Going to buy a Mac Pro either Monday or Tuesday - What do I need to know

S

SleeplessIncubus

Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Messages
582
I am probably going to be ordering a Mac Pro (in sig) on either Monday or Tuesday. I have given up on PC gaming as I dont as much free time as I used to.

This is what I am planning on doing.........

I have a 150gb Raptor and a 500GB SATA drive right now. I am going to replace the Pro's 250GB drive with the 150 Raptor and add the 500GB as a storage drive. I also plan to dual boot with bootcamp as I have a good copy of XP Pro. Does it matter that XP is an OEM?

I am going to be ordering 2x512 sticks of RAM to upgrade it from the stock 1gb to 2gb of quad channel.

I also plan to connect my 37" Westinghouse to it. That wouldnt be a problem either - right?

Any other recommendations or comments before I make the switch?

Thanks :)
 
I have a 150gb Raptor and a 500GB SATA drive right now. I am going to replace the Pro's 250GB drive with the 150 Raptor and add the 500GB as a storage drive. I also plan to dual boot with bootcamp as I have a good copy of XP Pro. Does it matter that XP is an OEM?
Click to expand...
What you SHOULD do is keep the 250 gig drive, and then just add the Raptor and the 500 gig drive, and use all three. Why not? More space is always good.


Does it matter that XP is an OEM?
Click to expand...
Yes; it's a violation of the license agreement to install it on anything but the hardware you bought it with.
 
Black Morty Rackham said:
What you SHOULD do is keep the 250 gig drive, and then just add the Raptor and the 500 gig drive, and use all three. Why not? More space is always good.
Click to expand...

Congrats to you, you'll love your new machine and all that storage space!

/posting with MacPro
 
Black Morty Rackham said:
What you SHOULD do is keep the 250 gig drive, and then just add the Raptor and the 500 gig drive, and use all three. Why not? More space is always good.
Click to expand...

i was going to buy an external case and use the 250gb as an external drive.

Black Morty Rackham said:
Yes; it's a violation of the license agreement to install it on anything but the hardware you bought it with.
Click to expand...

man, that stinks. i guess i could always use my un-used copy of vista with it if I really wanted to
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
what would be the best way to copy everything from the stock 250gb to the Raptor??
Click to expand...
I'd say you're best off just doing a clean install using the restore cds.. finding someway to copy the drive 1:1 with OSX filesystem will end up taking way longer.
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
i was going to buy an external case and use the 250gb as an external drive.



man, that stinks. i guess i could always use my un-used copy of vista with it if I really wanted to
Click to expand...

To install Vista on a Mac Pro you require 2GB of RAM but since your planning that anyway you should be fine.
Also make sure you get FB-DIMMS that follow Apples cooling spec or you may have trouble when running memory intensive programs Crucial do them for a decent price
 
Here, just buy this memory. The cheap stuff on the right supposedly works fine (I'll find out for sure in a few days). This is a reputable vendor that won't hassle you if for some reason it doesn't work. I personally recommend 2GB modules so you have room to expand later, however you won't get the full memory bandwidth possible unless you have four modules (and make sure you install them correctly, where you put them actually matters). You ought to get at least 1GB/core.

It's always been true of computers and it still is: as long as your system is under-RAMed, adding more RAM is the most effective way to improve overall system performance. So don't be skimpy - 4GB at least.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

edit: just re-read and noticed you only want 2GB. See above ^ I think you are making a mistake. If price is holding you back from getting RAM, as cheap as it is right now, you might as well get an iMac. The performance won't be much better with an under-RAMed MP.
 
mason.kramer said:
Here, just buy this memory. The cheap stuff on the right supposedly works fine (I'll find out for sure in a few days). This is a reputable vendor that won't hassle you if for some reason it doesn't work. I personally recommend 2GB modules so you have room to expand later, however you won't get the full memory bandwidth possible unless you have four modules (and make sure you install them correctly, where you put them actually matters). You ought to get at least 1GB/core.

It's always been true of computers and it still is: as long as your system is under-RAMed, adding more RAM is the most effective way to improve overall system performance. So don't be skimpy - 4GB at least.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

edit: just re-read and noticed you only want 2GB. See above ^ I think you are making a mistake. If price is holding you back from getting RAM, as cheap as it is right now, you might as well get an iMac. The performance won't be much better with an under-RAMed MP.
Click to expand...

hey, thanks for the reply. that place you recommended is about $30 more then the 2 other links I provided selling similar RAM.

I plan on just seeing how the 2GB works for now and if I need more then I'll just ebay it and buy more. Checking auctions now shows 2x512 apple sticks going for about $100 so its not a bad investment. I really dont have the extra money right now to throw into the machine....$2700 is about all I can afford.

As for the imac....theyre nice and all but I have a 37" montior that would go to waste. ;)
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
hey, thanks for the reply. that place you recommended is about $30 more then the 2 other links I provided selling similar RAM.

I plan on just seeing how the 2GB works for now and if I need more then I'll just ebay it and buy more. Checking auctions now shows 2x512 apple sticks going for about $100 so its not a bad investment. I really dont have the extra money right now to throw into the machine....$2700 is about all I can afford.

As for the imac....theyre nice and all but I have a 37" montior that would go to waste. ;)
Click to expand...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're really starting to sound like someone who buys a Ferarri and complains that he can't afford the gas.
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
hey, thanks for the reply. that place you recommended is about $30 more then the 2 other links I provided selling similar RAM.

I plan on just seeing how the 2GB works for now and if I need more then I'll just ebay it and buy more. Checking auctions now shows 2x512 apple sticks going for about $100 so its not a bad investment. I really dont have the extra money right now to throw into the machine....$2700 is about all I can afford.

As for the imac....theyre nice and all but I have a 37" montior that would go to waste. ;)
Click to expand...


What's the res on the 37" westy? Hopefully decent.
 
CreativeMac said:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're really starting to sound like someone who buys a Ferarri and complains that he can't afford the gas.
Click to expand...

um not really. its like only being able to use the ferarri on the weekends as opposed to everyday. i barely used the full 2gb with xp/vista. i really doubt that osx is going to be more demanding....and if it is then ill buy more
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
um not really. its like only being able to use the ferarri on the weekends as opposed to everyday. i barely used the full 2gb with xp/vista. i really doubt that osx is going to be more demanding....and if it is then ill buy more
Click to expand...

I'd never go over 4gb personally, or under 2gb on such a workhorse computer.
 
Im reading more and more online, id wait till they announce something about the *NEW* pros that a lot of people think will be released. The new macbooks arent that much different than the pros, when you negate the screen size and vid card. This has left many people to believe a pro upgrade is in line. If you dont believe me then start surfing some mac boards, which shall remain nameless, but I dont think you lose anything by waiting.

A. The price now will come down (REFURB MANIA)
B. You will buy something that will quickly be outdated in that same line

catch my drift? Its why im waiting my self
 
Agent Orange 615 said:
Im reading more and more online, id wait till they announce something about the *NEW* pros that a lot of people think will be released. The new macbooks arent that much different than the pros, when you negate the screen size and vid card. This has left many people to believe a pro upgrade is in line. If you dont believe me then start surfing some mac boards, which shall remain nameless, but I dont think you lose anything by waiting.

A. The price now will come down (REFURB MANIA)
B. You will buy something that will quickly be outdated in that same line

catch my drift? Its why im waiting my self
Click to expand...

i do agree and the only thing that I would like to see upgraded in the Pro is the video card. the 7300 is weak and I'm not much of a fan of ATI...but thats the only card with real horsepower that they offer.

aside from that I dont really see how much more they could improve it....bigger hdd, more ram??

and according to this site its saying now is a safe time to buy
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
 
The thing is getting a little long in the tooth - I'd bet there will an update in June.

It woudl be diferent if you could easily swap out video cards, but w/ Apple, you are kind of stuck.
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
hey, thanks for the reply. that place you recommended is about $30 more then the 2 other links I provided selling similar RAM.
Click to expand...
Ok, and maybe it'll be fine. I've never heard of those companies though, which is why I mentioned that OWC is reputable.



CreativeMac said:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're really starting to sound like someone who buys a Ferarri and complains that he can't afford the gas.
Click to expand...

:p Yup, I wasn't going to say it, but there it is.

Good luck with your purchase, and like you say, there is always the option of buying more later.

edit: and don't listen to those people who are saying not to wait. There is no guarantee that anything will change on the Mac Pro until October, when it starts shipping with leopard. Even if it does change, the price isn't likely to drop, and the performance difference probably won't impact your work in any significant way.
 
I have heard of NewEgg but never re: macs. I went and looked and it seems fine. Maybe it's cheaper for the 512 modules but it's not for the 2GB modules, it's actually a bit more. However I'm sure it will be fine. Good luck.
 
ill tell you though, theyre going to def release the newer pros before leapord, that way they maximize profits on making people pay the c note to upgrade.

but yea they still rock , if you need one now im sure you wont be devestated if something new came about. =)
 
Agent Orange 615 said:
ill tell you though, theyre going to def release the newer pros before leapord, that way they maximize profits on making people pay the c note to upgrade.
Click to expand...

Apple is in fact pretty good about offering people discounted or free upgrades to people who bought a Mac shortly before they release an OS (I've heard of people getting free copies who bought as much as a month before), so I doubt they'd release new ones then just for that reason.
 
well, i was going to buy the pro today but a couple things didnt go right.

first the sale of my 2407 went wrong....the guy paid with an e-check making me wait another 2-3 days before it clears

then my college never faxed me over my schedule for the summer so that I can get the ADC discount.

then i decided to work 16 hours today......but atleast i made about $700 (before tax)
 
I'd go with 4x1 gig sticks. You need dual ranked dimms to get the full benefits of quad channel fb-dimms. Sell the 512s on ebay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top