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Worth the trade? Macbook Pro for Mac Pro

S

shadow25

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2010
23
0
I listed my Macbook Pro for sale on CL, and had an offer for a Mac Pro.. It looks like it's an older system. Would it be worth the trade?

15" MacBook Pro Mid-2009 Unibody (MacBookPro5,3)
Intel Core 2 Dou 2.8Ghz
4GB DDR3 1066Mhz
500GB Western Digital Blue 5400rpm
nVidia GeForce 9400M & 9600M GT
AntiGlare Screen


Mac Pro Specs
MacPro1,1
2x Intel Xeon X5355 2.66Ghz Quad Core
9GB DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM
2 x 500GB Hard Drives
nVidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB
Samsung 20" Monitor
Wired Mac Keyboard
Wireless Mighty Mouse

I have no clue what the Mac Pro is worth, or if they are reliable systems. I just ordered an i7 15" MBP, so portability isn't needed.

Before this, I've just been using my Core i7 ESXi Server via RDP for CPU Intensive Applications, but it would be nice to have that power as a native desktop and let my server actually just be a server.

Is it worth the trade?
 
wow

I think that's worth it. you get a screen and mouse, keyboard and stuff like that. and if your not satisfied with the CPU stuff I think you can change it to a newer one. I'm not sure about that but I'm sure that you can change or add a graphics card but only ones that work with the pro.
 
shadow25 said:
I listed my Macbook Pro for sale on CL, and had an offer for a Mac Pro.. It looks like it's an older system. Would it be worth the trade?

15" MacBook Pro Mid-2009 Unibody (MacBookPro5,3)
Intel Core 2 Dou 2.8Ghz
4GB DDR3 1066Mhz
500GB Western Digital Blue 5400rpm
nVidia GeForce 9400M & 9600M GT
AntiGlare Screen


Mac Pro Specs
MacPro1,1
2x Intel Xeon X5355 2.66Ghz Quad Core
9GB DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM
2 x 500GB Hard Drives
nVidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB
Samsung 20" Monitor
Wired Mac Keyboard
Wireless Mighty Mouse

I have no clue what the Mac Pro is worth, or if they are reliable systems. I just ordered an i7 15" MBP, so portability isn't needed.

Before this, I've just been using my Core i7 ESXi Server via RDP for CPU Intensive Applications, but it would be nice to have that power as a native desktop and let my server actually just be a server.

Is it worth the trade?
Click to expand...

As long as it's a working computer I think you're getting something better then you're giving. So why wouldn't you trade?
 
The trade is only worth it if you NEED a MacPro. Why are you selling your Macbook Pro? Do you need more power? Faster computer? For some things, the Macbook Pro is actually going to be faster. Where the Macpro is going to shine is if you are using applications that utilize all 4 cores. So, the value comes down to saving time... otherwise you are getting a rather outdated ball and chain space heater. You do realize that the 1,1 is the first MacPro that came out with Intel processors? I owned one when they first came out, but sold it last summer because it was getting slow. I could actually render some video out of After Effects faster on my Macbook Pro!
 
THX1139 said:
The trade is only worth it if you NEED a MacPro. Why are you selling your Macbook Pro? Do you need more power? Faster computer? For some things, the Macbook Pro is actually going to be faster. Where the Macpro is going to shine is if you are using applications that utilize all 4 cores. So, the value comes down to saving time... otherwise you are getting a rather outdated ball and chain space heater. You do realize that the 1,1 is the first MacPro that came out with Intel processors? I owned one when they first came out, but sold it last summer because it was getting slow. I could actually render some video out of After Effects faster on my Macbook Pro!
Click to expand...

I just bought a new Macbook Pro Core i7 and don't need my old one anymore.
 
comsider a thunderbolt and then selling you r macbp

the thing with the mac pro is it is really old and out of warranty so if it breaks down u r screwed it will be slightly faster then ur mbp on 4 core applications but only slightly on 2 core applications or 1 core the mbp will beat it also ur new mbp will be 3x faster then the old pro so consider that i would just keep ur pro with a thunderbolt monitor because for cpu intensive tasks the mbp new will be fast by a lot then all of them
 
robbie12345 said:
comsider a thunderbolt and then selling you r macbp

the thing with the mac pro is it is really old and out of warranty so if it breaks down u r screwed it will be slightly faster then ur mbp on 4 core applications but only slightly on 2 core applications or 1 core the mbp will beat it also ur new mbp will be 3x faster then the old pro so consider that i would just keep ur pro with a thunderbolt monitor because for cpu intensive tasks the mbp new will be fast by a lot then all of them
Click to expand...

Huh?

I have a new i7 MBP, and the Core2Dou MBP is the one for trade..

The C2D MBP is also out of warranty.
 
The Mac Pro's are solid machines, they seldom break down. I had one of these 1,1 and they are good machines, but they have some limitations. Memory is very expensive and slow compared to today's DDR3, the PCIe slots all run at the original 1,1 specification which means if you put a more up to date video card in the machine, it won't be able to fully utilize it. Being a dual CPU dual core machine, it has four cores in total, not sure if you'll ever be using any software that can utilize them. It will run Lion and all the latest software so its a useable machine, if you think you'll be able to use it then go for it, or if you think an iMac may be more useful look for a trade for one of those.
 
The 1,1 with 2 x5355 processors? Sounds like someone upgraded tbe processors! I'd go for the mac pro just for the fact the first gens are rock solid machines even up till now. With the upgraded processors, it's a great buy.
 
The X5355 models are QUADs. There being two of them, you get EIGHT cores (Not four as someone mentioned above). Just a quick reference, my Dell 690 with dual E5345 CPUs + 16GB RAM scores 8500 on geek bench. I'd expect this MP to be about the same, if not slightly higher.

They're solid machines, the only downside being the FB-DDR2 ram they take. Although I've bought quite a lot of sticks 2nd hand and saved an absolute fortune that way. And I don't think the PCIe slots being V1 slots are that important unless you buy a top of the range card to max out the slots.

Definitely worth it considering your MBP is a C2D, not an i7. As long as you don't need the portability i'd snap that up in a heartbeat (and I presume your knew MBP has the portability bit sorted).
 
It certainly is an upgrade. If you can actually make use of that Mac Pro I would go for it. If your just going to check e-mails and surf the web I'd still do it then sell it. With those quad core upgrades and RAM it must be worth more than the Macbook Pro.

As for trading to just use it for simple tasks then no. That thing is an electricity hog.
 
shadow25 said:
Huh?

I have a new i7 MBP, and the Core2Dou MBP is the one for trade..

The C2D MBP is also out of warranty.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't trade in that situation. It's not going to be much better under heavy load than either of the systems you have (i7 MBP and i7 server) and will be slower for general use. Personally I would never trade a 2 year old computer for a 5 year old one. Especially when parts for the Mac Pro are still quite expensive if anything fails. While they are quite reliable the logic board, memory, processors, power supplies and graphics cards are all places of failure.

Better off trying to get cash and putting it towards something else if you want a desktop - unless you really want an OS X system.
 
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