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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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

in my opinion, this is probably the most beautiful thread in this forum...thanks for this nagal

I agree =D It's so inspiring I'm even trying to blog for cash to go towards my own build =D

Are there any other cases / chassis / enclosures that actually support that-sized form factor? Don't get me wrong, I still love the G5 enclosure, probably more than any other case.

Apparently, the Mac Pro at one point used the BTX Form Factor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of...er_form_factors


I'm thinking this case might, having a dimension of 8.7'' x 23.4'' x 24.2'', seems mod-able otherwise: http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/3126/20...24114204uz9.jpg

Well for starters we are not talking G5 cases here. While they are similar to the Intel Mac Pro case they are different beasts. As for the form factor of the Mac Pro logic board, I doubt it is a standard size. Macs have never used BTX as that is strictly a PC form-factor. it might have similarities to BTX but thats about it. I have no idea if that case will work but my inner voice says no. You need to get specs on the internal area available inside the case and not the size of the case over all.

If it was me, keep looking for a case. Don't forget you also need the front panel assembly which can be bought separately but is usually part of the case.

Also if it was me, get a real Mac Pro! With the release of the single CPU Mac Pro they are affordable now. You buy your memory else where and later on put in another CPU. That is the route I would take if doing this all over starting today. Even the standard 2.8 GHz octos are pretty affordable and not far off how much I spent.

Just curious to know about the Form Factor motherboard, since it's a quite foreign dimension to me.

I certainly agree with you. Like I've expressed in other threads, the expenses building the perfect hackintosh....really for what is spent, minus well go with a real mac pro, minus time and stress, and it's legitimate. I've always been a supporter for the real thing, and I seems to be always shut down by this with someone replying with 'oh no way, hack is better'...hey I understand the bias here, but essentially, the real thing is always better

I've saved up for a MacBook Pro for starters...though a Mac Pro right now would be nice.

Again, one of the most comprehensive threads here, a personal favorite, and thanks for sharing.

The Mac Pro MLB was designed by intel and is loosely based on their 5000VSX server reference board. It is an Extended ATX form factor. Be careful about rethinking cases, the board is laid out to match the air management of the Mac Pro case. Also be aware Apple uses metric fasteners vs. SAE fasteners on standard PC cases.

The case you link to would be great if air management was right, lots of room for drives if you wanted to use the Apple RAID card and still use on board SATA ports for internal drives.

Hey nagal,

any updates on that board switchout? Hope it went according to plan, should be buying the case next month =D

Nothing to update I called Wed he asked for me to send the serial #'s again which I did. Tuesday I channel my inner bastard and get this taken care of.

HAHA! Inner bastard xD Good one!

This is Kemmi by the way! Name change =D yay hope you can get this sorted!

Finally heard back from MacPro.com and the verdict, can not replace only refund. So while I can get my money back I also get stuck with no computer while I hunt down a new logic board.

Not happy.

Ahh better than nothing though right? Pretty soon you'll be swimming in official 10.5 heaven =D I'm still trying to make a little cash on the side, lol

I just bit the bullet and ordered a OctoCore (pn 661-4307) Logic Board from ApplePalace.com. $782 with tax shipped I did call them first to verify stock and I will say it was a very pleasant experience unlike my previous dealing. They guy I talked to asked what happened to my original logic board so I told him I was building a Mac Pro from parts. He laughed and said gotcha. I went with the OctoCore board over the QuadCore one because it was cheaper by a whole 30 cents

Whats the difference between the OctoCore and QuadCore? I am *think* nothing but the firmware they ship with. There are specific firmwares for each board version. The PSU I bought was listed specifically for OctoCore and it works fine.

As soon as I get it, I will let everyone know what happens and how things go. I also will update the original posts price list to reflect then new cost.

While I'm not 100% sure. but it sounds like the quad core board is from the old mac pro with 1333mhz bus, and the octo core board is from the new mac pro with a 1600mhz bus, and also supports the new 45nm xeons.

This is a guess only fwiw.

EDIT: After thinking about it for a bit, it could also be the board in the old high end mac pro, that was also an octo. You might be right, it may be just a revision change.

I wish I'd love to have one of the new Mac Pro logic boards as it would offer some good upgradability. The new Mac Pro are using a different chipset than the older ones. The pre-2008 Octo (as well as the Quads) are using the 5000X chipset while the new Octos are using the 5400X chipset. This is why there is a jump to 1600 FSB and support for the Harpertown Xeons. Of course it is might be possible that the Harpertowns with 1333 FSB will work in the older Macs. This will give more cache and lower temps and only a slightly higher clock speed (3.16 GHz).

Its all kind of mute as even now running 8 cores at 2.13 GHz with a FSB 1066 has been more than enough for what I am doing in Logic. Having 8 cores @ 3.0 GHz with a FSB of 1333 should keep me happy for a long long time.

Thanks,

I see, 661-3919 seems to be Rev 1, and 661-4307 is identified as Rev 2.

My board identifier ends in VNBA, so I'm assuming it's a 3919, even though it says 630-7608 on it.

The octocore Mac Pro 2,1 board is a newer revision of the 1,1 board. About the only noticeable physical change is the new position of the CPU_B thermal sensor connector ( no longer under the riser cage ).

The only reported instance of trying Harpertowns on the older boards was a no go.

First of all, amazing build, i have been hoping to do this for a long time as i just cant afford the price of a full on macpro.

Just as a matter of interest, is there a list available on the net of processors that fit the macpro logic board?
I was wondering would it be possible to fit two qx6850s onto the logic board, but i think the qx6850 is socket 775 and the xeon is 640 or something like that.

I ask this because my dad knows the ex-head of intel ireland and he can get processors for me at cost price, so what would be the best processor i could go for?

In theory any Woodcrest or Clovertown Xeon should work and the older Dempsey may even work but why use those? All of these are LGA 771 no LGA 775 is going to work. Period. Now if you can get a hold of one of the new early 2008 Mac Pro logic boards then you can add Harpertown to that list.Now Apple used the following CPUs (I might have missed one or two but these were the most common for sure)2.0 GHz Xeon 5130 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)2.66 GHz Xeon 5150 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)3.0 GHz Xeon 5160 - Woodcrest (Dual Core)3.0 GHz Xeon X5365 - Clovertown (Quad Core)Since you can get these at cost and assuming money is not any issue, it would seem silly to get anything other than the X5365s. I do not know if the E5450 Xeon will work in the Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 logic boards but if they do, I would get those over the X5365.Here is the Intel comparsion chart of all the 5100 series Xeonshttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/xe...n5000+tab_specs

Edit

Okay I found an interesting doc from Intel on the new 1600 FSB Harpertown Xeons. According to it, they WILL work with the 5000X chipset. Does this mean that the Mac Pro Logic board will function? Dont know. The memory would have to be replaced with the new higher speed FB-DIMMs. There is nothing physically different between the 667 MHz and 800 MHz FB-DIMMs so they should work in the old memory risers as well. It really all depends if the Mac Pro logic board can handle the increased FSB without problems and if it will even recognize the higher FSB and run the processors at it.Here is the link to the dochttp://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart.asp...p;culture=en-US

5000X chipset has max FSB of 1333 MHz, so putting 1600 Mhz FSB Xeons on the old board is not of any value as they will declock/underclock by that 25%.

Xeons used in Mac Pro's....

Macpro 1,1 ( 1333 MHz FSB )

2 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5130

2.66 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5150

3.0 GHz 2 X 2 core = E5160

Also known to work E5110(1.60), E5120(1.86), E5140(2.33), E5305(1.60), E5310(1.86), E5320(2.00), E5330(2.13), E5340(2.40) BSEL mod will raise 53x0 by 25%

E54xx/X54xx have not been shown to work.

Mac Pro 2,1 ( 1333 MHz FSB )

3.0 GHz 2 X 4 core = X5365

All 51xx and 53xx should work.

Mac Pro 3,1 ( 1600 MHz FSB )

2.83 GHz 1 X 4 and 2 X 4 core = E5462

3.0 GHz 2 X 4 core = X5472 ( as per evidence on geek bench results site )

3.2 GHz 2 X 4 Core = X5482

Thanks for the reply guys, i wasnt expecting such a fast reply seeing as it isnt even my thread.
Theoretically, if i bought a mac pro with say 2 x 2.83ghz processors on it, would i be able to swap them out for two 3.2ghz models?

I have searched on google and havent really came up with any answers if its possilbe to upgrade the macpro's cpu.

2.8 and 3.0 use the same motherboard, 3.2 has a different motherboard, so I'd say 2.8 ->3.2 might pose problems.

Okay cheers mate, this whole thing is getting very complicated....it shouldnt be where your hobby is as stressful as your job lol

Newayz im not gonna hijack nagals thread, i think i have all the info i need now so back to the macpro madness

A mac built bit by bit reminds me of the old story of the $80k ford Explorer. Surprised it did not turn out worse from how much of a godawful ripoff places like Mac-Pro are for most stuff. But that goes for all 'mac specialist', every time one comes along with fair prices they always turn out to be a fraud.

Now your almost done did you save any from building your own or would you have done better/same just buying one from apple.

Nagal-
You bought a new logicboard from apple palace right? is this from the 1.1, 2.1 or 3.1 mac pro?

Also do you know if the logicboard in the macpro was built by intel for apple? along with the cpu coolers?
If the logicboard is made by Intel then i will 100% go down this route as i will be able to save myself allot of money.

UK members- Where have you found the macpro case for sale? i have looked on ebay but they are all located in america

I have found no Mac Pro cases in the UK either, only the US and they are over £200! I will have to hope for a miracle or lottery win. lol

We new Mac Pro builders should all build one and show them off, like a car show xD Would be fun =P

dude if you checked on ebay like 3 weeks ago there was alot I bought 2 for $270

I saw one but it had the back panel removed, I'll have to time it right next time =P

I think that just answered my question and has pushed this idea to critical mass.

Though it pains me that i have to wait until monday to ring the guy

Until then il start working out prices of the other parts i will need

I plan to order both the power supply and the case (v2) tomorrow. I would like word on applepalace.com logic board, I would like to do a dual quad core, wonderng if I could buy 1 processor 'today' and use it till 'tomorrow' and then buy a 2nd processor same specs (would like to get like a 3ghz) Also do I HAVE to have 2 riser cards? or can you buy 1 and max it out? Also... Those to me seemed like huge heat sinks, any chance i could just use apples heat sinks so i wont have the tempature sensor and add water cooling? I wouldnt mind running a hose out the back of the computer and attaching the rescover to the back... Then again i never done a water cooled system. I just do video editing with my Mac Mini Core Duo 1.66ghz with a firewire drive as my boot drive and ram is maxed at 2 gigs and it just takes forever and i am about to start producing bluray media and i can do it with thisMy little brother owes me $3K and gets his tax return soon so I'll have plenty of money plus im selling 4 of my pcs and a bunch of wireless gear and networking gear on my ebay store and auctioning. Id also be selling this mac if i had that system. I got 3 TB of disk space so i really dont want to spend the money a brand new macintosh cost. plus any savings id want to pay some credit cards off with.Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)Im just thinking If I could do 1 processor that its almost like financing it, with out the interest rate and Ill eventually have a much better machine for less money (processor should sell for less in 6 months type deal)

Please Please Please do a Geekbench score I would love to see how a self made mac pro would compare to a apple mac pro's in performance

list of current mac scores:
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/12/mac...-december-2007/

amazing work, I would love to have a go myself

Riser cards are normally sold in pairs ( at least from Mac-Pro and ApplePalace ) ~$90.00/pr. It is perfectly possible to use one dual or quad core CPU, so long as it is in the CPU_A socket. the apple heat sinks are ~$100.00 ea for ver1 or ~$200.00 ea for ver2 ( gaskets and advanced thermal compound ). It is recommended that both CPU, when using two, be the same stepping.

For production/retail Xeons SL9xx is B3 stepping, SLAxx is C0 stepping, Engineering sample Xeons Qxxx have steppings of B0, B1, B3 or rarely C0.

I got the Mac Pro 2,1 logic board. As soon as my logic board shows up (tomorrow maybe) I will post all the details about it.

Riser cards are NOT sold in pairs from Mac-Pro.com. I can not say if they are sold in pairs from ApplePalace.com

DrDigital,
With 3k plus what you get from selling 4 PCs you could get a real Mac Pro. Why build it? Its a new ball game with the new 2008 MacPros.

I bought a pair from Mac-pro via their website for $89.00 a while back ( could have been their error to my benefit ). Also bought a pair from ApplePalace via web for $90.00 ( in Apple packaging consisting of pair ). Second pair is in box with my second mother board awaiting other parts.

I posted awhile back the savings was $2000 but that would now be around $1700 because the new logic board is so much more expensive that the old one. This is if I bought a stripped 3 GHz 8 core model and then got the extra memory from OWC. That was also before the pricing on the new 2008 Mac Pros came out which really would change those figures. Its hard to say if I would do it again this way or even suggest any one do it this way. I am with holding final judgment until I get the new logic board and see what happens.



Well not for me. I called and was told they were sold individually. I bought 2 @ 89 each and thats exactly what I got.

Wow, all I can say is ouch. Surprising ApplePalace is a better deal ( pair for $90.00 ) if Mac-Pro is charging $89.00 each now. Though I imagine M-P is getting singles here and there whereas AP is getting sealed packages direct from GSX.

To be fair M-P sent direct from stock, while AP backordered from GSX ( three weeks ). Originally I placed the order from M-P thinking that AP was only sending one riser for $90.00, wownd up with four, go figure.

I originally went with ApplePalace but I got the same back ordered problem so I canceled and went with Mac-Pro. I assumed they were sold individually (I did order 2 from them) or I would have waited for them from ApplePalace. So, the lesson is, go with ApplePalace even if you have to wait as the savings is worth it

Logic board shipped yesterday (Monday) so I should get it today. Between this and Super Tuesday, I think I might explode.

I've been reading this forum for a few days now and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed their two cents.... Nagal... you have given me that nudge to finally start building my own mac pro tower. Your insights have been most invaluable... especially the part about staying away from mac-pro.com. I was going down that path before reading about your unfortunate experience. So following your advice I ordered a version 2 logic board along with memory risers from applepalace; THANK YOU FOR THE INFO. This is gonna be somewhat of a short project, hoping to finish it as soon as possible. I'm in conflict about two things; computer enclosure and cooling. I would like to house this beast in a 4U rack and water cool/thermoelectric cool everything; considered such outlandish schemes like oil submersion and housing all components in a small fridge ~ Will post some pictures of my progress.... If anyone is interested in Tower parts I will be considering stripping down my quad 2.5 G5 for parts once I'm done with the mac pro; will provide more info on that later. Thanks and Good luck to everyone with your Macflockingtosh. F*** WINDOWS!!!

It is going to be very difficult to retrofit a Mac Pro into another case. It is doable for sure but you are still going to need all the wiring from the Mac Pro case. You are also going to need the front panel assembly which has the power switch. Water cooling would be very easy in a case other than the Mac Pro. I really did not want to give up that first hard drive slot so I am sticking with air cooling for now.

Good luck on your build and do keep us informed. The more info people post the more success others will have down the road!