The objective is to save a computer that's almost nine years old, has almost no resale value, and would be considered obsolete by the hipsters. It was also making a most disturbing sound as if a bearing is wearing down. Putting money into a computer that has no value may seem senseless but there is reason.
(Ed: what will be the value after the improvements?)
Still nothing as it will remain a nine-year-old computer.
(Ed: why do it?)
To get a single maxed-out Mac Pro rocket box with monitor will cost over eleven thousand dollars. Yes, $11,000 US. It's a monster of a machine as it has twelve cores running at over 3.0 GHz.
But ...
On completion of the project, the Old Worthless Machine will have an impressive video card, it's already got the new memory, and it will have eight cores running at 2.66 GHz. The difference, however, is that the project will complete for less than $300 US. A box which previously was good for nothing more ambitious than looking at Facebook will turn back into a computer again.
(Ed: wouldn't you rather just get a new one?)
No. There's lots of poisonous stuff inside computers and, get this, 95% of the rare Earth materials were mined in Mongolia by China. The longer you can keep recycling a computer to keep it running is better for your pocketbook, better for the landfill, and it's even better for Mongolia. (Look it up. I'm not being facetious. One of the most polluted places on the planet is where they mine this stuff in Mongolia.)
(Ed: what about the disturbing sound of a bearing?)
That was corrected by removing the failing disk drive. It was only 500 GB and had no critical data. In a Son of Save the Mac Pro project, that disk may be replaced by an SSD but that would be about $250 for the single step. It's worth the money but it's a big chunk so that will wait.
So, to the project plan ... the video card will arrive most likely on Thursday. The card is not stock and requires a bit of fiddling but it should be a quick install so long as there's a way to pull alternate power for it. I know it exists but I'm not sure where.
The new processors may well arrive tomorrow. Installing them is the most difficult part of the project and the task isn't so terrible but there's one step to take a plastic whatsit out of there and that part is subtle like Washingtonian foreign policy. You have to wiggle the bit to get it out of there and that's just weak. Apart from that, the process looks fairly straight-up and I will probably begin as soon as the processors arrive.
With any luck at all, the project will complete on Thursday. Then it will be possible to install Final Cut and the 2006 Mac Pro will wind up faster than the machine I use now. This machine will be reborn Bad Ass.
(Ed: are you getting paid for this?)
No. If I don't love you, I won't do it. That's not love with squishy, sweaty noises; that's a different kind.
(Ed: what do you get out of it?)
The sense of accomplishment is good but most of all it makes my friend smile. That sounds pious but she talks a lot and I don't. All she will be saying for quite some time after getting her hands on this machine is, "Holy shit!"
(No, I have no idea what that expression means.)
(Ed: so what's the real plan. There's something devious about this somewhere.)
Of course. With Final Cut installed, I can show my friend some moves with it and, with any luck at all, create a raging case of videomania in her. At first she will want to use the cameras I have here now but she will get hungry for more kit. Video is as bad as music for constantly needing more stuff.
So that's my devious plan. Turn my friend into a videomaniac, it's kind of a Night of the Living Dead thing.
As to why write this ... you can do it too. Check out some videos on YouTube and find out the steps. I'll record all I do and put that out there as well. When you're comfortable with what you see, make the move. It's not that hard and it's much, much cheaper than any other move you can make with a computer. I got the video card from Amazon but the raw chips and RAM I bought on eBay.
(Ed: what will be the value after the improvements?)
Still nothing as it will remain a nine-year-old computer.
(Ed: why do it?)
To get a single maxed-out Mac Pro rocket box with monitor will cost over eleven thousand dollars. Yes, $11,000 US. It's a monster of a machine as it has twelve cores running at over 3.0 GHz.
But ...
On completion of the project, the Old Worthless Machine will have an impressive video card, it's already got the new memory, and it will have eight cores running at 2.66 GHz. The difference, however, is that the project will complete for less than $300 US. A box which previously was good for nothing more ambitious than looking at Facebook will turn back into a computer again.
(Ed: wouldn't you rather just get a new one?)
No. There's lots of poisonous stuff inside computers and, get this, 95% of the rare Earth materials were mined in Mongolia by China. The longer you can keep recycling a computer to keep it running is better for your pocketbook, better for the landfill, and it's even better for Mongolia. (Look it up. I'm not being facetious. One of the most polluted places on the planet is where they mine this stuff in Mongolia.)
(Ed: what about the disturbing sound of a bearing?)
That was corrected by removing the failing disk drive. It was only 500 GB and had no critical data. In a Son of Save the Mac Pro project, that disk may be replaced by an SSD but that would be about $250 for the single step. It's worth the money but it's a big chunk so that will wait.
So, to the project plan ... the video card will arrive most likely on Thursday. The card is not stock and requires a bit of fiddling but it should be a quick install so long as there's a way to pull alternate power for it. I know it exists but I'm not sure where.
The new processors may well arrive tomorrow. Installing them is the most difficult part of the project and the task isn't so terrible but there's one step to take a plastic whatsit out of there and that part is subtle like Washingtonian foreign policy. You have to wiggle the bit to get it out of there and that's just weak. Apart from that, the process looks fairly straight-up and I will probably begin as soon as the processors arrive.
With any luck at all, the project will complete on Thursday. Then it will be possible to install Final Cut and the 2006 Mac Pro will wind up faster than the machine I use now. This machine will be reborn Bad Ass.
(Ed: are you getting paid for this?)
No. If I don't love you, I won't do it. That's not love with squishy, sweaty noises; that's a different kind.
(Ed: what do you get out of it?)
The sense of accomplishment is good but most of all it makes my friend smile. That sounds pious but she talks a lot and I don't. All she will be saying for quite some time after getting her hands on this machine is, "Holy shit!"
(No, I have no idea what that expression means.)
(Ed: so what's the real plan. There's something devious about this somewhere.)
Of course. With Final Cut installed, I can show my friend some moves with it and, with any luck at all, create a raging case of videomania in her. At first she will want to use the cameras I have here now but she will get hungry for more kit. Video is as bad as music for constantly needing more stuff.
So that's my devious plan. Turn my friend into a videomaniac, it's kind of a Night of the Living Dead thing.
As to why write this ... you can do it too. Check out some videos on YouTube and find out the steps. I'll record all I do and put that out there as well. When you're comfortable with what you see, make the move. It's not that hard and it's much, much cheaper than any other move you can make with a computer. I got the video card from Amazon but the raw chips and RAM I bought on eBay.
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