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Apple updated the Mac Pro

was just about to post!

Anyways, sounds awesome, drool for 8 cores, w00t for 8800gt action
 
I dont like that there is no Blu-Ray Support.

I mean, with all this power its time to get into the next generation of media right?

But Good Solid Update! 8 Cores of Penryn
 
They still may be waiting for one side to be a clear winner, plus this update was probably planned weeks ago. I am sure it would be easy for them to just add an option, down the road, to purchase a Blu-ray drive with the MacPro. I am glad to see this machine get a nice update, now should I buy one though....
 
Apple is part of the board of directors of BD since March 2005.

I guess its a matter of time before their drives get here, which I agree, should have been here by now.
 
I have no problem w/ it lacking Blue Ray, after all, the machine has USB2/FW400/800... I'd rather have an external that I could move between computers.. Then again I guess Im not the target audience for a Mac Pro
 
I'd love the sheer power of the Mac Pro (and now with an 8800GT option!) but I've gotten spoiled on the all-in-one, clutter-free iMac. :(
 
Ah they finally add SAS drives, the SATA was holding it back more than anything else was.
 
8800GT =(

They just aren't interested in luring in the high end gaming crowd whatsoever are they? 3.2GHz Penryn 8-core CPU coupled with 13 month old GPU horsepower?

I felt sure that nvidia was going to release new architecture in November that would make it into the new Mac Pro's. Nothing at all from nvidia beyond some info about G80 rehashes with fancy names.

There goes my pipe dream of a MacPro Bootcamp gaming machine.
 
13 month? the GT was released a couple months ago, g92, remember? Anyway, what did you want them to add, 8800ultras? blah.. waste. but to each his own. I suppose it would be nice to have the option.
 
Narisatu said:
13 month? the GT was released a couple months ago, g92, remember? Anyway, what did you want them to add, 8800ultras? blah.. waste. but to each his own. I suppose it would be nice to have the option.
Click to expand...

I agree, the 8800GT is a very new card. It is built off the 8 series design, but takes the g92 architecture instead. It competes on the level of an 8800GTX in many instances only lacking because of its memory.
 
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant from a performance point of view. The GTX is 13 months old and the GT has similar or less performance. We expected a new flagship from nvidia and it didn't happen. So it's a shame that the MacPro refreshed in the trough where there was no high end gaming card as an option, just something that has the performance that we've seen for over 13 months already.

Had a 9800GTX come along with new architecture and >150% speed of the 8800GTX then that would have been perfect. If that had been the case then I would have been tempted to splash out on a new rig.
 
generally, you don't buy a $3000 workstation to play games...

Honestly, for what I'd be doing with it, i'm more worried when DVD Studio would be ready to author Blu-Ray and HD-DVD content
 
Torquemada XP said:
I'd love the sheer power of the Mac Pro (and now with an 8800GT option!) but I've gotten spoiled on the all-in-one, clutter-free iMac. :(
Click to expand...

Same here. Five years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of having an all-in-one as my Final Cut Studio rig, but with the Core2Duos it is totally possible. I gave away my ancient G4 tower last month and I couldn't be happier with the iMac I got to replace it.
 
OK, this was what I was waiting for!

Now I need to make a serious choice as to whether to go with a Mac Pro, or build a new Vista x64 system on a Penryn QX9550 base. The Mac Pro is sooo tempting now that it has an 8800GT and 8 cores and can run pretty much anything, OSX, Vista, Linux, one box does it all. And I really want to experience Leopard. But even with my corporate discount, it would still cost a huge amount. We're talking a $5K+ system here, if I get a 3.2Ghz system and include an 880GT, 750GB hard disk, 4GB RAM. Ouch...but maybe it would be worth it. I'd have a monster do-all, run-all system that would last me quite a while, that's for sure.
 
Mistrblank said:
If only there were a desktop class Mac Pro instead of server/workstation class :(
Click to expand...

iMac is there for that, unless you just can't stand the all-in-one.

If that is the case then downgrade the CPU to the one 2.8GHz Quad Xenon, leave the RAM at 2gigs, and leave the video card options alone also. There, not EXACTLY what you want, but at $2,300 new it isn't bad and would surely be a perfectly nice desktop class machine. If you wanted to game, no big deal, upgrade the card to the 8800. Perfectly capable desktop and (as far as Macs go) gaming rig.
 
Finkus said:
Had a 9800GTX come along with new architecture and >150% speed of the 8800GTX then that would have been perfect. If that had been the case then I would have been tempted to splash out on a new rig.
Click to expand...

Since I hear that the 9800 series is just going to be a die-shrink of the 8800 -- not really any new tech -- then maybe, just maybe, we'll see a 9800 for the Mac Pro in a reasonable timeframe. Although I'm obviously not holding my breath. But it seems like nVidia would be able to whack out a Mac-compatible one easily since it's just a die shrink of their existing tech. (That may be an oversimplification, but still...here's hoping.)
 
Mistrblank said:
If only there were a desktop class Mac Pro instead of server/workstation class :(
Click to expand...

Serpico said:
Same here. Five years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of having an all-in-one as my Final Cut Studio rig, but with the Core2Duos it is totally possible. I gave away my ancient G4 tower last month and I couldn't be happier with the iMac I got to replace it.
Click to expand...

Agree with the want for a mac desktop class machine that is not an all in one. And damit I would have taken that g4...

Anyway if I had the money to spend on one I would love to pickup one of these but I need to replace my notebook soon and want a nice ar15 for the range. I know the imac is a good all in one system but I already have dual 22 inch lcds on my desk along with a 19 inch that I use to work on client machines. I just don't have room for an all in one. Besides I want some expansion options. I wish they would make a mac pro tower that was just a single 775 based system that could hold 2 hard drives and 8 gigs of ram. You know a grand to 1500 dollar system. I don't want to built in screen and need better graphics then a mini has.
 
PenaltyShot said:
Too bad it still uses expensive (and slower) FB-DIMMs.
Click to expand...

Thats the XEON Architecture tho.... At least they upped the Speed from 667 to 800.

Edit: I Just realized. This beast can have 25600MHz. Yes... Thats Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Mega Hurtzzzzzz of PAIN
 
True, true. The speed upgrade offsets whatever disadvantage there is. I think I'm just about sold. I've been really wanting to make a switch just to experience something different, and Leopard looks cool. I'll still have to run Vista or XP on it, too, but no problem on this beast.
 
KaosDG said:
generally, you don't buy a $3000 workstation to play games...
Click to expand...

Absolutely but people do have very expensive PC gaming rigs at the high end and are fed up with Microsoft and Vista/XP for whatever reason. It seems odd that Apple are not making more effort to court that potential market.

Buying a 3k dollar workstation for professional use does not involve having your gaming glands excised. They are not mutually exclusive activities and could easily be incorporated into the one unit, considering the price it is.
 
For $3k i would like to game now and then, for that price, def!, and this could be why peopole get fed up with apple for paying so dam much and they cant even do everything they want on it.
 
It is, but there's no SLI available on the machine. I don't understand why people are upset that the next-gen nvidia card isn't an option on the list when it isn't available anywhere yet.
 
Just placed my order for a new Mac dev rig. Made two changes from the default configuration, added 3.2ghz processors and 8800gt. The 8800gt put my ship time out 3-5 weeks. Next I went to OWC and placed an order for 8gig 4x2gig PC6400 FB-DIMMs at the more reasonable price of $399.
 
kmeson said:
Just placed my order for a new Mac dev rig. Made two changes from the default configuration, added 3.2ghz processors and 8800gt. The 8800gt put my ship time out 3-5 weeks. Next I went to OWC and placed an order for 8gig 4x2gig PC6400 FB-DIMMs at the more reasonable price of $399.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the OWC tip. What about a bigger hard disk? I assume the Mac Pro can take any SATA-3 hard drive, right?
 
Andrmgic said:
It is, but there's no SLI available on the machine. I don't understand why people are upset that the next-gen nvidia card isn't an option on the list when it isn't available anywhere yet.
Click to expand...

My frustration stems from 2 things-

1) Rumblings indicate that the next gen NV card is very close to being released.
2) It took so darn long for the Mac Pro to get a modern video card.

I realize that there was no way to include the 9 series NV card, as they are not released. That being said, IMNSHO Apple should have released updated video cards for the MP 6-8 months ago. Instead they are released, practically on the eve of the next generation. It wouldn't be so hard to swallow if Apple would at least attempt to keep their BTO options somewhat modern. Most likely, a year and a half from now, when the NV 9-series cards are getting long in the tooth (and the 10-series cards are coming out), MPs will still have their non-workstation-class top end as an 8800GT, at a ridiculous (then) $200 premium.

Personally, knowing that we're probably stuck with whatever card Steve thinks is best for us, for the next 1-2 years, I would have preferred to see the MPs delayed until the 9-series cards come out. On top of that, with the 3-5 week delay on any orders with an 8800GT, the 9-series cards may be out before the 8800s even ship.
 
I'm looking at the config options on my Apple "employee discount" store:
Two Harpertown 3.0 Ghz -- [add $1196]
Two Harpertown 3.2 Ghz -- [add $1932]

That's quite a premium for the extra .2 Ghz (per core). Doesn't really seem worth it unless you have to have the absolute top of the line.
 
The first of the 9 series cards will be a g92 based card just like the 8800GT and 8800GTS 512mb, it will only have a die shrink and a speed bump.

I think the "true" 9 series cards (the ones that will be based on the g100) are still some months away.
 
It's Apple time Apple got off their asses and updated the Mac Pro. Until yesterday, the Mac Pro went 512 days without an update. And no, adding an 8-core Cloverfiled "option" and a $999 RAID card is not an update. The Mac Pro was the oldest horse in the barn until yesterday, and they never once changed the older-than-dirt video card options.

Fortunately, this update was everything I was hoping for: a set of 1600FSB Harpertowns, more memory and larger hard drive standard, and the 8800GT option. Their BTO pricing is still obscene, but only dolts would buy additional memory and / or hard drives from Apple anyway.

I ordered the standard configuration but added the 8800GT, which gives me an additional 3-5 week wait. Not like I've been waiting forever for this update to begin with. Really smart to debut an update when you don't have any stock for two out of the three video card options. Sounds like some people in Cupertino need some knowledge dropped on 'em about supply chain management.

Anyhow, congrats to all those, besides me, who have been waiting forever for Apple to put down their iPhones for a while an update the Mac Pro.
 
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