JUST TO LET ANY POTENTIAL BUYERS KNOW, I AM THE SECOND OWNER OF THIS COMPUTER. IT HAS BEEN USED AS A RECORDING STUDIO COMPUTER FOR ITS ENTIRE LIFE. IT WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED FOR A WELL KNOWN STUDIO IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, & I PURCHASED IT FROM THEM 3 YEARS AGO. IT IS STILL IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER, AND UP UNTIL I WIPED THE DRIVES AND DID A FRESH INSTALL OF EL CAPITAN. IT HAS BEEN RUNNING PRO TOOLS, LOGIC, CUBASE, REASON, AND MANY OTHER AUDIO PROGRAMS JUST FINE. THE ONLY REASON THAT I AM SELLING IT IS TO UPGRADE TO A MAC PRO THAT HAS THUNDERBOLT PORTS, AS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THAT IS WHERE EVERYTHING IN THE AUDIO PRODUCTION WORLD HAS HEADED.
I HAVE TRIED TO DETAIL ALL OF THE SPECS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, BUT IF I LEFT ANYTHING OUT, OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK!
The Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (Early 2008) is powered by two 2.8 GHz Quad Core 45-nm Intel Xeon E5462 (Harpertown/Penryn) processors with 12 MB of level 2 cache per processor (each pair of cores shares 6 MB), a 128-bit SSE4 SIMD vector engine, and 1.6 GHz "64-bit dual independent frontside buses." Via custom configuration, this model could be equipped with a single 2.8 GHz Quad Core Xeon E5462 processor, two 3 GHz Quad Core Xeon E5472 processors, or two 3.2 GHz Quad Core Xeon X5482 processors.
By default, it was configured with 2 GB of 800 MHz DDR2 EEC "fully-buffered" FB-DIMM memory, a 320 GB (7200 RPM, 8 MB cache) 3Gb/s Serial ATA hard drive, a double-layer 16X "SuperDrive", and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics processor with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory and two dual-link DVI ports.
THIS MAC PRO HAS 16 GB OF MEMORY INSTALLED, A TOTAL OF 4 HARD DRIVES, TOTALING 3 TB OF STORAGE.
Expansion includes two external 5.25" "optical" bays (one free by default), four internal 3.5" "cable-free, direct attach" hard drive bays (three free by default), two PCIe x4 slots, and two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (one free with one graphics card installed). Ports include dual Gigabit Ethernet, five USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire "400" ports, two Firewire "800" ports, and optical digital audio in/out, among others. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR is standard, AirPort Extreme (802.11g/n) and a modem are optional.
Compared to the original Mac Pro that it replaced, the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 uses a more advanced architecture with faster and more efficient processors with larger level 2 caches, a more advanced vector engine, faster frontside buses (1.6 GHz instead of 1.33 GHz), faster memory (800 MHz instead of 667 MHz), support for optional faster Serial Attached SCSI drives (with the installation of the Mac Pro RAID card), and two 16-lane PCIe 2.0 slots.
Introduction Date: January 8, 2008 Discontinued Date: March 3, 2009
Processors: 2 (8 Cores) Architecture: 64-Bit
Geekbench 2 (32): 9162 Geekbench 2 (64): 10564
Geekbench 3 (32): 1531 Geekbench 3 (32): 10383
Geekbench 3 (64): 1650 Geekbench 3 (64): 11214
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz Processor Type: Q. Core Xeon E5462 x2
Details: Each of two 45-nm Xeon E5462 (Harpertown/Penryn) processors has four independent processor "cores" with 12 MB of level 2 cache per processor (each pair of cores shares 6 MB). It also features a 128-bit SSE4 SIMD vector engine, and 1.6 GHz "64-bit dual independent frontside buses."
Also see: How much faster are the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro models compared to the original Mac Pro?
Turbo Boost: N/A Custom Speeds: 2.8, 3, 3.2 GHz*
Processor Upgrade: LGA 771 Sockets FPU: Integrated
System Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz Cache Bus Speed: 2.8 GHz (Built-in)
ROM/Firmware Type: EFI EFI Architecture: 64-Bit
L1 Cache: N/A L2/L3 Cache: 12 MB*
RAM Type: PC6400 DDR2 ECC Min. RAM Speed: 800 MHz
Details: Uses "800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) memory" and has a "256-bit wide memory architecture".
Also see: How do you upgrade the RAM in the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro? How much RAM of what type does it support? Is it backwards compatible with RAM from the original Mac Pro?
Standard RAM: 2 GB Maximum RAM: 64 GB*
Details: THIS MAC PRO HAS 16 GB OF MEMORY INSTALLED.
*Apple officially supports 32 GB of RAM in this model, but site sponsor OWC first discovered that it is capable of using 64 GB of RAM with appropriate high-density memory modules.
In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells memory -- as well as other upgrades -- for this Mac Pro.
In the UK, site sponsor Flexx sells memory and other upgrades for this Mac Pro.
In Australia, site sponsor RamCity sells memory and other upgrades for this Mac Pro.
Also see: Actual Max RAM of All G3 & Later Macs.
Motherboard RAM: None RAM Slots: 8
Video Card: Radeon HD 2600 XT VRAM Type: GDDR3 SDRAM
Details: By default, an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory is installed in a PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot. It has two dual-link DVI ports. Other graphics card options included the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory or a NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5 GB of GDDR3 memory. All of the video cards offered have two dual-link DVI ports, and the Quadro FX 5600 has a stereo 3D port as well.
Also see: What are the default graphics cards provided with each Mac Pro? What Mac Pro compatible video cards are available for purchase later? Which video cards have which ports?
Standard VRAM: 256 MB Maximum VRAM: 256 MB
Display Support: Up to 8 Displays* Resolution Support: 2560x1600*
Details: Apple advertised that this model can support "up to eight 30-inch displays" (with four video cards installed, one card is installed by default and can support two 30-inch displays). The default ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT is capable of supporting "digital resolutions up to 2560 by 1600" pixels and analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels.
2nd Display Support: Dual/Mirroring 2nd Max. Resolution: 2560x1600
Details: The ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT is capable of supporting two 30-inch displays with a resolution of 2560x1600 in either dual display or mirrored mode.
Also see: Apple Cinema Displays.
Standard Hard Drive: 320 GB (7200 RPM) Int. HD Interface: Serial ATA (3 Gb/s)
Details: By default, this system shipped with a single 320 GB (7200 RPM, 8 MB cache) Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive. Apple formally supports up to 4 TB of storage with four 1 TB hard drives (one in each internal bay). This system also supports Serial Attached SCSI drives with the installation of the Mac Pro RAID card, and Apple formally supports up to 1.2 TB (1200 GB) in this manner with four 300 GB (15,000 RPM, 16 MB cache) SCSI drives.
THIS MACHINE HAS 4 HARD DRIVES. A 1TB, WHICH IS THE MAIN SYSTEM DRIVE, 2 750GBS, AND A 500GB.
Also see: How do you upgrade the hard drives in the Mac Pro models? How many drives of what type are supported?
In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells storage upgrades for this Mac Pro.
In the UK, site sponsor Flexx sells storage upgrades for this Mac Pro.
In Australia, site sponsor RamCity sells storage upgrades for this Mac Pro.
Standard Optical: 8X DL "SuperDrive" Standard Disk: None
Standard Modem: None Standard Ethernet: Gigabit (x2)
Details: An external Apple USB Modem was available for US$49. The system has "two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T [Gigabit] Ethernet (RJ-45) interfaces with support for jumbo frames."
Standard AirPort: 802.11a/b/g/n (Opt) Standard Bluetooth: 2.0+EDR
USB Ports: 5 (2.0) Firewire Ports: 2 (400), 2 (800)
Expansion Slots: 2 PCIe, 2 PCIe 2.0, AP* Expansion Bays: 4 3.5", 2 5.25"
Details: *This model has two PCIe x4 expansion slots and two PCIe 2.0 x16 expansion slots (in the default confugration one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot is occupied by the graphics card). Apple also reports that "all slots provide mechanical support for 16-lane cards [and supports] 300W combined maximum for all PCI Express slots."
AirPort Extreme (802.11g/n) HAS BEEN INSTALLED!
In the default configuration, one internal 3.5" bay is occupied by a hard drive and three are free, and one external 5.25" bay is occupied by a "SuperDrive" and the other is free. The no longer available Developer's Note also documented "two unpopulated 3 Gbps SATA buses for expansion".
THIS ONE HAS 4 HD'S INSTALLED. 1TB MAIN SYSTEM HD, THEN 2 750 GB HD'S AND A 500 GB HD.
Also see: How many PCI slots of what type are provided by each Mac Pro model? How do you install a PCIe card in the Mac Pro?
In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells a wide variety of internal and external expansion options and hand-picked accessories ranging from internal PCIe cards to external storage, stands, keyboards, cables, adapters, and more for this Mac Pro.
In Ireland, site sponsor SmartSpot sells a number of external expansion options and accessories like cases, cables, SD cards, speakers, and more for this Mac Pro.
In Australia, site sponsor Macfixit offers an extensive selection of external expansion options and accessories like docks, stands, chargers, keyboards, and security products (as well as some PCIe cards) for this Mac Pro.
Incl. Keyboard: Apple Aluminum KB Incl. Input: Mighty Mouse
Case Type: Tower Form Factor: Mac Pro
Apple Order No: MA970LL/A Apple Subfamily: Early 2008
Apple Model No: A1186 (EMC 2180) Model ID: MacPro3,1
Details: Please note that these identifiers refer to more than one model.
Also see: All Macs with the A1186 Model Number, the 2180 EMC Number, and the MacPro3,1 Model Identifier.
For more about these identifiers and how to locate them on each Mac, please refer to EveryMac.com's Mac Identification section.
Battery Type: N/A Battery Life: N/A
Pre-Installed MacOS: X 10.5.1 (9B2117) Maximum MacOS: X 10.11.x*
Minimum Windows: XP SP2 (32-Bit)* Maximum Windows: 7 (64-Bit)*
MacOS 9 Support: None Windows Support: Boot/Virtualization
Details: Also see: Are there any third-party programs to run Mac OS 9/Classic applications on Intel Macs?
Site sponsor OHS specializes in heavily upgraded Macs capable of running both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 applications.
For more on running Windows on Intel Macs, please refer to the exhaustive Windows on Mac Q&A.
Dimensions: 20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7 Avg. Weight: 42.4 lbs. (19.2 kg)
Original Price (US): US$2799 Est. Current Retail: US$900-US$1100
Details: Please note that on average the estimated current retail pricing of used systems is updated twice a year (please refer to the date on the bottom of the page for the date last updated).
Photo Credit: Apple Computer.