2010 Mac Pro

[nanofrog]

So if we take money out of the equation (I can only just afford an 09 Quad) and just look at the machine that will meet needs for photoshop and video editing for the next 4 years, hows it look?

That will depend on the software. PS for example, can only use 2 cores. But if you get heavily into 3D work, it may be too slow for making a living with it, as applications such as Maya can use all that are available (current versions). You can help things along though, by improving the system bottlenecks such as RAM capacity and HDD throughputs via RAID.

Will this audio problem prematurely fry the CPU? I don't want to be listening to music while working with the guilt of knowing its the equivalent of feeding cigarettes to an athlete during a triathlon.

It will depend on the specifics. Eventually, I expect it will get fixed with a future version of OS X, but who knows when.

There is a solution though if you're panicked about it, by using a PCIe based audio card. Not many AFAIK, but they do exist (2 for sure).

 

[ChrisMc73]

An '08 may be hard to get a good deal on, but be patient. They do show up from time to time, and you have to leap fast. I'd recommend getting one that can be inspected prior to payment, to be sure it's not DOA (local, as fleaBay can be dangerous).

nanofrog,

So I found a local guy who's selling his 08' MacPro3, others in my earlier post said it was a good deal, would you concur?

MacPro and 30" ACD - $3300
MacPro3,1: 2008
Processor: 8 Cores - 2 X 2.8 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeons
RAM: 16GB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Display: Apple 30" Cinema Display - NO dead pixels
Hard Disks:
128 G.Skill Falcon SSD for the system drive
2 X 1TB HDD for storage
Added extra: Apple Magic Mouse, Wireless Keyboard

I will be using this for PS and LR2 editing my photography, and then Adobe Premiere and/or Final Cut Express/Pro; editing HD Video shot with my Canon 5D Mark II.

I'm sure simple apps such as iLife and iWork will be fine in it, as well as everyday computing tasks; iTunes, Web Surfing, iTv streaming to my home theater, etc...

 

[nanofrog]

nanofrog,

So I found a local guy who's selling his 08' MacPro3, others in my earlier post said it was a good deal, would you concur?

Yes. It seems reasonable, given the add-ons, particularly the 30" monitor (IPS panel) and RAM alone. The other add-ons are quite nice as well.

I hope it checks out (make sure it actually works, as a member that bought one on eBay (Polish site) got burnt with a false description). At least it's local, so you can test it first.

I will be using this for PS and LR2 editing my photography, and then Adobe Premiere and/or Final Cut Express/Pro; editing HD Video shot with my Canon 5D Mark II.

I'm sure simple apps such as iLife and iWork will be fine in it, as well as everyday computing tasks; iTunes, Web Surfing, iTv streaming to my home theater, etc...

It's more than adequate for what you want to do.

I'd recommend making a stripe set of the two mechanical 1TB drives to improve drive throughputs, and adding another mechanical drive for backup purposes. The SSD as a system drive will be quite nice too.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Ok...so no updates now...so when?

 

[sweex]

Aren't they a little upgraded?
Like the possibility to put op to 8 memory slots(8x4=32GB)
And 2TB 3gb/s SATA HDD's?
Or was this already there?

 

[Techhie]

Aren't they a little upgraded?
Like the possibility to put op to 8 memory slots(8x4=32GB)
And 2TB 3gb/s SATA HDD's?
Or was this already there?

Those options were added a while ago with the introduction of the 3.33 GHz quad option. I'm going to place my bets at a silent update in mid/late Feb, ship early March to adhere to Apple's exclusivity deal with Intel. As soon as that happens, this '06 is going bye-bye

 

[pionata]

Any predictions of release date? I have a wad of cash with Steve's name on it (and an empty desk with two lonely 30" displays)

Hahaha
Get 2 iMacs 27" to run the 2 30" Acd.

You'll have enough desktop space to run the Pentagon and conquer the world.

 

[Techhie]

Hahaha
Get 2 iMacs 27" to run the 2 30" Acd.

You'll have enough desktop space to run the Pentagon and conquer the world.

I will be running the crappy '06 until the new box comes out, hopefully soon.

 

[ChrisMc73]

Yes. It seems reasonable, given the add-ons, particularly the 30" monitor (IPS panel) and RAM alone. The other add-ons are quite nice as well.

I hope it checks out (make sure it actually works, as a member that bought one on eBay (Polish site) got burnt with a false description). At least it's local, so you can test it first.


It's more than adequate for what you want to do.

I'd recommend making a stripe set of the two mechanical 1TB drives to improve drive throughputs, and adding another mechanical drive for backup purposes. The SSD as a system drive will be quite nice too.

Thanks nanofrog. Also is this machine EFI64? Will I be able to go all 64bit and upgrade the graphics card etc?

Also, when you said make a stripe set of the two 1TB drives, how do you mean, like RAID them? What RAID # do you suggest? This is my first Mac, so would that be software RAID? (Does the OS come with that?)
I'm about to pull the trigger on this machine, once I do get to see it in person, he did post a video to his Facebook page, which I'm friends with him now, and it shows the OS booting up in like 7 -10 seconds on that SSD!

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks nanofrog. Also is this machine EFI64? Will I be able to go all 64bit and upgrade the graphics card etc?

Also, when you said make a stripe set of the two 1TB drives, how do you mean, like RAID them?

The '08 systems do use EFI64, so you're good there. That's one of the reasons it's a highly desirable system.

Stripe set = RAID 0.

 

[ChrisMc73]

The '08 systems do use EFI64, so you're good there. That's one of the reasons it's a highly desirable system.

Stripe set = RAID 0.

My bad, I read it too quickly...duh.
How does a Mac do this? OS Software? 3rd Party?

 

[nanofrog]

My bad, I read it too quickly...duh.
How does a Mac do this? OS Software? 3rd Party?

There are RAID functions (0/1/10) in OS X itself (accessible via Disk Utility).

Generally speaking, it's called software RAID as there's no separate controller that has it's own processor or cache (RAID functions are in the firmware on these, and occasionally the drivers - i.e. level 6 funcionality is in the drivers, the rest in firmware).

 

[ChrisMc73]

There are RAID functions (0/1/10) in OS X itself (accessible via Disk Utility).

Generally speaking, it's called software RAID as there's no separate controller that has it's own processor or cache (RAID functions are in the firmware on these, and occasionally the drivers - i.e. level 6 funcionality is in the drivers, the rest in firmware).

Very cool, thanks for the info, something I didn't know, a lot I don't know about the OS...I will soon!

I'm excited about this rig.

 

[nanofrog]

Very cool, thanks for the info, something I didn't know, a lot I don't know about the OS...I will soon!

I'm excited about this rig.

You should be quite happy with it.