Mac Pros (and cons)
in [UK Mac]
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From: SM on 10 Jan 2010 19:21 I've been waiting for the Pros to be updated for ages (it seems) and have been having a look at second hand machines. I'm pretty sure that someone here (Elliott?) mentioned that there's a problem with first generation Mac Pros and newer graphic cards. Are there any gotchas with these or second generation Pros? Stuart -- cut that out to reply
From: Elliott Roper on 10 Jan 2010 19:44 In article <1jc4okk.1l79yp21lruduwN%info(a)that.sundog.co.uk>, SM <info(a)that.sundog.co.uk> wrote: > I've been waiting for the Pros to be updated for ages (it seems) and > have been having a look at second hand machines. > > I'm pretty sure that someone here (Elliott?) mentioned that there's a > problem with first generation Mac Pros and newer graphic cards. Are > there any gotchas with these or second generation Pros? Since then I read a bunch of reports OK-ing the ATI Radeon HD 4870 which Apple Store claims is unsupported. So I bought one, and it is working fine with my first gen Mac Pro. I use it with Aperture and Final Cut Studio. Both now go much faster and much less jerkily. It is quiet and runs cool. Unlike the Radeon XT1900 which was so loud and unreliable that I had reverted to the standard GeForce 7300 that originally came with the Pro. I reckon this 1st Gen Pro and the 4870 will do me till those two apps are updated with lots of OpenCL and Grand Central goodness to make proper use of newer Pros. I also had a problem with Snow Leopard and my third party eSATA controller, but a new driver from Silicon Image has fixed that. All in all, it is running pretty well. I'd recommend a second hand Pro heartily, except the current iMacs would eat its lunch for less money. -- To de-mung my e-mail address:- fsnospam$elliott$$ PGP Fingerprint: 1A96 3CF7 637F 896B C810 E199 7E5C A9E4 8E59 E248
From: SM on 10 Jan 2010 21:00 Elliott Roper <nospam(a)yrl.co.uk> wrote: > In article <1jc4okk.1l79yp21lruduwN%info(a)that.sundog.co.uk>, SM > <info(a)that.sundog.co.uk> wrote: > > > I've been waiting for the Pros to be updated for ages (it seems) and > > have been having a look at second hand machines. > > > > I'm pretty sure that someone here (Elliott?) mentioned that there's a > > problem with first generation Mac Pros and newer graphic cards. Are > > there any gotchas with these or second generation Pros? > > Since then I read a bunch of reports OK-ing the ATI Radeon HD 4870 > which Apple Store claims is unsupported. So I bought one, and it is > working fine with my first gen Mac Pro. I use it with Aperture and > Final Cut Studio. Both now go much faster and much less jerkily. It is > quiet and runs cool. Unlike the Radeon XT1900 which was so loud and > unreliable that I had reverted to the standard GeForce 7300 that > originally came with the Pro. Many thanks for the info - an extensive ucsm Google Groups search couldn't find your original posts. I was editing on a 3 Ghz 4-core Pro with an XT1900 this summer and it was quite loud - on a par with my Quad G5 - loud enough to have quick look inside to see what was up. It was quite dusty but sounds like the card is just noisy. > I reckon this 1st Gen Pro and the 4870 will do me till those two apps > are updated with lots of OpenCL and Grand Central goodness to make > proper use of newer Pros. It's good to know the 4870 is quiet. Of course, factoring in �250 for an upgrade card makes a cheapish older machine a bit less attractive. I've seen a few second generation 8-core Pros that are tempting too. > I also had a problem with Snow Leopard and my third party eSATA > controller, but a new driver from Silicon Image has fixed that. > > All in all, it is running pretty well. I'd recommend a second hand Pro > heartily, except the current iMacs would eat its lunch for less money. I've bought three of the 5i 27" iMacs for a place I work which turned up on Friday - going to have a play next week if I get time. Stuart -- cut that out to reply
From: Elliott Roper on 11 Jan 2010 07:46 In article <1jc4s0j.dzj72hkml8mbN%info(a)that.sundog.co.uk>, SM <info(a)that.sundog.co.uk> wrote: > Elliott Roper <nospam(a)yrl.co.uk> wrote: > > > In article <1jc4okk.1l79yp21lruduwN%info(a)that.sundog.co.uk>, SM > > <info(a)that.sundog.co.uk> wrote: <snip> > Many thanks for the info - an extensive ucsm Google Groups search > couldn't find your original posts. Google Groups is having a bad time at the moment. It could not find any recent ucsm posts when I tried it yesterday. > I was editing on a 3 Ghz 4-core Pro with an XT1900 this summer and it > was quite loud - on a par with my Quad G5 - loud enough to have quick > look inside to see what was up. It was quite dusty but sounds like the > card is just noisy. Yes. Dust was a severe problem with mine too. It would overheat and start corrupting images with sparkly lines and great yellow "bruises". When it started causing complete hardware hangs and kernel crashes, I replaced the fan with a much quieter and more efficient Arctic Cooling Accelero X2. That worked for a while but the poor old thing never recovered from its overheating episodes and when the crashes came back under recently dusted heatsink and cool operating conditions I hoicked it out for the original 7300. > > I reckon this 1st Gen Pro and the 4870 will do me till those two apps > > are updated with lots of OpenCL and Grand Central goodness to make > > proper use of newer Pros. > > It's good to know the 4870 is quiet. Of course, factoring in �250 for an > upgrade card makes a cheapish older machine a bit less attractive. I've > seen a few second generation 8-core Pros that are tempting too. Yep. There is no way of knowing what graphics cards will work with what OpenCL until there are some real applications in the wild. I was hanging out for a while, got impatient with the 7300 and awarded myself a birthday card. I'm guessing now is not a good time to buy a Pro new, and that 2nd hand ones need to be really cheap to make 'em worth it. If you plan on running 2 monitors off the 4870 be aware you may need a �25 mini-display port to DVI adapter for the second one. <snip> > I've bought three of the 5i 27" iMacs for a place I work which turned up > on Friday - going to have a play next week if I get time. Pray tell how they perform. -- To de-mung my e-mail address:- fsnospam$elliott$$ PGP Fingerprint: 1A96 3CF7 637F 896B C810 E199 7E5C A9E4 8E59 E248
From: SM on 11 Jan 2010 09:57
Elliott Roper <nospam(a)yrl.co.uk> wrote: <snip> > Google Groups is having a bad time at the moment. It could not find any > recent ucsm posts when I tried it yesterday. > > > I was editing on a 3 Ghz 4-core Pro with an XT1900 this summer and it > > was quite loud - on a par with my Quad G5 - loud enough to have quick > > look inside to see what was up. It was quite dusty but sounds like the > > card is just noisy. > Yes. Dust was a severe problem with mine too. It would overheat and > start corrupting images with sparkly lines and great yellow "bruises". > When it started causing complete hardware hangs and kernel crashes, I > replaced the fan with a much quieter and more efficient Arctic Cooling > Accelero X2. That worked for a while but the poor old thing never > recovered from its overheating episodes and when the crashes came back > under recently dusted heatsink and cool operating conditions I hoicked > it out for the original 7300. Since the Pro wasn't mine I didn't fiddle > > > I reckon this 1st Gen Pro and the 4870 will do me till those two apps > > > are updated with lots of OpenCL and Grand Central goodness to make > > > proper use of newer Pros. > > > > It's good to know the 4870 is quiet. Of course, factoring in �250 for an > > upgrade card makes a cheapish older machine a bit less attractive. I've > > seen a few second generation 8-core Pros that are tempting too. > > Yep. There is no way of knowing what graphics cards will work with what > OpenCL until there are some real applications in the wild. I was > hanging out for a while, got impatient with the 7300 and awarded myself > a birthday card. I'm impatient for a Pro - I've got FCS3 which won't run on the G5. It would be good if the rumour about a serious under-the-bonnet upgrade for Final Cut is true. > I'm guessing now is not a good time to buy a Pro new, and that 2nd hand > ones need to be really cheap to make 'em worth it. It's tricky - I've been dithering over a new Pro since early summer. I want an 8-core but not the 2.26 GHz and can't swallow the thousand-odd quid extra for the 2.66 2nd hand Pros aren't too cheap and I've got to juggle specs, VAT etc. plus the pros and cons of the sodding graphics cards. > If you plan on running 2 monitors off the 4870 be aware you may need a > �25 mini-display port to DVI adapter for the second one. Yes I spotted that, plus it needs two slots. I think it's only the 2009 Pros that have the empty space next to the graphics slot. The G5's got an eSATA card and a Blackmagic card (with HDMI ports on an extra slot cover) both of which I want to transfer. Now, if Apple would get a new model out with eSATA or USB3 or whatever, but when? > <snip> > > I've bought three of the 5i 27" iMacs for a place I work which turned up > > on Friday - going to have a play next week if I get time. > > Pray tell how they perform. Will do. Stuart -- cut that out to reply |