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Decided to Make the Jump!

MacCubed

MacCubed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 26, 2014
1,618
494
Florida
About 2 weeks ago I found a nice auction for a Mac Pro 1,1. Not just any old Mac Pro, but one that was upgraded to a point that I couldn't refuse to buy. The bidding started at $199.99 and in the last few minutes managed to rise up to $220. My personal max was $250 and I wasn't willing to pay more than that, but I ended up stopping at $280 and someone else won the auction. Fast forward a few days, and while looking at the auction page, I noticed the item was relisted. I again waited out the week and finally on Sunday night it was crunch time. Someone had bid the starting price of $199.99 the day before, and I was hoping nobody would jump in last second and take it. Set my max bid to $250, and waited. I refreshed the page and.... I won it for $217.57!

The Mac Pro more specifically has dual Xenon X5635s (3.0GHz with 4 Cores each), 12GB of RAM (ordering 32GB), dual 2TB drives (Going to run them in an stripped RAID set to get to a single 4TB "drive"), and finally a ATI Radeon HD5770. This is going to be my first Intel Mac Tower, and I am super excited for it to get here!

Now the challenge is finding a purpose for/selling my 2.0GHz June 04 PMG5, and possibly selling my prototype Quad to another member here. I will still have my other PPCs, however my dad keeps bugging me about some of the computers sitting around the house, and I guess getting rid of one or both of the G5s is a priority. I really enjoyed using both of the G5s, and the excitement of finding out the Quad was a prototype was a surreal experience, and I guess the pride of owning an Apple prototype still gets to me!

Once the MP gets here (estimated on Saturday EDIT: Now Tuesday) I will definitely upload some pics!
 
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Nice price considering the specs. Mine also came with a Radeon HD 5770 but I had to upgrade the CPUs to dual X5355s myself. With an SSD installed it runs El Capitan better than current base model Mac minis.
 
Nice find. Love my Mac Pro's. I've had 3 now 2 of the original 1,1s and now I use a '09 base model. These are great machines due to the way you can mod them to be even more functional then originally planned. Currently my base 2009 has a GTX 750ti and 16gb of ram and bootcamps into Windows 10 Pro when I have need for it. Also added in a USB 3 card. Enjoy your machine!
 
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Yes you are going to enjoy your new system, I recently picked up a 3.0Ghz MacPro1,1 and it has given me many hours of pleasure, what with making several upgrades and getting Mavericks and Yosemite installed and running on it.
I find it hard to believe that a computer with this much capability can run so silently and cool.
I feel a bit guilty because since I've acquired the MacPro I've been almost ignoring my PPC's.
 
I put in a pair of X5355s in mine last night. It was more of a palaver getting the fan unit and heatsink covers off than I was led to believe. Could really have done with an iFixit guide as the YT ones led you into a false sense of security.

Mine only came with the stock 7300GT card so I had to source a suitable HD5870 to flash so that I could run newer iterations of OS X. Currently running Lion, Yosemite and El Cap with Win 10 on the side. Only downside is that the FB-DIMMs seem pretty toasty, averaging in the high 80ºCs/low 90ºCs. Those are third-party sticks with thin heat spreaders. I have salvaged Apple's own more industrial heat sinks from the original RAM and will attach those when I am in a better mood. Very fiddly job.

No Sierra for this one but the price of the MP 5,1 is not much more than a Mac Mini right now, so that will be my next purchase when this one is ready to assume legacy duties only.
 
Very overpriced for what it is. You need a pair with a G0 stepping code - this should have SLAEG on the die (SLAED for the X5365s). That should run to about $25/$35 tops for the cpus. I got a pair from Korea as no one in the UK had a pair when I was buying. The other bits and bobs in that eBay listing are not worth more than $10 imho. Avoid other steppings, such as SL9YM etc. $100 gets you the slightly faster X5365s.

The G0 stepping cpus idle at lower temps than the stock ones supplied with the Mac Pro 2,1. Good for keeping temps and running costs down as your TDP is going to rise from 60W to 120W at full pelt per cpu. The X5365s run hotter at 150W max.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/importance-of-stepping-for-mp-1-1-cpu-upgrades.1210403/.
 
I'm pondering selling the HD5770 and buying an HD5870, is it that much of an improvement to go through the hassle?
 
The HD5870 is the fastest card for the 1,1 that still gives a boot screen. If that is not important to you, you could try a HD7950 for Metal support.

otherwise: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-5870-Mac-vs-Radeon-HD-5770-Mac#differences

If you are going to flash your own (much cheaper) make sure you get a reference design with two DVI ports. I got a v2.0 card to start with that only had one DVI port. That one could not be flashed with the Mac EFI.
 
the fastest official mac card to give you boot screens in a 1,1 is a HD 7950 Mac edition (they have an EBC firmware so they work in both EFI32 and EFI64 machines) Fastest card you could flash for boot screens would be a R9 280X. the Mac Pro 1,1 is great mac and has lasted an incredibly long time there almost at the 10 year old mark and are still very usable in todays workloads even more so when you upgrade them to dual Quad Cores. and im quite happy with mine :)
 
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MacCubed said:
I'm pondering selling the HD5770 and buying an HD5870, is it that much of an improvement to go through the hassle?
Click to expand...
Is the Radeon HD 5770 a genuine Mac edition or flashed? I have not actually tried a 5870 in my 2006 Mac Pro, the 5770 (genuine Mac edition with Mini DisplayPort out) has worked just fine. Might as well go with a newer card than the 5870 if you want something better, like the 7950 as mentioned above.
 
redheeler said:
Is the Radeon HD 5770 a genuine Mac edition or flashed? I have not actually tried a 5870 in my 2006 Mac Pro, the 5770 (genuine Mac edition with Mini DisplayPort out) has worked just fine. Might as well go with a newer card than the 5870 if you want something better, like the 7950 as mentioned above.
Click to expand...
It actually is a genuine Mac edition, so I could sell it on for a bit more than a flashed card. I was actually reading about the R9 280X and am definitely considering buying one
 
redheeler said:
Nice price considering the specs. Mine also came with a Radeon HD 5770 but I had to upgrade the CPUs to dual X5355s myself. With an SSD installed it runs El Capitan better than current base model Mac minis.
Click to expand...

My 2011 mini runs Windows 10 better than El Crap and that should be a HUGE issue at Apple right now.
 
weckart said:
Very overpriced for what it is. You need a pair with a G0 stepping code - this should have SLAEG on the die (SLAED for the X5365s). That should run to about $25/$35 tops for the cpus. I got a pair from Korea as no one in the UK had a pair when I was buying. The other bits and bobs in that eBay listing are not worth more than $10 imho. Avoid other steppings, such as SL9YM etc. $100 gets you the slightly faster X5365s.

The G0 stepping cpus idle at lower temps than the stock ones supplied with the Mac Pro 2,1. Good for keeping temps and running costs down as your TDP is going to rise from 60W to 120W at full pelt per cpu. The X5365s run hotter at 150W max.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/importance-of-stepping-for-mp-1-1-cpu-upgrades.1210403/.
Click to expand...
Does not the fact that these are "New and Unused" CPU's somewhat justify the added expense?
With the cheaper used CPU pulls there is no way to know the history of the units you'd be getting.
 
No. CPUs do not wear out like batteries. Either they work or they don't. Server grade processors are even less likely to die on you. No benefit to buying new - it is not as if they are going on display.
 
I have an original 1,1 running around with 2x dual core 3GHz Xeons, 12GB ram, GTS450 nvidia card, and a 500GB WD Black drive running El Capitan. Unfortunately I never use the machine since I have my i7 rig, so the MP sits. I've been trying to sell it lol.
 
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