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Is a Mac Pro 1,1 worth $200?

catzilla

catzilla

macrumors 6502
Original poster
My local GoodWill seems to have a few, 2x2.66 Xenon, 2GB, 250GB. I could probably get one for around $200. I would be using it for a Plex server and home file sharing.
 
For $200? It depends. How much MORE money do you want to put into the machine? If you want the system to run a newer OS than Lion, you will need to buy a new video card (50-200 dollars, depending on selection.) You will FOR SURE need more than 2GB of RAM. Often, there are Ebay deals on non-Apple RAM for reasonable-ish prices. 16GB of FB-DIMM 667Mhz RAM can be found for ~$60 in 8x2GB configurations. That is the MOST economical config, as far as I know, since 4GB FB-DIMMs cost a fortune. The machine will also take X53xx Xeons, which can bump you to 8 cores if you need the power. 2 X5355s (2x quad core 2.66Ghz) will run you another ~$50. Then there's the hard drive situation. If the tower comes with a stock hard drive, you'll most likely want a new one. Depending on the size you need, or if you want to get a PCIe SSD, it will cost somewhere in the $50 (1TB Spinner) to $200 (Velocity Solo x2 and 128GB SSD) area. And EVEN THEN, it's a bit of finagling and work to get newer OS's installed. Mavericks has been very easy, thanks to Tiamo, and though I personally have not tried the Yosemite beta on my 1,1 it doesn't sound too tough.

Sorry for the word vomit, just figured you should know what you're getting into. Those numbers are a bit arbitrary, I haven't shopped for parts in a while, and you might be able to get or forgo some of those upgrades for cheaper now. I hope the info helps though. The 1,1s are still VERY capable machines, if you put a bit extra into them.
-N
 
I'm voting no...the RAM is expensive the graphics upgrades are troublesome and the power consumption insane.

I had a 1,1 myself and after moving to the smaller laptops and mini after the Pro I see my electricity bill plummet and I do not miss that big aluminium tower taking up space and sucking dust up (I did a spring cleaning twice a year since it was plastering itself with dust in fans and cooling ports)
 
NOTNlCE said:
Sorry for the word vomit, just figured you should know what you're getting into. Those numbers are a bit arbitrary, I haven't shopped for parts in a while, and you might be able to get or forgo some of those upgrades for cheaper now. I hope the info helps though. The 1,1s are still VERY capable machines, if you put a bit extra into them.
-N
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I have a 1,1 I bought about a year ago configured like the one you described for a bit more than $200. I did the following to it:

Upgraded RAM to 24 GB $100
Upgraded video to ATI Radion HD 4870 $100
Added 1 128 GB SSD and 3 1 TB HHD $150
Swapped the stock 2.66 dual core Xeons for 2 5355 qusd core Xeons $100

I used CoreServices in the command line version of Disk Utility to combine the SSD and 1 HDD into a Fusion drive and it screams!

I also upgraded the OS to Mavericks via Tiamo's method. I love this machine, and it will put a lot of current machines to shame. I run the latest versions of several software packages, as well as Windows 8.1 and Linux in VMs.
 
catzilla said:
My local GoodWill seems to have a few, 2x2.66 Xenon, 2GB, 250GB. I could probably get one for around $200. I would be using it for a Plex server and home file sharing.
Click to expand...

Way overkill for your usage. Those dual CPUs are going to just sit their idling 99% of the time. A Mac Mini (used or new) would make more sense, IMHO.
 
ixxx69 said:
Way overkill for your usage. Those dual CPUs are going to just sit their idling 99% of the time. A Mac Mini (used or new) would make more sense, IMHO.
Click to expand...

The CPUs can be pegged while transcoding on the fly (downscale or upscale) to other devices. They would definitely sit idle if you're feeding direct play stream over the network. So it's up to how you want Plex server configured.

I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and an Apple Cinema HD Display. Both of which I've spent quite a bit of money on. Especially the Mac Pro, processor swap X5355s, dual SSDs etc.

If I could get those machines for $200, I would pick them all up.
 
mseth said:
The CPUs can be pegged while transcoding on the fly (downscale or upscale) to other devices.
Click to expand...
That's an excellent point. While it obviously depends on the usage requirements, my understanding is that even a half-way decent Mac Mini can handle 1080p transcoding. But YMMV.

(to be clear, by "overkill", I wasn't implying that the ancient MP 1.1 is a "power house" - it would be outperformed by a current Mac Mini... it just seems overkill as a large sized energy sucking piece of equipment... and to dump a bunch of money into such a system for a basic media server just doesn't make any sense IMHO)
 
It's probably worth $200 to the right people, but I wouldn't buy one for your stated purpose. I think a Mac Mini would be a better choice unless you have a ton of drives you need to house.
 
jukebox1298 said:
Upgraded RAM to 24 GB $100
Upgraded video to ATI Radion HD 4870 $100
Added 1 128 GB SSD and 3 1 TB HHD $150
Swapped the stock 2.66 dual core Xeons for 2 5355 qusd core Xeons $100
Click to expand...

So basically 650$ (if you can get the parts at those prices)

Let's imagine that the machines in question are the cheapest back in the day, which means no wifi or bluetooth.
no official support for next gen software /updates. a lot of outdated hardware and power consumption and space taking.

I would rather vote for a mini if the purpose is to have a Plex server
 
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