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

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
Hello, I am aiming at

I am new to this desktop, and I heard thats macs are "god" when it comes to quality and a workstation machine for 3D modeling.

Mac Pro 8 Core
Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
1GB (2 x 512MB)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
Mac OS X - U.S. English


Ok - Questions :

I LIVE IN CANADA

RAM:
What is the best place to buy ram, I live in CANADA
I want atleast 4 GB or so.

HARD DRIVE

Harddrive : I have a 500GB harddrive from my Xp Desktop, can i format and use it as a 2nd Harddrive?

AIPORT:
Is the airport good on a mac pro? I have a router that supports N, but its in the basement and im on the first floor. will the signal be good? Any negative thoughts about it?

30" Monitor.

What is a good price? What is a good monitor?

I am considering the Samsung 30" 305T, is that any good? it goes for about 1 999 Canadian.
 

Denali9

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2007
73
0
Hello, I am aiming at

I am new to this desktop, and I heard thats macs are "god" when it comes to quality and a workstation machine for 3D modeling.

Mac Pro 8 Core
Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
1GB (2 x 512MB)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
Mac OS X - U.S. English


Ok - Questions :

I LIVE IN CANADA

RAM:
What is the best place to buy ram, I live in CANADA
I want atleast 4 GB or so.

HARD DRIVE

Harddrive : I have a 500GB harddrive from my Xp Desktop, can i format and use it as a 2nd Harddrive?

AIPORT:
Is the airport good on a mac pro? I have a router that supports N, but its in the basement and im on the first floor. will the signal be good? Any negative thoughts about it?

30" Monitor.

What is a good price? What is a good monitor?

I am considering the Samsung 30" 305T, is that any good? it goes for about 1 999 Canadian.

Hi,
I live in Canada too and even though I have a SR MBP, here is my take.

RAM
With the current exchange rate, you won't find any deal close to what you can get by driving down to the states. You may want to check that option.

AIPORT
N at full speed in the 5.4 GHz spectrum is rather bad at goign through walls. If you us N at at 2.4GHz, it's going to be good but you get about 2.5x the speed of G.

30" Monitor.
Check Dell.ca, they have a really good 30".
 

bigandy

macrumors G3
Apr 30, 2004
8,852
7
Murka
I second the Dell monitor option, if you can live with something that doesn't have such a nice aluminium display :rolleyes:

On the hard drive front, if it's SATA, all it'll need is a re-format once it's plugged in to the Mac.
 
F

freakonguitar

Guest
check to make sure the hdd is sataII because if it isn't don't bother moving it over and go buy one. You can get them at most computer shops in Canada for about $125 bucks. real cheap.

Ram, be careful, i don't know what the duty laws are on computer parts. It might not be worth your while depending on where you are planning on buying from. I don't know where you live in Canada, but i live in Vancouver, and there are tons of shops out here that you can get decent prices on fb-dimm ram. You can get 2gb dual channel for about $170. which isn't too bad a price. If you live in teh lower mainland i can give you some places to buy from but other than that i don't really know...

Yeah, if you want a good deal and good 30" get a dell i would say also, but if you really like samsung, i'm personally quite impressed with their displays.
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
Yes sorry, i should of posted that.

I live in Ontario. Kitchener.


There are a few stores in my area that cell Ram, what is the exact name of ram i should be looking out for?


How can i check what hard drives i have with out opening my pc?.

I called dell , and i got a 30" marked down to 1499. Canadian. My friend called Dell and told him that I got it for 1499. and dell gave it to him for 1399. Now i am calling dell and trying to get it for 1299 or abit lower. :) This is fun.
Is dell really worth the price tag? Any bad things about the dell 30"? I was hoping to connect my ps3 to it, but I guess that wont be happening. o well.
 

Aea

macrumors 6502a
May 23, 2007
838
208
Denver, Colorado
Yes sorry, i should of posted that.

I live in Ontario. Kitchener.


There are a few stores in my area that cell Ram, what is the exact name of ram i should be looking out for?


How can i check what hard drives i have with out opening my pc?.

I called dell , and i got a 30" marked down to 1499. Canadian. My friend called Dell and told him that I got it for 1499. and dell gave it to him for 1399. Now i am calling dell and trying to get it for 1299 or abit lower. :) This is fun.
Is dell really worth the price tag? Any bad things about the dell 30"? I was hoping to connect my ps3 to it, but I guess that wont be happening. o well.

The question is what your budget is, dell makes pretty good LCD monitors, but the ACDs are truly impressive. While you're at it, probably might as well bump up to 8Gb, or even 16GBs of RAM, since with your powerful CPUs you really want a lot of ram to stand behind that kind of power.
 

suneohair

macrumors 68020
Aug 27, 2006
2,136
0
You cannot use a PS3 on any 30" monitor currently available. The 30" runs 2560-by-1600 resolution and has no scaler. Without a converter box, it won't work. Gefen has something: http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4173 I am not sure if they cut 30" support, you might have to ask. It is pricey though. The problem is that the 30" requires dual link DVI which, the PS3 does not have.

The 30" does accept 1280X800 (I think), so the PS3 could output that, but I don't think you will get 1080 upscaled, unless the PS3 upscales itself to the 30" res, which I don't think it does. I may be wrong.

Stick with an LCD that does 1920x1200, as they typically have a scaler. The Dell 2707WFP would be a good bet for its size, albeit larger pixels.

I went with dual 24" displays. The 30" ones are too limiting IMO.
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
Well, I am on a tight Budget of about 6000,

Mac Pro is going to cost me 5000
and Monitor. this is it.


I've read that Dell and Apple make same lcds? so what 1 should I get, I heard that ACD is all in one wire, and if anything brakes then i have to ship it back.

My budget is around 6500 , or so. dont want to spend 3000 for a 30"
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
I got Wester Digital, so those arnt good? I wll check out my local store, for more,
 

Aea

macrumors 6502a
May 23, 2007
838
208
Denver, Colorado
Well, I am on a tight Budget of about 6000,

Mac Pro is going to cost me 5000
and Monitor. this is it.


I've read that Dell and Apple make same lcds? so what 1 should I get, I heard that ACD is all in one wire, and if anything brakes then i have to ship it back.

My budget is around 6500 , or so. dont want to spend 3000 for a 30"

http://developer.apple.com/membership/hardware.html look into the select membership, just visit the store and price it out, the price will be more then offset on your machine :)
 
F

freakonguitar

Guest
btw. this is the kind of ram you need: DDR2-667 FB-Dimm (fully buffered) it needs to be dual channel meaning that for 2gb you would get two identical 1gb sticks
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
No, i mean im fine with the price for a mac pro.

What is the Difference Between Dell 30" , or ACD 30" or Samsun 30",

PS3 is not my #1 reason to get a 30" monitor, I need a 30" because i want to use dual monitor. I have a 24 already. But. I need a 30" for Maya, and Photoshop, and alot of apps running at onces.



I can get a Dell for 1300, is that good? or should I go with apple 30" instead? or should I go with Samsung for same price as apple CD30"
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
how much of a discount will it be if i get the Student ADC? i want to know b4 i purchase it.


EDIT 11PM EST


I have called apple. dam I got good discount. with that ADC. Thank you so much for mentioning that.


I will be getting roughly 500 dollars of my 8 Core Mac Pro (Basic COnfig + Ati X1900)
and 400 off my ACD 30"

Thanks Guys! You are the best

:) Time to go look at apple store tomorrow and then make up my mind.

Do you think I should get 4GB ram from apple? or should I just buy ram separate.?
 

ktbubster

macrumors 6502a
Jan 20, 2007
794
1
US
how much of a discount will it be if i get the Student ADC? i want to know b4 i purchase it.


EDIT 11PM EST


I have called apple. dam I got good discount. with that ADC. Thank you so much for mentioning that.


I will be getting roughly 500 dollars of my 8 Core Mac Pro (Basic COnfig + Ati X1900)
and 400 off my ACD 30"

Thanks Guys! You are the best

:) Time to go look at apple store tomorrow and then make up my mind.

Do you think I should get 4GB ram from apple? or should I just buy ram separate.?

Ram via apple is extremely over priced (unless the canadian store is magically not.. but I am still betting it is) definitely get your own elsewhere and install it yourself. Probably takes 2 min and will save you 50% or more.

:)

P.S. that is one heck of an amazing set up for a first time switcher. You are gonna be so incredibly impressed... especially with the display and after you bring that ram up. WOW. I am jealous! :) have fun and post pics after you set up whatever you end up deciding on!
 

Xplicit

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2007
66
0
OMG will do :)


OK . so any Fully Bufferend Dimm Ram,with heatsink is good, aslong as its DDR2 and Cursuair?

Am i understanding this right?

IF i want 2GB I need to buy 2 X 1GB sticks. and If i want 4GB i need to buy 2 X 2GB sticks, so pairs?
 

atarigraffx

macrumors member
Nov 27, 2006
45
0
probably might as well bump up to 8Gb, or even 16GBs of RAM, since with your powerful CPUs you really want a lot of ram to stand behind that kind of power.


i use my mac pro for Maya, photoshop, final cut, after effects, z brush, basically the same deal, you will never need to bump up your ram to 16 gigs

4 gigs and your golden bro
 

Kelly West

macrumors newbie
Jul 22, 2007
10
0
Well you would only be screwed if your main machine and the backup went down. But should'nt you be backing up your external as well ?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.