I took about 45 minutes to write a post, detailing painstakingly all of the things I've done to my Mac Pro 1,1 and how, but when I tried to submit it, I was asked to login again and then everything I typed was gone. Bummer.
Long story short:
Mac Pro 1,1
2x 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Xeon
8GB RAM
3x 1TB HDs
1 80GB Intel X25M Solid State Drive as a boot drive
Radeon HD 4870 XFX with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM
This thing screams - not the kind of upgrade that smacks you in the face, but when you use it even for just a day or two and then try using an iMac or MacBook Pro with a standard hard drive, it's utterly painful and feels incredibly slow.
Benchmarks:
Windows 7 Premium 64 bit installed to run Crysis: Warhead
Can MAX ALL SETTINGS (every option set to "Enthusiast" under Graphics)
Looks and runs amazing, completely smooth and insanely pretty.
Starcraft II beta also runs perfectly on Ultra settings across the board, but I expected (hoped) for that.
From complete power-off to booted, usable desktop with Safari open takes about 12 seconds. Fast enough for you? Photoshop CS4 opens in 2.5 seconds, GarageBand in 3 seconds, and Logic Pro 9 opens in about 5 seconds.
Anyone considering a video card upgrade and/or a SSD upgrade, I highly recommend it. I only paid $300 for both components, and what's more I can sell the 7300gt card that came with it for almost $200 on eBay because it is "Apple Certified".
Will most likely sell this rig as is for around $3,000 and get a new 2010 Mac Pro when they come out, and then do the same SSD/video card upgrade.
If anyone has any questions about how I did this or wants more specific information, just let me know.
Bottom line: an SSD boot drive makes a HUGE difference, and 1GB of video RAM makes everything look ridiculously pretty. I can open 200+ folders at once, in slow motion, and do all of the Expose animations without a single hiccup. Watching them zoom open and closed instantly is pretty satisfying. This would have choked my system easily before.
Long story short:
Mac Pro 1,1
2x 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Xeon
8GB RAM
3x 1TB HDs
1 80GB Intel X25M Solid State Drive as a boot drive
Radeon HD 4870 XFX with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM
This thing screams - not the kind of upgrade that smacks you in the face, but when you use it even for just a day or two and then try using an iMac or MacBook Pro with a standard hard drive, it's utterly painful and feels incredibly slow.
Benchmarks:
Windows 7 Premium 64 bit installed to run Crysis: Warhead
Can MAX ALL SETTINGS (every option set to "Enthusiast" under Graphics)
Looks and runs amazing, completely smooth and insanely pretty.
Starcraft II beta also runs perfectly on Ultra settings across the board, but I expected (hoped) for that.
From complete power-off to booted, usable desktop with Safari open takes about 12 seconds. Fast enough for you? Photoshop CS4 opens in 2.5 seconds, GarageBand in 3 seconds, and Logic Pro 9 opens in about 5 seconds.
Anyone considering a video card upgrade and/or a SSD upgrade, I highly recommend it. I only paid $300 for both components, and what's more I can sell the 7300gt card that came with it for almost $200 on eBay because it is "Apple Certified".
Will most likely sell this rig as is for around $3,000 and get a new 2010 Mac Pro when they come out, and then do the same SSD/video card upgrade.
If anyone has any questions about how I did this or wants more specific information, just let me know.
Bottom line: an SSD boot drive makes a HUGE difference, and 1GB of video RAM makes everything look ridiculously pretty. I can open 200+ folders at once, in slow motion, and do all of the Expose animations without a single hiccup. Watching them zoom open and closed instantly is pretty satisfying. This would have choked my system easily before.