Just got a Mac Pro 5,1 from 3,1

Congrats on your purchase! Still rocking my 3,1 - it does everything I would ever need a computer to do, and this guy just turned 6 this week. That's one helluva machine, though. CPU upgrades will do wonders, especially with the prices coming down. Throw some hex cores in that baby and you'll be set for a looooong time.
Enjoy your new machine!
-N

 

Congrats! It's a nice machine and still adequate for our tasks. We have the same machine and one of the Macs that run at low temperatures. Added USB 3.0 and will add SSD later on. Enjoy your new purchase. Though the 2008 Mac Pro is also a solid machine. I've visited several design firms and some still use 2008 Mac Pros.

 

Had a 5.1 a while back. Easy to work on, easy to use, and easy to clean.

The new MP? Well, it's not easy is it, and the old ones with a few upgrades are still powerhouses. I'd buy an old one over the new MP anyday.

 

Just bought a 5.1 myself. Congratulations, just need to decide if I am going to go the upgrade route or resell.

 

"Upgrade" probably wasn't the correct term. I just bought this system because it was too good of a deal to pass up, but ultimately just looking to end up with a 27" iMac with an SSD and large HDD.

 

I'm looking to get a 780. Are you using external power?

 

^^^^I have been using a Gigabyte accelerated GTX 780 modified by MVC for close to a year now on internal power on my 5,1 Mac Pro.

Lou

 

I have a 5.1 with 10.9.4.

Do I need a flashed card if buying today? I get the feeling that nowadays I could just buy a PC card and plug it in? Might lose the boot screen, but that's it?

 

That's a nice new Mac you have, but… Mac Pro 3,1 forever!! I've got a GTX 650Ti BOOST in mine, and I didn't modify it at all. No boot screen, but I can still press keys while it's booting to make it reset the PRAM, etc. If I hold alt at bootup, the screen remains black, but I can blindly choose the startup disk. Everything seems to work well as long as I'm running OS X 10.8.4 or later (because previous versions have no drivers and won't work).

OK, I know my machine is slower of course. What I envy is your DDR3 RAM. The DDR2 RAM in my Pro is not only slower but way, way more expensive. I won't even upgrade it past the 6GB it came with because I'm not willing to pay that much for old RAM.