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

1st January 2015

Happy New Year to you all.

Hopefully this year turns out to be great, as last year had its rough times.

Also hope I get that little bit further at work, I just need to keep up the hard work.

So it’s New Years Day and I have just had a restful day, watching movies and playing with my amazing son.

He stayed up until midnight last night to welcome in the new year with us and it was lovely. As soon as it turned midnight off he went to bed, no issues and crashed instantly.

What a legend!

He has just explained he is now hungry and would like his dinner. So I better be off.

Hope you all have a great evening and a great year.

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

Apple MacPro 1.1 – Part 1.

I bought an iMac about 8 years ago and I said at the time I would own a MacPro as I loved them…. Finally, I managed to get my dirty mits on one! All be it a 2006 model, I still got one!

I picked the MacPro up cheap, but it was completely standard which is as follows –

• Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors
• 1GB (two 512MB) of 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI and dual-link DVI)
• 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
• 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

As you can see, its not much and PCs/Macs today are more than likely better.  However this wasn’t a purchase to get the best Mac I could, this was a purchase to make my own dream come true.

So I had to start somewhere.

Unfortunately I haven’t got time to detail everything now so I will post different parts.

If anyone has any hints or tips please let me know.

Ciao