up 2007 or (horrors) a 2006?

thanks, malch

[Weepul]

Ah, well, then it's not a "2008" Mac Pro as far as Apple's terminology goes if it's a 1,1 model - that's a 2006, though it was still for sale into 2008. In that case, it's gotta be a 2x dual core 3.0GHz (see Custom Speeds (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/stats/mac-pro-quad-2.66-specs.html#content4-title) on EveryMac). It also explains the X1900 XT.

A 2,1 would be the 8-core variant of the 2006 architecture (and introduced in 2007), and a 3,1 would be a true "Early 2008" Mac Pro.

Good thing you kept a cautious viewpoint. :(

[malch]

thanks Weepul.
This suggests this isn't such a great deal after all.
(you just heard the sound of my heart breaking; but I'll keep looking!)
regards,
malch

[ActionableMango]

For $365 more, get a brand new 2009 model (4,1) with 1 year warranty and faster video. Core speed is lower (2.66), but then nobody seems certain what exact CPUs your friend is selling, and a faster architecture can help speed things up compared to an older architecture with a higher clock rate.

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/Apple_Mac_Pro/MB871LLA/U83343/froogle/

[ActionableMango]

No comments...is the 2009 model at costcentral a bad deal or something? I am thinking about pulling the trigger on it myself late Oct or Nov if their inventory holds up.

[OddThomas]

fyi.. you mentioned esata enclosure. MPs do not have an esata port, but you can add one.