Any old Mac Pro tower users here?

[Mbira]

Hi folks,
I'm looking for some advice.  I'm a mac user (macbook pro), and we are working on setting up a multiple projection setup in our warehouse.  Eventually we will be projecting to 8 different 1080p projectors.  Up until now, we have used one projector and my macbook pro (an older 17") has been able to handle it fine.  I just got a triple-head-to-go that splits the video signal out to three different projectors, and that pretty much is bringing my macbook to its knees.

So I'm looking at the older mac pro towers.  From what I can tell, you can add at least two of the double height video cards into a 4.1 or 5.1 mac pro and then a third double height if you want to lose some internal hd space.  That is fine with me.  So my question:

Have any of you guys upgraded an older 3.1 or 4.1 machine to a 5.1?  Is the flashing process difficult?  Is there and "danger" to doing that vs buying one of the 5.1 machines?  I would like to eventually have a 12 core system as the video software I use utilizes the multiple cores well.  So do I only need to find some dual socket 4.1 machine and then slowly upgrade it over time, or is it better to spend the money on a 5.1 12 core now? 

Would love to hear some advice from others that have been down this road!

 

[chefducuisine]

The best Mac I have is a full blown Core i7 based H-tosh with 32GB RAM and a couple of 1TB SSDs and an RME HDSPe MADI Card.
Works extremely well - I would never buy one of the Trashcan Macs. Calling this one MacPro is a joke...
Check TonyMac, especially for compatibility of the cards you are planning to use.

Note: Iam using a couple of 'original' Macs/Macbooks. The only reason to try the H-tosh is the Trashcan MacPro. I simply did not want to throw away my existing PCIe Cards or buy an additional Thunderbolt to PCIe adapter. I had a couple of Power Macs / Mac Pros since the introduction of the PM 9500 in the nineties and always was happy. I also do not understand why a modern workstation must have a Xeon Processor. An i7 has enough power for my audio projects.

 

[ubxf]

I've done the upgrade from 4,1 to 5,1 very easy and worth it. The 3,1 machines have different RAM that is quite expensive and i don't think they can be upgraded to 5,1

 

[jafo]

updated 4.1 here - 12core 2,93 GHz, 32GB. I put my system-SSD on one PCI-slot because the SATA-ports are SATA 2! All other volumes are SSD on the SATA ports. Works perfekt.
Recording guitar or vocals in a full session with many instances of kontakt and convolution plugins like avid space or brainworx rockrack is doable with 32 samples latency. CPU load goes up but no dropouts.

Best
Ja

 

[kambo]

u cant use Hackintosh in US

 

[joaquins]

u cant use Hackintosh in US

JS

 

[Mbira]

u cant use Hackintosh in US

Well I think you can use them, you just can't build them. ;-)

 

[joaquins]

u cant use Hackintosh in US

Well I think you can use them, you just can't build them. ;-)

What if you get a por 3.1 and change the mother, the micro, the memory, the storage, the graphics and the audio? Maybe you need a dremel besides the usual tools...

JS

 

[pvision]

Are you sending the same signal to all eight projectors? If so, wouldn't it be simpler to use the video card to drive a distribution amplifier?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-SPLITTER-Distribution-Amplifier-Display-black/dp/B002ECV1JQ

Nick Froome

 

[mrerdat]

Have any of you guys upgraded an older 3.1 or 4.1 machine to a 5.1? 

Yes. It is SO worth it! Upgraded a slow 2009  Mac Pro that had a 1.6GHz 4-core CPU, 3 GB 1066 RAM to a 3.46 GHz 6-core CPU ,48 GB 1333 Mhz RAM and I am running an SSD as my boot drive.  Night and Day difference.

Is the flashing process difficult? 

Not at all, and the EFI hack that gets you from 4,1 to 5,1 is completely reversible if you need to go back for any reason.

I would like to eventually have a 12 core system as the video software I use utilizes the multiple cores well.  So do I only need to find some dual socket 4,1 machine and then slowly upgrade it over time, or is it better to spend the money on a 5.1 12 core now? 

Definitely get the dual socket 4,1 machine.  5,1 and 4,1 machines have the same upgrade ceiling so you'll save money going down the 4,1 route. The best CPU you can put into those motherboards would be the Xeon X5690 (3.46 Ghz).  With a dual core machine you can max out with 96 GB of ram. 

Is there and "danger" to doing that vs buying one of the 5.1 machines? 

When upgrading CPUs on a 12-core machine, you'll need to de-lid the CPUs in order to properly get the heatsinks on them.  I haven't done it myself since I have a 6-core machine.

 

[Mbira]

I found a decent price for a 2.66 ghz 12 core 2012 machine with 64 gig of ram.  It should be here next week!

 

[Mbira]

Are you sending the same signal to all eight projectors? If so, wouldn't it be simpler to use the video card to drive a distribution amplifier?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-SPLITTER-Distribution-Amplifier-Display-black/dp/B002ECV1JQ

Nick Froome

No it's not the same signal repeated 8 times.  It is a 360 degree display that takes the width of 8 displays. 

 

[chefducuisine]

Just found this:
http://www.boxx.com/landing-pages/mac-pro-no

Watch 'till the end, there is a use for the can...  ;D

 

[sr1200]

I also do not understand why a modern workstation must have a Xeon Processor. An i7 has enough power for my audio projects.

The Xeon processor spec wise is no different than the i7 when you look at statistics, in fact the i7 beats out the xeon in some aspects.  Xeons can be ordered in a lot more varied packages for very specific tasks and from what i remember always support ECC memory (which for audio is something I agree with).