Apple MacPro 1.1 – Part 4.

Ok, so I haven’t posted on this subject for a few weeks.  Its crazy busy!

Anyway, Part 4!

Now we are talking Solid State Drives (SSD for short), which has taken me ages to find the best one for me.  I have looked all over the internet and found one going cheap on the PC World site. If I am honest, I wasn’t sure what i was looking for. I was looking for cheap SSDs with the same read and write speed however, after many discussions with friends, I decided to go for a high read and low write speed. Why??? Because the time it takes to write wasn’t an issue for me, I just wanted a drive to speed up my machine and do things at my pace. So this is it –

PNY Optima 2.5″ Internal SSD – 120 GB

Boasting low power consumption alongside high performance storage, the 120gb PNY Optima 2.5″ Internal SSD is the ideal upgrade for my MacPro.

Not only does the Optima SSD allow me to easily store data, it also helps to speed up my MacPro so I can achieve even more. It’s flash-based storage has no moving parts, which means there’s less wear and tear on the drive, no matter how much I use it. It should let the MacPro start up in less than 60 seconds (I am yet to confirm this).

OVERVIEW

Type	SSD
Capacity	120 GB
Interface	SATA III
Form factor / Drive size	2.5″
Read / Write speed	– Read: 400 MB/s – Write: 160 MB/s

FEATURES

Other features	– 128-bit AES-compliant – 1 million hours MTBF

GENERAL

System requirements	– Serial ATA Fully compliant with Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. Fully compliant with ATA/ATAPI-8 Standard Native Command Queuing (NCQ) – Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit/64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit, Linux, Mac OS X – Power requirements : Standard SATA Power Connector
Dimensions	100 x 70 x 10 mm (H x W x D)
Weight	77 g
Manufacturer’s guarantee	3 years

 

As you can see not the best write speed but considering my budget of £40.00 I did well. I also had to pick myself up a IcyBox due to the SSD size and the MacPro sleds!

£15.00 on Amazon from Maplin. So £55.00 all in, job done.

Playing devils advocate, I expect I could have found a better deal but that is something which will always happen. Im just glad the SSD is in, TimeMachine did its job by updating the OS back to the new dive and all within 10mins!

In regards to benchmarking, I used Geekbench and scored 5033 on a Multi-Core score. By the looks of it thats not half bad!

So thats the most recent change I have made, comments welcome!

Ciao

Fresh Install of Yosemite

Following my earlier post, I tried to install Yosemite again on the new hard drive.  For some reason it didn’t work, it just upgraded the OS that was on there before.  More than likely it was an error on my part but I am not too sure.  However, I removed the hard drive from the MacBook and connected it via a SATA to USB connector to my MacPro and formatted the drive using Disk Utility.  I then popped it back in the MacBook and set about reinstalling Yosemite again, 15 minutes later and all is well, a fresh install of Yosemite and I am happy.

All I have to do now is add the 8GB RAM which is due any day now and whoosh all will be speedy and updated.

I would like to see my MacPro running Yosemite but it means upgrading the graphics card and a few other things.

Anyway, I am going to sit and have a good look at the new OS whilst adding some software.

Ciao

OSX Yosemite – Install Drive.

Hi All, I have just upgraded to Yosemite and its OK….. I will hopefully post more soon, when I have properly tested it out.

OS X Yosemite

If anyone is looking at making an installer drive please follow the Macworld description.  Long winded but works really well.  

I chose to use the Disk Utility option, took its time but all ok.

Some issues I have noticed so far are some popular third-party apps, most notably Chrome and Firefox, devour RAM and CPU time in a way they never did in Mavericks.  Is this a ploy by Apple to use their own apps and no third-party ones?

I am going to stop any possible issues with Yosemite by running a clean install on a new HDD, I will let you know if it proves worthwhile. In addition to the new HDD (nabbed from my old MacMini) I will be upgrading the RAM to 8GB, 4GB is certainly not enough.

Comments welcome,

Ciao

Apple MacPro 1.1 – Part 3.

So I have a working MacPro, Acer monitor, Apple keyboard and mouse.

Now onto speeding the MacPro up.  I have thought long and hard at what I can do to make an old Mac a bit more snappier, increase the RAM, add an SSD or even change the processor.

First I decided to look at the RAM, as the MacPro only had 1GB in the form of two 512MB sticks. The MacPro ran fine with the 1GB, but I knew I needed a machine with a bit more grunt due to the size of my iTunes library amongst other things.

Now Apple say the MacPro 1.1 can max out at 16GB of RAM, and to be fair this may be enough, however I wanted to push this MacPro to be the best I can get.

So I reviewed the RAM options I had.

eBay was the best source, I found some stupidly cheap RAM which ‘works’ on a MacPro….. Wrong, it didn’t! Luckily I managed to get a full refund!

I then researched the ram a little more and found I needed, specifically, RAM with a large heatsink. So back I went on eBay to find the best deal possible……

If anyone reading this is looking at getting RAM for their MacPro then, make sure you get the following:

PC2-5300F 667 MHz DDR2 Fully Buffered (FB) DIMM RAM

So after a week of searching and watching I found some great bargains, a total of 22GB (2x 1GB, 2x 2GB, 4x 4GB) for £130.00.  Now this may seem expensive, but I assure you, its not compared to some of the RAM I looked at.  Komputerbay had some great deals, but I also picked up the 2x 1GB on eBay for 99p so that was a great saving.

That gives me a grand total of 22GB of RAM and boy does she move!

So that basically is the RAM sorted. I expect I will bump it up a little more, swapping the 2x 1GB and 2x 2GB RAM for 4x 4GB making a total of 32GB RAM.  However the MacPro runs as fast as I need it too and I need to consider other upgrade options like a Solid State Drive (SSD) or swapping out the Graphics card and the internal HDDs.

Let me know if you have any questions or advice.

Ciao

Apple MacPro 1.1 – Part 2.

So this is part 2 of my dream of having a MacPro.

First I started on the screen, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get something fantastic and large like I wanted so I opted for a 24″ Acer S240HLBID Full HD LED screen from PC World.  It was the same price as a other Acer screens but this was the best as far as I could see.  Not only can I use this screen for the Mac, I can also use it for a TV or for a PS3, waterer I decide really.

Bring home the gateway to fantastic entertainment viewing from your PC with the sleek and smart Acer S240HLBID Full HD 24″ LED Monitor.

Beautiful viewing 

This ultra thin LED display offers a Full HD 1080p resolution, so whether you’re working or playing on your PC you can enjoy images packed full of detail. Boasting a fast response time for smooth video and LED technology for a bright and beautiful viewing, you’ll make the most of games, work and videos. It also supports widescreen, making it ideal for enjoying your favourite movies in cinematic style.

Connections

The S240-HLBID is easy to connect it to your PC thanks to the HDMI, VGA and DVI connections; simply choose the connection that suits your PC.

A handy Kensington security lock allows you to secure the monitor and prevent theft.

Eco-conscious

The S240HLBID is environmentally friendly and RoHS compliant thanks to the mercury-free LED backlighting and low power consumption, keeping your costs down.

The Acer S240HLBID Full HD 24″ LED Monitor also comes with a two-year warranty for added peace of mind.

Product code: 057311

ENERGY CONSUMPTION

On-mode power consumption	26.1 W

SCREEN

Screen technology	LED backlit
Screen size	24″
Resolution	1920 x 1080

PICTURE QUALITY

Viewing angle	170° / 160°
Frequency range	– Horizontal: 64 – 83 kHz – Vertical: 50 – 75 Hz
Brightness	250 cd/m²
Response time	5 ms
Dynamic contrast ratio	100000000:1

AUDIO

Speakers	No

CONNECTIVITY

Connections	– HDMI x 1 – VGA x 1 – DVI x 1

FEATURES

Other features	Kensington security lock

GENERAL

Colour	Black
Accessories included	– AC power cable – VGA cable – CD user manual
Dimensions	400.6 x 565 x 166 mm (H x W x D)
Weight	5.36 kg
Manufacturer’s guarantee	2 years

Part 3 to follow……

Ciao