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Mac Pro Upgrade ideas

ildondeigiocchi

ildondeigiocchi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 30, 2007
695
0
Montreal
I have an Early 2008 2.8GHZ Octocore MP with 2GB of Ram and 2 Superdrives along with an 8800GT inside and 500GB HDD. I also have a 30" ACD. I would like to upgrade the system. I currently have XP and was wondering if Vista would be better or if I should wait till 2010 for Windows 7. I was planning on buying a Bluray drive but I am still not sure. I would really like to get a new graphics card but I would have to get a PC one and that would be a head ache since I already have an 8800GT which is needed for OSX. Any ideas on what I should upgrade in my system. Oh I also forgot I was thinking about getting a Velociraptor HDD and repartitioning my system to allocate that drive only for windows. Would I see a big speed bump?
 
Alright some of my suggestions would be maybe get a Raptor for each OS if possible and use larger drives are back ups, clones, etc.

If you were to get vista id say itd be fine (im using XP Pro SP2 actually...) but have heard that Vista64 Ultimate is fantastic.

and that running on a raptor should be pretty speedy.

if you were to get a PC video card (well BIOS based) you can for your windows install....just be sure to get the proper graphics drivers for that card and not rely on the bootcamp rpovided drivers.
and the only other issue is if you have just one display and you restart into each os often you might want to get a Display switchthat you can change the display if need be.. to whatever graphics card/os you will be using at that point.
 
ildondeigiocchi said:
I would like to upgrade the system. I currently have XP and was wondering if Vista would be better or if I should wait till 2010 for Windows 7.
Click to expand...

I would go with a Vista Business 64 OEM. Thats the cheapest version of vista you should buy for the Pro. I run that from my 2nd disk a Seagate 500 gb and its fast enough for me.

I'd like to add that also you may not have to wait until 2010 for Windows 7. I know Microsoft said its not going to happen but I've seen all over that it could be possible:
 
Depending on your budget and needs a raptor may not be necessarily your only option for a boot drive.

take a peak at the Western Digital 640GB drives they have 2x320GB platters for a more efficient performance and quite suitable for an OS drive.
The drive part is : WD6400AAKS i believe just look for 640GB AAKS series


i run a 5000AAKS for both my XP pro and Leo drives and they do the job perfectly fine too.


if you plan on installing Vista or even XP for that matter get these essential tools, no need to have garbage running in the background or using processes:

-AusLogics Disk Defrag (top notch)
-AVG Free (best antivirus hands down)
-CCleaner (clean up old system files)
-HD Tach and HD Tune (great for testing your harddrives)

and di i mention theyre all free, no gimmicks or anything.
i recently did a clean install of XP on my machine and noticed how lighter it is with just these simple tools.


Youre capable of running any PC oriented card while running Windows however liek you already know they wont register with Mac OS, so ifts not a problem to plug in the monitor upon switching OS' then you should be fine with upgradingy our Windows graphics!
For the best performance use Slots 1 or 2 for your graphics cards.



goodluck!
 
ThirteenXIII said:
Depending on your budget and needs a raptor may not be necessarily your only option for a boot drive.

take a peak at the Western Digital 640GB drives they have 2x320GB platters for a more efficient performance and quite suitable for an OS drive.
The drive part is : WD6400AAKS i believe just look for 640GB AAKS series


i run a 5000AAKS for both my XP pro and Leo drives and they do the job perfectly fine too.


if you plan on installing Vista or even XP for that matter get these essential tools, no need to have garbage running in the background or using processes:

-AusLogics Disk Defrag (top notch)
-AVG Free (best antivirus hands down)
-CCleaner (clean up old system files)
-HD Tach and HD Tune (great for testing your harddrives)

and di i mention theyre all free, no gimmicks or anything.
i recently did a clean install of XP on my machine and noticed how lighter it is with just these simple tools.


Youre capable of running any PC oriented card while running Windows however liek you already know they wont register with Mac OS, so ifts not a problem to plug in the monitor upon switching OS' then you should be fine with upgradingy our Windows graphics!
For the best performance use Slots 1 or 2 for your graphics cards.



goodluck!
Click to expand...


Thanks for all your help guys. I already have XP installed on a my partitioned Main (well my only) HD so far. I have MCafee Virusscan as virus protection on it. I'm thinking that Soon Apple will release a new gfx card when new Mac Pro is released (hopefully 4870X2 or GTX 280) and I wouldn't need a KVM switcher since I plan on buying a second HDMI monitor. Problem is I want to upgrade when Apple releases Bluray Support on their OS so it will have been worth it.
 
ildondeigiocchi said:
Thanks for all your help guys. I already have XP installed on a my partitioned Main (well my only) HD so far. I have MCafee Virusscan as virus protection on it. I'm thinking that Soon Apple will release a new gfx card when new Mac Pro is released (hopefully 4870X2 or GTX 280) and I wouldn't need a KVM switcher since I plan on buying a second HDMI monitor. Problem is I want to upgrade when Apple releases Bluray Support on their OS so it will have been worth it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, how good that would be; Blu Ray...Apple isnt seeing eye to eye on it now:

Steve Jobs said:
Blu-Ray - "It’s great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
Click to expand...

Link: https://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/15/apple-on-blu-ray-touch-screen-displays-netbooks/


:(
 
Wow Hold On Now. Before you update your hard drives or anything else. You need more ram. Go to OWC, very reliable and cheap. Ram will always be the first, and some times the only real noticeable difference When upgrading. You have only 2GB. With the mac pro you should shoot for at least 4 or more.

As far as updating to better hard drive drives. The velosaraptors are nice but not worth it in my opinion. The wd640AAKS are conserderd to be very fast and very reliable boot drives. You can find them for under $100., again check OWC.

Yes, you should see a performance if you use a dedicated hard drive. One for each OS.
 
ildondeigiocchi said:
Ya but with Apple anything is possible. They're full of surprises. Perhaps this year instead of having a notebook even they'll have a Mac Pro event with something blu in the air! LOL i know its wishful thinking:rolleyes:
Click to expand...


I wouldnt count on it......maybe give it another year id suggest!!

its :apple: after all.
 
I would get more memory, Vista 64 Ultimate and call it done. New drives aren't going to help much, IMHO. I can second OWC, I got my memory from there.
 
i would get more ram if i was you.

i can easily use 3gb just browsing online and watching few videos...
 
I really plan on getting 2 more GB of RAM from OWC but I would want to upgrade other things. Does anyone have a Bluray drive installed in their system, if so can I have some feedback.
 
ildondeigiocchi said:
I really plan on getting 2 more GB of RAM from OWC but I would want to upgrade other things.
Click to expand...

Windows XP 32bit will not recognize more than 2 gigs on a Mac Pro. If you want to use 4 gigs in Windows you need Vista, or Windows XP 64bit [which doesn't play well with boot camp I think, this may have changed].
 
pyramid6 said:
Windows XP 32bit will not recognize more than 2 gigs on a Mac Pro. If you want to use 4 gigs in Windows you need Vista, or Windows XP 64bit [which doesn't play well with boot camp I think, this may have changed].
Click to expand...

That's why im thinking of getting a velociraptor to install Vista on. Can I get an OEM disc or must it be a genuine one like my XP one.
 
Get Vista 64 now. I switched from XP, Awsome, 6 gigs of ram, DX10 for games. ANYWAY... I read on microsoft's website that everyone with VISTA (except basic) will get free upgrade to Windows 7 so might as well get vista now
 
Could you provide a link to that? I certainly like the idea of getting Windows 7 for free with a purchase of Vista. Doesn't sound particularly unreasonable either, I hear Vista hasn't been well received. ;p
 
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