Mac Pro Arrived! Pics Included

[tobyg]

Got my new Mac Pro today and can't get Parallels to work... get all sorts of fun kernel panics. Boot Camp is irritating because it doesn't recognize either of the extra two drives in my Mac Pro, wanting me to partition my drive.

I'll try downloading the drivers the original poster suggested and see if they work.

This is why I asked earlier. SPUY767, thanks for your answer but unfortunately your answer was not based on any real world information and just how one would logically think things should work. Doesn't mean things always work that way. The whole reason for asking in this thread is to have someone who actually has a Mac Pro try it.

On a side note, iPalindrome, have you tried just putting in your XP2 CD and booting off of it? Don't even run bootcamp in OSX, all that really does is create your driver CD and setup the partition. Just reboot with the CD and see if XP finds your other drives. If it does, try installing to that. It should see them and possibly install to them, but that doesn't mean it will reboot and run Windows XP off of a different drive than the primary drive.

 

[tobyg]

Got my new Mac Pro today and can't get Parallels to work... get all sorts of fun kernel panics. Boot Camp is irritating because it doesn't recognize either of the extra two drives in my Mac Pro, wanting me to partition my drive.

I'll try downloading the drivers the original poster suggested and see if they work.

Try installing the CHUD tools and disabling one of the CPU's (entire cpu, both cores). Maybe it's freaking out about an additional CPU in there.

 

[JoshRtek]

They are Seagate SATA 300's. You don't have to worry about messing up. Just get any SATA with the Roman Numeral II or 300MB or 3GB and not 1.5GB or 150 MB or Roman Numeral I to have the fastest possible drives. Hitachi (formerly IBM), Western Digital, Maxtor, Seagate all good choices. Barefeats.com will give you directions on which are fastest. I have Western Digital 500 in my G5 Quad. That is the fastest 500GB drive according to them. In the recent past Apple has used Maxtor as well as Seagate.

But I can use SATA-I drives right? The Serial ATA protocol is backwards compatible.

I ordered the base system with the 160 GB hard drive (thanks to your recommendation), and plan on using the savings to get a 250, 320, or 400 GB Seagate for the system drive. In my 2-year old PC, I plan on cannibalizing three Western Digital 250 gig SATA-I drives. Two will be striped together in a RAID 0 for capture scratch in video editing, while the other will be for Win XP. (I'm going to put the 160 GB drive in an external enclosure for my girlfriend for her iTunes...)

(actually, can you RAID 0 three drives of the exact same specification? Or does it have to be an even number of drives?)

As far as using SATA-I vs. SATA-II, I'm only really going to be editing with DV25, HDV 1080i59.94, and some DVCPROHD-100...which should work fine with a RAID 0'ed array. No uncompressed SD or HD here (for now).

 

[Multimedia]

Raptors Are Still Only 150MB/Sec SATA I • But It Doesn't Matter

Mmmmmm........Mac Pro with 4 raptors in raid 0!

Yeah the problem with the Raptors is they are still only 150MB/sec SATA I. I'm hoping WD Comes out with 150GB or even 300GB SATA 300MB/sec Raptors in the next year or so.

A Raptor maxes out at 84MB/sec so there is virtually no advantage to using 300MB/sec SATA versus 150MB/sec.
--
Steve

Great to know. Thanks.

Of course SATA I work. Just half as fast as SATA II Bummer. Still that's as fast as my old "pokey" G5 Quad can go. But I only buy 300MB/sec SATA II drives any more since they still work in 150MB/sec systems and can always be moved to a faster system later for surprisingly snappier performance.

Gotta be real. The G5 Quad is pretty snappy as it is. I am seriously thinking of snapping up another one if they can really be bought for $1500 on eBay. Man that's a steal of a deal.

 

[APPLENEWBIE]

Has anyone called Apple's service department

Has anyone called Apple service department to solve some of these bootcamp and parallels problems? Or Parallels? I know they won't service Windows, but maybe they can at least let you know what is going on? Just an idea...

 

[JoshRtek]

But I only buy 300MB/sec SATA II drives any more since they still work in 150MB/sec systems and can always be moved to a faster system later for surprisingly snappier performance.

Yeah, the drive I buy to replace the 160 GB drive the system will come with will be a SATA-II drive. But no sense in trashing 3 perfectly fine 250 gig drives...

 

[tipdrill407]

Has anyone called Apple service department to solve some of these bootcamp and parallels problems? Or Parallels? I know they won't service Windows, but maybe they can at least let you know what is going on? Just an idea...

Apple does not offer support for Boot Camp so i doubt they will even talk about it.

 

[Cowinacape]

Back to video cards for a moment......(question enclosed)

Ok dumb question, but after some searching on the web I haven't gotten a clear enough answer (for me at least, but I can be a bit dense at times ) I have on order my 2.66 MacPro, with a Ati 1900 video card, my question should I experience any problems running two 19 inch wide screen monitors at 1440x900?

For what ever reason I haven't been able to find the supported resolutions of the Mac version of the 1900 card. Any thoughts and insights are greatly appreciated!

 

[iPalindrome]

How about consulting with Parallels Tech Support? I'm sure they want and need your feedback. Should be very happy to help you a lot so they can learn from you what the problems are. Keep in touch. I really want to know what you figure out that makes it work flawlessly.

Congrats on your acquisition and courage to be an Alpha Tester.

Did that... sent them an e-mail and posted in their forum.

Alpha Tester... make that reviewer. I'm working on a review of this sucker. Going to be a long night

 

[weldon]

Max resolution is 2560 x 1600. I think this is available on both dual-link DVI ports simultaneously, but I don't know that for sure.

 

[kanefsky]

Yeah the problem with the Raptors is they are still only 150MB/sec SATA I. I'm hoping WD Comes out with 150GB or even 300GB SATA 300MB/sec Raptors in the next year or so.

A Raptor maxes out at 84MB/sec so there is virtually no advantage to using 300MB/sec SATA versus 150MB/sec.

--
Steve

 

[chiamon]

According to the 1kW version of the dell 690 the xeons do support dual GFX cards. They allow for 2 FX4500's. This is a big bit of the whining over at cnet...

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&oc=MLB1727&s=biz

granted it comes with some type of wierd @$$ graphics riser card but it's still an option - an expensive one but still..

Any idea how this dell can achieve SLI dual graphics when it is using the same 5000X chipset(as mentioned on product info page) tt supposedly does not support dual graphics?

 

[cb911]

i didn't read that whole thread - but I have a question...

is it possible to use hardware RAID in the new Mac Pros??

I've currently got a Dual 2GHz G5 with 5 internal HD's, 4 of which are setup in RAID 10. having 'proper' hardware RAID is a big deal for me ATM, i'm really curious to know.

 

[greenstork]

Mmmmmm........Mac Pro with 4 raptors in raid 0!

Someone, please help me to understand RAID a little better. Wouldn't this setup significantly increase the chances of losing your data. If only one drive in 4 fails in a RAID 0 setup, you lose 1/4 of your data and chances are, corrupt many of your files, applications and the like. You could lose almost everything on your 4 drives because you've then lost 1/4 of all the files, is this correct? I know about the speed gain but is it worth that kind of risk. Someone, please correct me if I don't understand this.

I just bought a Mac Pro with 2.66's, an X1900, and two 500 GB drives. I'm planning to run them on a RAID 1 because I don't ever want to lose my data, and I prefer this setup to a backup drive. I've heard the performance hit is minimal on write times and even reads slightly faster than a single drive. I wish Apple supported some sort of hardware RAID, out of the box, but oh well, I can't get all my wishes. Can't wait for my Mac Pro

 

[sejanus]

Yes that is correct. I wouldn't run 4 drives in Raid 0 though the performance would be impressive!

I don't mind running Raid 0 on 2 drives - I have external drives for backup.

Someone, please help me to understand RAID a little better. Wouldn't this setup significantly increase the chances of losing your data. If only one drive in 4 fails in a RAID 0 setup, you lose 1/4 of your data and chances are, corrupt many of your files, applications and the like. You could lose almost everything on your 4 drives because you've then lost 1/4 of all the files, is this correct? I know about the speed gain but is it worth that kind of risk. Someone, please correct me if I don't understand this.

 

[sejanus]

thanks to everyone and especially the original poster for the info in this thread.

I just ordered my MacPro to run Aperture on (I'm a photographer)

Got the 2.66 chips with 2gb ram and the 1900XT card and bluetooth/wireless. I have a few SATA2 drives at home I will be using. I'll increase the ram at a later date.

More droolworthy I bought a 30" screen at the same time which I think will be great for aperture. I already have a 23" ACD but I think I'll ebay it as I think 1 x 30 will be better than a dual setup. Can't afford 2 x 30's!

delivery time will be 3-5 weeks

 

[chiamon]

My gawd! this xeons are hyper threading capable, giving u 8 cores in win xp! anyone observed tt under device manager for win xp thru boot camp? Too bad Mac os X does not support hyper threading, thus it feels like the chips are under utilised.

 

[Multimedia]

All The Mac Pro Cards Support 2560 x 1600 + 1920 x 1200 • 2560 x 1600 x 2 On Top Ones

Ok dumb question, but after some searching on the web I haven't gotten a clear enough answer (for me at least, but I can be a bit dense at times ) I have on order my 2.66 MacPro, with a Ati 1900 video card, my question should I experience any problems running two 19 inch wide screen monitors at 1440x900?

For what ever reason I haven't been able to find the supported resolutions of the Mac version of the 1900 card. Any thoughts and insights are greatly appreciated!

Max resolution is 2560 x 1600. I think this is available on both dual-link DVI ports simultaneously, but I don't know that for sure.

You are correct sir.

Not a problem. You sure you need that noisy overkill card that makes you wait a month? Both Dual DVI ports supports the 30" 2560 x 1600 30" Monitors. You sure you gonna spend $4000 for those? Cause if not, you don't need that card unless you are a gamer or a 3-D worker.

 

[tobyg]

My gawd! this xeons are hyper threading capable, giving u 8 cores in win xp! anyone observed tt under device manager for win xp thru boot camp? Too bad Mac os X does not support hyper threading, thus it feels like the chips are under utilised.

Are you sure? Intels website states none of the 51xx series have Hyperthreading.

 

[chiamon]

sorry my bad.... its the 50XX series tt supports HT.

 

[Multimedia]

TOP SECRET • Leopard Will Support Hyperthreading • NOT

My gawd! this xeons are hyper threading capable, giving u 8 cores in win xp! anyone observed tt under device manager for win xp thru boot camp? Too bad Mac os X does not support hyper threading, thus it feels like the chips are under utilised.

Now that's what I'd like to think is one of Steve's TOP SECRETS for Leopard. But no can do in Core 2.

Highly unlikely. There are no Core 2 processors on Intel's roadmap (in the same time frame as Leopard) that support HyperThreading.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[dmw007]

Now that's what I'd like to think is one of Steve's TOP SECRETS for Leopard.

Hyper-threading is overrated....



Perhaps, it will be more efficient if running under Mac OS X.

 

[mwswami]

Now that's what I'd like to think is one of Steve's TOP SECRETS for Leopard.

Highly unlikely. There are no Core 2 processors on Intel's roadmap (in the same time frame as Leopard) that support HyperThreading.

 

[chiamon]

So any confirmations from any sources about using any standard PCI-E graphics
card in the mac pro? http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_30459.html
This product overview does mentioned tt OS X is supported by the 7000 series cards, so hopefully any 7000 series cards will just work in the mac pro?

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=xeon5000&page=5
This site oso says tt the 5000X chipset supposedly supports SLI, but i cannot verify tt from other sources? Does this spell the arrival of dual graphics to the Mac!? That will be great for gamers.....

 

[Multimedia]

thanks to everyone and especially the original poster for the info in this thread.

I just ordered my MacPro to run Aperture on (I'm a photographer)

Got the 2.66 chips with 2gb ram and the 1900XT card and bluetooth/wireless. I have a few SATA2 drives at home I will be using. I'll increase the ram at a later date.

More droolworthy I bought a 30" screen at the same time which I think will be great for aperture. I already have a 23" ACD but I think I'll ebay it as I think 1 x 30 will be better than a dual setup. Can't afford 2 x 30's!

delivery time will be 3-5 weeks

If you don't have to sell the 23" for some of the 30" cost, you will use the 23" for a lot of stuff too. I think the 30" Plus the 23" with a fanless base card is the best setup - except for two of each with a sceond fanless card.