1st Gen Mac Pro

Forums › Mac OS › 1st Gen Mac Pro - GPU

dcryan

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#165583 14-Feb-2015 08:24

Hi all

Just looking at buying a first generation Mac Pro to use as a media centre.

Currently has a GT7300 GPU. Is this card any good for decoding 1080p video smoothly? Or would I better to upgrade to the GT8800? Have no intention of using it for games.

Sorry for noob question, lol

RunningMan

8963 posts

Uber Geek

#1237752 14-Feb-2015 08:45

Apologies if stating the obvious, but these machines are now 10 years old, and won't run current (or even recent) releases of Mac OS X. That's pretty old in computer terms.

As for your original question, it should handle the resolution, but will depend what video codec as to whether this is done in hardware or software.

alexx

867 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1237811 14-Feb-2015 11:01

Have you calculated the cost of electricity to run a Mac Pro 24x7 (or however many hours it will run each day)?
The cost of the electricity might be better put towards a more suitable machine.

You might also find the Mac Pro creates a bit of noise and heat too.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek

#1237812 14-Feb-2015 11:01

That's going to be a very expensive to run media centre! 980watt power supply, old gen Xeon, old gen graphics ... I can see your house lights dimming as you turn it on already :-)
Apart from the fact the case looks interesting, it's probably not going to make a nice media centre.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

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Biddle Corp

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#1237817 14-Feb-2015 11:13

I'm at a loss as to why you'd want to operate one of these as a media centre when a brand new US$99 Windows 8.1 machine will use vastly less power and do a much better job.

dcryan

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1239003 14-Feb-2015 17:53

Want a Mac pro For the following reasons, lol.

looks good, has reasonable power, 2x 3ghz dual core Xeon in particular, plus massive Apple fanboy, I find the windows OS nothing but a hassle, slow and an absolute ram hog. And windows 8 invokes a gag, personally I think that UI is disgusting.

And in regards to modern OS, you can get them to run Yosemite (apparently) but Snow Leopard will be fine for what I want it for. Hoping the dual CPU setup will allow for HD playback and transcoding (through Plex) at the same time.

I think the Mac Pro was ahead of its time quite a bit cos they still are reasonably spec'd...

Not compared to an i7 beast but you get the idea, should work for what I need it to. Worst comes to worst it can sit there as a headless server in the spare room, lol.

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek

#1239178 14-Feb-2015 23:35

Use it as a door stop, more cost effective! ;-)

This site will give you a good idea how it stacks up today :

http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

sbiddle

30853 posts

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#1239224 15-Feb-2015 08:21

dcryan:

looks good, has reasonable power, 2x 3ghz dual core Xeon in particular, plus massive Apple fanboy, I find the windows OS nothing but a hassle, slow and an absolute ram hog. And windows 8 invokes a gag, personally I think that UI is disgusting.

And in regards to modern OS, you can get them to run Yosemite (apparently) but Snow Leopard will be fine for what I want it for. Hoping the dual CPU setup will allow for HD playback and transcoding (through Plex) at the same time.

In which case case the choice if yours - buy an old 2nd hand Apple product for more money that will deliver a sub standard experience vs a newer product that will deliver a vastly better experience simply because it uses Windows.

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1239227 15-Feb-2015 08:34

Almost any core i5 is going to smoke that for transcoding performance and will use less that 100W while running. You are wrong about Windows, but that is a preference thing and if it is not yours, so be it. Why not save a few more dollars and get a Mac Mini? Should be able to find ones a couple of years old with an i5 or better in them.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

BTR

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#1246399 25-Feb-2015 13:53

Come on guys stop bagging him for his choice of machine. In regard to you OP I can't answer that but you will find the machine is limited to 10.6 and most modern video software runs on 10.7 and above.

Good luck and make sure you shut down the machine when your not using it as they do like using power.

pknz

102 posts

Master Geek

#1246988 26-Feb-2015 12:10

You will be able to run up to 10.7.5 officially.

I would go for a Mac Mini personally.