Restoring A Filthy Mac Pro... From A School Bin!

Today we’re going to clean up and restore a free Apple Mac Pro that was being thrown out by a school. Does this trash picked desktop work? Can this filthy corroded machine be useful in 2023? Let’s find out 🙂 #apple #mac #restoration

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Nathan Sivewright
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(Spoilers) Mac Pro Specifications:
Early 2009 4,1 Mac Pro
2.66GHz Quad Core Xeon W3520 Cpu
8GB DDR3 1,066MHz Ram
Nvidia GT 120 512MB Graphics
480GB SATA SSD (Upgraded)

[CoreyDWillis]

Watching old computers like this get all cleaned up so so weirdly satisfying.

[brokenelectronics]

Just a tip about accessing the PCIe slots, there is a button on the fan casing. Press that, and it will slide back, freeing the slots. There is no need to remove the fan completely.

[Qbed]

It's satisfying to see old piece of hardware from trash comeback to life. Keep up with great work.

[NebukadV]

What you called corrosion at for example 5:45, 5:51, 5:58, 8:05 is actually just flux-residue from the original manufacturing, that got not cleaned off properly in the factory and turn white over time. That is also, why this white discoloration only form in very specific spots, where that form of flux was used for thru-hole soldering.

[acidtechno]

wikkid, just ordered two of those, on st patricks day too 🥃🥃🍀🍀🍀 used these for ages but when apple pulled os support it was a bummer, now thanks to open core, we are back. i mean think 5, 1 or 7, 1, thats £300 plus a gpu or £5k errm 6, 1 was apple being apple, G5 cube etc..

[nukelauncher]

The AMD RX580 is a great GPU for these Mac Pros. The special Mac compatible GPUs just allow you to see the UEFI screens. This can be annoying if you're trying to reinstall an OS or if you're dual booting since you can't see the boot picker. PC compatible cards will just show a black screen until MacOS boots and the GPU drivers load. It is possible to flash a Mac compatible VBIOS to the GPU too.

[archlinuxrussian]

Aside from power consumption and CPU efficiency concerns, this Mac could be quite useful still! As others have suggested, Firmware upgrade, newer GPU/CPU, and maybe even Linux could make this computer someone's new rig! Maybe a home server or video editing machine or whatnot ☺

[OhHeyItIsNano]

The repair projects look rather fun and good to watch.

[Macboyeezy]

the best mac with upgradable compatibility!!!!

[MrCooper]

I still use a 5.1. ITs all maxed out. Best Xeon CPU and the max RAM. Still capable and with newer metal supported video card you can run the latest version of MacOS. I have been using this with a matching 30" Cinema Display. They are old but still work as new. Love the design, however I need to clean it regularly due to its HUGE fans.

Great video!!

[itsmesb]

I still use one of these today, with a Xeon X5680, 32GB RAM, various SSDs, and an RX 580. This is all used with an install of open core so it can run windows 11 and macOS Monterey.

[shakymctwitch]

What a FANTASTIC computer. The 4, 1 can be firmware updated to a 5, 1 and the device itself is upgradable to near modern power. The dual processor models could go up to 128 GB of RAM and with Opencore patcher, it will run Ventura (albeit with a few limitations). The GPU can be upgraded to modern specs too so gaming isn't unrealistic. Really good piece of history.

[mavicman]

If the mac can run fishing clash, it is not junk, it is a treasure.

[msthalamus]

I have this exact model. It's been on 24/7 for the last decade, most recently built out as a 6TB RAID file server (back when 6TB was considered a lot). Built like a tank, and more dependable than just about any other machine I've ever had. Decently priced, too, at least compared to the lunacy of Apple's current Mac Pro line.

[seppmartti]

00:38 "...panel comes off, revealing a moistly complete unit."

[madcat]

From what I have heard people need the original GPU to update the drivers or firmware to install a different gpu.

Something along those lines. Saw it in a video from Austin Evans a few years ago.

10:27 Look mate it's a PKCELL battery.

I only now learned Runescape is actually called old school rune scape and isn't a reference to its age.

[aspieantics]

that apple power connector is my new best friend. its a bloody nightmare removing it in other systems LOL

[robd]

Aussie dumpsters seem a lot better than ours, EEV finds some nice items in his office workspace dumpster, never had such good luck here.

[shanemitchellspencer]

I still have my converted 4, 1 > 5, 1 sitting under my desk as a server.

Probably one of the best designed computers ever made and a testament to the community and repairable, modular designs. I doubt Apple will ever sell a machine quite like this again.

[duelgundam]

For the Graphics card, with a compatible OS, you could use up to a GTX 1080 on a High Sierra install(last macOS with Nvidia support)

Although, you could also run comparable AMD GPUs from the same period(for stability. I don't think the PSU would be able to handle big power loads), as macOS still supports 3rd party Radeon cards.