Spec me a Mac Pro

[smogsy]

I will be buying a Mac Pro soonish, im debating on what specs to go with, so i thought you could help me out.

Budget £5000 max. would like it cheaper though.

Uses:
Photoshop CS3
Dreamweaver CS3
Aperture 2 (3000+ images in RAW)
Itunes
Adium
Flash CS3
some gaming (probably Crossover games)

Current Equipment
Samsung 30" & 24" HP LP2475w
i already have wireless key/mouse (apple)

spec me a mac pro

 

[LordSplodge]

8 Core with as much RAM and disk space as you can afford. Probably cheaper to get the RAM and disks from somebody other than Apple.

wo 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
16GB (8x2GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Two 18x SuperDrives
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard

£3,459.02

 

[smogsy]

i had a look around the Ram is actaully cheaper from apple for a change... (£722 from crucial for 12GB) apple is £400 for 16GB

 

[smogsy]

anyone else got suggestions? is the upgraded processor speed worth the ££

 

[LordSplodge]

anyone else got suggestions? is the upgraded processor speed worth the ££

Not really given the apps you have listed. They all love RAM. 8 Cores @ 2.26 should do you.

If you have the money then go for the 2.66 but I don't think the extra umph is worth the price of entry. I'd spend the money on RAM.

 

[FreeStream]

Im tempted to suggest the 2.93 Quad here, although the memory side of things lets it down badly.

If you can stretch to it, get the 2.66 with the 12Gb Oh and 4870! Double oh and get a SSD or 300Gb Veloci as a boot drive.

 

[LordSplodge]

Im tempted to suggest the 2.93 Quad here, although the memory side of things lets it down badly.

If you can stretch to it, get the 2.66 with the 12Gb Oh and 4870! Double oh and get a SSD or 300Gb Veloci as a boot drive.

The 2.93 Quad is nice but the 8GB memory limit is a joke on a workstation.

2.26/2.66 with 16GB and a SSD (the new Intel X25-M 'G2' 34nm 160GB should fit the bill) would munch through anything without breaking a sweat.

Going to cost the OP a few pennies. Hope it earns its keep.

 

[LordSplodge]

Specifications:

Two 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
32GB (8x4GB)
640GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Two 18x SuperDrives
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (British) and User's Guide (English)

£9,699.01

Better get saving...

 

[smogsy]

Im tempted to suggest the 2.93 Quad here, although the memory side of things lets it down badly.

If you can stretch to it, get the 2.66 with the 12Gb Oh and 4870! Double oh and get a SSD or 300Gb Veloci as a boot drive.

i know OSX is faster( i have a Macbook) but i do not really want to downgrade. i already have a Qaudcore 3.6 I7 With 6GB & and Veclioraptor so it wouldnt be much of an upgrade

it will definatlty be a 8 core although the higher frequency would defo help in games

 

[LordSplodge]

it will definatlty be a 8 core although the higher frequency would defo help in games

I'll point out the Mac Pro is a Workstation not a gaming machine. Are you using it for business purposes (or at least to make you some money) or do you just have £5000 burning a Mac Pro shaped hole in your pocket?

 

[smogsy]

i love speed so, burning hole although i do photography so might earn a few hundred quuid back

i got to add xcode to use uses.

im planning to be a photographer/programmer when im older games are just distracting me to much

 

[mosfet]

Intel X25-M 'G2' 34nm 160GB

This man speaks the truth here.

Get an Intel X25-M (the bigger the better) and store your current project on it, with a couple of 1TB drives for general storage. Everything just feels so much snappier with them, going back to an HDD is agonising.

 

[LordSplodge]

This man speaks the truth here.

Get an Intel X25-M (the bigger the better) and store your current project on it, with a couple of 1TB drives for general storage. Everything just feels so much snappier with them, going back to an HDD is agonising.

The Intel X25-M Generation 2 (It's silver not black!) is a beast of an SSD. A 300GB model is due soon but will cost a fair bit...

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Don't forget to add in the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card (unless you're going wired).

 

[smogsy]

im thinking of this spec any suggestions (all from apple)

* Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
* 16GB (8x2GB)
* None
* 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
* Two 18x SuperDrives
* Apple Mighty Mouse
* Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (British) and User's Guide (English)
* AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card with 802.11n
* AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll
£3,694.02 incl. VAT

 

[FreeStream]

Looks fine to me.

I still say the 2.66 would be a nice boost (esp as you lucky octos get more turbo boost than us single corers )

My 2.66 goes to 2.8 single core, your 2.66 goes to 3.06!!! (2.26 goes to 2.66 IIRC)

 

[Feek]

That's a spec I'd be very happy with

 

[smogsy]

Only thing im worried about, well thinking about is the 4870, its no way going to be able to play TF2 @ 2560x1600 like i am now

currently playing it with
2560x1600 16CSAA 16CSAF with 280 SLI

i guess ill have to drop the aa or purchase a better gfx card

 

[LordSplodge]

That's a spec I'd be very happy with

Yes, me too! <jealous>

Only thing im worried about, well thinking about is the 4870, its no way going to be able to play TF2 @ 2560x1600 like i am now

That's not what would worry me. What would concern me is the fact that not one app you are planning on running will even come close to using the power under the bonnet.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Not sure if you're buying through the HE store but it's worth mentioning that monitors get a 3 year warranty when bought with a computer.

If bought seperately / normal store they only get 1 year parts & labour

Also Smogsy, you can put any card you like in the Mac Pro but it will only be useable under Windows unless it has a OS X firmware. Meaning, you can get any card you want for OS X, and chuck a gaming card in for use under Windows (via boot camp).