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

[bestestever]

nice..

[Listed1st.com]

So has anyone ever used the "Dempsey" Xeon processors in the Mac Pro? I'm thinking I may, just for kicks. Their speed is extremely high, up to 3.7GHz, but the performance o one of those units would probably be about that of the 3.0GHz "Woodcrest". Plus I hear they are great at overclocking. I've got a pair of 3.43GHz Dual core CPUs, I may just toss them in and see!

[Listed1st.com]

CODE

Has anyone ever seen a RED Mac Pro LogicBoard like this!? I'm very very intrigued...

[digitalperformer]

CODE

Has anyone ever seen a RED Mac Pro LogicBoard like this!? I'm very very intrigued...

Whoa... an old prototype? or current? Very interesting. Where did you find this picture?

[Listed1st.com]

It's a systems, that functions, I actually just bought it! It'll be here end of this week! Definitely stay tuned for complete details! I'm going to toss in a pair of 2.4GHz Clovertowns! All the seller knew was

"Don't really know what it is. The motherboard said "APPLE" on it. I have BOOT this board with a bootable cd. the pictures show that the ITEM have sucessfully boot up. The items are apple board; power supply, cdrw/ dvd rom. The system is built into a FULL STEEL CASE @ 50lbs"

Looks like the seller used "BartPE" to boot the unit, more details as they arrive...

[nagal]

Cool find Listed and can't wait to find out more about it! Even the memory risers are red. Weirdness.

As for the Dempesy, meh. If I doubt the 3.7 even comes close to the performance of the 3.0 but if you got em, toss them in and see what happens. I have never heard anything good about the performance of the Dempesy compared to the Clovertons.

[Listed1st.com]

I'm just curious to see if I can overclock the 3.43 to 4.3GHz! I'll let you know when the CPUs arrive as well.


Just found a guy on ebay selling an EFI Flashed 8800GT, wonder if it'd work on the '06-'07 MPs?

[Harloe]

Nagal any news on the Firmware issue? Can you now receive updates from Apple. I'm asking now because of the latest iTunes Release and perhaps some other stuff!

Thanks!

[nagal]

I'm just curious to see if I can overclock the 3.43 to 4.3GHz! I'll let you know when the CPUs arrive as well.
Just found a guy on ebay selling an EFI Flashed 8800GT, wonder if it'd work on the '06-'07 MPs?

From what I have read, no. The 8800GT and the 2008 Mac Pros are using EFI64 while the older Mac Pros use EFI32.

Nagal any news on the Firmware issue? Can you now receive updates from Apple. I'm asking now because of the latest iTunes Release and perhaps some other stuff!

I get Software updates just fine but until they release a Firmware update I have no idea if it will work. My logic board actually has a firmware newer than the latest Mac Pro firmware update.

[Listed1st.com]

Okay! Sad news! I installed the "Dempsey" CPUs in the Mac Pro and just got 2 CPU Error lights :-P Anyone know why? (Other than they are not supposed to go in a Mac Pro!). Or was it the fact that the guy just stuck 4 CPUs in foam and they were scraping up against each other in the box.

Now for some shameless advertising:
http://www.listed1st.com/Business_Resources.html

I'm dipping my toes into the world of affiliate marketing, have a look!

[nagal]

It could be that they just dont work in a Mac Pro. I have not verified but I think you should be able to run off a single CPU so you can try them individual to see if maybe one is bad.

[Listed1st.com]

I've made a connection which I've got access to Clovertown CPUs: 2.66GHz at 1333MHz bus for $420 each ($800/pair) if anyone is in need. I've been completely unsuccessful in getting 1066MHz bus CPUs (2.4 of 2.66) for overclocking though I still wish I could get my darn 2.66GHz running at 3.3GHz! Just need to freeze them! or perhaps run them at a higher voltage? Anyone know some serious MP LogicBoard mod to force higher voltage to the CPU? Maybe solder the A/C input right to the CPU? (j/k)

[Listed1st.com]

Just awesome! This logicboard is absolutely bizzarre! It's got green LEDs all over it, a piercing blue one flickers when you plug in the power, the memory risers have a pair of green LEDs, it's got 7 buttons on the logic board, (Including the "PWR and RESET" where you see a spot for them on the current logic boards, so you can power it up without the front board connected. I'll upload photos shortly!

Oh, and it can run a debug mode at startup, don't know if all mp's can, but rather than the apple you'll see just the console doing it's thing!

Only thing, it won't sleep. It goes to sleep quick like normal, but when you move the most it cold boots... strange!

Nice thing is, the power supply in the huge montrosity of a case was a normal MP PSU, just slid right in my MP case I bought! Came with all the wires I needed as well. One thing I found was the DVD drives get their power from the LogicBoard! So plugging your 8800GTX (those of you who have) into the molex conectors for the DVD drives might not be a great idea!

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[nagal]

Just awesome! This logicboard is absolutely bizzarre! It's got green LEDs all over it, a piercing blue one flickers when you plug in the power, the memory risers have a pair of green LEDs, it's got 7 buttons on the logic board, (Including the "PWR and RESET" where you see a spot for them on the current logic boards, so you can power it up without the front board connected. I'll upload photos shortly!

Oh, and it can run a debug mode at startup, don't know if all mp's can, but rather than the apple you'll see just the console doing it's thing!

Only thing, it won't sleep. It goes to sleep quick like normal, but when you move the most it cold boots... strange!

Nice thing is, the power supply in the huge montrosity of a case was a normal MP PSU, just slid right in my MP case I bought! Came with all the wires I needed as well. One thing I found was the DVD drives get their power from the LogicBoard! So plugging your 8800GTX (those of you who have) into the molex conectors for the DVD drives might not be a great idea!

What you are seeing is the boot up verbose mode, any mac can do that. That is cool it came with a real Mac Pro PSU! So if you go into System Profiler what Model Name and Identifier is it coming up as?

There should be 2 6 pin molex connectors on the motherboard as well just for PCIe video cards.

[Balamut]

CODE

Has anyone ever seen a RED Mac Pro LogicBoard like this!? I'm very very intrigued...

red = prototype
blue = production

[Balamut]

Guys,

I just found service manual for Octo Mac Pro (not the early 2008 one), if someone interested PM me and I will send it to you (I can put it on Rapidshare, but I don't know if we allowed to post that kind of thing on the board).

[digitalperformer]

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Work in Progress... Finally got my cooling system from Koolance; also using some stainless steel tubing fittings that I had lying around. Order received dual 120mm 700W heat dissipating radiator, two 120mm fans, two Xeon block coolers, four memory block coolers and a ton of G 1/4 - 13mm compression fittings. Can't wait to put this bitch together. In the meantime, I'm a few steps from completing custom Hard Drive / Opto Drive Carriers (Pain; however who wants to spend $250 on four HD and one Opto Carrier when you can make it yourself from a piece of sheet metal, sharpie, ruler, and cutting wheel). Will post my progress... peace and love.

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[Listed1st.com]

Now that's a cool system (pun intended).

Do you have the logicboard and all the other goodies? My big question for you, how much power will the cooling system require? I ask because I just recently discovered that the molex connectors which power the optical drives, plugs into the logicboard, thus pulling huge amps from those ports for some of those crazy cooling systems (i.e. the peltier) isn't a good idea.

Are you planning on having you cooling fans speed controlled automatically or manually or at all? I've been saved by Nagal's transistor based thermistors (Could only fine them in bulk of 20, but hey, I might need extras).


Oh, and a general Shoutout: If anyone finds any information about that red prototype logicboard, I'd love to hear it, I'll even offer a small ransom if someone can get me the layout of all the jumpers on the board!


Have fun!

-

[digitalperformer]

Hey... the fans consume 9.6W.. the pump consumes 18W. 27.6 Watts total. That port can power two opto drives which should be 1.5A per drive or 36 Watts total. I might just power the fans directly from fan ports on logic board and pump from opto drive bus. Nonetheless, in the clear whatever route I decide. Has anyone confirmed success with Harpertowns on ver. 2 logic board? I'm still trying to discern the difference between socket 771 and LGA 771; both are refered to as the same--- socket J. Haven't found anything useful to answer this... Could someone please shed some light on why these two references are used to describe socket J.

Thanks

[Bearcat]

I'm still trying to discern the difference between socket 771 and LGA 771; both are refered to as the same--- socket J. Haven't found anything useful to answer this... Could someone please shed some light on why these two references are used to describe socket J.

Thanks

My understanding is this:

Socket J is named after the codename "Jayhawk", and refers to Intel's socket naming. They tend to name things socket M, socket T, etc.

Socket J is implemented as a Land Grid Array (LGA) of 771 contacts, thus the LGA 771 naming of the number of contacts and the grid. The use of Socket 771 is used by some motherboard manufacturers, who don't wish to use the Intel nomenclature of Socket J or LGA 771, but they all refer to the same thing.

The is the same for other socket types such as Socket T, LGA 775, and Socket 775, which are all the same thing.

I don't know if I answered the question, but I think the answer is Socket J, LGA 771, and Socket 771 are all the same thing.