Looking at getting a secondhand Mac Pro

Smakked · 16th March 2012, 11:10 AM

Looking to getting one of these second hand, have a 27" iMac now but want more HDD space and more ram. What should i look out for on these buying secondhand? ANy failures i need to be aware off, budget is about 2.5k.

damo13579 · 16th March 2012, 11:51 AM

mac pro's are usually pretty solid machines, few things to look out for
-check the ram, have seen a few cases of people spending 5k on a mac pro with a good CPU then throw the cheapest ram they could find on ebay into them.

-don't get one with no warranty or applecare , for what you are Spending this should be easy. While they are usually pretty stable if something does break it can be pretty expensive.

what kind of specs were you after?

~Coxy · 16th March 2012, 12:27 PM

Make sure to get a 2009 or 2010 model.
Single-CPU models are easier to upgrade.

Be aware that a Hackintosh will be faster and a lot cheaper.

damo13579 · 16th March 2012, 12:31 PM

can get a refurb from apple for 2.5k http://store.apple.com/au/product/FC560X/A

Smakked · 16th March 2012, 1:29 PM

Thanks for that Damo, can that be upgraded to dual cpu i have access to a heap of cpus from work from server upgrades

psyco18 · 16th March 2012, 5:32 PM

normally you cant upgrade from a single to dual cpu's without swapping out the motherboard ( on 2006 + 2007 models ) or the daughterboard on 2008+ models.

Smakked · 16th March 2012, 7:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psyco18

normally you cant upgrade from a single to dual cpu's without swapping out the motherboard ( on 2006 + 2007 models ) or the daughterboard on 2008+ models.

Thanks mate thats what i needed to know

Paronga · 16th March 2012, 7:20 PM

for that money you should be able to get a single socket macpro 4,1.

i spend about 1.5k and got a 3,1 macpro with 2x quad core 2.88 and 10gb ram.
it's ddr2 ram, so it's really expensive to upgrade.

But, having said that, this machine with the SSD and a beast!

plasticbastard · 17th March 2012, 12:12 AM

http://store.apple.com/au/product/FC560X/A

Zardoz · 25th March 2012, 7:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smakked

Looking to getting one of these second hand, have a 27" iMac now but want more HDD space and more ram. What should i look out for on these buying secondhand? ANy failures i need to be aware off, budget is about 2.5k.

You can put third party memory in the iMac to run it at 32GB... and there's always the option of FW800/thunderbolt storage.

Smakked · 26th March 2012, 9:22 PM

Still tossing up options at the moment, even the Hackintosh route, just seeing whats out there

Paronga · 31st March 2012, 11:16 AM

hackintosh is not the true apple experience.

i don't understand why people would do it. If you need to run a mac app, you'll want your whole system to be stable.

Updates can kill a hackintosh at any time. If it's business critical, you'd want to be careful.

if you don't need the server spec hardware of a mac pro, just get an imac and use firewire for external drives. You'll never notice the difference. Firewire is incredibly stable compared to USB and for HDDs you wont be missing the speed

i went mac pro.
I've never looked back

~Coxy · 2nd April 2012, 11:44 AM

If you're business critical (no indication that the OP is) then you pretty much don't update anyway since any update can kill any Mac, real or not.

OP is PC-savvy, on a budget and needs power. A hackintosh is perfect for him, otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. I wouldn't give my grandma one.

Dark Passenger · 12th April 2012, 10:17 AM

hackintosh for affordability and tinker aspect i want a mac pro too but im not dropping 2.5k whan i can spend half that and get the same spec hack. Saying that though the mac pro's are damn sexy.

Smakked · 12th April 2012, 10:46 AM

Well went the hackintosh with a modded g5 case, so far so good, was going to get a Mac pro and probably will but will buy new and wait for a refresh if rumors are true, they are going to upgrade to Ivy Bridge, give me some more time to get cash together aswell instead of putting it on the CC.

16th March 2012, 11:10 AM	#1
Smakked Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Goldcoast Posts: 2,049	Looking at getting a secondhand Mac Pro Looking to getting one of these second hand, have a 27" iMac now but want more HDD space and more ram. What should i look out for on these buying secondhand? ANy failures i need to be aware off, budget is about 2.5k.

16th March 2012, 11:51 AM	#2
damo13579 Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ulverstone, Tasmania Posts: 564	mac pro's are usually pretty solid machines, few things to look out for -check the ram, have seen a few cases of people spending 5k on a mac pro with a good CPU then throw the cheapest ram they could find on ebay into them. -don't get one with no warranty or applecare , for what you are Spending this should be easy. While they are usually pretty stable if something does break it can be pretty expensive. what kind of specs were you after? __________________ Sharktoon T9 (green), Asrock 970 Extreme3, AMD 1090T, Corsair H70, Antec Quattro 850W PSU, 2x4Gb Corsair ddr3 1600, XFX GTX295 1792MB , Seagate Barracuda 1TB, Win7 Home Premium 64bit, Aoc 2236Vwh, Logitech X-140, Microsoft Sidewinder X4 + X5. When you are up to your nose in crap, it pays to keep your mouth shut

16th March 2012, 12:31 PM	#4
damo13579 Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ulverstone, Tasmania Posts: 564	can get a refurb from apple for 2.5k http://store.apple.com/au/product/FC560X/A __________________ Sharktoon T9 (green), Asrock 970 Extreme3, AMD 1090T, Corsair H70, Antec Quattro 850W PSU, 2x4Gb Corsair ddr3 1600, XFX GTX295 1792MB , Seagate Barracuda 1TB, Win7 Home Premium 64bit, Aoc 2236Vwh, Logitech X-140, Microsoft Sidewinder X4 + X5. When you are up to your nose in crap, it pays to keep your mouth shut

16th March 2012, 5:32 PM	#6
psyco18 Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: 3172 Posts: 287	normally you cant upgrade from a single to dual cpu's without swapping out the motherboard ( on 2006 + 2007 models ) or the daughterboard on 2008+ models. __________________ www.gaming-biz.net Cheap Gaming Servers!

16th March 2012, 12:27 PM	#3
~Coxy Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Cannington, WA Posts: 1,196	Make sure to get a 2009 or 2010 model. Single-CPU models are easier to upgrade. Be aware that a Hackintosh will be faster and a lot cheaper.

16th March 2012, 1:29 PM	#5
Smakked Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Goldcoast Posts: 2,049	Thanks for that Damo, can that be upgraded to dual cpu i have access to a heap of cpus from work from server upgrades

17th March 2012, 12:12 AM	#9
plasticbastard Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 3,941	http://store.apple.com/au/product/FC560X/A

26th March 2012, 9:22 PM	#11
Smakked Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Goldcoast Posts: 2,049	Still tossing up options at the moment, even the Hackintosh route, just seeing whats out there

2nd April 2012, 11:44 AM	#13
~Coxy Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Cannington, WA Posts: 1,196	If you're business critical (no indication that the OP is) then you pretty much don't update anyway since any update can kill any Mac, real or not. OP is PC-savvy, on a budget and needs power. A hackintosh is perfect for him, otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. I wouldn't give my grandma one.

12th April 2012, 10:46 AM	#15
Smakked Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Goldcoast Posts: 2,049	Well went the hackintosh with a modded g5 case, so far so good, was going to get a Mac pro and probably will but will buy new and wait for a refresh if rumors are true, they are going to upgrade to Ivy Bridge, give me some more time to get cash together aswell instead of putting it on the CC.