A few Mac Pro questions...

[acearchie]

Ok so I have always been a semi - pro user, I have a powerbook, family imac (high spec) etc.

And I was thinking about taking the plunge at a Mac Pro, now I may not need one for my current needs but my powerbook is whining to be laid to rest and the fact that it may last for 4+ years sounds great to me.

However since this would be quite a significant purchase for a student I have a few questions to ask first!

1. If say I went for the stock 8800GT in the PCI 2.0 slot and then bought a 2600XT would it have much benefit in final cut express, gaming etc. (i.e. would they work together?)

2. Would the Mac Pro really last long enough to not warrant an upgrade?

3. If I bought the single 2.8 would I be able to add another one at a later date that would work?

4. What other options are there for the PCI slots?

5. If I left the second superdrive open would I be able to put in an HD drive or anything like that?

So basically is the super-customisable machine I had been hoping?

 

[robbieduncan]

1. No. They do not work together.

2. No idea

3. Apple say no.

4. RAID card, Fibre Channel, future connectivity (USB3)

5. Maybe, depends if anyone release a PATA version...

 

[acearchie]

So the outset is bleak!

Oh well I may just stick to getting a macbook pro...

Thanks

 

[bigbird]

If say I went for the stock 8800GT in the PCI 2.0 slot and then bought a 2600XT would it have much benefit in final cut express, gaming etc. (i.e. would they work together?)

You've got it backwards. The 2600XT is stock and the 8800GT is optional.

 

[TripleCore]

1. If you got an 8800, why would you need the 2600?

2. That depends. How long? Any Mac could physically break down at any time...or not. Is that what you mean by not having to upgrade? A Mac could run for 6 years without problems, but you will have new features and increased performance in new models.

3. That is at your own risk--not even sure the single system has that extra slot.

5. I don't think you can put a hard drive in an optical bay. Did you mean Bluray Drive? Then yes. The computer already has 3 open hard drive bays, so you have plenty of room for expansion.

I think you should start with a single 2.8--it will probably be more than you need for most things.

 

[bigbird]

5. I don't think you can put a hard drive in an optical bay. Did you mean Bluray Drive?

Doesn't someone make an adapter to put another HD in the open optical drive bay? I think that I read on this forum that someone does.

 

[surf4peace]

Some more feedback...

Well here's my thoughts.

2. Depends on your needs. You've been using a powerbook this long, and by now you probably know that even a macbook pro is over 2x faster than your powerbook based on Speedmark scores. The new Mac Pro, based on the same, will be over 2.3x faster. You'll also be in a position to see how Nehalem hashes out before you have to upgrade.

5. The Mac Pro already has multiple drive bays for HD Drives. Save the extra superdrive space for Blu-Ray....

In my opinion, yes, it is the super customizable machine you'd been hoping for and for only $300 more (versus the 2.66 GHz version) you get comparable performance to the former top of the line Mac Pro (3.0 GHz version) which, of course, costed even more.

Good luck.

 

[Pressure]

Technically you could put one more processor in there but you would need to find a Mac Pro compatible cooler for it.

 

[acearchie]

Sorry to clarify I meant that would there be an option later to put a Blu ray or HD DVD drive into the open optical slot?

Also is there any clarification of SLI working in the Mac Pro (or anything similar?)

Thanks for all your useful comments!

 

[robbieduncan]

Sorry to clarify I meant that would there be an option later to put a Blu ray or HD DVD drive into the open optical slot?

As I said above this will depend on the drives the market delivers. Apple have only provided PATA data and power connections to the optical drive bays. If manufacturers release PATA HD optical drives these should work without issue. At the moment I think they are all SATA which will not work without effort (running a cable from one of the spare logic board headers is possible, but a bit of a hassle and power conversion can be done).