Buying Mac Pro: How to tell which chip by box?

[rredrabbit]

Hi, I'm buying a Mac Pro from a girl who had a G5 that kept having issues and supposedly Apple replaced it with a new Mac Pro a few weeks ago. Has anyone ever heard of Apple doing that? So if she had it replaced within the month would it be the latest "Montevino" chip or could it be an older refurbed chip? It's a the box and has never been opened. Can I find out by reading it somewhere on the box? Here's the specs:

One 2.8GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeo
2GB (2x1GB)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb
One 16x SuperDrive
APPLE MIGHTY MOUSE
WIRED KYBRD/MAC OS X
Country Kit

It's obviously not the 8 core and she believes the lowest version of the current Mac Pro's but she's not sure. I think I'm getting a deal on it. What would you pay? Thank you for any help.

 

[alecgold]

it is always on the box of a mbp, how else to dfferentate between the different models?
As I read it in your story, you don't thrust it, so be carefull. You would be the first to have some extremely expensive bricks left after the deal.

 

[rredrabbit]

Correction on Chip "Harpertown"

I meant do you think its the Harpertown processor and if so will it be labeled as such on the box. Thanks

 

[alecgold]

http://www.apple.com/macpro/technology/processor.html
says harpertown and the "slowest" one is at this moment a 2.8 quad.
so it looks like yours is going to be a harpertown.

 

[Nermal]

The old Mac Pro wasn't available as a 2.8 Quad, so it must be a 2008 model.

 

[alecgold]

well, a mac pro is not my cup of tea, but they are nice indeed! If you can get a good deal and have the money? JUMP ON IT

 

[rredrabbit]

If the old Mac Pro's weren't 2.8's then I'm golden! Would you pay $2000 for one unopened? It's not an 8 core though.....its the below standard model where you can subtract $500 for that option.

Am I correct in thinking I can upgrade the graphics card to the NVidia GForce 8800??

Thanks for your help!

 

[m1stake]

You could buy that from Apple for $2300, so you're getting a nice $300 off!

The 8800GT upgrade is $279, and can be found here.

 

[corywoolf]

If the old Mac Pro's weren't 2.8's then I'm golden! Would you pay $2000 for one unopened? It's not an 8 core though.....its the below standard model where you can subtract $500 for that option.

Am I correct in thinking I can upgrade the graphics card to the NVidia GForce 8800??

Thanks for your help!

Go for it, that is an excellent price. Yes you can upgrade to the 8800, but since you wont be able to do a build-to-order if she already received the unit, it will cost a fair amount more. My brother just had his 1.83 GHz MacBook Pro replaced due to several hardware failures, they gave him the newest 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro and even asked if he'd like to make any upgrades before he received it. Either way, this is a steal.

 

[rredrabbit]

So she said she would give me the receipt and only had it for two weeks....do you think there's a possibility of being able to return it and upgrade it?