Building a MacPro

[newtech]

The octocore Mac Pro 2,1 board is a newer revision of the 1,1 board. About the only noticeable physical change is the new position of the CPU_B thermal sensor connector ( no longer under the riser cage ).

 

The only reported instance of trying Harpertowns on the older boards was a no go.

[RouteZeroDesign]

First of all, amazing build, i have been hoping to do this for a long time as i just cant afford the price of a full on macpro.

 

Just as a matter of interest, is there a list available on the net of processors that fit the macpro logic board?

I was wondering would it be possible to fit two qx6850s onto the logic board, but i think the qx6850 is socket 775 and the xeon is 640 or something like that.

 

I ask this because my dad knows the ex-head of intel ireland and he can get processors for me at cost price, so what would be the best processor i could go for?

[nagal]

First of all, amazing build, i have been hoping to do this for a long time as i just cant afford the price of a full on macpro.Just as a matter of interest, is there a list available on the net of processors that fit the macpro logic board?I was wondering would it be possible to fit two qx6850s onto the logic board, but i think the qx6850 is socket 775 and the xeon is 640 or something like that.I ask this because my dad knows the ex-head of intel ireland and he can get processors for me at cost price, so what would be the best processor i could go for?

In theory any Woodcrest or Clovertown Xeon should work and the older Dempsey may even work but why use those? All of these are LGA 771 no LGA 775 is going to work. Period. Now if you can get a hold of one of the new early 2008 Mac Pro logic boards then you can add Harpertown to that list.Now Apple used the following CPUs (I might have missed one or two but these were the most common for sure)2.0 GHz Xeon 5130 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)2.66 GHz Xeon 5150 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)3.0 GHz Xeon 5160 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)3.0 GHz Xeon X5365 - Clovertown (Quad Core)Since you can get these at cost and assuming money is not any issue, it would seem silly to get anything other than the X5365s. I do not know if the E5450 Xeon will work in the Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 logic boards but if they do, I would get those over the X5365.Here is the Intel comparsion chart of all the 5100 series Xeonshttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/xe...n5000+tab_specs

 

Edit

 

Okay I found an interesting doc from Intel on the new 1600 FSB Harpertown Xeons. According to it, they WILL work with the 5000X chipset. Does this mean that the Mac Pro Logic board will function? Dont know. The memory would have to be replaced with the new higher speed FB-DIMMs. There is nothing physically different between the 667 MHz and 800 MHz FB-DIMMs so they should work in the old memory risers as well. It really all depends if the Mac Pro logic board can handle the increased FSB without problems and if it will even recognize the higher FSB and run the processors at it.Here is the link to the dochttp://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart.asp...p;culture=en-US

[newtech]

5000X chipset has max FSB of 1333 MHz, so putting 1600 Mhz FSB Xeons on the old board is not of any value as they will declock/underclock by that 25%.

 

Xeons used in Mac Pro's....

 

Macpro 1,1 ( 1333 MHz FSB )

 

2 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5130

 

2.66 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5150

 

3.0 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5160

 

Also known to work E5110(1.60), E5120(1.86), E5140(2.33), E5305(1.60), E5310(1.86), E5320(2.00), E5330(2.13), E5340(2.40) BSEL mod will raise 53x0 by 25%

 

E54xx/X54xx have not been shown to work.

 

Mac Pro 2,1 ( 1333 MHz FSB )

 

3.0 GHz 2 X 4 core = X5365

 

All 51xx and 53xx should work.

 

Mac Pro 3,1 ( 1600 MHz FSB )

 

2.83 GHz 1 X 4 and 2 X 4 core = E5462

 

3.0 GHz 2 X 4 core = X5472 ( as per evidence on geek bench results site )

 

3.2 GHz 2 X 4 Core = X5482

[RouteZeroDesign]

Thanks for the reply guys, i wasnt expecting such a fast reply seeing as it isnt even my thread.

Theoretically, if i bought a mac pro with say 2 x 2.83ghz processors on it, would i be able to swap them out for two 3.2ghz models?

 

I have searched on google and havent really came up with any answers if its possilbe to upgrade the macpro's cpu.

[newtech]

2.8 and 3.0 use the same motherboard, 3.2 has a different motherboard, so I'd say 2.8 ->3.2 might pose problems.

[RouteZeroDesign]

Okay cheers mate, this whole thing is getting very complicated....it shouldnt be where your hobby is as stressful as your job lol

 

Newayz im not gonna hijack nagals thread, i think i have all the info i need now so back to the macpro madness

[Dainas]

A mac built bit by bit reminds me of the old story of the $80k ford Explorer. Surprised it did not turn out worse from how much of a godawful ripoff places like Mac-Pro are for most stuff. But that goes for all 'mac specialist', every time one comes along with fair prices they always turn out to be a fraud.

[Kane Adams]

Now your almost done did you save any from building your own or would you have done better/same just buying one from apple.

[RouteZeroDesign]

Nagal-

You bought a new logicboard from apple palace right? is this from the 1.1, 2.1 or 3.1 mac pro?

 

Also do you know if the logicboard in the macpro was built by intel for apple? along with the cpu coolers?

If the logicboard is made by Intel then i will 100% go down this route as i will be able to save myself allot of money.

 

UK members- Where have you found the macpro case for sale? i have looked on ebay but they are all located in america

[Harloe]

I have found no Mac Pro cases in the UK either, only the US and they are over £200! I will have to hope for a miracle or lottery win. lol

 

We new Mac Pro builders should all build one and show them off, like a car show xD Would be fun =P

[teknojunkie]

I have found no Mac Pro cases in the UK either, only the US and they are over £200! I will have to hope for a miracle or lottery win. lol

 

We new Mac Pro builders should all build one and show them off, like a car show xD Would be fun =P

 

dude if you checked on ebay like 3 weeks ago there was alot I bought 2 for $270

[Harloe]

I saw one but it had the back panel removed, I'll have to time it right next time =P

[RouteZeroDesign]

The Mac Pro MLB was designed by intel and is loosely based on their 5000VSX server reference board. It is an Extended ATX form factor.

 

I think that just answered my question and has pushed this idea to critical mass.

 

Though it pains me that i have to wait until monday to ring the guy

 

Until then il start working out prices of the other parts i will need

[DrDigital]

I plan to order both the power supply and the case (v2) tomorrow. I would like word on applepalace.com logic board, I would like to do a dual quad core, wonderng if I could buy 1 processor 'today' and use it till 'tomorrow' and then buy a 2nd processor same specs (would like to get like a 3ghz) Also do I HAVE to have 2 riser cards? or can you buy 1 and max it out? Also... Those to me seemed like huge heat sinks, any chance i could just use apples heat sinks so i wont have the tempature sensor and add water cooling? I wouldnt mind running a hose out the back of the computer and attaching the rescover to the back... Then again i never done a water cooled system. I just do video editing with my Mac Mini Core Duo 1.66ghz with a firewire drive as my boot drive and ram is maxed at 2 gigs and it just takes forever and i am about to start producing bluray media and i can do it with thisMy little brother owes me $3K and gets his tax return soon so I'll have plenty of money plus im selling 4 of my pcs and a bunch of wireless gear and networking gear on my ebay store and auctioning. Id also be selling this mac if i had that system. I got 3 TB of disk space so i really dont want to spend the money a brand new macintosh cost. plus any savings id want to pay some credit cards off with.Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)

[Aggg45]

Please Please Please do a Geekbench score I would love to see how a self made mac pro would compare to a apple mac pro's in performance

 

list of current mac scores:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/12/mac...-december-2007/

 

amazing work, I would love to have a go myself

[newtech]

I plan to order both the power supply and the case (v2) tomorrow. I would like word on applepalace.com logic board, I would like to do a dual quad core, wonderng if I could buy 1 processor 'today' and use it till 'tomorrow' and then buy a 2nd processor same specs (would like to get like a 3ghz) Also do I HAVE to have 2 riser cards? or can you buy 1 and max it out? Also... Those to me seemed like huge heat sinks, any chance i could just use apples heat sinks so i wont have the tempature sensor and add water cooling? I wouldnt mind running a hose out the back of the computer and attaching the rescover to the back... Then again i never done a water cooled system. I just do video editing with my Mac Mini Core Duo 1.66ghz with a firewire drive as my boot drive and ram is maxed at 2 gigs and it just takes forever and i am about to start producing bluray media and i can do it with thisMy little brother owes me $3K and gets his tax return soon so I'll have plenty of money plus im selling 4 of my pcs and a bunch of wireless gear and networking gear on my ebay store and auctioning. Id also be selling this mac if i had that system. I got 3 TB of disk space so i really dont want to spend the money a brand new macintosh cost. plus any savings id want to pay some credit cards off with.Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)

 

Riser cards are normally sold in pairs ( at least from Mac-Pro and ApplePalace ) ~$90.00/pr. It is perfectly possible to use one dual or quad core CPU, so long as it is in the CPU_A socket. the apple heat sinks are ~$100.00 ea for ver1 or ~$200.00 ea for ver2 ( gaskets and advanced thermal compound ). It is recommended that both CPU, when using two, be the same stepping.

 

For production/retail Xeons SL9xx is B3 stepping, SLAxx is C0 stepping, Engineering sample Xeons Qxxx have steppings of B0, B1, B3 or rarely C0.

[nagal]

I got the Mac Pro 2,1 logic board. As soon as my logic board shows up (tomorrow maybe) I will post all the details about it.

 

Riser cards are NOT sold in pairs from Mac-Pro.com. I can not say if they are sold in pairs from ApplePalace.com

 

DrDigital,

With 3k plus what you get from selling 4 PCs you could get a real Mac Pro. Why build it? Its a new ball game with the new 2008 MacPros.

[newtech]

I bought a pair from Mac-pro via their website for $89.00 a while back ( could have been their error to my benefit ). Also bought a pair from ApplePalace via web for $90.00 ( in Apple packaging consisting of pair ). Second pair is in box with my second mother board awaiting other parts.

[nagal]

Now your almost done did you save any from building your own or would you have done better/same just buying one from apple.

 

I posted awhile back the savings was $2000 but that would now be around $1700 because the new logic board is so much more expensive that the old one. This is if I bought a stripped 3 GHz 8 core model and then got the extra memory from OWC. That was also before the pricing on the new 2008 Mac Pros came out which really would change those figures. Its hard to say if I would do it again this way or even suggest any one do it this way. I am with holding final judgment until I get the new logic board and see what happens.

 

I bought a pair from Mac-pro via their website for $89.00 a while back ( could have been their error to my benefit ). Also bought a pair from ApplePalace via web for $90.00 ( in Apple packaging consisting of pair ). Second pair is in box with my second mother board awaiting other parts.

 

Well not for me. I called and was told they were sold individually. I bought 2 @ 89 each and thats exactly what I got.

[newtech]

Well not for me. I called and was told they were sold individually. I bought 2 @ 89 each and thats exactly what I got.

 

 

Wow, all I can say is ouch. Surprising ApplePalace is a better deal ( pair for $90.00 ) if Mac-Pro is charging $89.00 each now. Though I imagine M-P is getting singles here and there whereas AP is getting sealed packages direct from GSX.

 

To be fair M-P sent direct from stock, while AP backordered from GSX ( three weeks ). Originally I placed the order from M-P thinking that AP was only sending one riser for $90.00, wownd up with four, go figure.

[nagal]

Wow, all I can say is ouch. Surprising ApplePalace is a better deal ( pair for $90.00 ) if Mac-Pro is charging $89.00 each now. Though I imagine M-P is getting singles here and there whereas AP is getting sealed packages direct from GSX.

 

To be fair M-P sent direct from stock, while AP backordered from GSX ( three weeks ).

 

I originally went with ApplePalace but I got the same back ordered problem so I canceled and went with Mac-Pro. I assumed they were sold individually (I did order 2 from them) or I would have waited for them from ApplePalace. So, the lesson is, go with ApplePalace even if you have to wait as the savings is worth it

[nagal]

Logic board shipped yesterday (Monday) so I should get it today. Between this and Super Tuesday, I think I might explode.

[digitalperformer]

I've been reading this forum for a few days now and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed their two cents.... Nagal... you have given me that nudge to finally start building my own mac pro tower. Your insights have been most invaluable... especially the part about staying away from mac-pro.com. I was going down that path before reading about your unfortunate experience. So following your advice I ordered a version 2 logic board along with memory risers from applepalace; THANK YOU FOR THE INFO. This is gonna be somewhat of a short project, hoping to finish it as soon as possible. I'm in conflict about two things; computer enclosure and cooling. I would like to house this beast in a 4U rack and water cool/thermoelectric cool everything; considered such outlandish schemes like oil submersion and housing all components in a small fridge ~ Will post some pictures of my progress.... If anyone is interested in Tower parts I will be considering stripping down my quad 2.5 G5 for parts once I'm done with the mac pro; will provide more info on that later. Thanks and Good luck to everyone with your Macflockingtosh. F*** WINDOWS!!!

[nagal]

I've been reading this forum for a few days now and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed their two cents.... Nagal... you have given me that nudge to finally start building my own mac pro tower. Your insights have been most invaluable... especially the part about staying away from mac-pro.com. I was going down that path before reading about your unfortunate experience. So following your advice I ordered a version 2 logic board along with memory risers from applepalace; THANK YOU FOR THE INFO. This is gonna be somewhat of a short project, hoping to finish it as soon as possible. I'm in conflict about two things; computer enclosure and cooling. I would like to house this beast in a 4U rack and water cool/thermoelectric cool everything; considered such outlandish schemes like oil submersion and housing all components in a small fridge ~ Will post some pictures of my progress.... If anyone is interested in Tower parts I will be considering stripping down my quad 2.5 G5 for parts once I'm done with the mac pro; will provide more info on that later. Thanks and Good luck to everyone with your Macflockingtosh. F*** WINDOWS!!!

 

It is going to be very difficult to retrofit a Mac Pro into another case. It is doable for sure but you are still going to need all the wiring from the Mac Pro case. You are also going to need the front panel assembly which has the power switch. Water cooling would be very easy in a case other than the Mac Pro. I really did not want to give up that first hard drive slot so I am sticking with air cooling for now.

 

Good luck on your build and do keep us informed. The more info people post the more success others will have down the road!