Advice needed on upgrade/setup change

[barnetda]

Guys I need your help please.

Current set up:

1. Mac Pro - 2008 2 X 2.8 Quad Core . 16 GB Ram 3GB HDs + 120 GB SSD

I run 3 monitors from this MacPro

2. MacBook Pro 2007 2.2 Core Duo 4 GB 120GB SSD


My use is general work nothing very intensive . Store a lot of photos, have a couple of excel spreadsheets that might be a bit intensive I also use Parallels on both machines.

My MacPro is occasionally shutting down and i have to restart it. Probably once a week. Occasionally it takes 3 or 4 attempts to restart.

My Macbook pro works great but is a little slow now but nothing noticeable for my use. I tend to use my MBP is different rooms and occasionally on trips.

I think it might be time to buy a new MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.3 Retina to use as my main machine. Thereby just having a MBP instead of the MP and the old MBP.

I assume i cant run 3 screens but can i run dual monitors from the MBP. I have to have dual monitors as i trade equities and need the ability for at least 2 screens.

Would you guys suggest that type of setup or would you advise something different.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

 

[RedCroissant]

Guys I need your help please.

Current set up:

1. Mac Pro - 2008 2 X 2.8 Quad Core . 16 GB Ram 3GB HDs + 120 GB SSD

I run 3 monitors from this MacPro

2. MacBook Pro 2007 2.2 Core Duo 4 GB 120GB SSD


My use is general work nothing very intensive . Store a lot of photos, have a couple of excel spreadsheets that might be a bit intensive I also use Parallels on both machines.

My MacPro is occasionally shutting down and i have to restart it. Probably once a week. Occasionally it takes 3 or 4 attempts to restart.

My Macbook pro works great but is a little slow now but nothing noticeable for my use. I tend to use my MBP is different rooms and occasionally on trips.

I think it might be time to buy a new MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.3 Retina to use as my main machine. Thereby just having a MBP instead of the MP and the old MBP.

I assume i cant run 3 screens but can i run dual monitors from the MBP. I have to have dual monitors as i trade equities and need the ability for at least 2 screens.

Would you guys suggest that type of setup or would you advise something different.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

Would you consider perhaps getting a newer but still used MP? You could probably get one used that’s still more powerful than a rMBP for less.

Have you run any kind of diagnostics on it first to see if it’s just a simple fix?

Which OS are you running?

Sorry for the questions but that machine should still be pretty awesome and if that shutting down thing is a new occurrence, then I would recommend doing more troubleshooting first.

 

[barnetda]

I appreciate the reply.

I am running Mavericks but i dont think that is the issue .

I really love my MP so anything i can do try and remedy i will.

I saw suggestions here to another poster about dust. I cleaned as much as i could inside . Removed the ram and the HDs and dusted it down. It seems to be running well but the shut down could occur at any time.

I think it could be to do with the power management so as part of the clean i removed the power lead and let it sit for an hour or so.

I downloaded istat but to be honest i dont know what i am looking for.

The sensors seem to be running hot though. I am getting readings of 98 deg and 100 deg.All 4 HDs seem to be at 90 deg.

Any other diagnostics you can suggest i try ?

 

[RedCroissant]

I appreciate the reply.

I am running Mavericks but i dont think that is the issue .

I really love my MP so anything i can do try and remedy i will.

I saw suggestions here to another poster about dust. I cleaned as much as i could inside . Removed the ram and the HDs and dusted it down. It seems to be running well but the shut down could occur at any time.

I think it could be to do with the power management so as part of the clean i removed the power lead and let it sit for an hour or so.

I downloaded istat but to be honest i dont know what i am looking for.

The sensors seem to be running hot though. I am getting readings of 98 deg and 100 deg.All 4 HDs seem to be at 90 deg.

Any other diagnostics you can suggest i try ?

The temps seem normal to me there. Do you have issues with the fans kicking up? or do they NOT kick up at all?

If you can find an Apple Service Diagnostic disc that would tell you a lot more about your system.

***EDIT***

Apple Hardware Test! NOT Apple Service Diagnostic.

If you are the original owner of the MP, you should have received AHT on the Applications Install Disc 2.

 

[barnetda]

The temps seem normal to me there. Do you have issues with the fans kicking up? or do they NOT kick up at all?

If you can find an Apple Service Diagnostic disc that would tell you a lot more about your system.

***EDIT***

Apple Hardware Test! NOT Apple Service Diagnostic.

If you are the original owner of the MP, you should have received AHT on the Applications Install Disc 2.

I think the fans are working ok. On istats the CPU fan is at 513 RPM.

So far so good today . Temp is constant at 99 deg.

I have the original discs . I will install and see what i can discover.

thank you again for the advice.

 

[COrocket]

If your laptop works fine, and you want a new desktop, you could consider replacing the mac pro with a mac mini. For a little less than $1000 you can get a quad core mini and 16GB of aftermarket RAM and have a computer that is comparable in specs to the rMBP's (both of which benchmark faster than a 2008 MP). Plus, the mini has two 2.5" bays so you could move your own SSD from the MP to the mini. The mini has SATA III ports, whereas your MP has SATA II ports, so there might be a speed bump in the SSD if it is a relatively new one. The only thing the mini lacks is a dedicated GPU but photo storage/excel/parallel's shouldn't need one.

For the rMBP, it looks like apple only recommends dual external displays on their tech specs page, but I read that some people have hooked up three monitors using both thunderbolt ports and the HDMI port. The only drawback I see with going with a rMBP is you have to plug/unplug everything whenever you want to take your computer somewhere.

I guess you would have to get external enclosures for the 3 TB HDD's if you decided to retire the MP.

 

[barnetda]

If your laptop works fine, and you want a new desktop, you could consider replacing the mac pro with a mac mini. For a little less than $1000 you can get a quad core mini and 16GB of aftermarket RAM and have a computer that is comparable in specs to the rMBP's (both of which benchmark faster than a 2008 MP). Plus, the mini has two 2.5" bays so you could move your own SSD from the MP to the mini. The mini has SATA III ports, whereas your MP has SATA II ports, so there might be a speed bump in the SSD if it is a relatively new one. The only thing the mini lacks is a dedicated GPU but photo storage/excel/parallel's shouldn't need one.

For the rMBP, it looks like apple only recommends dual external displays on their tech specs page, but I read that some people have hooked up three monitors using both thunderbolt ports and the HDMI port. The only drawback I see with going with a rMBP is you have to plug/unplug everything whenever you want to take your computer somewhere.

I guess you would have to get external enclosures for the 3 TB HDD's if you decided to retire the MP.

Thats an excellent idea. I hadnt given any thought to the Mac Mini at all.

For my requirements it could well be a great solution. As you say the drawback to using the rMBP would be the constant unplugging.

I cleaned my MP thoroughly inside and so far so good, i havent had an issue. I love my set up as it is and will probably buy a rMBP at some stage this year as my MBP is now 7 years old (although it looks and works like new).

Really appreciate the idea I hadnt even thought of the mini .

 

[Doc C]

Forgive me for stating what may be obvious, but have you gone through every disk and repaired permissions, etc via Disk Utility?

I have found that on my 2009 MBP, I have a noticeable decline in stability and performance if I don't do that for a couple of months (typically I try to do it about once a month)

 

[barnetda]

Forgive me for stating what may be obvious, but have you gone through every disk and repaired permissions, etc via Disk Utility?

I have found that on my 2009 MBP, I have a noticeable decline in stability and performance if I don't do that for a couple of months (typically I try to do it about once a month)

I actually haven't. . I will do so now though . Good idea. Thanks.

 

[barnetda]

Guys i just wanted to post a brief update. Its been more than 2 months and i havent had a restart overheat problem.

It was definitely to do with some dust inside. It wasnt really visible but i got a compressed air spray and it did the trick.

Thanks for all the comments, they really helped and saved me a fortune !