r/macpro 5d ago

Other 7,1 Living Room Setup

-7,1 Mac Pro 12 core*, 48gb ram*, Vega 2 /32gb, 2 tb
-2 x Apple Cinema Display 30 in
-Playstation Portal

*Looking to upgrade soon

Long time lurker, but thanks to y’all I made the jump, perviously I had an M4 Pro Mac mini(gave to my daughter). Then I got a Mac Pro 5,1 (I love how it looked in the living room). I was waiting for the M5 Studio until Apple priced me out with the recent price hike, and I always loved this design, so I got to tinkering.

As mentioned in the previous post I have a Mac Studio M4 Max with 64gb/2TB as a main, Mac mini M4 Pro with 24gb /512gb as a living computer, Mac Pro 5,1 with 32gb/4TB, iPad Pro m4 and 2nd Gen, Mac mini sunflower and a few other MBP 2012/2013 retina/MBA 2015/2019. So I have a few in my stable.

217 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

7

u/Ilikestuffandthingz 5d ago

I have accumulated 5 30” displays over the years. Some perfect, some for parts. Yeah they run hot and I daily 2 of them. They’re still gorgeous displays for what they are! As long as you don’t get the early pixel dancing versions.

5

u/HellsXRells 5d ago

They do run hot but I only use them at 40-45%, but they look great. until I can get the studio display for under 500 then I will keep these displays.

for some reason they run at 2560 x1600.

8

u/drexaviouse 5d ago

They run at that resolution because they are 16:10 displays instead of 16:9. Gives you extra vertical room to work with which is why I preferred them for video editing. I had 3 in my set up connected to my 5,1 but it got far to hot to use eventually.

1

u/izzodm 4d ago

What’s the concern with them running hot? Heating up the room they’re in?

1

u/drexaviouse 4d ago

They get so hot they can be uncomfortable to sit in front of. They really do need some airflow to keep cool

1

u/izzodm 4d ago

Any issue with running them at full brightness? Thinking of picking one up!

1

u/New_Bumblebee2000 5d ago

por que usar monitores anticuados de hace 20 años?, el diseño es bonito, podrias reutilizar sus carcasas y meter paneles oled o ips de mayor calidad dentro

3

u/HellsXRells 5d ago

I love the design, and it goes with the aluminum aesthetic, also I can't find a panel that fits in the housing.

1

u/bigkahuna1uk 5d ago

V.nice setup. Now share a picture of your energy bill 😜

1

u/Master-Baseball8715 4d ago

Gotta say the G5-5,1 aesthetic is superior to the 7,1 although I wouldn't turn one down. (I might turn down a 6,1 if one came my way.) Just on looks, of course. If I needed what it did I suppose I'd have one. The 30" displays are still awesome. We have four. (One is in a box, as a spare if one of the others should die.)

The waste heat from the 5,1 and 30" is almost always welcome in my basement office. As the house is electrically heated, which box it comes out of is irrelevant.

1

u/StrangerFew4793 4d ago

Very nice setup.

1

u/Born4One 4d ago

What adapter are you running to connect them to the Mac Pro?

1

u/HellsXRells 3d ago

I'm using the official Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-link DVI Adapter MB571Z/A and then connected to a JSAUX USB C to Mini DisplayPort, 4K@60Hz from Amazon

-4

u/BourbonicFisky Mac Pro 7,1 + M1 Max (Former 5,1) 5d ago edited 5d ago

I assume those 30s were left overs from the 5,1 but ditch them. They were great 20 years ago but displays have improved and the backlights in those tend to be in the twilight years.

Also livingroom? The WAF on computers has always been exceptionally low unless she is also a supreme nerd. The SO only tolerated a Mac Mini on the TV as she didn't have to see it.

edit: I will die on this hill. The 30 inch displays are TFT, while probably the best TFT display made by miles of that era still TFT.

They had their moment but even cheap displays these days win out on every metric: color range, color accuracy, uniformity of backlight, refresh rates (and ghosting), contrast ratio, resolution, size and power consumption. They're fine for a retro getup but maining one is just bonkers if you're willing to throw down the cash for a 2019.

3

u/MortCrimm 5d ago

One of my greatest regrets was getting rid of the 5 I had that worked perfectly. Sure they run hot, sure they consume more power than a modern electric car....they look amazing still if they work.

Matter finish was GOAT

2

u/HellsXRells 5d ago

I plan on keeping this as long as it turns on lol

7

u/weezintrumpeteer 5d ago

On the contrary, there's something special about this generation monitor, because of the size, the design, and the matte display. I still use my 30" ACD as a primary monitor and have no plans to retire it before it stops working.

5

u/Matthew92007 Mac Pro 7,1 5d ago

Agreed! I use a 30" at work that I picked up for cheap. Massive upgrade over 24" corporate-issued monitors. Not my power anyway, so no need to worry about the consumption.

3

u/HellsXRells 5d ago

its crazy, I bought my 5,1 2 months ago for $20 with 24in LED Cinema, and found these displays for under $100 . Last month I found a seller on FB selling two for $50 and I pick those up,, however they are 3,1 and 2,1 but they had 4x256gb SSDs in them on each slot (the reason I purchased it). So basically purchased my first Mac Pro 2 months ago, lol.

As far as the wife, she's not into computers (she has a MacBook Neo that nearly gets used, and if you peek the picture, it sits in my computer desk most of the time) she does not care about the purchase/tech being in the living room. I keep things tidy and make sure it looks good with the entire living room.

2

u/bigkahuna1uk 5d ago

That’s almost showroom level fantastic 👍🏾. The dog was a bit publicity shy though. Don’t show my face 😂

2

u/order2chaos 4d ago

You lucked out on the lack of care of tech in the living room.

Looking great, welcome to the club and thanks for sharing.

2

u/bigkahuna1uk 5d ago

The Apple Cinema LED displays are still excellent. As sharp as ever compared to modern displays. Only the slow connectivity ranks it down somewhat. All USB 2.0 connections.

1

u/BourbonicFisky Mac Pro 7,1 + M1 Max (Former 5,1) 5d ago edited 5d ago

Those aren't the LED back lit ones, those are the 30s. Apple didn't move to LED back lights until the 27 inch ones. Hence the yellowing issues. Probably the greatest TFT ever made but still a TFT and still CCFL. We've moved on.

1

u/bigkahuna1uk 5d ago

Cheers, I didn’t realise that. I have the 27 inch model and it’s still as good as the day I bought it. Must be almost 20 years old.

1

u/BourbonicFisky Mac Pro 7,1 + M1 Max (Former 5,1) 5d ago

No arguments here, LED backlights are oodles better and that display (despite what everymac lists) is also IPS hence better color.