new to the mac pros show me the way

[holguinerito]

hey guys i just got a hold of 2 older mac pros on a storage unit clean up both for 20$ one early 2008 3.2 dual quads and a 2006 3.0 .. the 2008 is missing the side cover ,video cards and ram the trays are there but empty as well as no hard drives trays , the 2006 its pretty much the same but has the side cover .
I already did a bit of research but wanted to ask here whats the latest newest ddr2 or 3 ram , Vcard that i can use ????
i had taken the time to watch some youtube videos regarding the updates to have hight sierra runing on the 2008 but if you guys know the exact details what do i need please let me know ...
i wish the 2006 had any use for anyone, I was trying to trade it for some parts i can use for the 08 but had no luck so far thats why its on ebay see if i can get anything for the older mac ....

thanks in advance ...

 

[pl1984]

I would recommend reviewing the specs on everymac.com which will give you the details for each model. The 2006 system lost OS support after Lion (OS X 10.7) and the 2008 lost OS support after El Capitan (OS X 10.11). Memory and hard drive trays can be picked up on Ebay.

Both models utilize ECC DDR2 FB-DIMMs with the 2006 model utilizing the 667MHz speed and the 2008 utilizing the 800MHz speed. However the 2008 can utilize the 667MHz memory, it will just operate a little slower (and you're unlikely to notice it). The slower speed is more common and thus lower cost.

As for video cards everymac provides the standard offerings from Apple but I'm sure you can install other cards. Someone else can chime in as I do not have any experience outside of the standard cards.

They're solid systems but not as in demand since they no longer have official OS support. I have a 2006 (the 2.66GHz version) and a 2008 (the 2.8GHz version) and they're both very useable. The 2008 more so due to its ability to officially run a later version of OS X. Both can run later versions of the OS with some tweaking to the OS installation. Plenty of details on the web.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

In the unsupported Mac world the 2008 would be the more desirable model due to 64bit EFI. and generally faster specs vs the first gen.
You could use the side cover from the old one on the newer one.

That being said if they were left in the storage unit they may not even work even after you populate them with the missing parts.

 

[fhturner]

Both models utilize ECC DDR2 FB-DIMMs with the 2006 model utilizing the 667MHz speed and the 2008 utilizing the 800MHz speed. However the 2008 can utilize the 667MHz memory, it will just operate a little slower (and you're unlikely to notice it). The slower speed is more common and thus lower cost.

Sorry, pl1984, but I'm going to have to wholeheartedly.....AGREE with you here. holguinerito, if you move forward w/ the 2008 and go to pick up RAM, definitely do NOT worry about acquiring factory-speed 800MHz modules. The 667MHz ones will work perfectly fine and 32GB (8x4GB) "server pulls" on eBay are dirt cheap (or were last I needed any).

 

[Ludacrisvp]

Sorry, pl1984, but I'm going to have to wholeheartedly.....AGREE with you here. holguinerito, if you move forward w/ the 2008 and go to pick up RAM, definitely do NOT worry about acquiring factory-speed 800MHz modules. The 667MHz ones will work perfectly fine and 32GB (8x4GB) "server pulls" on eBay are dirt cheap (or were last I needed any).

I mean ... this seems pretty decent price to me.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7S66FC2381

 

[fhturner]

I mean ... this seems pretty decent price to me.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7S66FC2381

If it weren't more than the value of the machine it was going in, maybe. But that's a lot to invest in a 2008 Mac Pro that you couldn't move to something newer (like a GPU, for example). If it were me, I'd probably let 32GB be enough and get something used (the "server pulls" I mentioned) like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-4x8GB...ade-Apple-Mac-Pro-2008-Model-3-1/222486920537

Only 1/4 of that 64GB kit and so way less of an investment that couldn't be reused elsewhere.

 

[holguinerito]

thanks guys for the reply and yes i will try me best to get this 2008 up and running not in a rush at all , today i got a hold for free of a 2010 case that im plan on building ... sorry if the picture shows upside down ... now i need to start searching for all the parts on this 2010 , building this should be a fun $$$$ project .....