Hello all-
I've been browsing this forum since I got my 2008 Mac Pro, and I've seen a lot of questions about whether they're worth getting in today's tech world, so I'd like to give you all a rundown of what I've been up to this past 2 weeks.
I found a Quad Core 2.8GHz Early 2008 Mac Pro incorrectly listed on Craigslist for $200, with all peripherals included, plus a monitor. My original intent was to re-sell for more than I paid, but after browsing forums (such as these, and thanks for all the info you've posted here) I decided that I was going to keep/upgrade the tower. It came with 6 gigs of RAM, and a friend of mine gave me 8 more GB he had lying around. These were troublesome, and you all helped me get all 14GB up and running, so once again, thanks for your help. I ordered an identical Xeon processor on Ebay, along with some 2006 heat sinks for a total of $70, shipped. A note on those heatsinks: The 2008 Mac Pro Fan Array is slightly larger than its predecessors. I had to move the existing heatsink, which is standardly installed on the BOTTOM processor in the Quad Core models, to the top, as there is a nick in the heatsink that allows the fan array to sit properly. This nick is SMALLER in the 2006/2007 models, so the Ebay'd heatsink had to go on the bottom, or the fan array couldn't be re-placed.
A word of warning, upgrading the processor in a 2008 is much MORE difficult than in a 2006/07 - The 2008 models have a heatsink on the chipset on the board, which does not need to be removed, but I found it much easier to just take it off and reapply the thermal paste. Also, on the 2008 models, the fan array has 2 binding screws, one at the top on the board, and one behind the processor shield on the bottom. The screws on the processor heatsinks are rather difficult to get to, even with the RAM cage and chipset heatsink removed. I needed to use an extended torqx drill bit to get my screwdriver to even reach the screws. Also, beware of the magnets that hold the processor shield in place, they had a tendency to pull the head off my screwdriver, making the upgrade a bit more of a hassle. But, after all that work, I had dual quad core 2.8 Xeons - THIS is a link to a 32 bit Geekbench
I picked up an NVIDIA GTX 660 for around $100 after rebate at a local MicroCenter and grabbed a 6-pin Mac Pro power cable from Ebay for another 6. A word of advice here: flashing the graphics card isn't difficult, but as of right now, I am running the original Radeon 2600 XT AND the GTX 660, as DVI to VGA bricks the display under OS X. If anyone has the issue of OS X booting to a black screen with one white square in the corner, it is because you have a VGA display attached. Something odd here, though, if I booted into my recovery partition, the VGA ran fine off the GTX 660 and my DVI display was on the 2600 XT. Weird, but everything works now.
NOW. Long story short, I was working off a 2009 MBP 13", and this saved me a ton of money since I got a great deal on the parts. For less than $400, I have a machine that runs the latest software and even though it's not the latest or greatest hardware, has more power than I'll need for a good while. So all of you out there who are wondering if you should get that 2008 Mac Pro? My answer is yes, for the reasons above. If you don't need a super high end workstation (haha, as the Mac Pro was originally designed for) but you want a darn powerful computer, it's a great idea.
I'd like to end this with "RIP, the upgradability of Macs."
Thanks for reading, and again, thanks to all the forum members for your continued help during this project. Couldn't have done it without you.
-N
I've been browsing this forum since I got my 2008 Mac Pro, and I've seen a lot of questions about whether they're worth getting in today's tech world, so I'd like to give you all a rundown of what I've been up to this past 2 weeks.
I found a Quad Core 2.8GHz Early 2008 Mac Pro incorrectly listed on Craigslist for $200, with all peripherals included, plus a monitor. My original intent was to re-sell for more than I paid, but after browsing forums (such as these, and thanks for all the info you've posted here) I decided that I was going to keep/upgrade the tower. It came with 6 gigs of RAM, and a friend of mine gave me 8 more GB he had lying around. These were troublesome, and you all helped me get all 14GB up and running, so once again, thanks for your help. I ordered an identical Xeon processor on Ebay, along with some 2006 heat sinks for a total of $70, shipped. A note on those heatsinks: The 2008 Mac Pro Fan Array is slightly larger than its predecessors. I had to move the existing heatsink, which is standardly installed on the BOTTOM processor in the Quad Core models, to the top, as there is a nick in the heatsink that allows the fan array to sit properly. This nick is SMALLER in the 2006/2007 models, so the Ebay'd heatsink had to go on the bottom, or the fan array couldn't be re-placed.
A word of warning, upgrading the processor in a 2008 is much MORE difficult than in a 2006/07 - The 2008 models have a heatsink on the chipset on the board, which does not need to be removed, but I found it much easier to just take it off and reapply the thermal paste. Also, on the 2008 models, the fan array has 2 binding screws, one at the top on the board, and one behind the processor shield on the bottom. The screws on the processor heatsinks are rather difficult to get to, even with the RAM cage and chipset heatsink removed. I needed to use an extended torqx drill bit to get my screwdriver to even reach the screws. Also, beware of the magnets that hold the processor shield in place, they had a tendency to pull the head off my screwdriver, making the upgrade a bit more of a hassle. But, after all that work, I had dual quad core 2.8 Xeons - THIS is a link to a 32 bit Geekbench
I picked up an NVIDIA GTX 660 for around $100 after rebate at a local MicroCenter and grabbed a 6-pin Mac Pro power cable from Ebay for another 6. A word of advice here: flashing the graphics card isn't difficult, but as of right now, I am running the original Radeon 2600 XT AND the GTX 660, as DVI to VGA bricks the display under OS X. If anyone has the issue of OS X booting to a black screen with one white square in the corner, it is because you have a VGA display attached. Something odd here, though, if I booted into my recovery partition, the VGA ran fine off the GTX 660 and my DVI display was on the 2600 XT. Weird, but everything works now.
NOW. Long story short, I was working off a 2009 MBP 13", and this saved me a ton of money since I got a great deal on the parts. For less than $400, I have a machine that runs the latest software and even though it's not the latest or greatest hardware, has more power than I'll need for a good while. So all of you out there who are wondering if you should get that 2008 Mac Pro? My answer is yes, for the reasons above. If you don't need a super high end workstation (haha, as the Mac Pro was originally designed for) but you want a darn powerful computer, it's a great idea.
I'd like to end this with "RIP, the upgradability of Macs."
Thanks for reading, and again, thanks to all the forum members for your continued help during this project. Couldn't have done it without you.
-N
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