Hi all I am considering purchasing a Mac Pro 8 core 3 ghz with 20 GB RAM, nVidia GeForce 7300 GT dual DVI with 256MB VRAM, 1 TB Hard drive, DVR/CD burner. The seller says it is 2007 Mac Pro 2,1. Price is 2k ....is this a good deal, and it is a good vintage of a Mac Pro? My application will be audio production mainly ...but who knows I might get into graphics too ( Bet the graphics will need to be upgraded). I am new here ...but looks like a great forum ....thanks in advnace for any help you can give me.
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Mac Pro 2,1. 2007 Buy it?
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One caution in purchasing a 2007 MP is that both the 2006 and 2007 MP have 32 bit EFI, and thus are left out of future graphic card updates, and eventually the OS will migrate to 64 bit only, so in terms of future proofing, you'd be much better suited to purchase a 2008 or later. If you look around eBay and such, you can find a 2008 2.8 8-core for around the same price point, albeit with less RAM etc, but honestly I think you'd be better served getting a base 2008 8-core rather than a top-end 2007.
2k for that is not a good deal. As said you could spend the same on a 2008 8 core that is 64 bit or a refurb quad 09 with a warranty.
What do you need a mac pro for? What do you use now? Is it for business or pleasure?
What do you need a mac pro for? What do you use now? Is it for business or pleasure?
Like what the other members commented, $2k is not a good deal. My boss bought a 2008 2.8 Mac Pro for only $1800 with 6G ram. Also the videocard of the 2007 2.1 Mac Pro, the Nvidia 7300GT is a weak card and its capacitor is faulty. This card often conks out if you will try to google this. I think there's another link in this forum about this card. Go for the 2008 or 2009 models.
Hi there ...what a great forum ..just the info I need. The application is not going to be a for rent studio .....but for my own music production. I have an interest in recording audio at 96khz ...although don't know if I will stick with that or not .....but if I do like it ....higher processor speed seems to be would be important. Did not know that the 2007 was not 64 bit .....so that definitely takes it out of the running IMO. How about 4 core vs 8 core for my application ... I am trying to get to a price point of like $2500 for computer and display in total for what I want to do.
For the price your willing to pay, suggest you buy the i7 iMac. Plenty powerful. Otherwise you will need to spend more money for a Mac pro.
It's not that the 2006/2007 machines are not 64-bit machines, but rather, their firmware isn't, limiting graphics cards options to either current compatible ATI cards and older NVIDIA cards. And as mentioned already, the majority of the 2006/2007 machines are well out of warranty and major components like the logic board are very costly to replace.
As far as core count is concerned, it really depends on the application used. But I'll tell you that the majority of audio production software won't necessarily harness 8 CPU cores, so a 4-core with 8GB+ of RAM might be all you need.
This would only be assuming that the OP doesn't need the expansion the Mac Pro offers. For example, if he/she needs audio I/O interface cards for better sound quality, that would count the iMac out. With an iMac, you'd be limited to using external FW devices to do the same thing and a lot of those devices tend to take over the whole FW bus...
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not realy sure the 32 efi limit applies to graphic card limitations as its mostly ATi offerings that are reasonable upgrades on offer, unless your looking at a quadro card, and if you are doing that you should proberly be looking at a new mac pro anyways..
I had a 1,1 mac pro for a bit and it ran the ATI 4890 with no dramas at all...
it all depends on what you are looking to use your mac pro for as a few peeps here have already said that a lot of software will not use more than 2 cores anyhows...
anyways, one thing i can tell you is that you /MUST/ do your research before buying your box..
have fun.
I had a 1,1 mac pro for a bit and it ran the ATI 4890 with no dramas at all...
it all depends on what you are looking to use your mac pro for as a few peeps here have already said that a lot of software will not use more than 2 cores anyhows...
anyways, one thing i can tell you is that you /MUST/ do your research before buying your box..
have fun.