ludacrisvp Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Hey I am returning the MacBook Pro that I just bought to get a Mac Pro Before I order this I have some questions for the Mac Gurus that live on this site Any idea if the ODD_SATA port(s) will be active? Is there one or two ODD_SATA ports? I would assume there are 2 since there are 2 drive bays. I have SATA optical drives in my Hack and would like to use one of them in the Mac Pro if possible or both if I can. One is a Kreon drive for creating 360 backups, the other is a burner with lightscribe. Ram questions: I know it uses FB-DIMMs with the 800Mhz speed. I am looking at keeping the initial 2gb that it comes with and adding 2 kits of 4GB (2x2gb). This will give me total of 10GB The factory 2x1gb and Newegg's 4x2gb, this will fill 6 of the 8 slots of the 2 riser cards. I remember a post that showed recommended slot locations to install the extra RAM but I cannot find it again. I am looking at 2 choices for my RAM that I intend to order and looking for advice. I will be ordering 2 sets of whichever one is considered "better than the other" Patriot 2x2GB - $209.99 USD Mushkin 2x2GB - $214.99 USD I do not plan to ever buy any more ram than this amount. I think 10GB may be overkill but it is the same overall price as 4GB from Apple. Anything else I should know before purchase? Planned Specs from Apple: Subtotal $3,054.00 Estimated Ship: 2-4 business days Specifications Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core) 2GB (2 x 1GB) 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI) Two 16x SuperDrives - unless I can use my own SATA then one drive only ($90 USD less if only one drive) AirPort Extreme card (Wi-Fi) Apple wireless Mighty Mouse Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) + User's Guide EDIT: I did find the Memory Config image on an Apple discussion website. I think it is very handy to have so here it is. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
iSkylla Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong but you don't need "Mac memory." Any old ECC Fully Buffered memory should do fine. That being said, I would go for the Mushkin because it's good memory and a very good price especially for ECC buffered RAM. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-730522 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludacrisvp Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 What I have noticed and the reason I chose Mac Memory is the fact that the Mac Memory has a much better heatsink on the RAM than any other type of ECC fully buffered memory. I think I may go for the Mushkin but not sure yet. Still waiting for Apple to email me the shipping label to return the MacBook Pro so I have about 2 weeks before I order the Mac Pro or any RAM. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-730560 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berzerker Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Mushkin has been known to make very nice RAM. I'd go with that (although, I've owned Patriot RAM before (2 kinds) and neither have done me wrong). Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-730570 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Other World Computing (Mac specialists for 20 years) sell 4x2GB kits for $379 http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory Trans Intl. (also a long time Mac-friendly company) has 4x2GB kits for $368 http://transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Ca...uestTimeOut=500 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-730869 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_stick Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 don't bother with the second superdrive, any pata/sata drive will work (the two ODD_SATA ports are active, and often used for eSATA connectivity) however unless your drive is a Pioneer or other brand apple ship, it may not properly support disc burning (keep the superdrive in there, and then add a second sata drive) any other questions you have about the config of the new mac pros, just ask, i have one sitting under my desk now Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-731375 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I don't know if you've ordered your RAM yet or not, but NewEgg has a special for newsletter subscribers on the iRam 4GB kit - $159 for 2GB x 2 ($40 off). Use the code EMCAFACAF Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-733619 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludacrisvp Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Is the iRam brand any good or is there no difference really? I will be ordering the RAM when I order the Mac Pro. I want to make sure Apple credits my credit card before I order anything. I shipped it to Apple on the 1st and it was FedEx ground apple paid to California from Minnesota. ETA for Apple to have it is the 7th Once they have it about 3 - 5 business days before credit will be applied to card. I hope to order it by the end of the week or next Monday at the latest. How long is the offer on the RAM good for? I added it to my cart to see if the code still works and it does, however it is only good for Qty 1 so if anyone else uses it and wants $40.00 off each it will need to be 2 separate orders. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-735939 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Just go to an apple store and ask for ram for you mac pro, the prices are extremely reasonable (at least for me, i got an extra 8gb for only $500 (im not american so it aint US prices)). Fully compatible and now makes my mac pro run extremely smoothly Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-736086 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludacrisvp Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Well I finally ordered the iRam from Newegg.com. I did some math and I will be spending about $6 USD more on the Mac Pro than I did on the MacBook Pro. lol I think that this is a much better choice for spending that amount of money on something. There is more "future-proofing" with the tower than there is with a laptop. The cost of the ram $339.98, 8gb for less than what Apple charges you for 2gb extra. With Apple you pay $500 USD for 2x 1gb. With the price Apple charges on RAM I wish I could order a Mac Pro with NO RAM included for $500 off the price they have it listed for. Maybe then I would get the 3.0Ghz instead. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102390-mac-pro-questions-newest-version/#findComment-750342 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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