just ordered mac pro - comments?

[DZL]

my new mac

i had ordered a MBP, but it seemed it would be too hot for what i'd be doing w/it, and the screen's fabled yellow-tint would not be acceptable for what I do.

Also, i saw the benchmarks, and couldn't pass up the speed increase...

i obviously need to upgrade the RAM, and i've heard that i'll need to get a cooler for the vid card --> Accelero S1?

any other advice? i'm a new convert to mac; and will be running mostly the osX, but will use windows for my 3d app - 3ds max.

 

[dartzorichalcos]

Congrats. How much ram are you going to put in the Mac Pro? 6GB? 8GB?

 

[uMac]

my new mac

i had ordered a MBP, but it seemed it would be too hot for what i'd be doing w/it, and the screen's fabled yellow-tint would not be acceptable for what I do.

Also, i saw the benchmarks, and couldn't pass up the speed increase...

i obviously need to upgrade the RAM, and i've heard that i'll need to get a cooler for the vid card --> Accelero S1?

any other advice? i'm a new convert to mac; and will be running mostly the osX, but will use windows for my 3d app - 3ds max.

I just got mine (2.0 GHz - Stock) in the process of getting some more ram (+1GB) but I have noticed how quite this computer is compared to other computers. When to a LAN party with it in the first week and not only was it the fastest but the quitest. We where playing Company of Heros (I had the graphics maxed out) & Il2 Sturavik.

That said I didn't buy my computer for gaming, i'm a graphics/photo guy, the Lan party was more of spur of the moment event and I was impressed how well my computer worked. (Except for it took me 3 times to install Windows - but I think that was windows problem not the Mac)

Cheers

 

[tribe3]

my new mac

i had ordered a MBP, but it seemed it would be too hot for what i'd be doing w/it, and the screen's fabled yellow-tint would not be acceptable for what I do.

Also, i saw the benchmarks, and couldn't pass up the speed increase...

i obviously need to upgrade the RAM, and i've heard that i'll need to get a cooler for the vid card --> Accelero S1?

any other advice? i'm a new convert to mac; and will be running mostly the osX, but will use windows for my 3d app - 3ds max.

Grat Machine! Enjoy I wouldn't do anything to cool down the Vid card for the moment. I think it voids the warranty and the new cards (ver.2) Part # ending in 00006 don't have issues AFAIC. You can download smcfancontrol and set the exhaust and CPU speeds a tad higher ( like 750 rpm or so)

 

[suneohair]

Comments?

Congrats! They are great machines. Load it up with RAM before the switch to DDR3, DDR2 prices are going to climb. Plus Intel plans on dropping FB-DIMMs. SO unless you want a RAMBUS situation, load it up before the price goes up.

And enjoy

 

[Counter]

Congrats on a serious machine purchase!

Comments?

Congrats! They are great machines. Load it up with RAM before the switch to DDR3, DDR2 prices are going to climb. Plus Intel plans on dropping FB-DIMMs. SO unless you want a RAMBUS situation, load it up before the price goes up.

And enjoy

Getting hold of FB-DIMMs will be no problem. Pleeeenty of machines out there using FB-DIMMs. And Intel may or may not drop them, all speculation. Some company just started making 4gb ones. 32gb of RAM anyone?

 

[suneohair]

Congrats on a serious machine purchase!



Getting hold of FB-DIMMs will be no problem. Pleeeenty of machines out there using FB-DIMMs. And Intel may or may not drop them, all speculation. Some company just started making 4gb ones. 32gb of RAM anyone?

Production will be shifting to DDR3 soon however. I don't know where that leaves DDR2. And how FB-DIMMs fair in relation to that. Maybe we will get DDR3 FB-DIMMs (for extra latency!).

My point is to watch the market. If the price jumps, buy quick before it gets too high.

 

[feh]

my new mac

i had ordered a MBP, but it seemed it would be too hot for what i'd be doing w/it, and the screen's fabled yellow-tint would not be acceptable for what I do.

Also, i saw the benchmarks, and couldn't pass up the speed increase...

i obviously need to upgrade the RAM, and i've heard that i'll need to get a cooler for the vid card --> Accelero S1?

any other advice? i'm a new convert to mac; and will be running mostly the osX, but will use windows for my 3d app - 3ds max.

this is the cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186002

But you might want to see if the stock cooler is quiet enough for you before buying this.

I think your setup is good since you said rendering is your main concern the 8-core will do that better than any other computer available now short of clusters.

 

[DZL]

Comments?

Congrats! They are great machines. Load it up with RAM before the switch to DDR3, DDR2 prices are going to climb. Plus Intel plans on dropping FB-DIMMs. SO unless you want a RAMBUS situation, load it up before the price goes up.

And enjoy

o.k. - i'm a little confused about the RAM situation -

you're saying i should buy the DDR2 before it climbs? what brand do you recommend, and where can I purchase it?

 

[Counter]

o.k. - i'm a little confused about the RAM situation -

you're saying i should buy the DDR2 before it climbs? what brand do you recommend, and where can I purchase it?

You have nothing to worry about. Keep an eye on the market anyway, but I bet you will only end up buying it when you actually need more. More than enough machines out there using FB-DIMMs. I also extremely doubt machines using FB-DIMMs will stop being sold until at least 18 months away if at all. Even more than enough machines out there using FB-DIMMs. As for buying it, I think Crucial are the best at the moment. Make sure they have the Apple style heatsinks and are stated 'for Mac Pro'.

 

[DZL]

You have nothing to worry about. Keep an eye on the market anyway, but I bet you will only end up buying it when you actually need more.

I'm sure i'll need more ASAP - i'm going to be doing 3d rendering/compositing work; and be dealing with some big photoshop files...

Thanks for everyone's input - i checked out Crucial RAM; and will prob go with the 2X2GB setup for now.

Much appreciated!!!

Matt