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Computer Expert Opinion Needed

Tags:
  • RAM
  • Computers
  • Systems
  • Macintosh
Last response: in Systems
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October 16, 2014 8:49:10 PM

My computer broke yesterday after 7 years of service. So I decided to buy a new computer as I was shopping around I came along some old mac pros from 2009. I am temped to buy one of these for about 500 dollars off ebay and put some extra ram in them to about 16 gb and new graphic card or cards down the road and probably an SSD. are these computers still worth it?
I am also worried about the compatibility of these computers with today's graphic cards and ram ( i think they are ddr3). Otherwise I would probably buy the new mac mini for the same price. I am open to some windows suggestions also. Thank you for the help!

More about : computer expert opinion needed

October 16, 2014 9:01:44 PM

What this computer going to be used for mainly? Mac Pros are workstation computers and the RAM is most likely workstation RAM. You should check that regular RAM is compatible with it. As far as GPUs, there is also the chance that you need to use a Macintosh compatible GPU which are usually much more expensive than the same type of GPU for a PC since the Mac variants are more rare. Going with a Windows rig is probably the cheaper option that would also give you a much wider range of upgrade options.
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October 16, 2014 9:01:57 PM

It depends. What are you using it for?
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October 16, 2014 9:05:01 PM

just some casual gaming (mostly football manager and CIV6) and some matlab computing.. Is there difference between workstation ram and ordinary ram??

btw this is the one I was looking at I found couple on ebay for around 500

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB871LL-2-66GHz-SuperDrive-...
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October 16, 2014 9:14:23 PM

xsamdagreatx said:
just some casual gaming (mostly football manager and CIV6) and some matlab computing.. Is there difference between workstation ram and ordinary ram??

btw this is the one I was looking at I found couple on ebay for around 500

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB871LL-2-66GHz-SuperDrive-...

Yes, that Mac Pro requires ECC memory. For your needs, you would be fine with a decent i5 setup. If you up your budget a bit, you can probably afford a brand new Haswell i5 PC. It would actually be faster and more efficient than the 6 year old Mac Pro. You could even check out some of the CPUs under the i5 like the overclockable Pentium G3258 which is only $60 on Tiger Direct right now and would also be better than the Mac Pro. With the Pentium, you could easily build a full rig with Windows and a decent GPU (it also has a halfway decent integrated GPU for free) for under $500.
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October 16, 2014 9:17:50 PM

I second what cub_fanatic said. If you are looking to build a computer, email me NoahTyler_2@yahoo.com, I could help you with it.
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