Newbie question...Upgrading Mac Pro MB/Video/Memory...

[kk05629]

Greetings all...I am a 20+ year Windows user that has recently purchased a Mac Book Pro. I am slowly becoming familiar with the Mac OS X UI and liking it.

Enough rambling...my main question(s) regarding the Mac Pro:

1). Do you think the Mac Pro can be updated at a later date with a new, improved, motherboard?

2). Does the form factor for a Mac Pro Motherboard typically change? I frequently in my Windows life would upgrade motherboards (ATX) to get performance improvements that become available with new processors/memory, etc. Just want to see if the Mac community thinks this could be possible with the Mac Pro. It would kinda suck if I had to purchase a new case, powersupply, hard drives, etc to get access to new processors, memory and such.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Umbongo]

Greetings all...I am a 20+ year Windows user that has recently purchased a Mac Book Pro. I am slowly becoming familiar with the Mac OS X UI and liking it.

Enough rambling...my main question(s) regarding the Mac Pro:

1). Do you think the Mac Pro can be updated at a later date with a new, improved, motherboard?

2). Does the form factor for a Mac Pro Motherboard typically change? I frequently in my Windows life would upgrade motherboards (ATX) to get performance improvements that become available with new processors/memory, etc. Just want to see if the Mac community thinks this could be possible with the Mac Pro. It would kinda suck if I had to purchase a new case, powersupply, hard drives, etc to get access to new processors, memory and such.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

1. Possibly. You should be able to buy a "replacement" logicboard, I think they currently run $450-$500.

2. There has only been a single Mac Pro so impossible to say. The mac word is different to the windows world, it'll likely always be far easier and almost as cost effective just to sell your old Mac Pro and buy a new one.

 

[miniConvert]

I think it's unlikely you'll be upgrading a motherboard in a Mac Pro any time soon. I'm not saying it'll be impossible as new systems become available, just that it's unlikely and I'd imagine would present considerably more obstacles than changing the motherboard in a PC environment would.

However, the Mac Pro uses a lot of workstation/server grade kit. The parts are high end to the extent that I can't imagine you wanting to upgrade your motherboard during the life of the machine. The current system is extremely powerful.

Ultimately, depending on your usage requirements, you'd be looking at buying an entire new machine in anything from 3 to 6 years IMHO.