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I'm glad no new Mac Pro has been announced.
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This is the problem with CLOSED-SYSTEMS
No one likes to purchase something and have an upgrade a short time later... In my case, a long time later
If you feel this way, then build yerself a PC which can run mac os x and it will be 1000's of dollars cheaper. Proprietary closed systems are like this. And no matter how many slots or whatever have you the mac pro has.. Apple still says the processors aren't upgradable(which they are). I just got a 2009 single-quad 2.66 and just upgraded for 600 bucks the processor to the core i7-975 or in xeonese: w3580 which apple wants you to pay royally for at 1200.00 dollars more - ouch!
Dual 2009's are different and if you read the anadtech article you will see that the processors in the 2009 duals are LIDLESS and are specialy made processors for Apple, and no one else.. a normal oem intel processor has an integrated heat spreader on it. Apple failed miserably on the singles, and gave us tinkerers and upgraders the advantage to upgrade our slower processors with oem parts.
For instance, if you buy regular ddr3 memory, then you will be delighted to know that you can upgrade using desktop parts instead of xeon parts.
No one likes to purchase something and have an upgrade a short time later... In my case, a long time later
If you feel this way, then build yerself a PC which can run mac os x and it will be 1000's of dollars cheaper. Proprietary closed systems are like this. And no matter how many slots or whatever have you the mac pro has.. Apple still says the processors aren't upgradable(which they are). I just got a 2009 single-quad 2.66 and just upgraded for 600 bucks the processor to the core i7-975 or in xeonese: w3580 which apple wants you to pay royally for at 1200.00 dollars more - ouch!
Dual 2009's are different and if you read the anadtech article you will see that the processors in the 2009 duals are LIDLESS and are specialy made processors for Apple, and no one else.. a normal oem intel processor has an integrated heat spreader on it. Apple failed miserably on the singles, and gave us tinkerers and upgraders the advantage to upgrade our slower processors with oem parts.
For instance, if you buy regular ddr3 memory, then you will be delighted to know that you can upgrade using desktop parts instead of xeon parts.
How is that a bit silly? I feel like I'm getting all my pennies worth out of this product... I purchased it the day it was released and no updates since... I'd say I'm getting pretty good use out of this product...
No one likes to purchase something and have an upgrade a short time later... In my case, a long time later
I noticed u have..
a SINGLE-quad core 2.66 - do what I did.. spend 600 bucks to get the w3580 or cheaper for the core i7-975(3.33) and remove the ecc memory. You don't need it. You can run desktop or xeon parts in the 2009 single-quad mac pro - apple messed up on this miserably - they made it into an "open" system by accident.. The duals however, its more difficult to upgrade the processors as they are not oem standard.
a SINGLE-quad core 2.66 - do what I did.. spend 600 bucks to get the w3580 or cheaper for the core i7-975(3.33) and remove the ecc memory. You don't need it. You can run desktop or xeon parts in the 2009 single-quad mac pro - apple messed up on this miserably - they made it into an "open" system by accident.. The duals however, its more difficult to upgrade the processors as they are not oem standard.
Nothing to do with that... I'm just saying that most of us 2009 owners are just fine with Apple not coming out with a new one yet... My dollar is going far between releases is all...
Silly for those that are holding out for a new one... When they should've just bought the 2009 and then they could concentrate on other things during their day
I see it like this..
Remember, I also owned a 2008 harpertown 3.2 - I was happy with this machine really.. but the limitations and Apple crippling the firmware made me change.. If you don't need extra on-board odd-ports for windows, then you don't need to worry about this limitaiton. Also, if you don't use windows xp mode inside windows or use virualization at all, then you don't need to worry about the vt-x problem with the 2008's. Apple knows about this due to me complaining to them and they told me that yes, I was correct that firmware update 1.3 should have fixed and resolved the vt-x problem.
The only ONLY thing I can see for the 2008 as being still a contender is the fact it has two 2.0 pcie slots, albeit the last two are 1.1 - and also the mere fact that the EFI64 is the same as the 2009, hence when new video cards come out from nvidia or ati - you will be able to use them.
2006-2007 owners sadly have been treated like dog**** by Apple, and thus ATI is the only company that cares enough to allow room on their boards for EFI32 - I think Apple doesn't know this, as Apple has no right to design any video card. They aren't in that business, so you can count on ATI supporting 2006-2007 with newer video cards as EFI32 will be recognized in their firmware..
Nvidia, u can forget it! They are EFI64 only now.. but they are about to be bought out shortly or go chapter 7 - as they are in major serious financial trouble(nanofrog).
Remember, I also owned a 2008 harpertown 3.2 - I was happy with this machine really.. but the limitations and Apple crippling the firmware made me change.. If you don't need extra on-board odd-ports for windows, then you don't need to worry about this limitaiton. Also, if you don't use windows xp mode inside windows or use virualization at all, then you don't need to worry about the vt-x problem with the 2008's. Apple knows about this due to me complaining to them and they told me that yes, I was correct that firmware update 1.3 should have fixed and resolved the vt-x problem.
The only ONLY thing I can see for the 2008 as being still a contender is the fact it has two 2.0 pcie slots, albeit the last two are 1.1 - and also the mere fact that the EFI64 is the same as the 2009, hence when new video cards come out from nvidia or ati - you will be able to use them.
2006-2007 owners sadly have been treated like dog**** by Apple, and thus ATI is the only company that cares enough to allow room on their boards for EFI32 - I think Apple doesn't know this, as Apple has no right to design any video card. They aren't in that business, so you can count on ATI supporting 2006-2007 with newer video cards as EFI32 will be recognized in their firmware..
Nvidia, u can forget it! They are EFI64 only now.. but they are about to be bought out shortly or go chapter 7 - as they are in major serious financial trouble(nanofrog).
Man if the OP feels this great about the 2009 Mac Pro, I wonder how great the 2008 Mac Pro buyers feel.
Pretty good really because this machine is a sexy beast and it serves me well!
Haha, nothing wrong with that. I have the 2008 MP so understand, but I still love it and still performs great
2006 MP still chugging along! Gonna try to hold out for Sandy Bridge goodness!
Second that.
When I got my MP I had to buy a machine right that day for a big job. Luckily the new MP came out 10 days before. It has served me well and still does
When I got my MP I had to buy a machine right that day for a big job. Luckily the new MP came out 10 days before. It has served me well and still does
Same here. I'm still waiting for a deal as good as that one (it was even cheaper than building your own [at the time]). Lots of monitors, peripherals, and hard drives hooked up, plus a decent vid card.
The current MP by contrast is even more expensive than Dell /HP, and a comparable homebuilt is less than half the price. I believe it was like that when it came out.
Too bad I've had my MP so long I've since retired and moved on to a non-IT field... my next comp will probably be a homebuilt PC (esp. since Apple isn't likely to release a price/spec'd replacement to the MP), since I don't need a faster mac to run what I run on OS X. The most demanding stuff I do these days are games for which I bootcamp into windows 7 for.
The real problem I have with the lack of MP updates is that this will keep people from buying the Mac Pro--which is THE ONLY mac computer that can use aftermarket GPUs (something I am always on the lookout for). Therefore, there is a heck of a lot less reason for suppliers of video cards to create and maintain drivers for their latest cards on a mac.