Helgur von Faff Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I am new to the world of mac's, and recently i have been considering what to spend my hard-earned cash on. Then i stumbled upon this ad. This is almost a brand new MacPro. The seller is asking 21900 crowns for it (which is roughly 3650 usd give or take). It has two upgrades, one extra 400gig disc and 1gb extra memory (2gb total). A new MacPro without those upgrades costs 24450 crowns (4075 usd) from apple store. I think its a sweet deal... what do you people say? If i went for this mac i woud use it for organizing my photo libray (aperture) image manipulation/editing in photoshop, some small programming tasks, and offcourse entertainment (games). Is this a potent gaming machine if bootcamped with XP/Vista? What are the upgrade options on this computer? Can i install for instance a Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics card and expect OSX to run with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest: Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Are you a student? If you are you can pay $99 USD for a Student Developer package and get 20% off one purchase. This equates to roughly $800 USD in your case. So you can get a NEW MacBook Pro for less than the other guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) If you want a gaming machine, this isn't exactly good value. You'd be better off with a core 2 duo pc, overclocked on a 975 motherboard, with the latest graphics card. It will cost you less, and outperform the Mac Pro. (and run OS X too ) The reason for this is quad core : games don't use it yet. You can get 1900XTX or something for the Mac Pro, and it will make a great gaming machine, but that's not its intended purpose. It's designed as a workstation, for video editing, graphics work etc primarily. Another thing is macs are cheaper in the USA than in europe or other countries. I mean, you say a Mac Pro without upgrades costs $4075 where you are, well in america it's $2499. Well the mac pro is a fine machine, but many of it's features don't seem to fit the bill for your demands, and that's why I say get the homemade Core 2 Duo PC for the money instead, you'll save a lot. Eg, the swappable drive bays, and upgradability to 16GB ram, do you really need that? It just seems like overkill for what you want to do. On the other hand, if you have the money, and you're looking for the fastest, finest desktop computer in the world, today, then the Mac Pro is it. Another thought -> core 2 quadro is available, if you really wanna go quad core too. Edited January 10, 2007 by Synaesthesia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 If i went for this mac i woud use it for organizing my photo libray (aperture) image manipulation/editing in photoshop, some small programming tasks, and offcourse entertainment (games). Is this a potent gaming machine if bootcamped with XP/Vista? What are the upgrade options on this computer? Can i install for instance a Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics card and expect OSX to run with that? I don't think you can get the 8800GTX on the Mac Pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_muad_dib Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 The reason for this is quad core : games don't use it yet. it's not that right, SMP capable games(quake 4 and so on) "might" take advantage of the quad core, if they r not forced to use only 2 cores off course, but i don't think so . i said "might" cos maybe a total of 12 ghz (3ghz per core if i mind well) is too much for a game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 They're working on multi-threaded gaming as well at valve, link, link. So it's definitely going to feature in the future of gaming. In fact it better, the way things are going! But right now for gaming, dual-core at 3ghz will beat quad core at 2.66 ghz. And it will be more than enough for 99% of computer tasks too. [off topic] Hey maud-dib, I really like your sig. I love Dune! the movie, the books, the games.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_muad_dib Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 But right now for gaming, dual-core at 3ghz will beat quad core at 2.66 ghz. And it will be more than enough for 99% of computer tasks too. yep,but with games like Maya or SoftImage would be great ;D [OT]Thx![/OT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helgur von Faff Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 If you want a gaming machine, this isn't exactly good value. You'd be better off with a core 2 duo pc, overclocked on a 975 motherboard, with the latest graphics card. It will cost you less, and outperform the Mac Pro. (and run OS X too ) The reason for this is quad core : games don't use it yet. You can get 1900XTX or something for the Mac Pro, and it will make a great gaming machine, but that's not its intended purpose. It's designed as a workstation, for video editing, graphics work etc primarily. Another thing is macs are cheaper in the USA than in europe or other countries. I mean, you say a Mac Pro without upgrades costs $4075 where you are, well in america it's $2499. Well the mac pro is a fine machine, but many of it's features don't seem to fit the bill for your demands, and that's why I say get the homemade Core 2 Duo PC for the money instead, you'll save a lot. Eg, the swappable drive bays, and upgradability to 16GB ram, do you really need that? It just seems like overkill for what you want to do. On the other hand, if you have the money, and you're looking for the fastest, finest desktop computer in the world, today, then the Mac Pro is it. Another thought -> core 2 quadro is available, if you really wanna go quad core too. Ok, thanks for the feedback. Based on this reasoning i will not go for the Mac Pro... I dont understand why apple doesnt launch a "Mac Pro lite" desktop computer for the home poweruser who wants more control over his hardware. Clearly there is a marked for this imho. It might be cheaper in the states but wages are much higher here i think. I'm working as a cab driver (temporarily) while looking for a tech job on the side. My salary is about 5300 usd a month gross. Which again dont make the mac pro that expensive. Everything is relative. But im going to build my own computer then. What do you guys think of this setup, is this hackintosh compatible you think? Chisholm Trail, Intel i955X Mainboard Core 2 Quadro Model QX6700 (2.667GHz) Club 3D 8800GTX 768MB Graphics Card (im pretty unsure of this, optionally can i buy a lower spec graphics card which is compatible and run SLI?) Serial ATAII Raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Not sure if the 8800GTX is supported, or the 955x motherboard. Check everything at the wiki before you buy. In fact if I may suggest a system : Asus P5W DH Deluxe -> A 975 motherboard with lots of great features, and good overclocking. There are others, too. Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo -> You can overclock this to 3.5ghz, trust me it's way fast. Get the quadro if you really wanna spend more. Zalman CNPS7700 or 9500 cpu fan -> good cooler. Get a zalman graphics cooler as well. Radeon 1950XT/nVidia7900 GT 256mb -> these are the best graphics cards you can get for OSX86 at the moment. I believe 512mb vRam is unsupported (not sure, but i've heard) 2gb Ram -> obviously as good and fast as you can afford. Raid HDD -> Your choice Antec P180 case, with neohe power supply -> very quiet. very good looking Dell 24" LCD screen. At the dell store only. really nice monitor. 30" also available. Speakers : Behringer MS16, MS20 or MS40. Or the truth series monitors. Hell Yeah! So there you have it. Cheaper than a mac pro, and faster as well, for gaming and 99% of applications. Yes you don't get the 8800GTX, but I mean, DAMN, that is one fine system. I say only get the mac pro if you're really into macs, or work at your computer a lot. Quad core is unnecessary, but nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helgur von Faff Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Not sure if the 8800GTX is supported, or the 955x motherboard. Check everything at the wiki before you buy. In fact if I may suggest a system : Asus P5W DH Deluxe -> A 975 motherboard with lots of great features, and good overclocking. There are others, too. Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo -> You can overclock this to 3.5ghz, trust me it's way fast. Get the quadro if you really wanna spend more. Zalman CNPS7700 or 9500 cpu fan -> good cooler. Get a zalman graphics cooler as well. Radeon 1950XT/nVidia7900 GT 256mb -> these are the best graphics cards you can get for OSX86 at the moment. I believe 512mb vRam is unsupported (not sure, but i've heard) 2gb Ram -> obviously as good and fast as you can afford. Raid HDD -> Your choice Antec P180 case, with neohe power supply -> very quiet. very good looking Dell 24" LCD screen. At the dell store only. really nice monitor. 30" also available. Speakers : Behringer MS16, MS20 or MS40. Or the truth series monitors. Hell Yeah! So there you have it. Cheaper than a mac pro, and faster as well, for gaming and 99% of applications. Yes you don't get the 8800GTX, but I mean, DAMN, that is one fine system. I say only get the mac pro if you're really into macs, or work at your computer a lot. Quad core is unnecessary, but nice. Again, thanks for the guidance, Synaesthesia. Asus P5W DH Deluxe has an on board raid controller and dual pci-e ports, nice. Think i will follow your tip on this one. I was thinking about buying a liquid coolant system, i have never used this before but i want to cut down noise coming from the fans as my current system is driving me crazy. I want peace and quietness. I'll also go for the nVidia 7900GT. Maybe two, and run theese in SLI... i just phoned a mac guy in oslo and he said its possible to link 4 x nVidia 7900GT on the macpro. So it shoud be possible with a hackintosh setup too? I found the Antec P180 case on my local webshop, but im sceptical to how crowded things are going to be... im considering buying a maxitower. But it is a nice looking case i agree. As for the dell monitor and the other speakers, i have to give it a thought. Thx for the advice;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Well you can go for liquid cooling, but I suggest air. if you buy a good quality power supply, and use zalman coolers, as well as the antec acse, should be absolutely quiet and cool. (for more info please check www.silentpcreview.com). For all your hardware, and compatibilty, DO CHECK THE WIKI, and search the forum. Many people recommend the intel 975XBX, there are many other options too, Abit, Gigabyte etc. I'm not sure if everything will work, so don't take my word as gospel. As for SLI, I know OS X doesn't support this. You may be able to get it to work, and just run off the one card when booting OS X, but I'm not aware of anyone who's done this. Regarding monitor and speakers, when your computer is completely outdated and rotting away (18 months or so), your monitor and speakers are still gonna be top of the range. They add a lot to the experience. Get good ones. How fast does your computer need to be anyway? This system here is BLAZING, you can go faster, but you're hardly gonna notice. On the other hand, having kick-ass sound, and a nice screen, well that always makes a big difference. Which monitor and speaker were you planning to get? I would totally recommend the Dell Ultrasharp 2407wfp, or 3007wfp. Otherwise the Apple Cinema Displays. In most reviews, they are judged to be equally good. The Apple screens look a bit better from a design perspective, but cost more. Check it out. The Behringer Truth B2031P. Very loud, very good bass. You can get a subwoofer too, but it's hardly necessary. They're just quite big. Good luck with all your purchases, and keep asking if you have more questions. It's a pleasure to help you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helgur von Faff Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Ok, i have checked the compatibility list on the wiki pages and it seems that I'm in the clear. Here is a spec list/shoppinglist i have compiled: Asus - P5W/DH/Deluxe Mainboard Intel - Core 2 Duo (Conroe) Model E6600 (2.400GHz) CPU EVGA - GeForce 7900GT KO Graphics card Corsair - Twin2X 2x1024MB DDR2, PC6400 DDR800 RAM 2 TB SATA2 Raid (4 x 500GB HDD) Antec - Performance One P180, Miditower Hardcano 13, Hard Disk Drive Cooler Series FDD Zalman CPU Cooler DVD 650 W PSU Zalman - Fatal1ty FC-ZV9, VGA Cooler For ATI & nVidia As for the monitor and speakers i planned to use those that i already have. Its not much to brag about, my monitor is a 19" Samsung LCD and my sound system is a set of creative inspire p380 subwoofer + l/r speakers. Very mediocre. If not below. Is this the speakers you where talking about? Darn, those are nice! Im going to consider that, but i think ill stick with my monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Killer setup!! Very very nice... One more thing you might wanna check before you buy : Asus P5W DH thread for OS X 10.4.8 -> There are other 975X motherboards. The Intel 975XBX has guarunteed compatibility, and is very solid. Here and here are some useful comparisons of motherboards. Info on RAID on OS X doesn't look like it's supported in hardware, but you can run without RAID, right? Yeah the MS-40's, those are the speakers I'm buying as soon as I get the money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 AND make sure your graphics card has 256mb vRam or less. (link) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strip22 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Do you live in Denmark, since you said crowns? I might have one for sale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alvin777 Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Thanks for this thread. I'm still looking on which components to buy for the Hackintosh but if I'm gonna study and do 3D animation/modelling, Photoshop and use related softwares but I'm on a budget would getting a single stick 1GB RAM (if the board only has 2 slots) be ok enough compared to 2GB (which is the minimum Maya users seem to have here) using an overclocked E4300 (won't be using virtual machine softwares)then skimp on the graphics card by just using the built-in graphics GMA950? How much advantage does dual channel have anyway? Any recommendations on my other post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defiancex0x Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 This Mac is way to fast for me, i had a G5 quad 2.5 and upgraded to a pro 2.6.... its a monster!!! PLUS i upgraded the card to a ati x1900 XT 512mb, the video is AWESOME, no FLAWS at all and i STILL haven't upgraded the ram. I have the OLD video card that i took out and put in my old 250GB hard drive in with no probs.... THis computer really kicks major butt!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSXtasy Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 No Doubt....they truly are AWESOME MACHINES....you will not regret buying one (well except that part where I no longer have that nice knot of cash in a rubber band under my mattress...... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON*ROP Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 yep,but with games like Maya or SoftImage would be great ;D [OT]Thx![/OT] I am new to this site...but I am a Mac person that also teaches Softimage XSI on the Windows plateform I am looking to buy a Mac Book Pro and bootcamp to run Softimage.. Is that a good idea? How about Vista would it work for Maya or Softimage?? Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Hi, welcome to the forum! Yeah, windows works really well on the mac platform! OS X works even better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solaar Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 Thanks for this thread. I'm still looking on which components to buy for the Hackintosh but if I'm gonna study and do 3D animation/modelling, Photoshop and use related softwares but I'm on a budget would getting a single stick 1GB RAM (if the board only has 2 slots) be ok enough compared to 2GB (which is the minimum Maya users seem to have here) using an overclocked E4300 (won't be using virtual machine softwares)then skimp on the graphics card by just using the built-in graphics GMA950? How much advantage does dual channel have anyway?Any recommendations on my other post [As this thread is coming to age a bit I reckon I can add my 2 pence without hijacking ] You're mentioning 3D animation and Maya. Well, I've done quite a bit of research and found that Autodesk and many 3D pros strongly recommend using a pro workstation graphics card, such as the nvidia QuadroFX or ATI FireGL series. They have hardware overlay and generally make life much easier when rendering complex projects. Most consumer and gamer cards are not up to scratch especially when it comes to very detailed work on 3d objects and realtime preview. I suppose you might run into certain compatibility issues for OSX86 with any of those pro cards (especially the ATI I suppose) and they can set you back somewhere from 200£ up - I've seen a Quadro FX for 4 grand (british £) !! I'm just testing Maya 8.5 in Linux on a GMA950 and although it works so so, honestly it's not really fun. I've heard that Maya 8.5 doesn't run on a hackintosh (yet). There's apparently an issue with the ethernet MAC address of non-Apple hardware which Maya requires for activation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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