Building a MacPro, Yes, a MacPro not a Hackintosh Options

[aqua-mac]

That is good news to hear! I suspect they got those boards from someone (not necessarily Apple) at a slightly better price!

[rschultz101]

nice to see, build from scratch, but not green 350W+ = $2000 in 4 years

and the noise,.... I'am a silent freak, can't stand noise,
and the juice it sucks, it's to consider,... watt * 1.5$ ....
it's possible to save with shutdown and sleep,...

thinking down the road, stealth mac, aka ulv chip, sata flash drive,....

the other problem, my kids like to play games, as such the imac's don't have interchangeable graphics cards,..
and the stock don't cut it,.... and a mac pro is out of question, now if all games where available on a ps3,
....
keep us posted, the flash rom is pisser,....

on the case,... right now running in a black cube server case,..
so that long mac pro mb,... need to take a look at server cases,....of course , no mac pro , but there are options,
and lot more room,....
for the noise, why not a fanmate to start, and then a full blown fan controller
last, equivalent superdrivers, where to get them ?

[newtech]

Hi Nagal,

Just wanted to let you know your engineering samples are E5330's hence the 2.13 clock. BSEL will get you to 2.66

E5330's should be marked HH80563KH0468M, 2.13-> 2.66

E5340's should be marked HH80563KH0568M, 2.4-> 3.0 ( I have two stepping B3 installed on the M43ADP1,1 board and one stepping G0 on my backup board )

E5350's should be marked HH80563KH0678M, 2.66-> 3.33

[nagal]

Well with some Yate Loon fans in, this machine is NOT noisy at all its only with the stock fans that things get wind tunnelish I could even put in some Nexus fans which are just slower Yate Loons but they the make less noise than the YL but push less air.

Even if you did not use a MacPro case, buying the wiring loom for the PSU, Hard drives is not going to be cheap. Just so it is clear, the logicboard supports 6 SATA devices but there are only 2 Sata ports then one jumbo port for the other 4. It had a name but for the life of me can not remember what it is called.

newtech,

My CPUs are HH80563QH0568M QQYK so they should read as 2.4. Interestingly enough I just got done doing the BSEL mod tonight and they still show up as 2.13 GHz and 1066FSB. I am going to reset the PRAM maybe that will force the system into seeing them at the higher FSB.

[Harloe]

Hope it's going to come along nicely, nagal! Any news on that Logic Board switch from Mac-Pro.com?

Also what are you going to do about wireless? Airport? Or is that already onboard with the Logic Board?

[nagal]

I should here something Monday about the logic board. Mac-Pro.com needed the serial # from the board and I did not get that to them until Saturday. There is no wireless built in, its an add-on card. I might do it someday but wireless is not important to me at all.

[timdafweak]

Why the Apple Remote? How can you use that?

[nagal]

Why the Apple Remote? How can you use that?

The Apple Remote can function as a wireless transport control in Logic Studio. I have a plain old USB IR receiver and some research says it will "just work" but that has yet to be determined.

[Harloe]

Hi Nagal,

I'm still adament about building a MacPro! Just wondering if you ever considered sponsorship during this? Perhaps filming the building and having sponsors logos shown throughout the video; resulting in being paid for the adspace.

Or did you just decide to put your own money in this thing? =P

Thanks!


- Kemmi

[nagal]

Sponsorship would have been a good idea for sure and really help offset a lot of the cost! Good luck on your own build and if you have any questions just ask. it really is not that hard and the only issue I have had is the logic board which I think most people would not run into.

[Harloe]

Ah cool. I suppose it would take some convincing for sponsors to sign on board. I am a novice in this area and I don't think they'd put the money and trust in me. I am comfortable building a computer, the only thing I am nervous about messing up is the installation of heatsinks.

Also you mentioned you got your MacPro case from here right or some sort of eBay page? ScrumpyMacs? Could you give me a link if it's an eBay page? Did your case come with all the inner casing parts? Like the metal casing that goes over the heatsinks?

[nagal]

I got my case from a guy on here selling it. It had all the parts BUT the heat sink cover. It doesn't matter to me because it would not fit over the heatsinks I am using anyways. Now if you go with the Apple heatsinks, it will fit no problem. Installing heatsinks is not hard at all if you are going to be using the Apple ones. Just a matter of tightening 4 screws on each heatsink.

As I side note, I did try some generic copper passive 2U Woodcrest heatsinks. Total garbage. I easily get a 15C - 20C drop with the Thermalrights compared to the generic ones. I now have two very hefty copper paper wieghts

[Harloe]

Lol! Would you recommend the stock apple fans or the Yate Loons you were talking about? And really? 4 screws? I've seen some heatsinks with like this thermal liquid or something going on the bottom. Or I just completely misunderstood what my friend was talking about lol. I hope I can find all the right pieces. I am going to properly document it as well as film it.

The filming portion will be called iBuild (very original xD) or maybe something else.

And the documentation will almost be set out like a guide, And it'll be called: TakesOneToBuildOne

In cool apple font, etc =P I should be ordering the casing first of all next month, come pay day.

Looks like driving lessons are on hold... lol

[nagal]

Thermal paste goes without saying when installing heatsinks Its not hard to put on either. In general just squirt some in the center of the CPU and its good. Now, there are lots of ways to apply for optimal performance and it varies a little from CPU to CPU.

Apple fans should work fine, mine do not because of the stupid firmware issue and so run at full speed which is very very loud.

Hmm. Call it uBuild

[Harloe]

iBuild or uBuild.. hmm.. I was thinking of iCreate but I wouldn't really be CREATING it.. I'm sure I'll think of something, lol

[newtech]

How about "inTegrate", "makeIntosh" or "reFab".

[dark4181]

how bout @Pro... cuz i'm about sick of the "iStuff"

[Harloe]

inTegrate is kinda cool, thanks newtech! lol I'll think of something more unique than iBuild lol the 'i' stuff is getting pretty old lol!

I'm sure we have a lot of creative people flowing in and out of this thread so I'd like to publicly ask... Do you have any suggestions on how I can make a bit of extra cash to go towards this project? Overtime at work is pretty much out of the question but I need something I can do from home. I'm not too shabby in Photoshop! Anyone know any websites where people will buy designs?

Just need a little help =]

Any updates, nagal?

[nagal]

No updates as the guy I am dealing with is at MacWorld, lucky bastard I am sure I will hear from him next week and we will get it all worked out. Worst case scenario, I will just buy another logic board and then use the old one to build a node for Logic or something like that.

As for making extra money, I am a pack rat so I am constantly selling stuff to help cover costs of things. Other than that, if you find some good ideas let me know as well!

[Harloe]

I've looked into blogging.. for money. Chris Pirillo advised it! lol