Hey all,

First up, big nice one to this forum, has provided me with a heap of good info on the Macs which answered alot of my initial questions.

Have been in the dark ages on the PC for soooo long it's finally time to get the Mac! Have used macs for work and uni so know my way round them, have missed it over the last few years. The job atm im using a Dell machine which was brand new Core2Duo 6 months ago, performs well but still is XP, crashes and little buggy so i figured the dollors it cost to get the newest PC machine will still annoy the cr@p out of me later on. So blah to the pc - it's brought on the move into the Mac world, and i have no hesitation ill be looking back!

Just want to get some final opinions on what i'm looking at in terms of specs. And please excuse the essay below, lots to think about given the size of the $$$ involved!

The Mac Pro is the one for me for the performance side of things i need and it's open to expansion later down the track. This will be mainly for design work i.e. photoshop, illustrator, InDesign. With the intention to also do video, dvd editing etc.

Couple of things i'm weighing up on are:

1. At the moment i'm undecided on the Quad 2.66ghz or the Quad 3.00ghz? - are the extra dollars spent now going to be better in the long run as mac cpus aren't really upgradeable.
   
2. The $$$ difference on CPU could be spent on extra RAM - am looking round the 4gig mark (the RAM guide on this site was tops when looking into this). Though RAM can be upgraded at any stage of the mac life so maybe it's better to get the higher CPU???
   
3. Monitor - with the Dell deal on the 2407WFP 24" this i think will be my choice, though have seen it being compared with the Samsung SM 244T 24" - i have a Samsung 19" 940N atm which is a great monitor and never had a Dell before - any feedback on the Dell over the Samsung???
   
4. Graphics cards - with macs being able to run XP, will be nice to play some old and new games now that i'm getting a 24" screen. The stock 7300GT i know won't be much good for games as i have a 7600GT in the pcs atm which strugles FPS in current games. What are peoples reports on the ATi X1900XT card? Are there other places you can get Mac GPUs from for a reasonable $$ i could look into later? I've read Windows GPU cards won't work in Macs...?

I think that's about it! appreciate any feedback

cheers
_bren

I'd go for the 2.66 and get extra ram.
As for video. If your gaming then yes get the 1900. You can get after market mac cards but at this stage you cant get anything better then the 1900 i dont think. Also after market mac cards are not cheap either.

I reckon more RAM would benefit more than a faster CPU. 400Mhz ain't much really. But 4GB of RAM compared to 1GB of much nicer than an extra 400Mhz

Samsung monitors have always been of great quality. Dell ones seem to go through patches of brilliance then lameness. The 24" Samsung is a solid performer.

Get the 1900XT video card for sure. The 7300GT is pretty weak compared to the 1900XT. Mac GPUs are damn expensive and difficult to add in later on, so get the best you can afford now. You are right in assuming "PC" video cards don't work - on the older Macs you could flash their BIOS to work on Mac, but this hasn't happened on the Mac Pro yet

Just wanted to add that I have seen articles on the web where people have simply upgraded their CPU's in their Mac Pro's by just swapping them out. I think HardMac (www.hardmac.com) have put 2x Quad Cores into a Mac Pro to have 8 cores.

When it comes to screens, there are a couple of deals at the moment where you can get $500 cash-back on a Cinema Display when you purchase it with a Mac Pro. I have included some links below for some Mac Pro deals around.

Some deals at the moment include
http://www.designwyse.com.au/special...ProOffers3.pdf
http://www.nextbyte.com.au/nbnews.html#story2

Thanks for the quick response guys!

They are good deals with the apple monitors - though have limiting options for connections as appose to the Dell or the Samsung - which you get it all on the Dell - 15pin D-sub, DVI-D with HDCP, S-Video, Composite, Component, 4 USB 2.0 Ports, Integrated 9-in-1 Flash card reader. This just extends the use of the monitor and at 24" can become a decent tv and console tv.

If I were you, I'd wait a few weeks, since on the third, Intel is halving the prices of their quad cores, which means that Apple Mac Pro cpus will follow suit. Also, the standard price of $4000 will be lowered to $3600, following the suit of the Macbook Pro (Au high against US). I predict the upgrade will be to a standard 2 GB RAM, 2 quad core 3ghz Xeons, and a more powerful Graphics card than the 8600 GT, which will be the new iMac's standard (following suit with the 8600m gt for the MBP). So, basically, wait a couple of weeks, then move in.

The question here is do you really need a quad?

I don't know if they are really that much more efficient than the dual cores. Maybe they are in lab tested conditions for optimised software, but for most things you seldom run at full processor capacity for long periods.

I once looked at my dock and discovered I was running 14 programs and the dual G5 was working at about 50% max, in bursts. I must admit I haven't been burning DVDs at the same time as flipping my 40meg illustrator files around.

How many quad owners use their extra processing power at anywhere near the full capacity for any significant period?

- have been scouting the net to find out if anything like this would be approaching. MacEmpathy can i ask where abouts your source is from, the pending price drop?

Found a few links on here somewhere, which i can't find now, that gives estimates on a good time to buy Macs, based on when the model is released and updated. One source said the Mac Pros are in a good time to buy period - is there any other places i can find info in regards to the truth that the prices are soon to fall?

I'm right on the edge now as i was going to purchase this evening or tomorrow!!

Do it now and enjoy. Mac pros have a massive upgrade path ahead of them so don't stress to much about saving a few bucks and gaining a few Hz here and there.

You'll love the Mac Pro... Got a Mac Pro as my first Mac in November '06...2.66ghz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 1900XT card...

Hasn't skipped a beat since purchase. Just picked up an additional 4GB (2x2GB) of Kingston RAM last week...was a piece of cake to install.

Welcome aboard...

*hands out cigars*

where abouts did you get the RAM from. I'll be doing the same too.

Purchasing wise, am going to wait and see what happens in July. I'd hate to purchase now when i can get a better spec machine for similar or cheaper price in the span of a few weeks.

Still can't decide on the Samsung 244T 24" or the Dell 2407WFP 24"....

Something to keep in mind in regards to the video card: You can put 2 in there.

So, if you have a bootcamp windows thing going on for gaming, you can put your PC based video card in, and windows will run it fine. Thing is, you'll need to switch your monitor over every bootcamp.

I'd go for the 2.66 and buy extra RAM (not from apple). Just get the stock RAM setup from Apple then buy more RAM elsewhere. You'll save a bucketload.

I have the Dell 24". Brilliant moniter with outstanding connectivity. I've also got a playstation plugged in, and the Compact Flash etc memory card slot is so handy if you do any digital photography.

Have fun.

I got my 4 x 1GB sticks here- NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER

http://stores.ebay.com.au/OMNI-TECHNOLOGIES