3,1 Mac Pro Questions

[UCDHIUS]

Hello guys, new to these forums but not new to Macs by any means.

I may have the opportunity to pickup a early 2008 3,1 Mac Pro A1186 for around $200 USD.

It’s an “8” core model, x2 E5472 (3.0 GHz)

Problem is, there is a slight issue and it’s the reason why it’s being sold.

Sellers descriptions says Power LED blinks and no boot, no image on screen.

Not being there to test it out myself i’m looking around to see what could cause it to not boot and throw a blinking power light.

Looks to root could be ranging from RAM, to GPU or CPU issues.

Is it worth buying to fix, and keep around or may be even resale?

Looking average price for these in working condition/fair cosmetic condition range from $600-800+?

Any thoughts?

 

[green86]

Hello guys, new to these forums but not new to Macs by any means.

I may have the opportunity to pickup a early 2008 3,1 Mac Pro A1186 for around $200 USD.

It’s an “8” core model, x2 E5472 (3.0 GHz)

Problem is, there is a slight issue and it’s the reason why it’s being sold.

Sellers descriptions says Power LED blinks and no boot, no image on screen.

Not being there to test it out myself i’m looking around to see what could cause it to not boot and throw a blinking power light.

Looks to root could be ranging from RAM, to GPU or CPU issues.

Is it worth buying to fix, and keep around or may be even resale?

Looking average price for these in working condition/fair cosmetic condition range from $600-800+?

Any thoughts?

800 for a 3,1? I see them pretty consistently in the 350-450 range.

200 + what it costs to fix this for what, maybe 50 profit? Or less.. what if it needs two components? It seems silly to me to buy this for that price.

 

[UCDHIUS]

800 for a 3,1? I see them pretty consistently in the 350-450 range.

200 + what it costs to fix this for what, maybe 50 profit? Or less.. what if it needs two components? It seems silly to me to buy this for that price.

I live in Hawaii, so shipping per Ebay is 200-300 + the cost of the machine. ($350-400)

This 3,1 machine is local.

If it turned out to be outweighed the cost to fix I have the thoughts of gutting it and building another custom PC in it.

IMO the Mac Pro case is one of the nicest cases ever made.

I was thinking of just picking up a bare case on eBay for ~$100 but shipping still kills me at ~$150.

So ~$250 for the bare case, meh.

 

[pl1984]

IMO it's not worth it even if all you want is the case. Since it doesn't work offer him $50 and walk away if he doesn't accept it.

 

[green86]

I live in Hawaii, so shipping per Ebay is 200-300 + the cost of the machine. ($350-400)

This 3,1 machine is local.

If it turned out to be outweighed the cost to fix I have the thoughts of gutting it and building another custom PC in it.

IMO the Mac Pro case is one of the nicest cases ever made.

I was thinking of just picking up a bare case on eBay for ~$100 but shipping still kills me at ~$150.

So ~$250 for the bare case, meh.

I mean, then, this isn't a question for a forum. Is it worth it to you?

 

[UCDHIUS]

Long shot here, whats need to do a 3,1 to 4,1/5.1 conversion?

4,1 or 5,1 logic board in a 3,1 based system/chassis?

Internally what changed in the chassis as far as logic board layout from 3,1 to 4,1? does the 4,1/5,1 logic board fit on to the 3,1 stand offs/case layout?

list would be I would need logic board (with cpus), DDR3 ram, cpu heatsinks anything else? power supply, risers?

Depending on what needs/ total cost of all the required conversion parts that need to be changed to convert the 3,1 based system to a 4,1 or 5,1.

I think if I can get this thing for way below whats its listed for essentially (case price) it might be still cheaper than paying for a 4,1 system ($500-700) and ($200-300) shipping that's need to get it here.

Plus its a great project to screw around with, maybe even create a build log on here.

If I didn't have to pay the $300 shipping I would get a 4,1 system of the bat.

 

[fendersrule]

Pretty much everything!

 

[orph]

3.1 and 4.1/5.1 are different, so no conversion.

if you have a mac you can install osx on to a usb stick to see if it will boot, or a spare GPU you can try that for luck (may need the usb drive with osx on to boot from as well) and replug everything.

you can google the macpro error codes if it helps.

id not spend $200 on a dead box tho, i gess low ball the guy if you want as it's dead but i think you'd be better of buying something that works