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2008 Mac Pro 2.8ghz 8-core...how does it stand up today?

ggoerl said:
what gpu is everyone running in their 2008's? I'm still running my 8800 gt. Anyone running the 5770? what card would you recommend upgrading to coming from the 8800?
Click to expand...

I went from the 8800 GT to the 4870, 5870 and now 7950.
Every time a nice speed bump!
(this Mac is 5 years old.... which computer would you do so many upgrades to...? That's why I adore my 2008 8 Core 2.8)

Really depends on what you do. Gaming? 5870 or 7950.
If you can get a good deal on the 5870, I would go for that.
 
My 2008 Mac Pro is a tank -- 2.8 GHz 8-core, RAM upgraded to 24 GB, 4 x 2 TB drives, ATI Radeon HD 4870. I've been running, in addition to the various versions of OS X, VMware Fusion with two VMs: Windows SBS 2011 and Windows 7 Ultimate. Aside from some machine lockups (which I am pretty sure are OS X's fault), the machine has worked perfectly the entire time I've had it. I'm curious to see what the new Mac Pro offers, but as I'm in the process of decommissioning the SBS VM, I'm not in any rush to replace the machine.

Can anyone tell me what good video adapter options are right now? The 4870 seems to work well, but I have a feeling that I could do more with a beefier video adapter. (I run a 30" ACD at 2560 x 1600 and a secondary 1024 x 768 display off of the 4870.)
 
MacsRgr8 said:
I went from the 8800 GT to the 4870, 5870 and now 7950.
Every time a nice speed bump!
(this Mac is 5 years old.... which computer would you do so many upgrades to...? That's why I adore my 2008 8 Core 2.8)
Click to expand...

Pretty much most of them.
 
I paid $1750 for a new 2009 (4,1) Mac Pro 2.66 Quad-Core from Amazon 2-3 years ago. Since then I have upgraded it with multiple SSD's, 16 gig of RAM, and a 5770 ATI video card. My Mac easily processes 23-40MP files from my Hasselblad and Canon cameras. I have no desire to pay a massive amount for some extra performance.
 
MacsRgr8 said:
I went from the 8800 GT to the 4870, 5870 and now 7950.
Every time a nice speed bump!
(this Mac is 5 years old.... which computer would you do so many upgrades to...? That's why I adore my 2008 8 Core 2.8)

Really depends on what you do. Gaming? 5870 or 7950.
If you can get a good deal on the 5870, I would go for that.
Click to expand...

That's good to know.

I just bought the Sapphire 7950 "Mac Edition" for my Octo core 2.8 Ghz 2008 Mac Pro. Hoping it works well (even though it's an unsupported config).
Won't be able to test it out until October 19th...
 
My 2008 Mac Pro, purchased new, was the most expensive home machine I ever bought:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Processor): 12 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.25f4


Hard drive started having issues a year ago, I put a caviar 1TB in it, has hummed along since.

Video card blew chunks last week, replaced it with a NIB Vapor-X HD 5870 (from a PC build that never happened), it boots only to the desktop, where it reads 5000 series chipset.

I'd love to see that EFI64 stuff working, but I think it's a myth (yes, I've thrown down the gauntlet, that's a challenge).

I am too cheap or too stupid to replace this machine, which doesn't feel slow at all. My main use is creating PC board layouts with Eagle CAD, and then generating build packages along with PDFs containing all the screens and manufacturing instructions, and it works just fine for that.

I do wish it would recognize the chipset better, but again I am too cheap or stupid to shell out for a new Apple card that would.

I guess I'll have this machine until it dies, or I do.
 
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