Which second hand Mac Pro to choose

Hello,
Now I am using a 21,5" iMac with a cinema display 20". It has a 3,06 core 2 duo processor - 8gb - 1TB. My iMac has been to the repair so often because of the LED displays. I want a mac without a LED display and just want to use my 20" and hopefully another 20" or an 23" cinema display.
I got 4 Mac Pro's with different prices and I don't know what to choose. One thing I know for sure and that is I want a faster Mac Pro than my iMac is now. I want the same or a better graphic card.
1. Mac pro 1,1 - 2 x 2,66 processor - 14gb - 2 x 2TB (It has 4 x 2tb and asks €2000) I don't have that money so I asked for 2 x 2 tb and he is willing to do that. This Mac Pro comes with a 23" cinema display. I said I want it for €1300 euro, but I did not have an reply yet.
2. Mac Pro 3,1 - 2 x 2,8(quad core) processor - 4gb - 1,8 TB --> €1300
Ati Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
3. Mac Pro 4,1 - 1 x 2,66 (quad core) processor - 12gb - 640 gb --> €1350
NVIDIA GeForce
4. Mac Pro 1,1 - 2 x 2,66 processor - 6gb - 1 TB --> €750
GeForce 7300 GT 256 VIDEOCARD
Best regards,
Cathelijne

Mac Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Xeon E5462 2.8 GHz (8 cores) 9231
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Intel Xeon W3520 2.67 GHz (4 cores) 8273
http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/
I don't see that as enough to go back to 2008 with older (hotter, more expensive, less) RAM.
And if you were up to and wanted, 2009 and 2010 made processor upgrades easy. For $325:
http://ark.intel.com/products/39721/Intel-Xeon-Processor-W3565-%288M-Cache-3_20- GHz-4_80-GTs-Intel-QPI%29
http://www.buy.com/prod/intel-xeon-up-w3565-3-20-ghz-processor-socket-b-lga-1366 -quad-core-4/214920778.html
Look at the score that W3565 gives, and if you look around and browse take you into 10-11k benchscores.
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/497952

Similar Messages

Buying a second hand mac pro or iMac?

After a fan failure (leaving the HD the only part that hasn't been replaced), I do worry about my 2009 Macbook Pro's longeivity and if it's worth picking up another machine for audio work or not. My concern is if I end up doing something like putting an SSD in my Macbook Pro and then the logic board fails or something, it's just wasted money.
Can't really go for a new machine, as I cant afford it, still use Logic 8, still use OSX 10.6.8 and have invested in a decent Firewire interface, so I'll need an older machine and was thinking a desktop would be more beneficial and then I can just use my MBP for other things and run it into the ground.
Options are either a 2009 Mac Pro or a 2011 iMac. This will be solely for home studio purposes, where I run average sized projects (20 tracks minimum) and do some multitrack recording etc. My laptop has 8GB RAM, 2.53gHZ processor and can generally hold on OK (occasional system overloads with CPU intensive plug-ins) so I won't need once that's fully decked out but something that will hopefully keep me going for a few more years.
Obviously my main concerns when buying an older computer is how long they last, so I'd be interested to hear from people about their experience with buying second hand computers of a similar age/spec. The iMacs tend to run slightly cheaper, but are running a similar spec to my current laptop (obviously the processor in the iMacs is a quad core) but the Mac Pros allow a lot more flexibility in upgrading.
I'm definitely a 'run things into the ground' kind of guy and am still very happy using an old version of Logic etc so upgrading that kind of stuff isn't something I'm particularly interested in doing unless it's a last resort. Understandably, I don't want to shell out for a 2009 Mac Pro which could have everything fail on me a year down the line, but I don't feel the need to have the most current spec computer.

2009 MacBook Pro:
putting an SSD in my Macbook Pro and then the logic board fails or something, it's just wasted money.
In the 2009 MacBook Pro model, SSD is installed as a 2.5" drive with a standard SATA interface in a little metal can. It is not a "throw away". That drive that can be adapted to a sled in a Mac Pro 42 lb silver tower, or placed in an external enclosure for use with any Mac. (Macs can boot from any specified drive, internal or external.)
SSD uses less power, and is completely silent, and fast. Did I mention that practically all of them are fast?
The Mac Pro (42 lb silver tower) can continue to be upgraded slightly and will keep working as long as you are willing to keep it in good repair. It is more compelling if you need Large memory, add-on cards, or multiple-processor speed. 2009 model Mac Pro 4,1 and later are superior. Do not pay money for a model older than the 2009 model.
In my opinion, the iMac, with its more limited upgrade possibilities has the same problem as buying an acoustic piano for your home. ¿In a few years, will I own a really awful mechanism inside a great piece of furniture [great display]?

Need help on purchasing a second hand Mac Pro

In the market for a new computer for Photoshop and a bit of video editing. Currently looking on Ebay etc. Before I buy, what year should I be looking for and how much should I be expecting to pay to get value for money? I'm located in Australia, Victoria.
Thank you.

From this low end Mac article, slightly edited:
http://lowendmac.com/deals/best-mac-pro-prices.html
"Primate Labs has posted Geekbench results for all the Mac Pro models since 2006. Here are some of the numbers:
2.0 GHz 4-core 2006, 3952
2.66 GHz 4-core 2006, 5089
2.8 GHz 4-core 2008, 5573
3.0 GHz 4-core 2006, 5655
2.66 GHz 4-core 2009, 8216
2.8 GHz 8-core 2008, 8826
3.0 GHz 8-core 2007, 8926
2.93 GHz 4-core 2009, 8952
3.0 GHz 8-core 2008, 9198
3.2 GHz 8-core 2008, 9730
3.2 GHz 4-core 2010, 9864 - preliminary (** this line adjusted closer to actual performance ** )
2.26 GHz 8-core 2009, 11735
3.33 Ghz 6-core 2010 14232 ** This line added **
2.66 GHz 8-core 2009, 14268
2.93 GHz 8-core 2009, 15043
2.93 GHz 8-core 2010, 16025 - first report (** this line adjusted closer to actual performance ** )
2.93 Ghz 12-core 2010, 21530 - first report (** this line adjusted closer to actual performance ** )
http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/
If you compare geekbench scores of 2.8Ghz 8-core to 2009 2.93GHz QUAD core, their results are nearly identical. In addition, the 2009 and 2010 memories run much cooler.
When I was faced with updating my Macs to Intel, I could not bring myself to buy ones older than 2009. That is amazing because I am way too cheap to buy new in most cases.

I have been given a second hand mac pro that does not have a wifi card in it. my router is down stairs so can not connect the mac pro direct into the router can i use my time capsule which uses wifi to my router to connect to the internet?

I ha

If you have a non-Apple "main" router, then "join" would have been the only way it could connect.
Unfortunately, the Time Capsule does not provide any routing functions in this type of setup, so the Ethernet ports are not enabled in this setting.
If you have an Apple "main" router, it may be possible to enable the Ethernet ports in another type of setting. Then you could connect the old Mac to one of the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule for Internet access.

Install iLife on 2nd hand MAC Pro running 10.7.5

Hi, please forgive my ignorance, as I'm not at all tech savvy.
I've found a few threads which come close-ish to what I'm looking for, but I'm feeling a little timid and uncertain about proceeding, so I do hope some kind person can help me understand what I need to do.
The situation is - after almost 7 years, (and three hard drives!) my iMAC has yet again given up the ghost.
My husband has come home with a second hand Mac Pro, purchased refurbished, as is, from his place of work.
This is the machine I'm currently working on, having just got it all set up and net connected.
The issue is, I desperately need to have access to my iLife software, especially iPhoto, and iDVD, as I am up against a tight schedule to produce a slide show tribute for a funeral service a day an a half from now.
The Pro does not have any of these applications installed.
It was sold to us without any installation discs - I assume because it came from an office where a large number of machines would have been running on a network.
I thought, no probolem, I'll just get into the app store and pay for the downloads.
Unfortunately, the available versions require a later version of the OS.
The iMAC I owned prior - the one that just failed on me - originally came bundled with Tiger, and included the iLife apps.
I later purchased and upgraded to Snow Leopard.
I still have my tiger and Snow Leopard discs.
Is it possible to safely install my iLife applications from somewhere on my older licensed install discs, without interfering with the OS on the new (old, but new to me) MAC Pro?
If so, how do I go about this?
I'm sorry to ask such basic level questions. I think I can do this, but my experience levels are not much past total newbie, and I'm worried about messing something up and being left with no functioning machine again, right at a time when I desperately need everything working smoothly.
Thanks in anticipation of your help.

Further to the above.
After a bit of poking about, I now believe iLife may in fact have been pre-installed on the iMAC and therefore not on the install discs.
I have no problems buying new versions, if only they were compatible with my curret OS.
Likewise, I'd be happy to buy the Lion OS, or any later version comapible with this Pro, just to have a valid copy.
ALso, so that I have reinstall capability if the system goes down.
Problem is, I need the applications now, and I don't know whether any stores in my area would be open tomorrow and able to sell me the discs. I haven't really got the time for the 2 - 3 hur round trip to get to the nearest vendor that just might be open. If I had a few days up my sleeve, it wouldn't be an issue, but I have to make this slide show and create a playable DVD of it within the next 24 hours.

How can I register a second hand mac book to my apple account?

I just bought a second hand mac book, and I would like to register it to ;y account to be able to access things (like my ibooks) registered from my iPad directly on my mac book.
the previous owner asked the apple supprt and they said I need to contact them to make them update the information about this mac book to my account, but I can't contact them because the mac book does not have any guarantee anymore ... I don't need a technical supprt, just need to update the mac book information to my accound.
what ca I do?

thnaks for the answer. The previous owner asked apple care to disassociate the mac but they said that the new owner needs to contact them so that they can update the ownership (apparently they can't leave it with nobody).
In fact the previous owner erased the HDD, and as it is my first mac book, I did not have any licence to re-install it so we re-installed it with his accout.
the previous owner used the chat support, but I can't find it

Which model of Mac Pro Tower can take 64BG RAM?

Hi everyone,
Been searching and going around in circles to find the true answer to this so I figured I'd just make this post.
EXACTLY which models of Mac Pro Tower can take 64GB of RAM. Looking on websites like OWC and asking people and I'm getting conflicting information and getting confused.
THANKS!

1. Yes.
2. Yes; Apple doesn’t update its specifications when higher capacity RAM becomes available. A few models require more recent firmware versions and/or OSes installed to reach the actual limit.
(115360)

How to Reset Second Hand Mac Mini?

I'm about to purchase a second hand mac mini from ebay. It's the MD387LL/A model. I've verified that it is still under the one year warranty.
How do I reset the mac mini so that:
I get a factory fresh install so it's like new
The one year warranty will be in my name/appleID
I can purchase an AppleCare extended warranty and apply it to this unit that I'm purchasing.
Any advice? Am I going to need the previous owner to do anything to it? Or can I do this on my own without their help?
Thanks!

1. To get factory fresh boot into recovery partition and reinstall the OS. See:
OS X: About OS X Recovery
2, Yes if the person delete the Mini from his profile
My Support Profile
so you can register it
Apple - Product Registration - Welcome
3.yes

I have just required a second hand mac and when I try to download a song or import a cd to iTunes an error notice says that I am not priveledged to make changes? The preference settings and apple I'd seem to be ok. How do I fix this?

I have just required a second hand mac and when I try to download a song or import a cd to iTunes an error notice says that I am not priveledged to make changes? The preference settings and apple I'd seem to be ok. How do I fix this?

Greetings,
I've never seen this issue, and I handle many iPads, of all versions. WiFi issues are generally local to the WiFi router - they are not all of the same quality, range, immunity to interference, etc. You have distance, building construction, and the biggie - interference.
At home, I use Apple routers, and have no issues with any of my WiFi enabled devices, computers, mobile devices, etc - even the lowly PeeCees. I have locations where I have Juniper Networks, as well as Aruba, and a few Netgears - all of them work as they should.
The cheaper routers, Linksys, D-Link, Seimens home units, and many other no name devices have caused issues of various kinds, and even connectivity.
I have no idea what Starbucks uses, but I always have a good connection, and I go there nearly every morning and get some work done, as well as play.
You could try changing channels, 2.4 to 5 Gigs, changing locations of the router. I have had to do all of these at one time or another over the many years that I have been a Network Engineer.
Good Luck - Cheers,
M.

I have a second hand mac mini running os x yosimite and it wont allow me to update iphoto nor will it allow me to open iphoto that is already there any suggestions?

i have a second hand mac mini running os x yosimite and it wont allow me to update iphoto nor will it allow me to open iphoto that is already there any suggestions?

Sure - give us something to work with
You question is currently like My car won't start - any suggestions?
what version of iPhoto? What has changed since it worked correctly? What happens when you try to update (exact message) iPhoto? What happens when you try to open iPhoto (again exact message)?
For a used system the installed software belongs to he seller - yon need to purchase your own copies and install
LN

I bought a second hand Macbook Pro and colorful stud Only after a few months I decided to reformat it Bad movie started here I did not get it with a disc and I come to install the operating system And he asks the name of Apple's user ID financed had been

I bought a second hand Macbook Pro and colorful stud
Only after a few months I decided to reformat it
Bad movie started here I did not get it with a disc and I come to install the operating system
And he asks the name of Apple's user ID financed had been bought Lion OS Now
And who sold me does not answer then I found the phone number of his mother
She said he lived in USA and paid him more than the lion version of the MacBook and now I can not install Lion
And I'm not from USA

Unless you go back to the original owner, yes you need to pay for it again.
You're entitled to the OS that shipped with the device from Apple, but if you don't have that media there's nothing you can really do. If the system originally shipped with 10.7 or 10.8 then when you boot it to Internet Recovery, it will automatically offer you that OS version (as the serial # is registered with Apple). If it shipped with an older OS, then you need to enter the Apple ID that purchased 10.7 or 10.8. You didn't purchase it so that's not you.
The options you have are to buy Lion for $29 US (I don't know the price in Palestine), or Mountain Lion for $19 US (don't know the price in Palestine either), and install from scratch.
And it's a good idea to know you have restore media before you reformat your machine.

How to reinstall ilife in a second hand mac

Hi I found several tthreats with this problem. after reinstalling mac os lion, ilife suite is not available. If this is a second owner, with different apple id than the first one, app store will not allow them to download the apps.
The solution in the forums work in other cases: same owner reinstalling mac os and ilife, for example. Others just plainly suggest to buy them, which is neither possible, since app store does not allow you, because the mac "has" the apps already. here is the solution /thumbs up fro apple genius bar!!!
ANOTHER SOLUTION TO GET BACK ILIFE AFTER FRESH INSTALL OF MAC OS
I went to the apple store and told them exactly what i did> purchased the mac from the original owner, fresh install of Mac OS lion, ilife apps not appearing and unable to downloead because " they were assigned to another id". The woman smiled, got a hard drive with ilife suite, and installed. She said anyone could solve the problem if they had a copy of ilife in a dvd. She says this problem started when mac os was shipped with ilife installed, but without the bundled dvd or original dmg file.
Of course, she suggested me to buy the new apps, but i declined. I could have also order a hard copy of ilife from applecare, thought. So, for those without a mac store nearby, it is a potential solution. Please note that the mac have had always the right to have the apps, so it is a legal installation.
good luck to all! it is possible to recover the ilife.
Sorry for not putting it as a question, but i got the answers, hopefully helpful to others.

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
Apple doesn't sell the iLife apps on a disk any longer and Apple Care doesn't sell Apple software, the Apple Retail store does. The apps this "Apple emplyee" placed for free on your Mac are not the same versions of the apps that came preinstalled on the Mac and they are not the Mac App Store (MAS) versions. And they will not be udates by the MAS. You may be able to get updates through Software Update.
I doubt that it is a policy of Apple to have its employees installing the iLife apps from an old disk for free on 2nd hand Macs, so others trying to get this done may not be successful.

Disable Second Monitor Mac Pro

I have a nice new Mac Pro system with the standard Nvidia 7300 Video card. I connected a second dipslay to it today to watch some videos on my 32" HDTV. However I noticed that the video really suffers when both displays are active in extend mode. The video stutters and I encounter a lot of "image slicing" that is really distracting. I found that if I watch the videos in mirror mode everything is fine. Here comes the question is there a way to disable the seond display when I am not using it? I used to do this all of the itme on my Windows box I could just click disable secondary display and it would turn off and I wold be back to a single monitor config without manually unplugging the seond monitor. Anyone got any ideas?

According to this thread, SwitchResX allows you to do exactly what you're looking for. It's right on the webpage:
You can disable or deactivate a monitor without having to physically unplug it, allowing you to use a laptop in clamshell mode with external monitor, keyboard and mouse

Which configuration of Mac Pro?

I am trying to decide on the correct configuration for a new Mac Pro. However I have searched and digested so much advice, I’m further away from making a decision than I was before my search began.
The choices I have over here in the UK are:
Quad-Core
1 x 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” processor
3GB (three 1GB) memory
1 x 640GB hard drive
18x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB
8-Core
2 x 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” processor
6GB (six 1GB) memory
1 x 640GB hard drive
18x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB
My original plan was to opt for the first option(Quad-Core), but not sure whether to up the RAM to 6GB and upgrade the Graphics card to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB.
My main workflow consists of 3D modelling for concept art in Photoshop.
I have Adobe Creative Suite 1 and understand that I will have to run this package under Rosetta due to it not being Universal. However I am hoping to upgrade Photoshop only to CS4 and then use Illustrator and InDesign under Rosetta.
The remaining aps. are as follows:
Pixologic Zbrush (system requirements):
3.12 Macintosh
OS: Mac OSX 10.5 or newer
CPU: Intel Macintosh
RAM: 1024MB (2048MB recommended for working with multi-million-polys)
Monitor: 1024x768 monitor resolution set to Millions of Colours (recommended: 1280x1024 or higher.
Smithmicro Poser:(system requirements):
Mac OSX 10.4 or 10.5 (10.5 required fro 64-bit rendering)
700MHz G4 processor (Intel Core Duo or 1Ghz or faster recommended) 64-bit CPU required for 64-bit rendering)
512MB system RAM (1GB or more recommended)
OpenGL enabled graphics card or chipset recommended (recent NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon preferred)
24-bit colour display, 1024 x 768 resolution
1GB free hard disk space (4GB recommended)
Etc
My monitor is: Samsung T220 22” TFT, 1680x1050:1 2ms VGA/DVI, which is connected via Belkin Switch 2 for PC DVI-D 2 Ports Audio/KVM Switch.
I’m also wondering whether it is worth adding AppleCare protection plan to the package.
I would obviously like to keep my budget as low as possible. However I don't want to sacrifice the performance.
I think the first option would be suitable as the base line system but do I need to prepare or set the system up to cope with any developments in the near future?
I would be extremely grateful for any input on the details above to help make my decision easier.
Thank you in advance.

I think you would do well with last year's 2008, more bang for the buck and good savings on everything.... and there are half a dozen models as of Monday - some go fast. Off the shelf as well as rendering.
8 core is ideal and Apple FCP or Compressor 3+ are very much being optimized for as many cores and cpu as you can throw at it.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_pro
Intel spend over $2B in R&D on Nehalem and Xeon 3500/5500 series (and the desktop Core i7 and i5) as we move to more cores and registers. A 4-core 2009 though the cost of faster clock speed goes up astronomically compared to the past much more costly.
You can build a single quad core using Xeon W3540 for $340 and clock that puppy up to 5.5GHz without trouble, server cpu can really take the clocking and heat. But an 8-core 2008 for $2400 really can hold its own, it is no slouch even now over a year since it came out.
Cost:performance benefit is something Barefeats has tried to answer in 7-8 tests on Nehalem and comparing to past builds.
I would not worry about 4-5 yr longevity. I'd buy what you need and figure in 2 yrs OS X and 3rd party software will catch up or surpass and more efficient system design and hardware. Any benefit from Snow will benefit a 2008; and 10.6 won't see mature drivers and code for a year, and 2009 only just came out.
Brand new is not your best business model.

Which OS for Mac Pro (3,1) 2 x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon?

I purchased my Mac Pro 3,1 2 x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 10.5 (Leopard)-
I want to wipe the disc clean and clean install lion.
I do know that sometimes it's better for older configurations to stay with "older" OS platforms....???
thanks

Is there not a full 10.7 OS Disc?
There is no official DVD at all, but there is a thumb drive with both 106 and 10.7 on it for US$70.
On an older Mac, about 2010 or older, you need access to one of:
• The Mac App Store ( such as on a Mac with a working 10.6.8 or better)
• working Recovery HD
• a bootable 10.7 Installer, on thumb drive, Hard drive, or DVD
So for ONE 2010 or older Mac with a bad drive, you would have to buy the US$70 Apple thumb drive, or have previously made a DVD or Hard Drive when you previously downloaded 10.7. Or you re-install 10.6.8 then overwrite it with the downloaded 10.7.
• another Mac with 10.7 installed so you could transfer Recovery HD to the down Mac with "Lion Recovery Disk Assistant"
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery Disk Assistant
On some 2010 and most 2011 models, if Recovery HD is messed up or not Installed, but you have a working Broadband connection [with DHCP enabled], the Firmware has been upgraded so it will boot from the Internet and do the whole job using "Lion Internet Recovery" as described in the second section of this glossy article:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/
If no DHCP is available [no Router upstream, either yours or your ISP's], it may not work.

Which second hand Mac Pro to choose

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