Good price on Mac Pro?

[zackkmac]

I'm looking at a 2008 Mac Pro I found off my local Craigslist.

The specs are:
8-core (2 quad cores) 2.8GHz Intel Xeon 5300 series
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
DL SuperDrive
Nvidia 8800 GT 512MB VRAM

It's listed for $600 and includes pre-installed OS X and the power cable. The seller (an electronics store) has refurbished it, so it's in grade A condition with a 30-day warranty.

What do you think of the price? Is it average, good, great, bad, etc.?

Also, how well will it perform in comparison to the iMac in my sig?

Your help is much appreciated.

 

[jetjaguar]

Your imac is faster. The price is alright but the ram for it is very expensive. If I were you I would try and pick up a used 09 quad and then you can always upgrade the cpu on your own to a hex like I did. Got my 09 from OWC for like 900 and it was in great shape and you get a 90 day warranty.

 

[zackkmac]

I see. So even if I were to bump the RAM up some, if not max it out, and install an SSD, my iMac would still be more powerful? I figured the 8 cores would surpass my iMac's 4 cores with or without those upgrades.

Thanks for your opinions on what I should look for. Would it be cheaper to buy this tower and max it out, or to buy an 09 and max that one out?

 

[costabunny]

yep the i7 in your iMac will stomp on the octacore mac pro (2008 and previous). The i7 has HT (means it acts kinda like 8 cores) and the clock speed, coupled with newer tech means it will likely outperform it in most areas.

The 2008 Ram is not cheap (or fast) as its DDR2-800 at most and has to be fully buffered modules.

a 2009+ is a much better choice.

For example I have just picked up a 2010 hex core, and my other half has the 2012 i7 imac with 3.4GHZ, 32GB DDR3-1600 etc and my mac out does it on thread intensive stuff (handbrake, movie transitions etc).

If I had gone for a 2008 (I had one when they came out and back then it kicked butt); his iMac would have embarrassed said octacore model.

as you have a beast already with better RAM, CPU, Chipset and graphics hardware; the only gain you would have is more expansion. If you don't need more drives internally etc; then stick with the iMac as it is a high powered monster already.

 

[phoenixsan]

For me.....

it is a decent deal, provided the computer dont have cosmetic or functional issues. The 30-day warranty and refurbished status can help, also the OS X installation discs and the power cord have a value and better have them that crawl to find them.

As another poster said, problem is the RAM cost for the machine, if you seek to upgrade it. Another thing is how much you will use and mantain the machine in the best supported OS available. In some moment of the time, a software upgrade can break havoc in a 5 and plus years computer....

Still is a good price for a working Octo-2008 Pro. Nicer would be the same computer in the $500-550 range. Good luck with your purchase/upgrade....

 

[zackkmac]

Thanks for the feedback. I will stick with my iMac, then, as it really is a superb machine!