I'm buying my first Apple Mac (Mac Pro)

[dance]

Hi,

I've been a PC user for over 15 years and I have decided to take the plunge for a Mac Pro as I produce music in Logic in my spare time. I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer:

1) Can I buy non-Apple RAM to upgrade the system in the future?

2) Can I buy a non-Apple HD (the HD's that ship seem standard) to put into the extra bays at a future date?

3) I am going to run 2 x 19" monitors (I already have these) what video card should I choose? I will be only using the Mac for music production (logic) so don't need any 3D cards etc.

4) Also any other tips\tricks to get the Mac Pro for less. I'm not flush with money at the moment!

Thanks in advance...

PS: I'm based in the UK.

 

[FleurDuMal]

Hi,
4) Also any other tips\tricks to get the Mac Pro for less. I'm not flush with money at the moment!

I can't help you with any of the technical mumbo-jumbo, but I can always help with a scam .

Make friends with someone in Higher Education...that's all I can say.

 

[Mac Rules]

Hi,

I've been a PC user for over 15 years and I have decided to take the plunge for a Mac Pro as I produce music in Logic in my spare time. I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer:

1) Can I buy non-Apple RAM to upgrade the system in the future?

2) Can I buy a non-Apple HD (the HD's that ship seem standard) to put into the extra bays at a future date?

3) I am going to run 2 x 19" monitors (I already have these) what video card should I choose? I will be only using the Mac for music production (logic) so don't need any 3D cards etc.

4) Also any other tips\tricks to get the Mac Pro for less. I'm not flush with money at the moment!

Thanks in advance...

PS: I'm based in the UK.

Well first congrats on taking the plunge!

1) Yes you can install non-Apple RAM, but obviously you have to make sure that what you do install is th right specification and has th appropriate cooling.

2)Yes you can install your own hard-drives

3) TO run 2 monitors , you're probably going to need the X1900XT which is a damn fine card and supports 2displays. Plus its perfect if you feel like abit of gaming one day...

4)If you don't want to use too many CPU intensive programs, then maybe the iMac is worth a look, it should be more than capable of taking on Logic Pro. But if you feel like you need that extra horsepower, then stick with the Mac Pro, go for 2.66GHz that'll save you from upgrading in the future, get the 1Gb of RAM and upgrade yourself, it'll be cheaper and stick with 250Gb HD its cheaper again. Just make sure you get BT and Airport installed, its quite useful to have!

Cheers

 

[Chundles]

Hi,

I've been a PC user for over 15 years and I have decided to take the plunge for a Mac Pro as I produce music in Logic in my spare time. I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer:

1) Can I buy non-Apple RAM to upgrade the system in the future?

2) Can I buy a non-Apple HD (the HD's that ship seem standard) to put into the extra bays at a future date?

3) I am going to run 2 x 19" monitors (I already have these) what video card should I choose? I will be only using the Mac for music production (logic) so don't need any 3D cards etc.

4) Also any other tips\tricks to get the Mac Pro for less. I'm not flush with money at the moment!

Thanks in advance...

PS: I'm based in the UK.

1. Yes, just make sure the RAM is fully guaranteed for use in a Mac by the company you buy it from - and make sure it's the right RAM, those Mac Pros use FB-DIMMs and they need a big heat sink to cool.

2. There's no such thing as an Apple HDD. Apple source their hard drives from current manufacturers (Seagate, Fujitsu, etc.) so long as it's the right type of HDD it will work just fine - might need to be formatted after installation though but that's easy.

3. Go with the stock card (7300GT) it will do just fine.

4. If you can find someone who is a tertiary student you can use the Higher Education discount.

 

[gauchogolfer]

3) TO run 2 monitors , you're probably going to need the X1900XT which is a damn fine card and supports 2displays. Plus its perfect if you feel like abit of gaming one day...

The 7300 that ships with the MacPro as standard can support a 30" ACD plus a 23" ACD, so there's no need to upgrade to the x1900XT just to get multiple-monitor support.

 

[Mac Rules]

The 7300 that ships with the MacPro as standard can support a 30" ACD plus a 23" ACD, so there's no need to upgrade to the x1900XT just to get multiple-monitor support.

Yep you're right, I just checked, sorry about that Dance, just go for the 7300. Cheers

EDIT: All together configured as above you can get it for £1749, plus any discount if you know any HE students. Cheers

 

[Chundles]

3) TO run 2 monitors , you're probably going to need the X1900XT which is a damn fine card and supports 2displays. Plus its perfect if you feel like abit of gaming one day...

Overkill, the stock card supports one screen up to 1920x1200 as well as a second screen up to 2560x1600 on the second port (dual-link DVI).

For someone who is not going to be doing any 3D graphics and will more likely want a cooler, quieter system, the stock card will be fine and will run both 19" without even breaking a sweat.

 

[dance]

I can't help you with any of the technical mumbo-jumbo, but I can always help with a scam .

Make friends with someone in Higher Education...that's all I can say.

How much discount does someone get if they are in higher education then?

 

[Chundles]

How much discount does someone get if they are in higher education then?

It varies, here in Australia it's 10%.

Just go to Apple's education store and price it up for yourself.

 

[dance]

Go with the stock card (7300GT) it will do just fine.

So the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI) is suffice to run 2 x 19" monitors? As mentioned I don't need any fast 3D graphics just a rock solid 2D application card that can power 2 monitors...?

 

[gauchogolfer]

So the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI) is suffice to run 2 x 19" monitors? As mentioned I don't need any fast 3D graphics just a rock solid 2D application card that can power 2 monitors...?

more than sufficient. As I said, it can drive a 30" + 23" monitor.

 

[dance]

more than sufficient. As I said, it can drive a 30" + 23" monitor.

Thanks! *Runs off to apple.com to buy a Mac Pro*

 

[FleurDuMal]

How much discount does someone get if they are in higher education then?

Well, here in the UK it's quite significant. I think it's around 20%...?!

 

[jonparadise]

Regarding RAM. I've always bought mine from Crucial. Very quick service and never had a problem in any of my Macs.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/