Mac Pro 1,1 HDD & Graphics Question

[pdechavez]

Hello All,

I just purchased a used 2006 Mac Pro and would like to know if storage can be more than 2TB of space(because apple's website in 2006 claims upto 2TB)?

Also, with snow leopard's support for wider GPUs, can I install my BFG GTX 260 to my Mac Pro directly or do I need something extra?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hellhammer]

As 2006 Mac Pro has 6 SATA ports and 2 IDE ports for SuperDrives, you can install up to 6 SATA hard drives in it. 3TB is currently the biggest capacity available so you could have 18TB (6x3TB) internally (+ IDE drives in ODD bays if you want). With PCIe cards and multi-bay enclosures, you can have pretty much unlimited amount of storage.

I don't think a PC GPU will be plug&play. It may be flashable but I don't know much about that

 

[holmesf]

Hello All,

I just purchased a used 2006 Mac Pro and would like to know if storage can be more than 2TB of space(because apple's website in 2006 claims upto 2TB)?

Also, with snow leopard's support for wider GPUs, can I install my BFG GTX 260 to my Mac Pro directly or do I need something extra?

Thanks in advance!

You definitely will not be able to install a GTX 260 and have it work without ROM flashing, but for that matter I'm not sure if there is even a way to make it work with ROM flashing. People have better luck with ATI cards.

 

[pdechavez]

Thanks for the info guys, really helpful. If I bought the ati 5870 from apple, will that work with the MP? ive been reading around that people are having a hard time upgrading the graphics for Mac pro computers.

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks for the info guys, really helpful. If I bought the ati 5870 from apple, will that work with the MP? ive been reading around that people are having a hard time upgrading the graphics for Mac pro computers.

Thanks

5870 works in all Mac Pros

 

[Mackilroy]

Thanks for the info guys, really helpful. If I bought the ati 5870 from apple, will that work with the MP? ive been reading around that people are having a hard time upgrading the graphics for Mac pro computers.

Thanks

It should work fine - it has for quite a few people.

 

[pdechavez]

Thanks HellHammer & MacKilroy, I guess people buy PC cards because its cheaper? I'm new to the desktop market with macs since Ive owned portables ever since =)

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks HellHammer & MacKilroy, I guess people buy PC cards because its cheaper? I'm new to the desktop market with macs since Ive owned portables ever since =)

Yeah, PC cards go for as low as 270$ (the cheapest I found in NewEgg) while Apple charges 449$. PC cards require some work though so they don't work out of the box. If you're interested about flashing PC cards, I recommend you take a look at Netkas forums. Most of the guys there are/were MacRumors members but that forum was created solely for flashing (I think). There are good guides and what cards are compatible etc.

 

[holmesf]

Yeah, PC cards go for as low as 270$ (the cheapest I found in NewEgg) while Apple charges 449$. PC cards require some work though so they don't work out of the box. If you're interested about flashing PC cards, I recommend you take a look at Netkas forums. Most of the guys there are/were MacRumors members but that forum was created solely for flashing (I think). There are good guides and what cards are compatible etc.

Sometimes Apple rips you off even worse than this, too. When the Geforce 8800 in my Mac Pro died, I was forced to replace it with an Radon 4870, which I bought from Apple for $350. At the time it sold for around $150 for PC. It was a stupid purchase on my part, but I was forced into it because I just needed my computer to work again.