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Help me make the move to Mac!

K

kungfugeek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2012
5
0
So I am looking for advice on how to move to a mac pro from a PC. Specifically how to do so on a budget. It needs to be a pro because I need at least 1 free PCI-e slot for my DSP card and I'd like the video card to be good enough to play modern games using fusion/bootcamp. It also needs to be super quiet, as its main use is in my recording studio. I'd rather not shell out $2500+ on a new one, so my thought was to look for used, but I am not sure what gen/specs I need to go looking for. I am a software developer by day, and have built many many workstations and servers over the years so I am comfortable performing any necessarily upgrades a used box will need. Also, I have an SSD and 2TB Raid 5 array I can throw in to what ever I pick up as well.

Thanks!
 
Try looking in the refurb store for Mac Pros. Apple stands behind them.
Max out what you get with non-Apple memory for your best bang for the buck.
This is a good place to buy your upgrades. http://www.macsales.com/
Hth and good luck.
 
OP could go the eBay route and get a 4,1 - sometimes as cheap as $1200. Then upgrade it to death as he is able. That is how I got here :)
 
Check out Mac Of All Trades for used Mac Pros. They have been around for many years and now offer a standard 90 day warranty with the option of an additional 12 months.
 
if you get a 4,1 or a 5,1 with a 5770 you can turn around and sell it for around $250 on ebay and put that towards a good nvidia card that will be able to game.

see these threads for after-market video card info:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1436669/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1385329/

if it comes with a 5870 you could still game on that and you'd have a boot screen and guaranteed compatibility too.


3,1 are the most economical that can run mountain lion but the memory is expensive and there's no guarantee they will be able to run anything beyond that, but if you're looking for the lowest entry point that might be an option.

i'd avoid a 1,1 or 2,1 as they are EOL and can't run the latest operating system.

any MP 3,1-5,1 will be a great machine and i'm sure you'll find it very stable and well-built, and easy to maintain.
 
I just did the 4,1 (2009) to 5,1 conversion, taking the used 4,1 four-core I bought for $1,200 to a six-core 3.33 for $600 more. I also traded the stock 2009 video card for a 5770 so I can run three monitors in my studio.

Geekbench went from 8500 to 15800. I don't think there is a better value proposition in the Mac world today.

To go 4,1 to 5,1 you run the EFI update, available from Netkas.org, first, then R&R the processor. Because the processor is on a daughterboard that slides out, the job could not be easier.

Other than video card upgrades, anything else you want to add is not Mac-specific. I added an SIG Firewire 400 card with TI chipset to ensure compatibility with my interface and an eSATA3 card for easy hook up of legacy HDs from my current system. And a bunch of internal HDs and SSDs. My UA DSP card will occupy the final PCIe slot.

I am running 10.6.8 to start. Once I get things operating there, I will clone my startup disc partition and try upgrading to the newer versions of OSX while being able to rely on a working startup partition for daily operations.
 
Thanks for all the info guys! I think I've decided on nothing older than 4,1. Perhaps I'll try and find a super cheap 4,1 and upgrade to 5,1. I wish they would just announce the 6,1 so I wouldn't have to agonize. Is there a "bang for your buck" 4,1? I plan to put my existing ssd and sata drives into whatever I buy. Also, I have 0% financing through amazon if anyone see a particularly good deal there.

Thanks!
 
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DPUser said:
I just did the 4,1 (2009) to 5,1 conversion, taking the used 4,1 four-core I bought for $1,200 to a six-core 3.33 for $600 more. I also traded the stock 2009 video card for a 5770 so I can run three monitors in my studio.

Geekbench went from 8500 to 15800. I don't think there is a better value proposition in the Mac world today.

To go 4,1 to 5,1 you run the EFI update, available from Netkas.org, first, then R&R the processor. Because the processor is on a daughterboard that slides out, the job could not be easier.

Other than video card upgrades, anything else you want to add is not Mac-specific. I added an SIG Firewire 400 card with TI chipset to ensure compatibility with my interface and an eSATA3 card for easy hook up of legacy HDs from my current system. And a bunch of internal HDs and SSDs. My UA DSP card will occupy the final PCIe slot.

I am running 10.6.8 to start. Once I get things operating there, I will clone my startup disc partition and try upgrading to the newer versions of OSX while being able to rely on a working startup partition for daily operations.
Click to expand...

Is this the chip I want to go from 4,1 to 5,1? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117242
 
I scored a 5,1 off Craigslist this week for $1400. Deals can be found, just search around. I eventually plan to do the hex 3.33Ghz CPU upgrade as well.

5,1 already has a 5770 GPU. A 5870 would be better but that upgrade can wait.
First on my list is RAM, SSD and eSata card.
 
radeon 6870 has solid drivers, support from groths.org and is best bang for buck on gaming from what my research showed. Just put it into my 2008 3.1 mac pro.
 
kungfugeek said:
Can you install faster ram into older mac pros? Will it just down clock it? Specifically will this work in a 4,1 both before and after an upgrade to 5,1? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233263
Click to expand...

No. You want unregistered (AKA unbuffered) ECC memory for the 4,1 or 5,1. I'm pretty certain those Corsair sticks are non-ECC.

Also, the single processor Mac Pro only has 4 memory slots. That is an 8x kit.

Faster RAM will clock down, but at present no Mac Pro can fully utilize 1600 MHz.
 
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