Newbe questions MP on configuration

[BrokenE]

Hello,

Thinking about getting a MacPro. Questions are:

1. If you get the single 2.8 chip, is the mother board already configed with a second socket for easy upgrade later?

2. Will the new up and comming Nahalem chip have the same footprint as the Penryn? Being that it's six core, I'm guessing not??

3. I was thinking of purchasing with the standard 320G HD, then installing two aftermarket 1TB HDs. Would I need a raid card? The purpose of the drives is for working with video and photos on one and backing up to the second HD.

4. What is the preffered graphics card? Planning on driving two 24"ers or a single 30 inch. I've heard of some updradability issues with one of the n-vidia cards.

 

[BrokenE]

I apologize for my dilexia on the thread title. However, I would appreciate some help here. Any one care to chime in?? TIA.

 

[zdobson]

Hello,

Thinking about getting a MacPro. Questions are:

1. If you get the single 2.8 chip, is the mother board already configed with a second socket for easy upgrade later?

2. Will the new up and comming Nahalem chip have the same footprint as the Penryn? Being that it's six core, I'm guessing not??

3. I was thinking of purchasing with the standard 320G HD, then installing two aftermarket 1TB HDs. Would I need a raid card? The purpose of the drives is for working with video and photos on one and backing up to the second HD.

4. What is the preffered graphics card? Planning on driving two 24"ers or a single 30 inch. I've heard of some updradability issues with one of the n-vidia cards.

1) Short answer: probably not.* Search the old threads for more in-depth info on this topic

2) Nope. Nehalem will be completely different architecture requiring a whole different system.

3) You don't need a Raid card. It might be helpful if you're working with very large files. Caveat: I don't do video.

4) A recent Barefeats article states that the ATI 2600 is faster when working in pro apps and the 8800GT is better with games.

Hope this helps

[edit] * probably not an easy upgrade. may be possible at some point. not now