Configurating a new mac pro

Hello Folks!
I'm an apple user from 7 years ago, and after i contact the apple suport in portugal i was very disapointed,
because, i'm trying to configurate a new mac pro but when i saw the graphics card option i realised that none
of options offered are actually great enought. I found the following graphics possible solution:
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
dual ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
these options doesn't fit for my profile because i need a desktop to work in projects such as
designs for mechanical engeneering, sctructural analys and for serious flying simulators witch require
more gpu power. So, i would like to know if there are other options available for such a great machine.
Best regards,
Emanuel Ferreira

there is some third party company out there that flashes some higher end cards. I don't know the name but if you dig a bit you may be able to find some other cards. I had great hopes, years ago, when the macpro first came out that it meant we would get access to top end graphics cards. sadly that has not happened. if you need the fastest computer graphics, a mac isn't the ticket. great operating system....poor selection of graphics cards to say the least.

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GEvans
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If you use all ThunderBolt displays, or stick with DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort (free conversion between the two with only a cheap cable) you can have up to six displays.
If you attach "legacy" displays with "any-old adapter", you can have up to two, and the built-in HDMI counts as one if you use it.
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The US$100 Apple ACTIVE Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter works in every case, even displays over 1920 wide.
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Configuring my new Mac Pro with a RAID solution... Help appreciated!

Hi, I am about to purchase a new Mac Pro to have in my studio.
One of my unresolved features is what to do with storage. Currently I am considering either: (a) the Apple internal RAID card with 4x500GB 7200 RPM drives; or an external G-Technology G-Speed eS also with 4x500GB 7200 RPM.
In either of these cases I would have an additional external drive of 1.5TB (pretty much the available storage I should have from the RAID), to perform back-up and take off-site.
Questions:
(1) Anyone has experience with Apple's Raid Card? Better or worse than an external solution?
(2) Any feedback on the storage from G-Tech? I have a few mini drives with great success.
(3) Any suggestion on RAID vendors (beyond what I am considering)?
Thanks so much!

I'm also planning to upgrade to a new Mac Pro, and just waiting for newest Intel "Penryn" processors:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Having eSATA ports for external eSATA drives would be great.
I will go with a RAID, but haven't decided on the configuration - I'm thinking of having 3 or 4 drives in RAID 5; I perceive a benefit in going with the Apple RAID card rather than a cheaper third party card - it's designed to work well with the Mac Pro and with Apple Care you'd get warranty coverage. Can't decide if it's better to save money and buy drives from a third party (and maybe end up with them not covered by Apple Care), or to pay more and get the drives with the machine.
I got burned many years ago by four failed IBM 75GXP hard drives, so I think choosing a reliable hard drive is very important; I'll probably go with a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 or Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000. Great info here:
http://www.storagereview.com/1000.sr
Good RAID tests results:
http://www.macintouch.com/reviews/macpro/followup.html
And I think this is required reading too:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/RAIDUtility_UserGuide.pdf
Ron

"Best" configuration for new Mac Pro used for Aperture?

I'm getting ready to order a new Mac Pro and would like to configure it to optimize Aperture performance.
On CPUs - I have found no benchmarks which show whether Aperture would benefit from 2 quad core processors versus 1. Does anyone know of any benchmarks or have any experience using a single quad core? I don't want to spend $500 on a 2nd processor if Aperture can't use it.
On Graphics cards - I was sold on the GForce 8800, due to it's supposed blazing speed for gaming and it's larger on board memory. However, after reading the following review http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html , these guys seem to imply that applications such as Aperture actually run faster with the standard Radeon 2600 video card! If anyone has any experience or opinions on this review, I'd love to hear them!
On memory - I know from experience that Aperture will use all of the physical memory you make available to it. I plan on ordering the standard 2GB from Apple, then adding 8GB from 3rd party for total of 10MB.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I can only say that when faced with the same decision last month, I went with a 2.8 8-core/8800GT/10gb RAM/library stored on 2nd internal drive setup and am completely satisfied with Aperture's speed. Beyond satisfied, really, borderline thrilled to be honest. No beach balls, perfectly responsive adjustment sliders, smooth and quick scrolling through images (even with Quick Preview mode turned off). Aperture 2 definitely takes advantage of all 8 cores - I have MenuMeters installed and can watch its CPU usage across all 8 cores. Exporting, for example, is fast and uses all cores for background processing.
I have seen a couple small anomalies though...when moving photos around in a light table, I get some odd flashing artifacts on the right side of screen that could be graphics card related. Visually annoying but it doesn't affect performance. I'm also seeing some weird behavior with keywords not appearing in Tooltips and in the Viewer, but it's intermittent and is most likely a software bug and not my hardware setup.

Help Configuring my New Mac Pro

I just purchased a new Mac Pro (early 2009 Quad Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem), and a second (1 TB) internal hard drive. I would like to transfer my applications, files, and profile from my Macbook Pro (early 2008 Core 2 Duo" 2.5) to the Mac Pro. I also want to install with Boot Camp a copy of Windows XP Pro (SP3) on a separate hard drive. I want the XP drive to be the 640 GB hard drive that came with the Mac Pro, and the MacOS drive to be the added 1TB hard drive. I want the Windows drive to have 4 logical partitions ( C, D, E, and F) with the C, D, and E being NTFS (so they can exceed 32GB) and, F drive being FAT (for read/write compatibility with MacOS). I've been doing a fair amount of reading both on this forum and have a tentative plan to accomplish the setup. But, a lot of what I'm planning to do is new to me. So, before executing my plan, I wanted to get some feedback. Any thoughts or comments on the steps in my plan would be much appreciated. Here are my planned steps:
1. Turn on the new Mac Pro computer but don't transfer and applications or files - just transfer the profile. Then check to make sure that the computer is working properly.
2. Turn off computer and install 1 TB hard drive and RAM upgrade.
3. Turn on the computer and transfer applications and files from my Macbook Pro to the Mac Pro using Migration Assistant (located in the applications, utility folder). Connect the computers using Firewire 800 (9 pin to 9 pin cable). I currently don't have such a cable, but from what I have read the migration can be very, very slow if done using the ethernet network or a USB-2 cable. I've got about 200 GB on my Macbook Pro so I assume that the Firewire cable is the only sensible way to go.
4. Test the system to see that the applications are working and check that the data files have been transferred.
5. Download SuperDuper and use it to create a clone of the 640 GB drive on the new 1 TB drive. Make the 1 TB drive the boot drive by choosing it from System Preferences > Startup Disc
6. Check and make sure the bootup from the 1 TB drive works properly.
7. Check to make sure the EFI Boot ROM version on the Mac Pro is up to date. If it needs updating, download latest version from Apple support website and install.
8. Check Apple support for updates to Boot Camp Assistant. Once I have the latest version open Boot Camp Assistant (in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder). Create Boot Camp partition that is the entire 640 GB hard drive.
9. Insert the Windows XP CD and click Start Installation in Boot Camp Assistant. Select the Boot Camp partition for installation of Windows.
10. As I begin the Windows install, I'm expecting that I will be offered at the start of the setup process an opportunity to create the 4 separate logical partitions that I want on the 640 GB hard drive. Format the hard drive with the 4 partitions.
11. Select the partition where I want to put Windows Operating System and follow the Windows setup process to install Windows XP.
12. Once Windows is installed, eject the Windows disc and insert to Mac OS disc. Install the Boot Camp drivers for Windows.

NTFS is read only already. You don't need anything just to access, only if you plan to write files, and NTFS won't like HFS file names if they have special characters.
XP SP2 or later, and would have to be able to transfer to new hardware. What it lacks is good multicore and memory management.
Newegg and Amazon has single system builder versions that can save but can't be used on another system. OEM (Dell, HP, etc) versions or "restore discs" won't work and aren't supported.
I said you can get by without BCA. You don't have to believe me but it is a waste to have to say everything twice. Windows 7 is perfectly capable of doing any formatting and installing without it.
Installing Windows 7 on Mac Pro is easier and different. There is a forum devoted to Boot Camp and Installing Windows.
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=237

Configuring a New Mac Pro

Hi, pro users! This is technically a bit off-topic, but this still seems like the right forum for my question. I have a dual-G5 Power Mac and am thinking about upgrading to a Mac Pro before Apple starts reducing the FireWire support on that one, too. The most demanding things I use are Mathematica, Aperture (with a very large library) and Logic Studio. I am interested in the opinions of you experienced users in three areas:
1) Processors - I will get eight cores. Is it really worth $4/MHz to get the 3.0 or 3.2 GHz machines? More precisely, will most things run at a speed that is proportional to the nominal clock rate - or do other limitations reduce the advantage?
2) RAM - I am getting by with 4.5 GB on my G5. It is not enough - particularly with Aperture, I sometimes fill it up. Should I order 8GB from Apple? Should I order the minimum from Apple, throw it away and replace it with Crucial??
3) Graphics card. I am running a single 23" display now. I don't foresee using more than one 30" display, or maybe 2 23"s. I'm not a gamer, although I might try X-Plane some day. I know that Aperture performance benefits from a good graphics card - when I upgraded the one in my G5, it helped a lot...
Thank you for your help and long live FireWire!

Stephen, here's my thoughts:
1) Processors> Yes, you will see some difference by going with the faster machine. I can't, tell you whether or not it would be worth the extra price, as this is a determination that you'll have to make. If you are using the machine in a commercial environment, i.e. you make your living off the work you do with it, and time being money in such a situation, it may be worth the price difference. The 3.0GHz machine may be a nice compromise if you're not comfortable plunking down an extra $1600 for the 3.2GHz machine.
2) Memory> 8GB of RAM from Apple will set you back $1500. For $1595 at [OWC|http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory], you can get 32GB of RAM or for the same 8GB you were suggesting, you would pay either $260 or $400 depending on whether you selected 2GB or 4GB modules. I've ordered RAM for my Mac Pro from OWC and have never had an issue with it. They are a very reputable company and I believe that their RAM is covered by a lifetime warranty. All of the RAM in all of my Macs comes from OWC and I've never had one issue with them. I can wholeheartedly recommend them. And yes, more RAM is generally better....
3) Graphics> I don't know exactly what your graphics processing needs are, but I doubt that you probably need the $2850 Quadro FX 5600. For me, anyway, the extra performance of the GeForce 8800GT at such a modest price of $150 is a no-brainer...

"I've made a huge mistake." The laments of a new mac pro and ridiculously slow AE renders

I just purchased the late 2013 model of the Mac Pro with the following specs:
Processor: 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5
Memory: 12 GB
Graphics: AMD FirePro D700
It barely squeaks out a faster render than my early 2008 Mac Pro (which has the following specs):
Processor: 2 x 3.2 Ghz Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 16 GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
I obviously did NOT configure my new Mac Pro with the best features for AE CC. I still have time to return the machine, and try again. I would appreciate advice from someone who can ID where I went wrong - and direct me toward a machine that will churn out faster renders. Thanks so much!

Sorry, I'm out of the loop on the newer chipsets so would have to defer to others in that respect. There's a lot of reading to be done on multicore rendering in after effects; but you're best off running some test renders to see if its helping or hindering your comps and then base your decision for number of cores vs core speed on that. Either way multicore rendering does require a lot of RAM. You should be getting OK render speeds if you're not using the ray trace renderer, certainly should beat out the old box, that might be something to look into.
I can't advise using those thunderbolt pcie chasis to add an nvidia card to the new mac pro trash can; the sonnet ones we bought have been finicky with our AJA cards and I can only imagine a full graphics card under load being worse performance wise.
I built my hack a few years back on an ivy bridge i7 with 32 GB of ram. They have some newer guides for hardware choices and methods at http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php
Although my build has been extremely stable, I will caution that putting together a hackintosh can be quite a pain even if you're an experienced system builder / knowledgable with *nix. If Windows is an option that can be considered, I've heard good things about the HP Z series workstations but Quadro cards seem overpriced IMO compared to the Geforce series for the cuda cores / ram size (though purists will surely encourage you not to go the budget route).

User Upgradability on the new Mac Pro?

I understand that one can configure the new Mac Pro from around $3,000 to almost $10,000. But can one buy the base unit and then upgrade parts later on? For example, RAM upgrade, CPU upgrade, graphic card upgrade, etc.
Is the Mac Pro as quiet as a Mac Mini?

The tear-down images and data on the Xeon E5-xxxxV2 series processors look like the cpu can be upgraded by the user. All E5 processors use the FCLGA - 2011 socket, same pin-out so should be replaceable:
1620V2 - 4 core - 3.7 GHZ - $294
1650V2 - 6 core - 3.5 GHz - $583
1680V2 - 8 core - 3.0 GHz - $1723
2697V2 - 12 core - 2.7 GHz - $2618
Interesting tidbit - the max addressable memory for the 4, 6, 8 core models is 256 GB, while that of the 12 core is 768 GB.

Can I migrate/copy my iTunes configuration to a new Mac Pro?

I have been able to copy over the sparse-bundle backups and restore. But what I need to know is if I can copy over the entire configuration of iTunes (not just the music) such that my sync settings are retained (ie: sync only checked songs). I have a considerably large collection of music and there's no way I want to go through selection again. I just had my iPhone replaced, have a new cylinder Mac Pro to which I want to migrate this data.
I did perform an rsync of the Music directory structure to my new Mac Pro, but it appears to be missing settings (as I mention above). I imagine that's stored elsewhere.
Could someone elaborate?
Thanks!

Found out how to address plist conversion from this page:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050430105126392
But I think iTunes has sorted this out. As my $HOME is actually /Users/username and not /Volumes/Home/username on the new Mac. We'll see... I'm sync'ing now

New Mac Pro Tower Configuration

Hi
I am currently looking at purchasing a new Mac Pro Desktop Tower to run CS 5.5. I am planning to use it for longer video projects with premier and AE. I would also be using audition to some extent.
I don't think that I can afford to go with a twelve core version of the Mac Pro, but I am wondering what is the best way to configure the ram/processor/video card?
Also are there any compatability issues with OSX Lion?
Any help will do.
Thanks

While the case for building a PC is strong and valid, and while I would build a PC if I needed a new system right now, I also understand the needs of some institutions to build a Mac. Here is my advice in that regard:
1. You don't need dual processors. I have a single 6-core 3.33GHz chip in my 2009 Mac Pro (which I upgraded myself) and it handles heavy work in Premiere and After Effects CS5.
2. Don't buy any RAM from Apple. With the price of hard drives today, it isn't such a big deal to have Apple install extra drives for you, but if you're even slightly technically inclined, you can install more RAM and hard drives for less if you shop and buy from other vendors. There is a great Mac-specialty website where I buy my RAM from called OWC (Other World Computing link) that has excellent deals and service. I think 24GB is minimum ($322), and 32GB is better... only $425 right now.
3. If you have the budget, a proper third party RAID card is a much better deal and performer than Apple's Mac Pro RAID Card, so don't waste your money there unless you really want to limit yourself to an internal RAID 5 of no more than four disks. I got by with a 3-drive RAID (AID) 0 stripe of disks for a year before needing to expand to a proper RAID. With three Apple drives striped together, you'll get a sustained data throughput of 330MB/sec both read and write speed, which is good enough to edit some HD video. I edited a feature-length film shot on P2 at 108060i/24p using only three internal Apple 1TB disks, with backups to external drives holding a safety net for my data.
4. You don't need to buy an NVIDIA /CUDA card (Quadro 4000). I have the 5870 from Apple, and I can edit DSLR 5DMkII footage in smooth real-time, but that is helped by the 32GB of RAM and fast RAID. I have a CUDA card, an older GTX285, and while it was good for Premiere, I felt it was slower than the 5870 in After Effects, which is where I spend more time rendering anyway.
I'm not sure how much weight you'll be placing on student projects being safe from loss in the event of a drive failure, but you could either have them back their projects up themselves on their own external drives, or build a robust RAID. I have an Areca RAID card that runs eight 2TB disks in RAID6, which yields 12TB of very fast data that is also still safe if any two of the eight drives fails before being replaced. Depending on the number of students using the system, it could cost less to build a similar RAID than have each student buy their own drives. Question is, does the school eat that cost of security for the students, or let them shoulder that cost themselves?
I was a film school student myself, and I know what it's like to sign up for a four-hour block on a limited number of edit suites. You want the system to run faster than the students, so they can be creative without wasting their time slot waiting for the computer.
With your education discount from Apple, you should be able to get a 6-core 2010 Mac Pro, RAM, disks (and RAID if you go that route) from 3rd parties about $6000... much less if you skip the RAID system. If I can help in any way, let me know. I love my system, even if I could build it in a PC today at half the cost. Adobe works the same (or better) on a PC as it does on a Mac once you're in the software, but if you have to go Apple and can't wait for what may come out in the future, consider a system like mine.
2009 Mac Pro (updated to 2010 firmware... you'd buy a 2010 and not worry about that.)
3.33GHz 6-core CPU
ATI Radeon HD 5870 (still runs software acceleration very nicely)
32GB RAM @1333MHz
(4) internal hard disks (1=OS X, Adobe CS5, 2+3=RAID0 (stripe) for scratch files, 4=other backups and storage)
Areca 1880ix-12 RAID card
Sans Digital 8-bay tower
(8) 2TB WD RE-4 hard disks in RAID6 = 12TB parity array (sustained 816MB/sec write, 714MB/sec read speeds)
Various backups in external disks.
Good luck!

Advice for a RAID configuration in my new Mac Pro

I just got a brand new Mac Pro and I am looking to get the fastest possible render and encode times possible. Originally I bought an eSATA PCIe card but was not impressed with the transfer times. In another forum a user suggested that I setup a RAID5. What kind of drives and RAID cards do you recommend as pro videographers? I suppose I can use my 1TB G-Drive as cold storage for the captured video. Any ideas?

Tell me what you think of this potential setup then...
Hard Drive Bay 1
1TB Hard Drive from Apple that came with my Mac Pro
Hard Drive Bay 2
Cold Storage/Backup for Bay 3 & 4
Hard Drive Bay 3
RAID 0 with Bay 4
Hard Drive Bay 4
RAID 0 with Bay 3
I'm looking at getting three of these hard drives for the 3 empty hard drive bays...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
What would you guys recommend I do with my 1TB G-Drive? It has USB, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA.

New Mac Pro (2010) Configuration for Photoshop

Multiple questions for this august body of knowledge holders...
Consider the following problem statement:
---->> "To purchase a new Mac Pro as a *Photoshop / Aperture* rocket sled."
Now the questions:
1 Is the 6 core 3.33 GHz option the best CPU option? Can Photoshop make use of more (slower) cores?
2 What about the video card? Stock card (ATI Radeon HD 5770) Or are there gains to be had springing for the upgrade (ATI Radeon HD 5870)?
3 What about RAM - go for 24GB (8GB modules) or 32GB? Apple says limit is 16GB, aftermarket seems to think 32GB is limit (4GB vs 8GB modules) ( I've heard some say use only the first three RAM slots - the 3rd and 4th slot use the same bus and are therefore slower...true? )
4 Last question: Storage. Who makes the most reliable hard (2TB) drive? Seagate? WD? Other?
Thanks, in advance, to all those who provide brilliant advice!

I think it depends on your needs as to what will be optimal.
No to PS being very well threaded at all.
So GHz rule. So do SSDs! and RAM helps as long as you work with large files.
3 x 8GB is fine. Apple never lists the max RAM or drive capacity.
$200 BTO for 5870 now rather than later.
Hitachi, OWC SSD, WD.
http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html
Even the 4-core 3.2GHz might do just fine and better $$ investment.
Or this 3.33 2009 Special
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0G81LL/A?mco=MTcyMDg3MDQ
http://twitter.com/diglloyd

Take 45s to boot a brand new Mac Pro

Hi Mac Pro folks
I just got a brand new Mac Pro running Mountain Lion. It came with a 512MB SSD as the boot disk and a 2TB disk as the second drive. What I got confused is: after powering it on, the Mac Pro takes average 45s to boot to the white screen with an Apple logo.
This is actually the second Mac Pro, the previous one having the same configuration took 30 seconds to boot. As the previous one's second drive got clicking sound from the first day, Apple replaced the whole machine. Now the clicking sound has gone, but the second Mac Pro takes an even longer time to boot from SSD.
Is it normal? Has anyone ever experienced the same thing?
Thanks for any comments.
Regards,
B

It should be Apple genuine SSD, as the 512 MB SSD comes with the new Mac Pro. Please see below its information retreived from System Report. TRIM Support is enabled.
Intel ICH10 AHCI:
Vendor:    Intel
Product:    ICH10 AHCI
Link Speed:    3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed:    3 Gigabit
Description:    AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
APPLE SSD SM512E:
Capacity:    500.28 GB (500,277,790,720 bytes)
Model:    APPLE SSD SM512E
Revision:    CXM07A1Q
Native Command Queuing:    Yes
Queue Depth:    32
Removable Media:    No
Detachable Drive:    No
BSD Name:    disk0
Medium Type:    Solid State
TRIM Support:    Yes
Bay Name:    Bay 1
Partition Map Type:    GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:    Verified
Volumes:
disk0s1:
Capacity:    209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
BSD Name:    disk0s1
Content:    EFI
MACPRO_SSD:
Capacity:    499.42 GB (499,418,034,176 bytes)
Available:    175.82 GB (175,817,490,432 bytes)
Writable:    Yes
File System:    Journaled HFS+
BSD Name:    disk0s2
Mount Point:    /
Content:    Apple_HFS
Recovery HD:
Capacity:    650 MB (650,002,432 bytes)
BSD Name:    disk0s3
Content:    Apple_Boot
This is a Mac Pro 5,1 so I would expect it should take less than 10 seconds to boot.
Moreover, the SSD is the only startup device under Startup Disk.
It seems the only PCI card is the ATI Radeon HD 5770 that comes with the system.
ATI Radeon HD 5770:
Name:    ATY,Hoolock
Type:    Display Controller
Driver Installed:    Yes
MSI:    Yes
Bus:    PCI
Slot:    Slot-1
Vendor ID:    0x1002
Device ID:    0x68b8
Subsystem Vendor ID:    0x106b
Subsystem ID:    0x00cf
Revision ID:    0x0000
Link Width:    x16
Link Speed:    5.0 GT/s
The hatter wrote:
Probably trying to use a 512MB boot device?
No it should take 10 seconds. That is what my SSD on Mac Pro 1,1.
PCIe cards can affect booting, especially if you boot from one.
3rd party SSD or not? \
firmware is current?
SSD is set to default startup disk control panel?
You've done ML Recovery and checked the SSD twice: the top of the drive to check partitions, the user volume to check the system directory.
If it is 3rd party what make?
Does it show TRIM is enabled in SATA entry in System Profile?
What else is installed.
Does not sound normal to me to replace anything except the hard drive for clicking, and then to just zero the drive.
I would never pay for disk drive from Apple when there are better prices and as good devices.

New Mac Pro 2.8 and Problems with Aperture

Hi,
I just bought a new Mac Pro 2.8 with the standard 2GB of RAM. My main application is Aperture. Since I loaded it and pointed to my library, the system runs *very* slow when I am in Aperture. I get a lot of spinning wheels for everything I do ... including just switching between pictures. My library is ~130GB and when I tried importing my iPhoto 8 library, it crashed. Now when I try to delete the import project, Aperture hangs. I am very surprised by all of this. Any thoughts or suggestions?
An interesting side note, iPhoto with 140GB library works great.
Mac Pro 2.8, 2GB, 320GB Drive, 130GB Aperture Library, Leopard 10.5.1
Thanks,
-chris

Chris-
Unfortunately Apple reps are seldom good counselors as regards application performance. They are after all retail sales people, not users. Better advice is available from user forums typically populated by folks with years of real-world usage experience as well as education beyond that typically found in retail sales.
RAM is inexpensive now, so IMO MPs should have more RAM, adding two 2-GB sized DIMMs as a minimum add. For heavy apps like Adobe CS or Aperture I recommend adding 8 GB RAM, always minimum 2-GB sized DIMMs to avoid wasting limited slots. IMO RAM is the cheapest performance enhancer and most of us handling heavy graphics will want even more RAM, all slots, over the life of a new MP.
I would recommend buying 4-GB sized DIMMs except that they currently cost much more per GB.
Aperture has always required an advanced graphics card for good performance, even with MP towers. Do not be surprised if adding RAM does not provide a magic bullet. If you use Aperture professionally you will want to add an 8800 GT card.
All that said, Aperture ran adequately on my MBP even with the stock 2 GB RAM. Odds are very high that the slowdown you observe is not simply hardware based. I strongly recommend that you carefully pursue every one of the points discussed in the excellent Bagleturf speed discussion, and especially get fully conversant with Previews alternative settings.
Please describe your hard drive(s) configuration, including how full, since mass storage also bears heavily on performance.
Good luck!
-Allen Wicks

Help or tips on config new Mac Pro hard drives

Been saving for over a year and just bought a new Mac pro. The day after MacWorld with no upgrade announced ☹.
My configuration is the 2x 2.8Gh quad-core processors, 2 GB of RAM, ATI Graphic card (standard), and a 1TB hard drive in the first hard drive bay.
I am upgrading for the original 1 processor G5 (sounds so slow now). I am planning on taking my 1TB hard drive from that machine which contains my entire iTunes library, and its full! Mostly of legally ripped DVDs and TV shows.
I am planning on configuring my hard drives like so.
Drive Bay 1: 1TB drive, I am considering partition it so there are about 400 gigs on a boot drive for applications and libraries and using the other 400 or so gigs left over as a drop box for things from my over full iTunes hard drive. (TV shows which have ended, so the tags won’t be changed)
Drive Bay 2: 1TB, or 500 gigs depending on the price I get for a hard drive. If it’s a 1TB I will just have it mirror the drive in bay 1. If its 500 gigs, I will have the iTunes “drop box” mirrored in drive 2 and use my time capsule to back up the OS, applications and libraries.
Drive 3 will be my currently full TB hard drive from my current machine and drive 4 will be a TB drive as an exact mirror for back up purposes.
Can I set up these mirrors I want with time machine? Also I have never partitioned a drive, I know you can do it in disk utility, is it a pretty self-explanatory process?
Is this set up of drives a good idea? A RAID seems too costly and just too much since I am not worried about response times of the drives, as long as my media plays properly I am generally happy. I do some work in PS and FCE but not enough to warrant percent scratch disks and RAIDed drives. I also read about a back up program called SuperDuper but it seems like time machine can do anything I would need super duper to do so is it worth the 30 bucks.
Also I have never used migration assistant, is that fairly painless or am I better off just syncing what I can with Mobile Me, and brining the rest of the things I need over VIA external hard drive? (Documents and pictures and such)
I haven’t gotten a new Mac in 5 years so are there any other tips you recommend when setting up my OS? I read somewhere to create an Admin profile that you never use for log in, and than your own profile? Just simple things like that. I have been browsing my old Macworld magazines looking for small tips!
Well thank you for reading my long post! I am super excited about this Mac to ship in 2-4 days I even shelled out for next day shipping so I didn’t have to want any longer than I needed to.
Thanks in advance.

I've had my MP just a few months, and like you I've filled the drive bays in no time.
I keep on top of things using two pieces of software;
CarbonCopyCloner - this runs two nightly 'incremental' bootable Clones of my OSX/iTunes/iPhoto 'System' HD, one to an internal drive, one to an external FW800 D2.
ChronoSync - This I use for everything else, work in progress & archives etc - During and towards the end of my jobs (I'm a photographer), I will use ChronoSync to perform perfectly synced Backups to external FW800 D2s and will soon be purchasing a NewerTech Voyager Q to facilitate the use of bare HDs for rotational backups.
Time Machine isn't a program I've looked into and frankly the way I work doesn't really require that 'Archive' backup style.

Configurating a new mac pro

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