Getting functional used parts is a nice way to save money, but it's not reliable. There's also the fact that when comparing to a new system, new parts should be selected to get an accurate idea of cost comparison (ignores labor, R&D, validation testing, single source warranty, ...).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Post Parts for Custom Built PC equivalent to Mac Pro!!!
- Thread starter Orange
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Then you might as well
give apple 200 dollars more because thats how much you will pay to go from a 2.66 to a 3.33 - I did it in less the time and money.. besides, the person who sold it to me tests his stuff before sending it out.. I AM running it now in fact.
give apple 200 dollars more because thats how much you will pay to go from a 2.66 to a 3.33 - I did it in less the time and money.. besides, the person who sold it to me tests his stuff before sending it out.. I AM running it now in fact.
Who said anything about buying from Apple? Didn't you see the screenshot was from Newegg?
The term "reliable" was in respect to finding the part used, and at a nice discount. Not regarding any ill effects on system operation.
Well, if you will see..
There is a w3580 for 599 and its from velocity micro and yes, before the seller who happens to be the GENERAL MANAGER of velocity micro, put it on ebay he ran a 24-48 hour test on it. All tests came back negative(positive is bad).
I think for 603 dollars I did rather well.. compared to giving apple 1200.00 or intel 1000.00
There is a w3580 for 599 and its from velocity micro and yes, before the seller who happens to be the GENERAL MANAGER of velocity micro, put it on ebay he ran a 24-48 hour test on it. All tests came back negative(positive is bad).
I think for 603 dollars I did rather well.. compared to giving apple 1200.00 or intel 1000.00
Though my gaming PC (Which I'm still building, by the way, I have to get a new motherboard) can't stand up to an 8 core I can happily say I built a quad core for 980$, it all came out to 1200 for Windows OEM and the Disc drive (Which is a blu-ray) It has one of the strongest graphic cards out there, a pretty strong motherboard (With a good warranty, though it was my fault it broke, I touched it without properly grounding myself) 4 gigs of ram, 1TB hard drive, and and I can probably hackintosh it if I hacked it to THE MAX.
Now I can buy a mac pro with similar specs for 3,000.
Mac Pro line is dead, and Stevey is denying it. Unless he downs the price and gives it the i5 and i7 processors, hackintosh is the best option.
EDIT: I also just added a Magic Mouse, Apple Wired Numeric Keyboard, and an Apple Cinema Display to make it exactly like my setup. It now costs 3,768. My whole setup costs 1500 right now. That includes my computer, 2200 if you count my laptop, tablet, and windows 7 upgrade disks that I used on my laptop and it STILL doesn't add up to 3,768$.
You just realized how overpriced macs are and that apple is not giving you want you deserve for the price.
Now I can buy a mac pro with similar specs for 3,000.
Mac Pro line is dead, and Stevey is denying it. Unless he downs the price and gives it the i5 and i7 processors, hackintosh is the best option.
EDIT: I also just added a Magic Mouse, Apple Wired Numeric Keyboard, and an Apple Cinema Display to make it exactly like my setup. It now costs 3,768. My whole setup costs 1500 right now. That includes my computer, 2200 if you count my laptop, tablet, and windows 7 upgrade disks that I used on my laptop and it STILL doesn't add up to 3,768$.
You just realized how overpriced macs are and that apple is not giving you want you deserve for the price.
Applecare should be included with all Mac purchases for half price, since you can't fix a mac pro yourself, they should include some sort of fallback if your motherboard fails after a year/90 days.
Unless your logic board went bad, theoretically you could fix it yourself. Those parts are prohibitively expensive, though.
Don't think the Single Package (quad) model has same support chipset as Dual Package model.
The chipset is different (5520 chipset is used in DP systems), but with the DP processors, one of the QPI channels will shut down on a SP board, and function correctly.
But the reverse isn't possible (SP part in a DP board), as in that instance the second QPI is required, even if it's the only CPU on the board.
I was talking about new, sealed in box version, not used. Of course you can get used ones for cheaper but at least I'm not a person who upgrades his 2500$ Mac Pro with used CPU as the first thing I do when I open the box. I know CPUs rarely fail (BTW, has anyone seen a CPU failure in Mac?) but it's just the idea of used part.
As you can see..
It hasn't happened at all.. I just ran more tests and everything runs normally.. and quite fast I can say.. the i7 seems a bit faster than the xeon as the xeon has to check memory all the time for ecc errors..
But, again my needs are different than yours.. as for the w55xx series in my mac pro? Why bother if one of the qpi's is disconnected? Doesn't make sense ot have a w55xx in the machine when its only a single processor.. besides, i think the w3580 or i7-975 is the absolute max of the bloomfield family.. then comes the w36xx, stepping B1 requires modded microcode for use in a 2009 ot make those work..
I am trying to come up with ideas on how to create a flash efi bios type program where one can flash the new microcode of the soon coming 2010 mac pro over to the 2009.. I believe it can be done, but it is tedious..
Remember the days of AWDFLASH.EXE? Something similar to that.. except the 2010 mac pro's efi firmware would be named: 2010macpro.bin and using a program like AWDFLASH.EXE to simply flash it over.. Now, that would make everyone happy with an 09, i think.
It hasn't happened at all.. I just ran more tests and everything runs normally.. and quite fast I can say.. the i7 seems a bit faster than the xeon as the xeon has to check memory all the time for ecc errors..
But, again my needs are different than yours.. as for the w55xx series in my mac pro? Why bother if one of the qpi's is disconnected? Doesn't make sense ot have a w55xx in the machine when its only a single processor.. besides, i think the w3580 or i7-975 is the absolute max of the bloomfield family.. then comes the w36xx, stepping B1 requires modded microcode for use in a 2009 ot make those work..
I am trying to come up with ideas on how to create a flash efi bios type program where one can flash the new microcode of the soon coming 2010 mac pro over to the 2009.. I believe it can be done, but it is tedious..
Remember the days of AWDFLASH.EXE? Something similar to that.. except the 2010 mac pro's efi firmware would be named: 2010macpro.bin and using a program like AWDFLASH.EXE to simply flash it over.. Now, that would make everyone happy with an 09, i think.
Really, is there any real difference here?
Granted, if I were to use a w55xx processor in my single-quad, it would truly be a waste since its a dual channel processor and its expecting the 2nd channel which the single-quads don't have..
I think the w3580 and the 975 are much better suited for the singles.
Granted, if I were to use a w55xx processor in my single-quad, it would truly be a waste since its a dual channel processor and its expecting the 2nd channel which the single-quads don't have..
I think the w3580 and the 975 are much better suited for the singles.
Both were designed as SP parts, so they're definitely the way to go in an SP board (assuming the board has the correct socket and the firmware will actually support the part installed).
firmware and socket + stepping
Both i7-975 or 9xx series are ALL as of now: D0 - mac pro supports this.
Firmware: supports both xeon 35xx series and i7 9xx bloomfield(req non-ecc)
Socket is LGA1366 of which both have..
I don't see why either wouldn't work.
Both i7-975 or 9xx series are ALL as of now: D0 - mac pro supports this.
Firmware: supports both xeon 35xx series and i7 9xx bloomfield(req non-ecc)
Socket is LGA1366 of which both have..
I don't see why either wouldn't work.
The QPI port. You see on server models, the extra QPI port isn't disabled, while on the desktop versions (930, 940, 975) that extra QPI link is disabled.
Obviously the extra QPI link is for multiple CPU connections or other server stuff.
It was worded as it was, as the 32nm parts won't work in 2009 MP systems due to the lack of the proper microcode to support them.
But in the case of the W35xx and i7 parts based on the respective Xeon part numbers (same clock speed), they'll work in the current models (correct steppings and sockets).
A DP part will work in the SP boards, assuming the board was designed for the same socket and has the proper firmware support necessary (applicable to Nehalem architecture, which is also what the 32nm parts are based on). The second QPI channel will disable itself.
The SP parts only have a single, and will not work in a DP board, even if it's the only processor installed. The second QPI channel is necessary to connect to the chipset properly. In the case of the current MP, it's a 5520 (not to be confused with a E5520 CPU).
1. Interesting that the second QPI will disbale itself
2. 5520 can easily confuse hell of alot people.
I have been toying with an idea for a flash reader
Assuming the ill-fated 2010 mac pro DOES come out.. my theory for flashing the efi bios or just EFI over from the 2010 would be through the use of a program I would call: macpro.exe or under mac as: macpro.app. How this would work is that it would capture the actual microcode on the 2010, and allow the program macpro.app to flash it to the 2009 mac pro's efi firmware - thus, allowing the westmere or gulftowns to work in a 2009 mac pro..
Consider it similar to Award Bios's AWDFLASH.EXE program where the biosnew.bin would be the new bios to be flashed.
I think it can work, but I would need input on how to exactly make it work.
Assuming the ill-fated 2010 mac pro DOES come out.. my theory for flashing the efi bios or just EFI over from the 2010 would be through the use of a program I would call: macpro.exe or under mac as: macpro.app. How this would work is that it would capture the actual microcode on the 2010, and allow the program macpro.app to flash it to the 2009 mac pro's efi firmware - thus, allowing the westmere or gulftowns to work in a 2009 mac pro..
Consider it similar to Award Bios's AWDFLASH.EXE program where the biosnew.bin would be the new bios to be flashed.
I think it can work, but I would need input on how to exactly make it work.
It is, but it's only possible for the specific means described previously (i.e. one direction; DP part in an SP board).
Nor is it financially sound given the SP and DP part cost, unless the intent is to add a second processor to a DP board at a later time (i.e. get as much of the final system planned in hand and running on a limited budget). Even then, I prefer waiting to fund the entire system at once (at least not peice-meal the processors). Add-ons like RAID, ... can be done at a later time when funds permit (assuming such methods are performed by individuals, not corporations).
Absolutely, and why I thought it a good idea to clarify it (finally
).
It is, but it's only possible for the specific means described previously (i.e. one direction; DP part in an SP board).
Nor is it financially sound given the SP and DP part cost, unless the intent is to add a second processor to a DP board at a later time (i.e. get as much of the final system planned in hand and running on a limited budget). Even then, I prefer waiting to fund the entire system at once (at least not peice-meal the processors). Add-ons like RAID, ... can be done at a later time when funds permit (assuming such methods are performed by individuals, not corporations).
Absolutely, and why I thought it a good idea to clarify it (finally
1. Exactly. I would never build a 2 CPU system with only a starter CPU and then buy the other one. That's just asking for trouble. As per RAID, couldn't agree more. My current build is up and running (haven't updated the thread here in MR still until I get decent pics) but is lacking the 4 HDDs for the RAID. I am waiting for that since I want decent size HDDs (so I don't have to update later). Luckily, those WD RE3 1TB drives are going down in price pretty darn fast.
2. Yes, I was surprised at Intel for using a similar naming convention. I'd thought they'd at least use an extra letter or something to differentiate the CPUs.