Mac Pro Graphics/HD Upgrade Question

[JonnyMac]

Hey All! I took the plunge this weekend and picked up a stock configuration Mac Pro. I want to upgrade the Graphics Card and HD but I wasn't sure which are compatible.

Is this the same ATI X1900XT card that is offered as a BTO that will work with the Mac Pro?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7AUX6/sr=1-1/qid=1155650180/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7280786-0290322?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

For the HDs, any SATA drive will work? What's SATA II? Thanks for any help!

Jon

 

[topgunn]

No, it is not the same graphics card. The graphics card you linked to is designed to work with BIOS not EFI. It will likely work in BootCamp but not in OS X.

Yes, any SATA drive will work. SATA which are rated for 3.0Gb/s drives will show the best performance.

 

[JonnyMac]

No, it is not the same graphics card. The graphics card you linked to is designed to work with BIOS not EFI. It will likely work in BootCamp but not in OS X.

Yes, any SATA drive will work. SATA which are rated for 3.0Gb/s drives will show the best performance.

Ahhh...thanks for the tip! Do you know if any resellers selling the X1900XTs for the Mac Pro yet?

 

[Grimace]

No one does -- not even Apple. That's why machines with that configuration are 3-5 weeks out.

 

[Sun Baked]

Ahhh...thanks for the tip! Do you know if any resellers selling the X1900XTs for the Mac Pro yet?

Apple is selling their OEM kit for $499 right now. Doubtful that price will change.

ATI Radeon X1900 XT Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro (MA631Z/A)

ATI "may" sell one, but in the past -- if Apple sold an OEM kit, ATI didn't offer a competing retail kit.

So it is a tossup if there will be an ATI retail version, so flashed cards will likely show up -- but YMMV with those.

 

[JonnyMac]

No one does -- not even Apple. That's why machines with that configuration are 3-5 weeks out.

Thanks for the tip. How's the extra 2GB of RAM working for your Mac Pro? I'm probably going to add 1GB more.

 

[topgunn]

Not that you asked, but the 3rd party cost for 1GB of PC5300 FBDIMMs (2x512MB) is around $200 so Apple's cost of $270 is not far off plus you don't have to mess with it yourself.

 

[Grimace]

Thanks for the tip. How's the extra 2GB of RAM working for your Mac Pro? I'm probably going to add 1GB more.

The extra 2GB ($380 from Datamem) is awesome. My last computer (DC 2.3Ghz w/ 3.5GB RAM) was much slower. Dreamweaver and Flash are exactly the same speed and Photoshop is almost the same (I don't do anything too hardcore).

Aperture needs a lot of RAM and would probably benefit from a faster video card. For me, it's about 20% faster now than on PPC.

 

[JonnyMac]

Not that you asked, but the 3rd party cost for 1GB of PC5300 FBDIMMs (2x512MB) is around $200 so Apple's cost of $270 is not far off plus you don't have to mess with it yourself.

I have the Mac Pro in hand already- picked it up from an Apple store. I have no problems installing ram myself so $70 bucks savings is still not too bad. Must they be installed in pairs like the G5s?