Configuring a Mac Pro: 2 Questions for you guys

[jbg232]

I'm configuring a Mac Pro right now and have 2 questions:

1. If I build a machine with 2 internal hard drives can I use one of them for my system drive and the other one for Time Machine? I wasn't sure if Time Machine could only use external drives.

2. What is faster 3-4 nvidia geforce 7300gt cards or 1 ati 1900xt card - basically my question is do the nvidia cards stack for performance or is the purpose of getting many of them only for multiple display support? I don't play any games but want to keep open the option to play starcraft 2 on it as I loved the original from my childhood and would love to try out the new edition.

[yeroen]

1. Internal/External makes no difference. Time Machine works on internal cards as well. The reason you see 'external hard drive' all over the place is because that's what the bulk of Apple users (iMacs and laptops) will have to use. Also, you're better off just buying the system drive from Apple and buying your second drive from a 3rd party (I recommend OWC). Apple charges an absurd premium for exactly the same hard drives (as much as double the price), and you don't know which drive exactly you're getting (WD? Seagate?)

2. You can't run graphics cards in parallel in the Mac Pro. That is, there is no SLI/Crossfire. So you have no reason to add multiple 7300's unless you want to run multiple displays (>2).

[jbg232]

Do you know what the manufacturer is of the hard drives that come with the mac pros stock?

[yeroen]

I got a seagate in mine; others got Western Digital. I don't know if anyone got Hitachi's or Maxtors. Sometimes you can deduce by the size of the drive, e.g. only Seagate makes a 320GB drive. For some, what brand they get makes a difference, usually they've had a bad experience with one or the other. I'd go with whatever stock 250GB drive they give you and get the rest from OWC. Apple's prices are more than double what OWC (or Newegg) charges.

[bigbossbmb]

e.g. only Seagate makes a 320GB drive.

that's BS... I'm running a WD 320GB drive in my G5.

[Wild-Bill]

Do you know what the manufacturer is of the hard drives that come with the mac pros stock?

If you "build" your Mac Pro on the site with two drives configured, I will volunteer (for the Mac Pro group here...) to drive to your house and beat you senseless!!! I'm surprised no one has piped up on this yet...

DO NOT upgrade or add any hard drives to your BTO order - stick with the stock 250 gig.
DO NOT upgrade/add memory to your BTO order - stay with the stock 1 gig.

Apple BTO prices are the biggest rip-off in the world. You might as well take your money and stick it into a paper shredder.

Apple charges what, $323.00 for a 500 gig drive that retails for $100. Apple charges INSANE high prices for memory. Do yourself a favor. Buy your extra drives and extra memory aftermarket. Your wallet will thank you. ;)


And if you don't absolutely need the Mac Pro, don't buy it now. In five days the Mac Pro will be 17 months old, and the value is simply not there anymore in terms of what you're paying for. It's almost 2008 and the Mac Pro is still at 2006 prices for 2006 hardware.

[SRSound]

If you "build" your Mac Pro on the site with two drives configured, I will volunteer (for the Mac Pro group here...) to drive to your house and beat you senseless!!! I'm surprised no one has piped up on this yet...

DO NOT upgrade or add any hard drives to your BTO order - stick with the stock 250 gig.
DO NOT upgrade/add memory to your BTO order - stay with the stock 1 gig.

Apple BTO prices are the biggest rip-off in the world. You might as well take your money and stick it into a paper shredder.

Apple charges what, $323.00 for a 500 gig drive that retails for $100. Apple charges INSANE high prices for memory. Do yourself a favor. Buy your extra drives and extra memory aftermarket. Your wallet will thank you. ;)

I have to agree with this. While I tend to be a complete purist about these things, you get so much more by buying third part that's the same (if not better) quality.

[jbg232]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I knew about apple memory gouging but not hard drive gouging so that's good to know. Also I needed to configure the mac pro to set a holiday budget and get a rough estimate but do not plan on buying it until after the update.

In five days the Mac Pro will be 17 months old...

Only 5 days? Where's this rumor from? If so my day is made!

[xUKHCx]

Only 5 days? Where's this rumor from? If so my day is made!

It is not a rumour, it was announced on 7th August 2006.

see here (http://guides.macrumors.com/PowerPC_to_Intel_Transition)
On August 7th, 2006, Apple declared "Transition Complete" as its professional desktop line, PowerMac, and its XServe server lines transitioned over. At the same time, PowerMac was renamed Mac Pro.

[jbg232]

Oh.. I was under the impression that a new mac pro was being released in 5 days. But that's ok, I can wait until MWSF like the rest of this forum.