Mac Pro configuration for Photoshop

[nanofrog]

Forget any RAID option for SSD

There are instances where it's useful (either to improve sustained transfer speeds, or get capacity at a lower cost). But for random access performance, there's not much of an increase in throughputs in real world usage (it doubles in theory, but it's not seen in practice; too many variables that can't be controlled).

So I agree that for the usage, a single disk is a better way to go (even wanting to stripe for cheaper capacity has the "cost" of another port and drive location).

An intresting article about Raid: http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=29

For home and enthusiast users, I can see their point (they don't want to deal with the technical support issues over it that result from novice users).

But I disagree with the comments for workstation use. It definitely has its place in that market (not just on rare occasion), not just servers.

Just for the record, the CPU is not intended to be customer upgradable. Every attempt to upgrade your CPU will void the warranty. Everyone who intends to do this should be aware of this.

Did you confirm this with an Apple employee?

Seems ludicrous to me, as the socket was designed to make this an easy process, but I could see it happening with Apple products.

Anyhow, since the CPU's in all 2010 models are lidded, the upgrade itself is as easy as in a normal PC. There is nothing special about it. Take the heat sink off, swap the processors, apply new thermal paste and screw the heat sink back on.

Exactly.

Worst case, just keep the original processor/s on hand, and swap the replacements back out for the OEM units if it ever has to go to the Apple store or shipped to a repair facility for service (ye olde "what they don't know won't hurt them" idea ).

 

[ddwit]

So when I buy two 3,5'' SSD's I don't need any adapters, cables? I can just screw them on and there will be connectors, connect and play? If not please show me some links with things I need?

Do I have to change setting when I put the two extra SSD's in? I remember thing like 'slave' and 'master' but I never have seen them on for instance USB sticks

 

[ddwit]

When the MP is delivered the OSX will be on the hard disk. I want the OSX on the SSD.

How can I delete the OSX from the harddisk?
Afterwards I will boot with the installation disk in and choose the SSD for installation. Or is there an other procedure?

 

[nanofrog]

So when I buy two 3,5'' SSD's I don't need any adapters, cables? I can just screw them on and there will be connectors, connect and play? If not please show me some links with things I need?

Each drive bay in the 2010 MP has it's own SATA and power connection.

To use the empty optical bay, just plug in the cable. You can use a mount if you wish, but it's not absolutely necessary (though I prefer that it is mounted somehow, even if by using Velcro or Zip Ties).

For the HDD bays, you can use this from Icy Dock.

Do I have to change setting when I put the two extra SSD's in? I remember thing like 'slave' and 'master' but I never have seen them on for instance USB sticks

That was PATA/IDE. It's no longer the case with SATA.

SATA uses one port per disk internally in your system. Externally, you can use a Port multiplier based enclosure, which can operate multiple disks on one port so long as the SATA controller supports PM chips (but there's no more Master/ Slave settings to deal with). It does this by switching between the disks.

When the MP is delivered the OSX will be on the hard disk. I want the OSX on the SSD.

How can I delete the OSX from the harddisk?
Afterwards I will boot with the installation disk in and choose the SSD for installation. Or is there an other procedure?

You've a couple of options.

1. Make a fresh installation on the SSD.
2. Make a clone of the OEM HDD to the SSD via an application such as Carbon Copy Cloner.

Once the OS is on the SSD, then set it as the boot disk under Disk Utility, and format the OEM HDD. You can even secure wipe the HDD if you wish, but its not absolutely necessary (unless you mean to sell it, which I wouldn't recommend so you've a disk to return if you ever have to send the system in for service).

 

[toxic]

honestly, get your MP (or look inside one) before asking questions about what you need to change x part. it's not complicated, you're getting worked up over nothing.

So when I buy two 3,5'' SSD's I don't need any adapters, cables? I can just screw them on and there will be connectors, connect and play? If not please show me some links with things I need?

Do I have to change setting when I put the two extra SSD's in? I remember thing like 'slave' and 'master' but I never have seen them on for instance USB sticks

3.5" SSDs will install the same way as 3.5" HDDs. just screw them on the sled.

Master/Slave jumpers were for IDE hard drives.

When the MP is delivered the OSX will be on the hard disk. I want the OSX on the SSD.

How can I delete the OSX from the harddisk?
Afterwards I will boot with the installation disk in and choose the SSD for installation. Or is there an other procedure?

1. use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to clone the hard disk contents to your SSD. reboot from the SSD and erase the HDD.
or
2. boot from CD and install OSX on the SSD. erase the HDD.

Once the OS is on the SSD, then set it as the boot disk under Disk Utility, and format the OEM HDD. You can even secure wipe the HDD if you wish, but its not absolutely necessary (unless you mean to sell it, which I wouldn't recommend so you've a disk to return if you ever have to send the system in for service).

choosing which disk is the boot disk is actually its own utility (Startup Disk or something) in System Prefs or the Utilities menu on the CD, it's not an option in Disk Utility.

 

[Honumaui]

But it's not like the 2,8 ghz Mac Pro is slow and the 3,2 ghz one is fast. Most certainly one would not notice a difference in regular work situations. The difference between a 24" and a 30" monitor can mean a huge productivity boost though.

Knowing Photoshop has nothing to do with the topic. Of course knowing the programs is more important than the size of the screen, but it's not like a bigger screen takes your PS knowledge away...

You are generally right that it depends on the circumstances though.

actually these days on the monitor the price of the new 27 s and the resolution they are a great bargain !! and are really filling the gap of what to get

again though our one workstation has twin 30s so I do love 30s but I think everything has to budget at some point ?

maybe the thing is if one is struggling 24 or 30 get the new 27s like the NEC PA series best of both worlds great resolution sadly you loose about 300 vert pixels but not much more than a 24 in price

 

[nanofrog]

choosing which disk is the boot disk is actually its own utility (Startup Disk or something) in System Prefs or the Utilities menu on the CD, it's not an option in Disk Utility.

Who cares .... minor detail.

Seriously though, good catch, as the OP may not be that familiar with OS X, and panic when the option won't be present in that particular section.

 

[johnnymg]

So when I buy two 3,5'' SSD's I don't need any adapters, cables? I can just screw them on and there will be connectors, connect and play? If not please show me some links with things I need?

Do I have to change setting when I put the two extra SSD's in? I remember thing like 'slave' and 'master' but I never have seen them on for instance USB sticks

Yes, a pair of 3.5" SSD's will mount right to the factory sleds. NO master/slave nonsense with OSX.

The only thing you need to do is clone the boot drive (I use superduper) to one of the SSD's and then change the "startup disk" to the SSD in System Preferences. Easy peezy!

JohnG

 

[Honumaui]

like someone mentioned above also once you have the machine you will see how easy they are to work on

my saying is Ikea Furniture is tougher to put together than working on a Mac

 

[ddwit]

Yes, a pair of 3.5" SSD's will mount right to the factory sleds. NO master/slave nonsense with OSX.

The only thing you need to do is clone the boot drive (I use superduper) to one of the SSD's and then change the "startup disk" to the SSD in System Preferences. Easy peezy!

JohnG

Thanks for letting me know. Sure wenn it's done it will be simple. But I hate it when I forget something and have to go back to the store because of a cable / adapter etc. That's why I asked..

 

[Transporteur]

Did you confirm this with an Apple employee?

Seems ludicrous to me, as the socket was designed to make this an easy process, but I could see it happening with Apple products.

I did for my 2009 octad model, which is why my CPU's are still the stock ones.
However, since the new sockets have a lid, Apple might have changed their opinion to processor swaps.
Haven't thought that far, sorry.

 

[ddwit]

I phoned last week with the Apple support in Holland. The woman on the phone told me I had to take in account that if I wanted to upgrade I would not be able to upgrade the processor. So she said buy the processor you want, because it's the only thing which is fixed..

 

[nanofrog]

I did for my 2009 octad model, which is why my CPU's are still the stock ones.
However, since the new sockets have a lid, Apple might have changed their opinion to processor swaps.
Haven't thought that far, sorry.

I could definitely see it with the 2009 DP systems, as it's easy to bend the pins (as proven by AnandTech).

But for systems with lidded sockets (as you'll find on any other board), I don't see why they'd actually have a technical reason to void the warranty (not replace 3rd party sourced CPU's, fine, as they didn't install them). Financially speaking however, any excuse to void the warranty saves them money.

I phoned last week with the Apple support in Holland. The woman on the phone told me I had to take in account that if I wanted to upgrade I would not be able to upgrade the processor. So she said buy the processor you want, because it's the only thing which is fixed..

Technically speaking, not true at all. Both the SP and DP daughter boards (what holds the CPU/s), have lidded sockets. So it is possible to swap out a chip (you do have to make sure it's compatible with the system though, or it won't function).

All you have to do if you do swap out CPU's, is keep the original CPU/s that ship with the system while it's under warranty (3yrs max). That way, if you ever have to send it in, you swap them back in before you take it or ship it off for repair (it also allows you to test the system to see if the CPU/s you installed are the problem). They'll honor your warranty this way, and you won't lose them if they ever do a system swap (always pull out 3rd party upgrades, as they won't make sure you get them back - people have lost upgrades by not pulling them prior to sending the system in).

You could even build a PC out of the original CPU/s (building a MP is also possible, but tends to be too expensive). And/or sell them off once the warranty is expired.

 

[Olegphoto]

120GB Vertex2 SSD boot disk
160,- (ex tax)

250GB Vertex2 SSD scratch disk
320,- (ex tax)



Hi, where do you get those ssd drives at that price in europe?
I only find more expensive.
Thanks

 

[ddwit]

http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/265891/ocz-vertex-2-sata-ii-35-inch-ssd-120gb.html

 

[Olegphoto]

http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/265891/ocz-vertex-2-sata-ii-35-inch-ssd-120gb.html

Thanks but I whatbi meant is the 250gb at 320.
thanks

 

[ddwit]

come on, the prices for the 240GB are there to, just change the specs..
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/266069/ocz-sata-ii-35-inch-ssd-240gb.html

 

[Demigod Mac]

Don't need a third party program to transfer the contents from the original HDD to the SSD.

Use the "Restore" feature in Disk Utility.

 

[JazzCollector]

I didn't read any mention of backups on your system specs. I think you're making a mistake if you don't take this into consideration.

I too use PS and LR. My setup is on Win 7 platform now.

24Gig Ram - Fill this up to the max as it will have the most impact on speed

OS/programs on 1 TB disk, mirror to a backup 1 TB disk. No SSD. Keeping OS and programs separate from data is important for speed. Reason not to use SSD is that most application files in a read/write mode here are small in size. Benefits for SSD not very material when doing quick I/O

1 TB disk dedicated to scratch. Nothing else goes on this disk. When you begin working on multiple images with many layers, file size can easily approach several hundred MB per image.

External 6 bay storage, 3 1.5TB drives in raid 0 with a backup to another 3 1.5TB drives also in a raid0. All of my data goes on here. The raw images, LR catalog, PS images, everything.

I use Acronis to backup both the OS/program disk and the raid0 setup.

Benefits - 1 LR directory that stores all images with a fully redundant backup that I never have to think about.

Monitor NEC PA241W <<Wide Gamut Monitor helps with color
Printer Epson 3800 <<To be considered a proficient photographer, you need to be able to take you images from camera to print and have them look the same on screen as in print.