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

Help please! Research for Mac Pro purchase

S

Spin Spin Sugar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
12
0
I would appreciate your comments, suggestions, corrections and feedback on my thinking around purchasing a Nehalem Mac Pro to replace my Power Mac G4.

What I use my Mac for
Apart from the usual email, web access, productivity (office suite), iPhoto, iTunes, etc, I also run MYOB for a small business and use Photoshop at a beginner hobby level and Final Cut Studio at an intermediate hobby level.

My current Mac and why I want to upgrade
Power Mac G4 Quicksilver purchased August 2002(!)
Processor: 1GHz
Memory: 2 GB PC133
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 AGP -128 MB
Display: Apple Cinema 23" HD 1920x1200 AGP

The superdrive is dead, the sound card is dead, the machine no longer shuts down and crashes at least once a day. I cannot install Final Cut Pro 5 or Motion 2 because the graphics card does not support these applications. After extensive research and actually buying an ATI Radeon 9600 PRO AGP -256 MB graphics card only to prove it will not work with my Quicksilver, I firmly believe there is no way I can get my G4 to run FCP 5 or Motion 2. That means I can't use my Mac to do what I like doing best (Final Cut Studio fun). And it crashes every day. And it's seven years old now - I think I got my money's worth!


My current thinking on a Nehalem Mac Pro
I am buying in Sydney, Australia and will quote all costs in Australian Dollars (AUD). Please give me the benefit of your wisdom here, I am posting this because I want feedback.

Processor
It seems to me the way to go here is to get the 4-core 2.66 GHz machine (AUD $4,500) over the 4-core 2.93 GHz (AUD $5,500) or 8-core 2.26 (AUD $5,900) or 8-core 2.93 (AUD $10,600).
My reasoning is that the base spec processor should be good enough for how I use my Mac. I do use Final Cut Studio, but only as a hobby (there is no "time is money" consideration).

I have read that the 4-core/4 memory slot vs 8-core/8 memory slot consideration means that the total price of processor and memory gets closer for say a 16 GB memory configuration. I examined that and found a AUD $270 saving to purchase eight 2GB memory chips for the 8-core versus four 4GB memory chips for the 4-core. That's not convincing given the AD $1,400 price difference in the machines.

Memory
Given a 4-core 2.66 GHz machine my thinking is to go to 16GB memory with four 4GB memory chips from somewhere like OWC.
Using their online shopping basket with shipping calculator that's ~ AUD $770 shipped to my door.

Another suggestion was to go with two 4GB memory for a total of 8GB and the top up with another two 4GB once the price drops later on. If only I was that kind of patient.

Graphics card
I could really use some advice. Some say the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 -512MB that comes standard is plenty enough for what I want to do. Others say for Motion 4 and Final Cut Pro 7 you'd be mad not to spring for the ATI Radeon HD 4870 -512 MB (AUD $400 upgrade when ordering MP from Apple). Comments? Can the ATI card be purchased for better value anywhere other than Apple?

Disk drives
The standard 640GB drive in bay 1 seems fine. I was thinking to go for a 1TB drive in bay 2 and bay 3 (to be used for data and projects) and a 2TB drive in bay 4 to be used for a Time Machine backup.

1 TB Western Digital Enterprise drive specs
2 TB Western Digital drive specs

The OWC calculator tells me AUD $450 shipped for the two 1TB drives and and AUD $690 shipped for the 2TB drive.

Comments on drive selection? Better value somewhere else?

Display
My 23" Apple Cinema HD display still works fine so I figured I would just keep using it. The display has the ADC connector but I also have an Apple DVI-I to ADC adapter. Can anyone confirm that means I can use my current display with a Mac Pro?

AppleCare
Does it matter where you purchase AppleCare from or is it a matter of finding the cheapest available? BuyMac has it for AUD $339 compared to AUD $419 at Apple Store.

Transferring software/settings and upgrading Final Cut Studio
I've heard that transferring from my G4 to a Mac Pro should be a piece of piss. And the same with upgrading Final Cut Studio (AUD $429 upgrade). Any comments on that? The Apple store wants to sell me a "one on one" service for AUD $129 where they provide some level of help and assistance in doing this. Comments?

Any help is appreciated!
 
It sounds like you have everything right. I would go with any nvidia card though ( not because I don't like ati don't get me wrong ) but I am not sure Snow leopard will support any of the ATI cards. I think you have everything else down though. Congrats on your purchase!
 
gatepc said:
It sounds like you have everything right. I would go with any nvidia card though ( not because I don't like ati don't get me wrong ) but I am not sure Snow leopard will support any of the ATI cards. I think you have everything else down though. Congrats on your purchase!
Click to expand...

OpenCL will be supported on the Radeon 4850 and 4870.
 
ATi 4850/4870 are supported by Snow Leopard if you meant OpenCL.
Snow Leopard Tech Specs, Apple

You may consider the 2.93GHz and 12GB (3x4GB) tripple channel configuration except you really benefit from more RAM. And if you go with the 2.66GHz, you maybe can upgrade the CPU later.

Get Apple Care within a year, preferable within 90 days tho. It´s worth, also might give better resale value in 2-3 years and yeah, doesn´t matter where to buy as long the reseller/retailer is trustworthy.
 
Well, from the computer you're currently using, anything would be a massive jump :p

Although, if you're going to buy it only for hobby work, have you considered an iMac? Apple updated all of their desktops when the Australian dollar was at its lowest point against the US dollar (screwing us over), so you may want an intermediate machine (even a Mac Mini would be a huge step up from your Quicksilver in every way) until Apple updates the Mac Pro's ~April 2010.


However, if you're set on going for a Mac Pro, just get the base one with the 4870 and 6GB of 3rd party RAM. It'll take you at least 6 months to get accustomed to the jump in speed :p
 
For what you do, I would suggest a refurb 2.8 (8 core) mac pro. Not sure what they sell for in australia, but in the US its 2399.00. More than enough for your needs.
 
bearcatrp said:
For what you do, I would suggest a refurb 2.8 (8 core) mac pro. Not sure what they sell for in australia, but in the US its 2399.00. More than enough for your needs.
Click to expand...

I'm with bearcatrp.... look at a 2008 MP Octo. It should meet your needs for a long time. Here in Canada today - an 8 core 3.0 GHz refurb is the same price as a new entry level 2009 2.66 Ghz 4 core. I've seen slower (than 3.0GHz) 2008 8 cores go for $hundreds less. With your needs you likely won't see the difference in CPU speeds, so you can use the savings to max out the HDs or RAM. I'm counting on Snow Leopard to make my 8 core faster over time, as more applications take advantage of the technology to use more cores concurrently.
 
bearcatrp said:
For what you do, I would suggest a refurb 2.8 (8 core) mac pro. Not sure what they sell for in australia, but in the US its 2399.00. More than enough for your needs.
Click to expand...

yes, i third this....however, i haven't seen a 2008 Mac Pro on the Aussie refurb store in a month or so (are refurb store struggles to have any Mac Pros in it)
 
You seem to be a person who tends to keep his Mac for a long time (2002 - 2009). So I would advise to look at a spec that gives you decent head room in 3 years time with the machine you select. Under that consideration the proposal to buy an Octad makes a lot of sense. Cost constaints will point towards a 2008 machine as has already been suggested. Unfortunately you will miss the Nehalem 1366 socket with more interesting upgrade options for the future by that way. If you want to keep your machine again for that long and want to max out on future proofing your best buy would be a refurbished Nehalem 2,26 Octad. It will give you plenty of power now and even more in a short time with Snow Leopard in two years time when the apps will be re written for hyperthreading. The 1366 socket Octad will offer huge improvement options from the known Intel road map. They just punched out a W5590 CPU which runs at 3,33 GHz and next year they will bring a six core CPU for that socket which may well run on that logic board. So there are huge options for the future when the high end CPUs of that socket will have come down in price considerably. So this is something to think about. In the end you have to make a choice between getting the best current tech for your bucks and the most upgradable system.
 
Go with the quad or an older 8 core as suggested. Heck even try to find an older 2.8 x 4 and later you can upgrade to an octo.

I don't see that much taxing an octo and it would run fine on a quad for years to come.

2.8 x 8 if you can find it, perhaps refurbed. Ram is heading back up for these, so try to get some now.

If you want new, go for a 2.66 quad. 6gb of ram, 4870 should do it. If you are outgrowing the 6GB of ram, then you can put in 2gb or 4 gb modules later when prices go down.
 
G'day,
Firstly I think it would help to know if you have some form of budget? I live in Australia too, and when I was looking at getting a Mac Pro here in Australia I was appalled at the price hikes Apple put here in Australia. It seems as if us here in Australia have to deal with firstly the Apple tax, then the Apple Australia tax, and then the GST!

So I think if you are serious about getting a Mac Pro I would certainly look at getting one from overseas possibly eBay? When I looked at eBayeven with shipping you could save around $500 - $1000 dollars depending on which Mac Pro you get, so I recommend you give it a browse. However if you do buy it from America you may have to buy a power transformer however I do not know but I am sure some of the god like Mac Rumors kings can tell you.

Another benefit of getting the Mac from America is you can get a AppleCare plan here and they will still treat it like a normal Australian Mac, so you don't have to send it to America if something goes wrong, you can just send it to the Australian fix center.

King Mook Mook
 
Thanks for all your comments! There is little action on the refurbished front here in Australia unfortunately.
 
Thanks for all your help guys, every single post was good advice and I appreciate it.

I listened to what was said and decided to go with a refurbished 4-core 2.66 GHz Mac Pro. I'll go without the upgraded graphics card (I can always upgrade later if needed).

I also listened to the advice about looking at iMacs (being sufficient for my needs) but decided I will stick with a Mac Pro.

Again I'll take your advice and go with 8GB of memory to start (I can always add more!).

Now to find the best value 1TB and 2 TB HDD and Apple Care.
 
Enjoy your new Mac! :cool:

Look for WD Black 1TB series and Samsung SpinPoint F1. If you buy more than one HDD, mix manufacturers just in case of faulty drives. I experienced that once with an DROBO and 4xWD 1TB, two died after two weeks for no reason.
 
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
Back