Back in August I sold my Mac mini 2010 and went for a classic Mac Pro. I did a lot of research first, and I found that the old cMP's are still quite versatile, so I took the plunge on the 4,1, flashed it to a 5,1 and upgraded the CPU, GPU and added an SSD. Everything has been working great so far, and I've enjoyed this sort of hot-rodding an old Mac and bringing it new life.
In my research, one of the more significant drawbacks (other than lesser performance vs something more modern) would be the cMP's relative energy inefficiency versus the mini or something newer. Now that's it been several months, I did a quick spreadsheet of my energy bills comparing the previous year's cost during the same month with this year's. Bear in mind I only actively use my cMP for about an hour a day, sometimes less, sometimes more, but I do leave it in sleep mode when not in use. Lightroom is my most intensive app I use the most, with some random Handbrake activity. What I found was quite surprising. Since August 2017, my overall energy cost is actually down 2% from the same period last year. I honestly didn't expect to see much of a difference, and that 2% drop is probably due more to annual seasonal variations affecting how often the HVAC runs.
I guess I was curious if anyone else has run such figures. I remember there being a thread here where some users were claiming you'd be wasting a ton of energy, but so far this has not materialized. I'm rarely loading down my system either, which was one reason I was fine with recycling a 4,1 cMP. As an aside, think how much energy I have saved by reusing an old machine versus buying a new one that had to be manufactured!
In my research, one of the more significant drawbacks (other than lesser performance vs something more modern) would be the cMP's relative energy inefficiency versus the mini or something newer. Now that's it been several months, I did a quick spreadsheet of my energy bills comparing the previous year's cost during the same month with this year's. Bear in mind I only actively use my cMP for about an hour a day, sometimes less, sometimes more, but I do leave it in sleep mode when not in use. Lightroom is my most intensive app I use the most, with some random Handbrake activity. What I found was quite surprising. Since August 2017, my overall energy cost is actually down 2% from the same period last year. I honestly didn't expect to see much of a difference, and that 2% drop is probably due more to annual seasonal variations affecting how often the HVAC runs.
I guess I was curious if anyone else has run such figures. I remember there being a thread here where some users were claiming you'd be wasting a ton of energy, but so far this has not materialized. I'm rarely loading down my system either, which was one reason I was fine with recycling a 4,1 cMP. As an aside, think how much energy I have saved by reusing an old machine versus buying a new one that had to be manufactured!
