What do you use your Mac Pro for?! [Archive]

FF_productions

Jun 5, 2007, 11:44 AM

I have been thinking about getting a Mac Pro, with my parents loaning me some $, I will use it for editing videos and encoding them.

Ask anybody who uses a Mac Pro, it blows them away in speed (the 2.66 model, not even mentioning the 3 ghz and the 3 ghz OCTO)

The fastest Mac I have ever used was a Dual 2.3 G5. Now imagine a Mac Pro with 4 processors!

Lots of horsepower in a Mac Pro to go around. The expandability is crazy, being able to expand just about every part.

This new MacBook Pro update has got my mind in a bit of a twist but I'm sure I'll end up with a Mac Pro.

suneohair

Jun 5, 2007, 12:03 PM

I am expecting updates on the Mac Pro next monday.

FF_productions

Jun 5, 2007, 12:17 PM

I am expecting updates on the Mac Pro next monday.

Are you serious?

4God

Jun 5, 2007, 12:25 PM

I am expecting updates on the Mac Pro next monday.

What makes you think there will be an update at WWDC?

statikcat

Jun 5, 2007, 01:36 PM

I am not expecting.. but REALLY hoping!!

pbnjgod

Jun 5, 2007, 01:38 PM

well it makes sense with the update to the MBP (2GB of ram standard, new video card, high def 17" monitor) that there is going to be at least a slight if not substantial upgrade to the Mac Pro. I mean it still has the same video card that it had when it was released. That with the comment about "emphasis on desktops" at WWDC it seems very likely. Then again maybe it's all in my head seeing as I am planning on buying a 2.66ghz Mac Pro and 23" ACD asap.

onefish2

Jun 5, 2007, 02:01 PM

It's not necessarily the power people need/want. Sometimes its for expandability. I have a triple monitor setup on an Ergotron monitor stand left over from when I migrated away from a Dell/Windows box. The only way I could continue to use those 3 monitors was with a Mac Pro. If I didn't have that requirement, i would have gone with a 20" iMac.

dkoralek

Jun 5, 2007, 02:18 PM

All that power, what the heck could you use it for?!

I'm very interested to hear what it is you all do with them, so yes, please let me know. :) In a way, it'll justify what I end up purchasing.

I use mine for statistical analysis (Stata/MP, SAS under XP). I do the usual word processing, spreadsheet, etc. stuff, and just got a new SLR, so will be doing some photo editing. Compress a bit of video every once and a while.

cheers.

Cromulent

Jun 5, 2007, 03:24 PM

All that power, what the heck could you use it for?!

I'm very interested to hear what it is you all do with them, so yes, please let me know. :) In a way, it'll justify what I end up purchasing.

Final Cut Studio. That is the only thing that really taxes my computer, although when I am converting a ton of audio files I can max out all my CPU cores.

Then the rest is just the standard web browsing, music, word processing and the odd bit of 3D graphics (at least learning how to do it).

jimedit1

Jun 5, 2007, 03:40 PM

netdog

Jun 5, 2007, 03:42 PM

Email and Web browsing. It really makes those flash animations hum.

Seriously, I don't have a Mac Pro.

Lycanthrope

Jun 5, 2007, 03:55 PM

It's my home computer, I do things most other people do I guess. Yes surf and email but also messing with video, images and sound when necessary - I'm not really using all the power but all standard computer tasks are done with a minumum of delay and that's why I bought it.

Biggest diffrence with a "normal" computer is that I can massively parallel multi-taks without any delays and run SETI 24/24 on all four cores and get an impressive credit out.

It makes life a lot easier having such a fast computer.

Wild-Bill

Jun 5, 2007, 04:28 PM

I am expecting updates on the Mac Pro next monday.

I am too. My "conspiracy" theory is that Apple released the updated MacBookPros today so that would be one less thing to talk about at WWDC, and give Steve plenty of time to talk about how he's re-vamped the Mac Pro and given us better and up-to-date video card options.

At least I hope so.

I'm getting one because my Powerbook struggles to keep up with me when I'm working on my music in Garageband or Logic. I want to be able to run all of my tracks, with as many effects as I want, without having to lock every track except the one I'm working on at the time.

FF_productions

Jun 5, 2007, 04:33 PM

I am too. My "conspiracy" theory is that Apple released the updated MacBookPros today so that would be one less thing to talk about at WWDC, and give Steve plenty of time to talk about how he's re-vamped the Mac Pro and given us better and up-to-date video card options.

At least I hope so.

I'm getting one because my Powerbook struggles to keep up with me when I'm working on my music in Garageband or Logic. I want to be able to run all of my tracks, with as many effects as I want, without having to lock every track except the one I'm working on at the time.

Good theory, guess we'll have to wait and see though.

Steve is going to dedicate a lot of time to introducing a Full-Featured Leopard. We will be shocked at WWDC and I can't wait for it to happen.

slughead

Jun 5, 2007, 04:33 PM

All that power, what the heck could you use it for?!

Porn.

hayduke

Jun 5, 2007, 06:11 PM

The usual...

Monte Carlo and Bloch simulations of changing magnetic field induced eddy currents.

Noise simulations of diffusion tensor invariants.

Tensor field image processing and visualization.

Cardiac structure-function kinematic modeling.

Magnetic resonance image reconstruction.

Oh, and browsing MR ForumSpy with wicked refresh rates.

Karpfish

Jun 5, 2007, 06:25 PM

Pure image editing goodness.

suneohair

Jun 5, 2007, 06:38 PM

chipchen

Jun 5, 2007, 08:13 PM

I know a lot of people with Mac Pro's...

They either do heavy editing, etc... or just surf the web and check mail.

spaz8

Jun 5, 2007, 08:34 PM

3d, rendering, video editing, composting, encoding video.

Umbongo

Jun 5, 2007, 09:03 PM

Well to answer those who repsonded. It is a DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE, and they buy these machines, so...

Anyhow, the MBP has 2GB stock and an 8xxx series card stock. I see at the very least that coming to the Mac Pro. Maybe 500GB stock as well with an option for 1TB disks.

Maybe that Stoakely-Seaburg update since we now have Santa Rosa in the MBP.

If it doesn't happen Monday then I would say sometime this week or next Tuesday. It is a rather stale product and the 3.0Ghz quad really wasn't an upgrade as you all know. They could make some improvements and I think it is time.

I think the next revision of the Mac Pro may be nothing more than new pricing for the processors and new high end GPU options. 2900XT or perhaps 8800GTX, maybe they'd also offer 8800GTS as another way to go, or the sole choice (yuck). Then 4600 or maybe 5600 quadro cards (based on the nvidia 8 series), but dailytechs numbers showed the 2900XT bested them on benchmarks. The 7300GT is a pretty ideal base card for the MP, those who don't need 3d graphics performance don't need DX10 cards, the 7300GT is low power and low heat which is why it was chosen.

Also I wouldn't expect anything other than a 250GB drive as standard, I just don't think 500GB as standard is best catering to the customer base. As for the memory being standard at 2GB, well it would be nice and FB-DIMMs have dropped to a price that would allow it. Though if Apple can get a better deal on 512mb expect it to still be in that form, which would be kind of sucky.

The stoakley platform looks like it won't be released until later in the year, maybe before penryn Xeon's, but maybe not. There still is little information on when either will be comming.

skubish

Jun 5, 2007, 09:06 PM

All that power, what the heck could you use it for?!

I'm very interested to hear what it is you all do with them, so yes, please let me know. :) In a way, it'll justify what I end up purchasing.

Well I don't have a Mac Pro yet but I am planning to get one for the wife to use for her semi-professional photography business.

Mainly she uses CS3 and the old windows machine just isn't going to cut it any longer.

I plan to get the 2.66 quad, 4gb, and 4 500GB hard drives (3 in a RAID 0 scratch disk).

suneohair

Jun 5, 2007, 10:01 PM

I think the next revision of the Mac Pro may be nothing more than new pricing for the processors and new high end GPU options. 2900XT or perhaps 8800GTX, maybe they'd also offer 8800GTS as another way to go, or the sole choice (yuck). Then 4600 or maybe 5600 quadro cards (based on the nvidia 8 series), but dailytechs numbers showed the 2900XT bested them on benchmarks. The 7300GT is a pretty ideal base card for the MP, those who don't need 3d graphics performance don't need DX10 cards, the 7300GT is low power and low heat which is why it was chosen.

Also I wouldn't expect anything other than a 250GB drive as standard, I just don't think 500GB as standard is best catering to the customer base. As for the memory being standard at 2GB, well it would be nice and FB-DIMMs have dropped to a price that would allow it. Though if Apple can get a better deal on 512mb expect it to still be in that form, which would be kind of sucky.

The stoakley platform looks like it won't be released until later in the year, maybe before penryn Xeon's, but maybe not. There still is little information on when either will be comming.

I haven't looked too much into the stoakley stuff, i know there was a huge thread launched by multimedia about it and I figured it would be coming sooner than what you say. I will have to look into it, but thats why i said maybe for that.

I think an 8 series card makes sense, even though the 7300 is a good bottom of the line, it isn't anymore. I think the MBP update acknowledges that, a low end 8 series, and top end 8 series of HD2xxx series, and a Quadro would be a good line up and would be keeping with the times.

The standard now is 250GB, which I think was bumped not too long ago (with the Quad update I think.) 250 is good, but 500 would be nice especially with 1TB making its way into the foray. Any upgrade IMO is catering to the customer base. If i can get 500 for the same as 250 that is good.

512MB in general is on its way out. Soon it will cost more to use since it won't have the supply. Take a lot at OWC pricing:

2GB in 512MB modules is: $289
2GB in 1GB modules is: $189

$100 difference, that is pretty significant. When you get to 4GB it is even worse with a $250 difference between 512MB stick and 2GB sticks. That is hug!

Anyhow, soon or even now, it will cost Apple more to use those 512 stick regardless of any special pricing they may or may not get. 2GB is coming. I stand by that statement.

I am not trying to argue, but I think what I am saying makes sense (of course this is Apple we are talking about). I just can't buy today with the price drops and MBP upgrades in my mind. If they don't update next week, I am holding out until they do, because I think I will get:

Better CPUs
More RAM
Better Video

Maybe:
More HD stock
Better mobo

spaz8

Jun 5, 2007, 10:30 PM

I just want a better video card.. i'll take the 2900 but would prefer the 8800, would be awesome to see a card with more that 512mb, thats not a quadro. If I can get a 500 GB HD and 2gb of ram as the base thats gravy.

ReanimationLP

Jun 5, 2007, 10:31 PM

Porn.

Wow, 3 porns at once. :D

Evergreen

Jun 5, 2007, 11:43 PM

I plan to get the 2.66 quad, 4gb, and 4 500GB hard drives (3 in a RAID 0 scratch disk).

Is a RAID that big really more economical than a RAM upgrade?

product26

Jun 6, 2007, 02:04 AM

recording and mixing music
- soooooo much headroom for plugins and endless tracks
- Silence is golden - quiet computing is invaluable

Video editing / processing / converting / burning
- The best part is that with 4 cores, i can do all those things at once!
- I love being able to load 3 or 4 processes in to ffmpegX, not even maxing out the CPUs, and still being able to work on other things.

Photoshop / Lightroom
- Gotsta edits my photos.

Gaming
- Only good use for windows.

Father Jack

Jun 6, 2007, 02:10 AM

Mainly Photoshop and Final Cut .... :)

FJ

Fearless Leader

Jun 6, 2007, 02:18 AM

Adamo

Jun 6, 2007, 04:40 AM

mine will be for Final Cut Studio, photoshop, mathematica, and developing applications. Going from a dual 1.8 G5 to an octo what ever I can afford with 8gigs of ram. :D My MBP Rev a. doesn't count, cuase those bastards at apple keep making it slower and slower
As long as you're not buying the RAM from Apple, then great. :D

Anyways, so far, it's mainly video editing, photo editing, a small amount of gaming and web-surfing/porn.

A MacBook Pro is tempting me as well, gah!

KJdanReuben

Jun 6, 2007, 08:37 AM

I don't have one yet, but I will be getting one after WWDC! I'm waiting for the whole line to be upraded to 8 core machines and hopefully a bigger hdd stock. Better video cards is also a must. I'll use mine for video editing.

astrostu

Jun 6, 2007, 01:17 PM

When I get my Mac Pro, I will use it for the usual e-mail and internet stuff. But, I also am looking to get back into playing Sim City and Civilization, both of which can't run anymore on my desktop and are painfully slow on my PowerBook.

In addition, I do a lot of photography editing which taxes my RAM, so the expandability there is nice. And I do web design stuff so having PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, and Safari open and running smoothly would be nice.

And for work/projects. I had a final project where I was simulating convection in Earth's mantle. It took 3-4 hrs to run one simulation on my 1.67 GHz PowerBook. On the computer my advisor bought me for work, a dual duo 2.0 GHz Mac Pro, I was able to run 4 simulations at once, they only took an hour each, and so multiplied my productivity (and decreased the time it took) by a factor of 12.

So the raw speed and the amazing expandability are what I need.

bld44

Jun 6, 2007, 01:48 PM

It's my work computer :cool:

Graphic Design (Photoshop CS3 / Illustrator CS3/ InDesign CS3) and some web development & photography.. Aperture for my Nikon D-SLR.

And all of the other things: word processing, gaming, browsing, email, etc.

pagansoul

Jun 6, 2007, 02:35 PM

I have a 500gb bay for my movies. I rip them to half size and play them on my Creative Zen Vision W 60G (been waiting for WS ipod) and ipod 80G and PSP. Have about 200 movies, a few TV shows and short films, and several music videos so far. I watch a lot of stuff on my computer. I also make home movies of my pets. I'm slowly getting better at editing. I have a 500gb bay for my music which I rip at 320 AAC. Only around 6000 songs so far but I expect to double that by the end of the year. I have a 500gb bay for programs and games. And the final 500gb bay I have free at this time but I think I'm going to put XP and Linux on it but that will come later. Who would have know that 2 terabits of storage would fill so quickly. I also have external storage. I'm thinking I scanning all my Tax forms and other important paperwork. I have already finished the family photos. I'm going to have to have transfered the old 8mm film I have that my father made over 30 years ago. I already finished most of the VHS transfers of family movies. It never ends. My MacPro is kept busy without being used by a professional.

shu82

Jun 6, 2007, 02:55 PM

Solitare, what else would you do with a computer?

oh yea.....and porn

p0intblank

Jun 6, 2007, 07:13 PM

I do a bucket load of video editing... on my last geration PB G4:mad:
I'm over it. With the amount of video crunching I've been doing, and the more i get into MOTION... the more this current computer is just upsetting... having to wait for a render everytime I make the slightest change because it is not optimized for Real Time processing, and the time it takes to compress video...

Im getting a top end mac pro as soon as wwdc comes around. and I am soooo excited.

But most importantly, I think in the next couple of years that computer video access and the living room media hub (things like itv)... will be getting so married, that having a kick ass machine will keep you capable of managing the web and its contents as it becomes media-centric. Just watch prime time tv for a couple of hours now and you'll notice how many ads contain some kind of referrence to special web media content. The whole thing is headed in that direction.

Just some thoughts...

I hear you on that. Having to re-render simple clips in FCE HD can be very annoying and can take up a lot of time. I also use a PowerBook G4, but I may be selling it very soon and use the money towards a Mac Pro. I've used the new Macs in Apple Stores and the performance boost is incredible, especially when working with video editing.

I really hope Apple makes the 2.66 GHz model the base configuration. If not I'm going to go with the 2.0 model, which will still be plenty of power. And plus aren't the chips swappable?

mspman

Jun 7, 2007, 09:00 AM

I am expecting updates on the Mac Pro next monday.

GOD I hope you're right. I've been just itching to by a Mac Pro, and because I'm a grad student, I'll take that free Nano now too. :)

4JNA

Jun 7, 2007, 10:18 AM

seriously fast games of spider solitaire via xp/parallels.

oh, and 'work' when someone catches me playing spider solitaire.

Trekkie

Jun 7, 2007, 12:20 PM

I use it for Aperture + Photoshop CS3

Maui

Jun 8, 2007, 10:13 AM

Final Cut Studio. That is the only thing that really taxes my computer, although when I am converting a ton of audio files I can max out all my CPU cores.

Then the rest is just the standard web browsing, music, word processing and the odd bit of 3D graphics (at least learning how to do it).

Same here -- HD Video.

FF_productions

Jun 8, 2007, 10:26 AM

I really hope Apple makes the 2.66 GHz model the base configuration. If not I'm going to go with the 2.0 model, which will still be plenty of power. And plus aren't the chips swappable?

It is not worth it to swap the chips now. You will lose your warranty and possibly risk breaking the machine.

The 2.66 ghz model is the best Bang For Your Buck configuration. I'd recommend going ahead with the 2.66 ghz model. The processor is the last thing you will upgrade in the future.

With an update coming soon, all this information may just be useless.

I plan on getting the Mac Pro but I plan on swapping chips in 3 years when AppleCare runs out.

p0intblank

Jun 8, 2007, 10:58 AM

It is not worth it to swap the chips now. You will lose your warranty and possibly risk breaking the machine.

The 2.66 ghz model is the best Bang For Your Buck configuration. I'd recommend going ahead with the 2.66 ghz model. The processor is the last thing you will upgrade in the future.

With an update coming soon, all this information may just be useless.

I plan on getting the Mac Pro but I plan on swapping chips in 3 years when AppleCare runs out.

The price difference between the 2.0 and 2.66 is what gets to me, though. :( If it's truely worth the difference, then I will most likely go for it. And if I ever did swap out chips, it wouldn't be for at least a couple years. I was just asking in terms of keeping the machine up to date later down the line.

But like you're saying, hopefully all this talk is pointless come Monday. :)

wildlight

Jun 9, 2007, 12:40 AM

I moved to the Mac Pro when my AMD dual-core WinXP system could not keep up with the file sizes. I shoot mulitple exposures through different UV-IR filters from 300-1000nm on a modified Canon 5D, convert them to B&W and stack them in Photoshop. To that stack, I add a visible light layer shot with a Canon 1Ds MkII. The 16-bit file sizes range from 300MB to nearly 1000mb.

I use PS CS3 Extended to auto-align the layers so I can drill down through them to see how each pixel reacts at different wavelengths. On the WinXP system, this process took 2-4 minutes depending on the number and complexity of layers. On the Mac Pro, it takes from 10 to 55 seconds.

The Mac Pro has 8GB RAM and 2TB of disk. It is network attached to 6TB of Buffalo TeraStation RAID-5 arrays, which are used for image backup, and an assortment of USB attached 250GB hard drives which were used for off-site backup. I moved the WinXP system off-site and it is now my off-site backup.

The computer is a tool, not a toy. I don't even own a video game. After working on it all day, and much of the night, playing games on it would be like a mechanic playing with his wrenches at home after working with them all day.

Same thing with my Jeep Rubicon. It gets me into the back country where I work and brings me out again. When you spend all day in low-range 4WD to get to the end of a 50+ mile Jeep trail, from where you backpack your equipment to shooting locations, you find quickly that four-wheeling ain't fun--It's work! While I have a very rough-country capable Jeep, I ain't no "Jeeper."

erickkoch

Jun 9, 2007, 12:56 AM

Web surfing.

Photoshop CS3. I do lots of photo editing and have a few thousand photos, I'm always wishing I had more drive space. Mac Pro is easy to upgrade there.

3D graphics. I'm just a beginner here, Bryce, Poser, Carrara, nothing professional. My PB would take an hour or more to render what my Mac Pro can do in about 20 min or less. Wish I had enough $ for an Octo Mac Pro.

apple_iBoy

Jun 9, 2007, 10:04 AM

Mine is used mainly for mundane tasks, but it does house my ever-growing media library for streaming to my Apple TV.

Sometimes I feel like my MBP is "snappier" ;)

jamericani

Jun 9, 2007, 11:26 AM

Web surfing and email. I have all the above mentioned programs just dont know how to use them yet.

snowboarder

Jun 9, 2007, 09:44 PM

Solitare, what else would you do with a computer?

oh yea.....and porn

I just spit on my keyboard :eek:
Thanks for that....

kite

Aug 31, 2007, 10:57 AM

hayduke

Aug 31, 2007, 11:10 AM

I use my Mac Pro for CAD, mostly in windows XP and Vista :(
I use Solidworks 2007 and 2008, some Rhino 4 and Lightwave and Maxwell Render! :)

Maxwell and Lightwave is the only OS X app's so I get to enjoy the full power of my MP a few day´s per month.

Only problem right now is that I cant find a QFX4500 to replace the GF7300 I ordered her with. Visit ebay almost every day, have done so now for a few weeks :D

My guess is that you'll have a very difficult time finding a QFX4500 on eBay. There is nothing to upgrade to, so the likely reasons to ditch it are if you need the money or the card is dead. Is it possible to buy a non-Apple one and flash it to work? I think this has been done with the ATI-X1900XT, but not sure about the QFX4500.

jmmv

Aug 31, 2007, 11:18 AM

I don't have a Mac Pro yet, but I am seriously considering to get one soon (FSVO soon, not earlier than Leopard for sure).

What do I do? Basically, I'm a programmer, so more power is never bad. Switching from my old 4-year-old machine to a MacBook Pro almost a year ago made a real change in this regard, but I'm getting tired of the laptop form factor for home use and, specially, its noise whenever it gets "to the job". Plus it is not that fast for what I do (blame the hard disk on most situations).

A 4-core Mac Pro would certainly boost many tasks I do frequently, plus I'd have a much prettier and tidy desktop :-)

Of course, I'd also use that machine for internet browsing, "light" gaming and watching movies/TV series, so a 20-23 widescreen must accompany it.

SolidShadow

Aug 31, 2007, 11:31 AM

Full colour digital illustration, book layout, surfing and playing world of warcraft from time to time.

iBeard

Aug 31, 2007, 02:01 PM

editing and compressing HD video

LeKiD

Sep 1, 2007, 09:16 AM

I guys, I'm really looking for to get the new Mac Pro as soon as the update comes out. I'm still running on the first generation G5 1.8 ... I'm screaming at encoding time that sometimes would run for days.... espacially the H.264... and it can sometimes be for a 5 min. movie that I am encoding to be smaller... I don't know if this is normal but it's a real pain.

My main goal is to get more speed since time is money in movie making, well, I'd like to know what kind of speed gain I would get from buying a new systeme and if the 8 core is the real deal. I know you might tell me to look at charts... but the ones I have seen are putting my computer, the G5 1.8, with compressor 1 and the latest with compressor 3. So, if someone was in my situation and could let me know if switching changed their lives... I'd like to hear it.

Last thing... If I get a Macpro... can I still use my G5 as one more processor in a cluster or should I just sell that bag of douch to an idiot?:D

Thanks guys and this is my first post here... really like the forums!

Cheers!

jmmv

Sep 1, 2007, 02:20 PM

LeKiD: I think it'll change your life. The Intel Core processors are screamingly fast at tasks such as encoding video. But I can't give you numbers.

Also, you may want to consider Elgato Turbo.264, which will be applicable both to your current computer and your future Mac Pro. ScreenCastsOnline has a nice review of this product, including numbers.

JesterJJZ

Oct 7, 2007, 03:04 AM

email and text edit.

drmacjazz

Oct 7, 2007, 11:06 AM

I produce instructional music DVDs using Final Cut Studio 2. I'm also a print and web designer. Most of my current print work is for Trade Shows, Exhibits and Truck Wraps. This means I'm often creating Photoshop files that are 42ft x 9 ft.

I have an 8core with 5 gigs, 2 TB etc. It's funny, I've never had a computer that was "fast enough" for the work I'm currently doing while I own that computer. As the computers get faster the demands of my clients or the direction of my work shifts and I'm once again reduced to watching spinning wheels.

Don't get me wrong my 8-core is definitely faster than the dual 2.0 G5 it replaced, it's just that although render times have improved they're still often 12min or more. Hardly the kind of time that I'd describe as "blazing".

Toronto Wayne

FF_productions

Oct 7, 2007, 12:08 PM

Don't get me wrong my 8-core is definitely faster than the dual 2.0 G5 it replaced, it's just that although render times have improved they're still often 12min or more. Hardly the kind of time that I'd describe as "blazing".

Toronto Wayne

You could use some more ram.

I read somewhere that the 8-core Mac Pro should have 1 gig of ram per processor, equalling 8 gigs of ram.

SDAVE

Oct 7, 2007, 04:55 PM

Photoshop only uses upto 3GB...don't quote me on this. I don't do print work. Mostly video at upto 1080 resolutions

FF_productions

Oct 8, 2007, 01:44 AM

Photoshop only uses upto 3GB...don't quote me on this. I don't do print work. Mostly video at upto 1080 resolutions

Depending on what you are doing, I'm sure Photoshop uses more than 3 gigs.

SDAVE

Oct 8, 2007, 04:40 AM

Depending on what you are doing, I'm sure Photoshop uses more than 3 gigs.

Go into the preferences and you will see the sliders maximum to be 3GB.

Check it out.

PowerMike G5

Oct 8, 2007, 07:36 AM

I mainly use my 8-core for HD video work.

With some filters in Final Cut Pro, I actually max out all 8 cores during a single render.

The 8-core is excellent for distributed sub-spawning in Compressor as well, especially for encoded to codecs that aren't completely multi-processor aware.

mward333

Oct 8, 2007, 08:06 AM

I use my Mac Pro for computing, usually with Maple and C++.

I don't know what I did before I had my Mac Pro. It is wonderful!

DoFoT9

Oct 8, 2007, 08:36 AM

I use my Mac Pro for computing, usually with Maple and C++.

I don't know what I did before I had my Mac Pro. It is wonderful!

made lots of coffee???:p

mward333

Oct 8, 2007, 09:08 AM

made lots of coffee???:p

Sorry, I'm not a coffee drinker. Hmmm.... I probably just sat around and twiddled my thumbs.

Mackilroy

Oct 8, 2007, 10:33 AM

I use my Mac Pro for some video editing, games, music, to store my enormous podcast collection, and email.

nownot

Oct 8, 2007, 01:29 PM

i use mine as a maid that makes me toast with jam. also it vacums and tucks me in at night. actually i dont have one, but if i did thats what it would do.

Redneck1089

Oct 8, 2007, 01:48 PM

I use my quad 3 Ghz for tons of video encoding and games. I love it, although I wish it had a bit more horsepower and a better GPU.

Macinposh

Oct 8, 2007, 01:49 PM

Depending on what you are doing, I'm sure Photoshop uses more than 3 gigs.

Photoshop can allocate 3gigs, but it can use the "next" 3gigs as a virtual scratch. Photoshop apparently doesn´t benefit of more than 6gb´s of memory. But obviously it is good to have for the OS, the mail/ftp applications and other programs.

Here the useage is ad/feature photography. PS CS3 and Lightroom. The obvious ftp/mail/safari useage too.

I dont think I have opened any other applications that I have on the computer, iPhoto,iDVD,garageband... :o

yurarse

Oct 8, 2007, 01:52 PM

Use the beast with Logic 7.2.3 (will not install Logic Studio), Apogee Symphony System and 12gb of ram

hugodrax

Oct 8, 2007, 03:53 PM

Fortran stuff running that used to run on a Cray C90 ported to the Mac Pro using the intel fortran compiler.

DoFoT9

Oct 8, 2007, 05:24 PM

Sorry, I'm not a coffee drinker. Hmmm.... I probably just sat around and twiddled my thumbs.
oh i see.. must have been twiddling then hahaha. i hate when you go to an older computer (such as my imac dv downstairs) and have to wait 10seconds for safari to open lol.

Fortran stuff running that used to run on a Cray C90 ported to the Mac Pro using the intel fortran compiler.

uuhhh can u put that in england please??

Multimedia

Oct 8, 2007, 05:41 PM

Checking Email, Weather Forecasts On Safari & To Find Out What Time It Is. ;) It does those things really fast.

netdog

Oct 8, 2007, 05:43 PM

As soon as I get my Mac Pro (the moment Steve announces the new Penryn S/S boxes), I will...

* My girlfriend is an actress, so she has loads of films that have to be digitized and brought into the 21st century.

* Reworking her show-reel.

* Bringing my fav DVDs into the 21st century as well. I hate optical discs.

* I am starting a documentary on health.

* Managing my photo collection and finally editing the choice pictures.

* Making music (tambora, sitar and guitar player).

* Taking full advantage of my ACD 30" without overtaxing my portable.

* Working out people's cases with homeopathic software, writing, emailing, surfing and the like.

That's about it.

netdog

Oct 8, 2007, 05:44 PM

Checking Email, Weather Forecasts On Safari & To Find Out What Time It Is. ;) It does those things really fast.

So true Multi. I was at The Apple Store on Regent Street checking out an Octo, and I can honestly say that Safari seemed snappier. :D

valdore

Oct 8, 2007, 05:44 PM

Photo editing.

I shoot lots of RAW (with my Canon 5D), and also often have to export multiple versions of multiple photos as TIFFs, so I need lots of storage capacity, which the 'Pro is great with. It's great being able to slap more hard drives in there when the need arises.

However - I so totally did NOT need an 8 core processor. I should have saved the $1500 and settled with the quad. Photo editing is a long time consuming endeavor and in my situation it wouldn't matter if I had 4 fewer cores.

Four gigs of RAM sure isn't enough though. I'm going to save to double that eventually, around the time I need to slap the second hard drive in there. Aperture is the most memory hogging application I run, and I understand it may not be as bad as Premiere or Final Cut, but it definitely requires far more resources than Photoshop CS3.

Secondary uses for my Mac Pro -- serving as uber sarcastic, quasi-troll at startrek.com. :)