My first Mac

[Honkycat]

I have come over from the dark side to a Mac Pro 2.66 Quad.

It will be used almost exclusively for a home recording studio with an occasional internet browse.

I am confused about the original 250 GB hard drive that comes with the Mac Pro. Is the OS on this drive or is it elsewhere? How would you swap this out if it is? Excuse my noobness.


I need the following recommendations from you guys if you could. I am like most folks. I want "bang for the buck".

3 500 GB internal HDD (was thinking of getting the Seagates for $150 from newegg) Some say these are noisy. Is WD quieter?

I may get an external drive as a backup to the internal drive that will have my projects on it. Lacie, Glyph, Seagate or WD?

3 22" monitors (what would you rec?)

I'll need another graphic card to power a third monitor, right? I was thinking of a close approx. of the factory one, but most seem to think it isn't really that good. So should I go for a better set of two?

I was planning on getting another 4 GB of RAM from Crucial. I have been told that the RAM needs to be installed in pairs. So if the factory 1 GB is in there with the other four, shouldn't I get an additional 1 GB of RAM to make the total 6? How does this work? Or is 5 GB going to be able to be used?

I have bluetooth installed in the Mac Pro. What wireless keyboard/mouse would you get?

Thanks for any advice and please be gentle. :/

Rusty

 

[119576]

1) I think you can just format the stock harddisk. The OS is on the install CDs (like I said, I think)

2) The studio Mac Pro at my College had WD drives, they were quiet as anything. But I can't offer a comparison to Seagate.

3) Erm, the display thing: Ideal setup would probably be two ACDs, it was so sweet for using Logic.

4) I'd get the new Apple wireless keyboard and mighty mouse

5) LaCie, Seagate and WD all make good external drives (never had any experience with Glyph.

 

[pjarvi]

I am confused about the original 250 GB hard drive that comes with the Mac Pro. Is the OS on this drive or is it elsewhere? How would you swap this out if it is? Excuse my noobness.

You should have received a DVD disc in a white envelope, in a small square box with the manuals, that can be used to reinstall the OS.

3 500 GB internal HDD (was thinking of getting the Seagates for $150 from newegg) Some say these are noisy. Is WD quieter?

Seagates have 5 year warranties which is what I care most about, but I would look for some comparison articles/reviews to find out more about noise. Most likely, ArsTechnica or TomsHardware will have some shootouts.

I may get an external drive as a backup to the internal drive that will have my projects on it. Lacie, Glyph, Seagate or WD?

I don't like WD's MyBooks myself. The one I have has a tendency to go into a coma requiring the power cord to be unplugged to reset it. I've seen some people report problems with Lacie, I've never heard of Glyph, never used an external Seagate drive, but I really like my Buffalo drive. When my Buffalo drive goes to sleep, the LEDs turn off completely which make it perfect for use in a bedroom. If your computer is in a separate room/studio, then it probably won't matter for you.

3 22" monitors (what would you rec?)

What kind of connections do you need? Just DVI? Do you want to hook any game consoles up to the monitors? Do you need fast response times or the best color output?

I'll need another graphic card to power a third monitor, right? I was thinking of a close approx. of the factory one, but most seem to think it isn't really that good. So should I go for a better set of two?

So long as the card supports the resolution you want to run, that's all that should really matter. You'll need to get a card that is Mac specific. Others should be able to help you here.

I was planning on getting another 4 GB of RAM from Crucial. I have been told that the RAM needs to be installed in pairs. So if the factory 1 GB is in there with the other four, shouldn't I get an additional 1 GB of RAM to make the total 6? How does this work? Or is 5 GB going to be able to be used?

Mixing different brands of memory is not a good idea. Crucial's website has a memory selection tool that should inform you if you need to install in pairs. I'm sure a Mac Pro owner will answer that for you.

I have bluetooth installed in the Mac Pro. What wireless keyboard/mouse would you get?

The new Apple wireless bluetooth keyboard does not have the standard numerical keys on the right side, you may want to go with something from Logitech. There is one in particular a lot of people on here recommend, I just can't remember the model. Do not buy the Apple wireless mouse. There are not a lot of other Bluetooth mice to choose from, Logitech and Kingston seem to make 1 model each, and get good reviews depending on which site you check reviews at. I've had nothing but problems with mice from Macally, and do not recommend them. I think the logitech keyboard is bundled with a mouse.

Thanks for any advice and please be gentle. :/

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