Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro tradeoffs: Processor speed, graphics card, RAM

S

SwitchingSoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 14, 2004
163
0
Saint Louis, MO
THX1139 said:
You're going to hate me for saying this, but you don't need the Macpro for college. You will probably won't be working film resolution for a few years, if at all. Maybe for your final project senior year, but they will have systems at the school you can use. What I'd do is get a MacbookPro instead. This way you have plenty of power to render video, especially for any class projects, and you'll be able to take it with you wherever you go. If you are going to be living in a dorm room, you aren't going to want the ball and chain that comes with owning such a heavy desktop.

Seriously though, I recommend you evaluate exactly what type of work your going to be doing, and then buy accordingly. Don't get seduced by the Macpro unless you can justify the purchase.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be living in a triple. My roommate is bringing a tv....

I'm beginning to think you're right.....
 
Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,669
5,499
Sod off
I'd go with the Mac Pro anyway, but then that's me. It's a big expense but it will last longer than any of the other Macs, due to its total upgradability.

As for the Macbook Pro, it's video card is similar in performance to the GeForce 7300, and the Core Duo CPUs are no slouch. The big difference at the moment is hard drives...the MacBook Pro's 120GB drive is a lot smaller than the 500GB drives (up to four) you can put in the Mac Pro. Plus, the video card is not upgradable.
 
M

Mantishead

macrumors newbie
Aug 16, 2006
21
0
ATI Card

I read everyone's comments saying that the stock nVidia card is sufficient for FCP. I have read this elsewhere too. I was in a similar situation, not knowing which card to go for.

I had almost decided to go with the nVidia card but then somebody said thatwhilst FCP is fine, if you wanted to use Motion the 3D acceleration on the ATI was a must. Furthermore, anybody planning to use Aperture should also get the ATI.

For me, and my first MAC, I would really like to get the stock nVidia. Why?
1. I get my Mac in 5 days rather than 5 weeks.
2. I save quite a bit.
3. From what I understand the fanless nVidia basically means the Mac Pro makes no noise whatsoever. A truly rare quality in such a performance machine.

I had thought about getting the stock card, and then if needs must in 6 months or so, upgrade to the ATI. I was then told, my several people on Apple Support that given Apple's past history it may be difficult to come by ATI hardware upgrades further down the line.

Any ideas??
 
jaw04005

jaw04005

macrumors 601
Aug 19, 2003
4,514
402
AR
Apple, ATI and NVIDIA have failed to provide a retail upgrade for the latest (and last) Power Mac G5 releases that support PCI Express. The only way you can currently purchase an upgraded card is by purchasing it as a "service part" for $700+ from an Apple Service Provider.

That's why many people on the Apple forums are upset. Aperture and Motion are video card hogs, and the stock video card shipped on those systems performs miserably for those particular applications.

Now, with the Mac Pro release many on the same forum are recommending going ahead and getting the ATI upgrade as a custom-option because it may not be available as a standalone product later down the line.

IMO, with the AMD's acquisition of ATI ... you won't see any further ATI releases for the Mac. However, I hope I'm wrong.

It's really a gamble. If you are going to need 3d acceleration down the line for Motion or Aperture, get the ATI upgrade. If not, get the stock card.

On a side note, the ATI card is currently not shipping and many on the Apple forums have estimated that it won't be available until mid-September (delaying many Mac Pro orders).
 
Q

quruli

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2006
154
0
Processors are upgradeable. Possibly to Clovertown, but mot assuredly and speed bumps in the Xeon.
 
Q

quruli

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2006
154
0
joshuawaire said:
Apple, ATI and NVIDIA have failed to provide a retail upgrade for the latest (and last) Power Mac G5 releases that support PCI Express. The only way you can currently purchase an upgraded card is by purchasing it as a "service part" for $700+ from an Apple Service Provider.

That's why many people on the Apple forums are upset. Aperture and Motion are video card hogs, and the stock video card shipped on those systems performs miserably for those particular applications.

Now, with the Mac Pro release many on the same forum are recommending going ahead and getting the ATI upgrade as a custom-option because it may not be available as a standalone product later down the line.

IMO, with the AMD's acquisition of ATI ... you won't see any further ATI releases for the Mac. However, I hope I'm wrong.

It's really a gamble. If you are going to need 3d acceleration down the line for Motion or Aperture, get the ATI upgrade. If not, get the stock card.

On a side note, the ATI card is currently not shipping and many on the Apple forums have estimated that it won't be available until mid-September (delaying many Mac Pro orders).
Click to expand...


The stock card has no 3D acceleration? Also are there any benchmarks showing the performance in Motion or Aperture with the cards offered?
 
K

ksz

macrumors 68000
Oct 28, 2003
1,677
111
USA
SwitchingSoon said:
So I ordered the baseline 2.6 model.
...
Comes out at $2,786.29 (damn, tax).
Click to expand...
You could have ordered the stock model online at MacMall or MacConnection, saved the sales tax, and received a $150 mail-in rebate, for a net price of $2344.
 
Q

quruli

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2006
154
0
Wait if you are in UNI, why didnt you use the EDU? That price is way above the EDU price isn't it?
 
K

ksz

macrumors 68000
Oct 28, 2003
1,677
111
USA
That's a $442 difference. Did you get an iPod nano? If so, you could still have saved $$$.
 
S

SwitchingSoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 14, 2004
163
0
Saint Louis, MO
ksz said:
That's a $442 difference. Did you get an iPod nano? If so, you could still have saved $$$.
Click to expand...

I could have saved money, but I wouldn't have gotten a 30gb ipod capable of displaying video.

Anyways, I'm considering exchanging the mac pro for a macbook pro. I'm not sure I'll get any work done with 2 roommates. That whole "merom-chip-coming-out-soon" thing kind of annoys me though. I hate getting shafted.
 
amin

amin

macrumors 6502a
Aug 17, 2003
977
9
Boston, MA
The university I work for just bought me a Mac Pro. Since institutions don't have to pay tax, I got a 2GB upgrade to the stock config plus a 20" cinema display for a total $150 less than a comparably-equipped Dell would cost with no display.
 
T

tristan

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2003
765
0
high-rise in beautiful bethesda
I gotta say that the MP seems like serious overkill for a student too - that's the kind of computer graphic designers buy because they will bill 5000 hrs @ $50/hr over the next 2.5 years. Seriously, get a used iMac, that's what most of your fellow students will do and be very happy with it. Put the rest of the cash away for a rainy day - college is expensive.
 
S

SwitchingSoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 14, 2004
163
0
Saint Louis, MO
tristan said:
Save the extra money for a trip to Amsterdam next summer with your college friends.
Click to expand...


Hahhahha. Actually, one of my roommates has a macbook pro. And he's not even majoring in film :-(

Oh well. I have 2 days to think this out. 40% chance I'm trading it back for a macbook pro.

3 people in a room + our friends... that means I'll probably have to spend time on library computers or something to concentrate.
 
P

phuong

macrumors 6502a
Aug 16, 2006
523
0
in case you decide to keep your mac pro: i heard that RAM not bought from Apple will produce a lot of heat and crash your system.
 
S

SwitchingSoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 14, 2004
163
0
Saint Louis, MO
phuong said:
in case you decide to keep your mac pro: i heard that RAM not bought from Apple will produce a lot of heat and crash your system.
Click to expand...

Freakin' sweet. Now I have all this extra RAM. ...........Haven't opened it yet. I guess I'll return it.......
 
Laslo Panaflex

Laslo Panaflex

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2003
1,291
0
Tokyo
joshuawaire said:
Now, with the Mac Pro release many on the same forum are recommending going ahead and getting the ATI upgrade as a custom-option because it may not be available as a standalone product later down the line.

IMO, with the AMD's acquisition of ATI ... you won't see any further ATI releases for the Mac. However, I hope I'm wrong.

It's really a gamble. If you are going to need 3d acceleration down the line for Motion or Aperture, get the ATI upgrade. If not, get the stock card.

On a side note, the ATI card is currently not shipping and many on the Apple forums have estimated that it won't be available until mid-September (delaying many Mac Pro orders).
Click to expand...

Hmm, you can order an x1900xt card from the apple store, why are you concerned about not being able to upgrade from the 7300? Of course, the wait for the card is 3-5 weeks, like the wait for the mac pros that ordered them as a BTO option.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...w07wr2SY8txC1zz7i6fl/1.0.19.1.0.8.25.7.11.0.3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom