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The 2009 (Gainestown) Mac Pro: Everything We Know

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I was really looking forward to the new Nehalem Mac Pros, but am very dissapointed.

For a quad core 2.66ghz Nehalem (basically identical to the Core i7 920), 3GB of ram, and mere GT 120, you pay nearly $3000. Not to mention that for the quad, you are limited to 8GB of ram, and you can only run one DVI/VGA monitor with the standard video card.

Sorry, but thats pathetic. You can easily build a sub-$1000 dollar PC that matches that computers performance, and allows for more memory expandibility (up to 24GB instead of the Q-MacPros 8GB) and of course a greater choice of other hardware.

However, the 8-core Nehalem Mac Pro is indeed worth the price IMO if you are already willing to shell out close to $4000. You get up to 32GB ram expandibility, and faster CPUs.

The 2008 Mac Pros were actually worth the price for what you got. I'm afraid I cannot say the same for these.
 
Hey, guys... um...

Apple's scalping 1066MHz RAM for the Mac Pro.

Would the Gainestown model be able to use third-party 1333MHz? It doesn't look like Apple is doing those proprietary heat sinks anymore, so is it possible for OWC to offer 1333MHz RAM down the line? Would that play nice with existing 1066, or would you have to swap all the RAM at once?

Just want to know for my purchase.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Would the Gainestown model be able to use third-party 1333MHz? It doesn't look like Apple is doing those proprietary heat sinks anymore, so is it possible for OWC to offer 1333MHz RAM down the line? Would that play nice with existing 1066, or would you have to swap all the RAM at once?

Just want to know for my purchase.
Click to expand...

Thats not possible because the QPI is locked. You could put in 1333MHz ram, but it would only run at 1066MHz.
 
To follow up:

According to tech specs, it has two x16 slots and two x4 electrical slots; all x16 physical. All PCI Express 2.0. So the x4 lanes have doubled in speed compared to the previous Mac Pro. (On the previous model, the x4 lanes were only PCI Express 1.1.)
 
KBS756 said:
This is why i dont get why so many people are so offended with the prices (they are high but not astronomically) i was expecting a price bump when this was adopted anyway..., was hoping for a higher graphics option though one with 1gb+ of memory but underworkstation ... oh well ... I am actually happy that i could not afford a mac pro a month ago when i wanted to get one, its looking like i will be able to afford ordering one within a week now and with the performance upgrades with the cpu I will be quite happy. (wonder if there will be any other graphics cards coming out though ... that i could upgrade to down the road). On a side note does anyone know when we'll be seein a 30in led ACD? most had said with a mac pro release ... Thx in advance
Click to expand...

Consider it like this:

The only thing that really changed is the processors, the single socket 2.66GHz/2.93Ghz will also have a logicboard that is cheaper. The old Mac Pro had two $800 processors, the new one has two $375 processors but costs $500 more. The single socket system costs $300 less but is using one $300 processor. The price issue is Apple going from great value to poor value. I'm sure Dell and HP's dual socket offerings will be similar to Apple, it is just disappointing to see. The poor GPU options and limit of 4/8 memory slots is also sucky.
 
Umbongo said:
Consider it like this:

The only thing that really changed is the processors, the single socket 2.66GHz/2.93Ghz will also have a logicboard that is cheaper. The old Mac Pro had two $800 processors, the new one has two $375 processors but costs $500 more. The single socket system costs $300 less but is using one $300 processor. The price issue is Apple going from great value to poor value. I'm sure Dell and HP's dual socket offerings will be similar to Apple, it is just disappointing to see. The poor GPU options and limit of 4/8 memory slots is also sucky.
Click to expand...

Why do you think the single CPU MPro will have a cheaper motherboard? It'll be the same mother board across the range, ANY dual socket board pretty much can run with one CPU in it. And why are you all moaning? Are you really that surprised the price has gone up? look at the new Mac Book.....
 
Umbongo said:
:(
Click to expand...

What's worse is yesterday, the systems were basically at purchase parity.
There was less than a $100 difference between buying in the US and buying in Sweden, which means that I could have actually bested Apple's price by a few bucks by selling to the US.

Today is a bleak, bleak day.
To put things in perspective.. it's costs more to buy one locally than it does for me to fly to NYC, buy a MP and return.
I hate it when that happens, even though I want to take a new trip to NYC.

Having to check the MP on a cattle class flight would suck, to say the least.
 
apolloa said:
Why do you think the single CPU MPro will have a cheaper motherboard? It'll be the same mother board across the range, ANY dual socket board pretty much can run with one CPU in it. And why are you all moaning? Are you really that surprised the price has gone up? look at the new Mac Book.....
Click to expand...

The single socket mobo is not the same as the dual socket one.
There's most definitely a noticeable price difference -- don't try to pretend otherwise.
 
carolhayes said:
How long will it take to run the benchmarks. I have to return the 2.8 at some point so I need to know if its the same as the 2.26. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
After getting the system, I'd guess a week. Ultimately it depends on what else he has to get done, but I'd think this is high priority for him. ;) :D
Tallest Skil said:
Hey, guys... um...

Apple's scalping 1066MHz RAM for the Mac Pro.

Would the Gainestown model be able to use third-party 1333MHz? It doesn't look like Apple is doing those proprietary heat sinks anymore, so is it possible for OWC to offer 1333MHz RAM down the line? Would that play nice with existing 1066, or would you have to swap all the RAM at once?

Just want to know for my purchase.
Click to expand...
As mentioned, the multiplier is locked. The only thing you can do, is over clocking. Increase the BCLK frequency and the voltages, provided it's actually possible.

Personally, I wouldn't bet on it. :apple:

Perhaps someone will write a 3rd party app that would allow you to do this. But for now, assume you're stuck with stock settings.
 
apolloa said:
Why do you think the single CPU MPro will have a cheaper motherboard? It'll be the same mother board across the range, ANY dual socket board pretty much can run with one CPU in it. And why are you all moaning? Are you really that surprised the price has gone up? look at the new Mac Book.....
Click to expand...

I'm not moaning, I'm explaining why people feel this is a poor update and as someone else has said, the boards are different as they are using two different types of Xeons now and the Xeon 3500s can not run on dual socket boards.
 
how much would it cost to buy the 2.93ghz and replace the 2.26ghz Procs with them?

Is it even possible?
 
is it a good idea just to go with the old 2.8ghz? I'd save $1000 compared to the new low end 8 core.
 
was my $4600 best spent on the 2009 octo 2.66 (8gb RAM, GPU upgrade, 1tb HD. 2x superdrives. airport) or should i sell it when it arrives without opening the box and buy a refurb 2008 octo 3.2?
 
Justinm59 said:
is it a good idea just to go with the old 2.8ghz? I'd save $1000 compared to the new low end 8 core.
Click to expand...

After waiting for this thing for a year and six months, I really don't want to do that. But, I'm fairly convinced that I would have been smarter to buy the 2008 model back in November when Apple was doing it's biannual reseller deals. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.
 
Fomaphone said:
was my $4600 best spent on the 2009 octo 2.66 (8gb RAM, GPU upgrade, 1tb HD. 2x superdrives. airport) or should i sell it when it arrives without opening the box and buy a refurb 2008 octo 3.2?
Click to expand...

The 8 core 2.66GHz system is a great choice and a better option that the older 3.2GHz, I certainly would prefer that over a 3.2GHz.
 
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