Mac Pro

[jackie2]

Hi,

I am in need of a new computer and will be investing in a MacPro.  Any tips of what components are best to put in it?  I would rather put the right parts in it the first time rather than upgrading later.  I am using the H3D2 39 MP back and Phocus, plus Photoshop.

Jackie

[NickT]

Hi Jackie
Normally the mid range Macpro represents the best value for money. Before buying I always check with these guys to see if a new model is expected:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Pro

As far as what to put in:

RAM Apple RAM is traditionally very expensive, get the minimum and then add more (in pairs) from http://www.crucial.com/mac/index.aspx Maybe 6 gig at minimum?

Hard drives. Again cheaper to source elsewhere and they are extremely easy to fit yourself, I'd be putting 4 1TB drives in.

Video card Very important for Phocus, get the best you can afford and check out the performance at Barefeats.com.

Also be sure to check the Photoshop thread.

Hope that gets you started, I'm sure others will chime in.
Regards
Nick-T

[jackie2]

Hi Nick,

Thanks so much.

I wasn't sure I could put in RAM but just watched a video online and think I can do it!!  I need to check out re adding hard drives - you said it would be easy so I am sure it is. 

I am not a computer tech so it makes me a bit nervous to be tooling around the innards of these machines I am willing to give it a try.

Jackie

[NickT]

Jackie adding RAM and drives is very easy, best to ground yourself first (esp if you are prone to static shocks)by touching the metal case. The RAm modules just slide in. The hard drives sit in metal sleds and are attached by four screws. The screws are already in the sleds so you just pull the sled out, attach the drive (can only go one way) and push the sled back in. Here's a how to pdf from Apple:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_HardDrive_DIY.pdf

Cheers
Nick-T

[jackie2]

Thanks so much.  I am getting a handle on it now.

What about RAID? 

Jackie

[Phil G]

H Jackie

mine and colleagues set up is

Drive 1 System Drive  500GB should be adequate but suggest you get a 750GB in case you want to use FCP and Studio and it helps to leave some space
Drive 2+3 (2 x 1TB) Raid Striped pair  for your swap files scratch pad and working library you should be running this at less then half capacity for speed
Drive 4 (1TB) your internal Backup Aperture Vault, Hasselblad .fff Master Files  and other Master files

Then you periodically dump Drive 4 to external for off site storage  via FW800 or you could use eSATA the bare drive docks work and we also use Wiebetech. units into which you can put 4 bare drives

I use 1TB 7200rpm/32MB  Hitachi in Mac pro and Western Digital Caviar Green in external don't even think of using DVD for archiving
Fitting Drives 2, 3 & 4 is easy so long as you know how to use a screwdriver and can read that's the beauty of a Mac and its a lot cheaper!
Also 
Setting up RAID on a Mac is so easy you think you must have missed a step out

I have just compared using a striped pair ie 2 discs and a triple using 3 discs and there is no significant difference using the Photoshop test so you might as well stick with the striped pair and have the benefit of backup drives

Phil

ps updated trying to figure out how to insert URL