Mixing Memory Mac Pro 2.66 Xenon

Hello all!
Alright I am trying to figure the best configuration that I can afford for a memory upgrade to my Mac Pro. I am looking to spend somewhere south of $200.
I currently have the following memory configuration (3GB):
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1: 1 GB
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2: 1 GB
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1: 512 MB
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2: 512 MB
I wanted to expand it quite a bit more and see on NewEgg that they are charging appx 65.00 for (2 x 1GB) and 80.00 for (2 x 2GB). It's definitely a better price per GB to get the 2 x 2GB but would I see a large performance increase?
I have been reading on the message boards that it is best not to mix memory but it is suggested to fill all the slots with the same size memory.
I guess it just kills me to take out all of my existing memory to put in just the 4GB of new memory.
Could anyone provide any suggestions?
Thank you for your time in advance!

You have 3GB, which is on the lite side.
The ideal for that model is 4 DIMMs.
Without knowing if you are a light photoshop, or what you use it for, Apple calls 4 x 1GB for FCP (and audio apps) "symmetrical memory."
And I would look at 4 x 2GB and pull your 3GB, maybe sell it once you know the new memory is fine after a month.
Are you seeing page outs? multiple swap files?
Go to folder: /var/
Maybe you are better off with faster drives, new boot drive or for scratch. A WD 10K 150GB VelociRaptor for $180 even.

Similar Messages

How do i set up the behringer xenyx 1002 audio mixer to mac pro

hello i just received my behringer1002 mixer and want to know how do i connect it to my mac pro. thanks

Either
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA222.aspx
or
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCA202.aspx

Mixing RAM Mac Pro

Hello!
I have read the other posts about this issue but I want to make sure I understand it correctly.
Do not mix 4 & 8gb RAM with 16gb and higher RAM. That part I get, but what I want to be sure of is that I can configure the RAM as follows...
2 slots with original 4gb RAM and 2 slots with 8gb RAM
According to what I've read, this should be acceptable, correct? How much will this configuration compromise the performance as I can't afford 4-8gb ram modules? I work with a lot of large image files and usually have Lightroom & Photoshop running at the same time. Even with the 16gb I currently have, I get the force quit window popping up to tell me apps have been paused quite a bit.
Thanks for help!! Have a good one!!
Lisa Rose

Yes, that's acceptable. It won't compromise performance to put in more RAM.

Need Help finding Memory for Mac Pro

Hello,
I need to buy some memory for some of our computers and want to make sure I get the right ones. While searching I have yet to find one that actually says it is specifically compatible with our computers.
Here are the computer specs:
Model Name:          Mac Pro
Model Identifier:          MacPro1,1
Processor Name:          Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors:          2
Total Number Of Cores:          4
L2 Cache (per processor):          4 MB
Memory:          1 GB
Bus Speed:          1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MP11.005C.B08
SMC Version (system):          1.7f10
Serial Number (system):          G8724313UQ2
Hardware UUID:          00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F2046444
I know they need to be installed in pairs so I'm looking for either a 2GB Upgrade (2x1GB) or 1GB Upgrade (2x512MB).
Thank you in advance,
Randy

Amazon has excellent top tier likely better $40 2x2GB which I and others have been buying up.
How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $39
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/

Mac Pro 8 core Early 2008 memory question

I have been looking through Crucial for an upgrade and found this...
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Mac%20Pro%20%288-core%20Xeo n%205400%20Series%29%202nd%20Gen.%20Early%202008&Cat=RAM
Seems expensive to me, now for a silly question, why is the memory for the Early 2009 model so much cheaper, and would they be backward compatible with my machine by any chance?
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Mac%20Pro%20%288-core%20Xeo n%205500%20Series%29%203rd%20Gen.%20Early%202009&Cat=RAM
Thanks and feel free to ridicule

OWC does ship to UK.
Amazon UK is a good source and Kingston is fine brand.
To give an idea of what OWC wants ~US$250 for 4 x 2GB
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#800-memory
And of course an SSD can help a lot. Just about to buy 120GB from Amazon and is $166 for an SATA3 Corsair (same controller and I have 5 from Corsair from last year) great way to improve performance of the system.

Mac pro memory issue

we have a 2.26 ghz quad core intel xeon mac pro 2009. apple website says it can handle 32 gigs of memory. we can only get 16 gigs to work.
in addition, crucial says it recommends only 16 gigs. there are 8 slots available. what is going on?

You can spend months researching exactly the correct RAM DIMMs for your Mac Pro 2009 -- for a one-off purchase. I do not recommend that approach.
Instead, I suggest you deal with Vendors that have Mac expertise, and can tell you what DIMMs will work in your Mac, "guaranteed or your money back." A lifetime replacement warranty is an additional assurance that they are selling you high-quality DIMMs.
Crucial has always had a problem "around the edges" because they do not maintain a Lab full of Macs. Instead, they use their returns database to only recommend what absolutely for certain works.
In the US, I suggest either of these Vendors:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1066-memory
http://www.datamemorysystems.com/Mac_Pro_Memory.asp

1066Mhz Memory in a WestMere 12-core Mac Pro

Hello,
Thanks for reading and for your help. I've tried to find an anwser on Google but without success.
I presently have a 2.26Ghz 8-core Mac Pro (Nahelem).
I would like to exchange it with a 2.66Ghz 12-core Mac Pro (Westmere).
I previously bought for my 2.26Ghz 8-core Mac Pro (Nahelem) 32Gb of RAM (Hynix HMT151R7BFR8C-G7). It works fine. And I would like to be able to use the same ram in the 2.66Ghz 12-core Mac Pro (Westmere). Is it possible? Even though the Nahelem uses 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM and the Westmere uses 1333MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM.
If it is possible, I understand that I won't be optimal, but I wish to save myself the hassle of selling my old ram, to buy some new. And I will eventually swap the RAM for the right one when prices go down a bit.

Westmere can use 1333 but shouldn't REQUIRE it. But with Apple hardware...?
And there isn't that much difference in performance. I know that was mentioned in one blog/post/article.
Now, as I write this, I am not sure, and definitely not 100%.
It should. I can't see how it would not (DDR3 is very forgiving except when you go above and beyond like faster RAM and over-clocking).
From OWC:
1333MHz and 1066MHz ECC
Model ID: MacPro5,1
1333MHz & 1066MHz ECC Mac Pro
Memory Information
* Up to 64GB of Total Memory
* 4 or 8 Total Slots
* Apple Specified Thermal Sensor
* DDR3 PC3-10600 ECC 1333MHZ or PC-8500 ECC 1066MHz
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1333-memory
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/1333D3W4M32K/
Crucial -
Q: +What memory goes into my computer, and will a faster speed be backward-compatible?+
A: *DDR3 memory with support for DDR3 PC3-10600 speeds.*
Crucial 12-Core Mid-2010 Mac Pro
First word from OWC and MacPerformanceGuide :
*OWC has confirmed that the 8GB modules do work in the 4/6-core 2010 Mac Pro* > According to OWC, using 3 modules shows a ~ *15% memory bandwidth gain* over 4 modules, so the configurations with a * at right ar the optimal ones. Whether real-world tasks are affected by this small difference remains to be tested, but +in past testing never measured more then 3% hit from using 4 modules instead of 3.+
Mid-2010 Mac Pro DDR3 Memory @ OWC

How do I replace a bad RAM chip on my Mac Pro?

When I start up my Mac, I keep getting a window that tells me to restart my computer. I've run Disk Warrior and saved my files to an external hard drive, but I still get the little black window telling me to restart my computer. No matter what I do. Now, I can't even run Disk Warrior again. The tech people at Alsoft say that it's very possible that my RAM chip is bad, and that it needs to be replaced. How do I do that? And where do I get RAM chips?

Before replacing RAM chip, you'd better check them with Apple Hardware Test or memtest OSX.
http://www.memtestosx.org
Memory sticks are available at OWC or Amazon, though it depends on your Mac Pro model.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/index-macpro.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory
How to install RAM stick video in Mac Pro.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

Mac Pro screen issue

Hi all,
my mac pro shows the apple logo at start up and the users available.
Then, either the screen goes crazy with lots of moving thin grey lines or I get to
login in under my account and then the finder has lots of artifacting on the screen
- black blocks in the finder window or parts of top bar displays overlapping text. I've
had some odd black triangle across some of the finder windows too.
If I log in to the guest user (safari only mode) the screen is fine.
Is this a graphics card issue or something else?
p.s. I have tried installing 10.8 but alas, my mac is just one model out from being suported.
Cheers,
Steve
Mac pro
2x 2.66 GHx Dual-Core Interl Xeon
10.7.4

The 7300 as I said could be on its last legs also.
10.6.3 DVD is your best bet probably.
And it isn't that hard to setup and install and be back up and running.
But I would invest in a ATI 5770 regardless, you have 6 yr old system
ATI Radeon 5770 or Nvidia 8800GT
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-ATI-Radeon-5770-MC742ZM/dp/B003Z6QH6M
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726537-REG/Apple_MC742ZM_A_ATI_Radeon_HD_5 770.html
How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433
WD Black Caviar
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $54
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
Hardware Monitor
http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html
UPS
http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Compatible-1500VA-Tower/dp/B00429N 19W/
Metro Vacuum ED500 DataVac 500-Watt 0.75-HP Electric Duster 120-Volt
www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED500-500-Watt-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW/

Updating your older Mac Pro for a few more years of good use...

Hello everyone, I wanted to share my tips for getting your aging Mac Pro running better for Mavericks and the FCPX 10.1.
Please note your Mac Pro's specs before doing what did..I am an editor and use the 3 big A's to get my work done. Adobe, Apple, Avid (not so much Avid)
I got a great deal on it for only $1300. I did a bunch of research and decided my upgrade options were best for my machine and the way I use it so your upgrade options my differ slightly. (do your research!!!)
I have 2009 Nehelem Mac Pro 2x 2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon. Installed was 6GBs of factory RAM, an upgraded ATI 512 GPU, and 1, 1TB WD Black system drive. (this was a nice upgrade compared to my 4 core Mac Pro)
I was running 10.8 and all my apps were installed and running. I installed 3 more 7200rpm drives to fill the drive bays. Momentus XT's 2TB each.
(I upgraded to Mavericks, as you know it overwirtes the old OS, I wanted the new FCPX...) more on this later.
1- RAM,
I removed the puny 6GBs of RAM it came with and installed 32GBs of 1066 Mhz DDR3 from OWC. I decided 32 would be enough for my needs looking into the App requirments and of course the cost. I noticed a slight difference in some performance. (to my dissapointment) fcpx beachballs!!
However now you will have more RAM to allocate RAM for programs that can read it. After Effects anyone...
link- http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1066-memory
2-GPU,
I had a 5770 sitting in the closet, and put that in and bascilly it sucked! I never like the 5770. fcpx beachballs!!
I contacted apple they informed me FCPX is written for GPUs and that a large card (while they didnt suppport it at the time) would be the best upgrade to better performance. So I installed the AMD Sappire 7950 3GB GPU from OWC. This is a monster card! and right away I noticed a huge difference in the perfromace of FCPX and AE! Not only that but the card supports up to 2K I believe... and is a great price... and for you gear heads it looks bad *** and the fan is super quiet!
less fcpx beachballs
link-http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sapphire/100352MAC/
3- Hardrive,
Ok so now I'm thinking my machine is a beast! I have all this RAM and a huge GPU and the top ESATA drives you can buy, butI was still getting beachballs and FCPX was painfully slow at times..needless to say I felt Apple backing my in a corner to drink more coolaid a get the new small round black can...What to do???
As I mentioned before I did not do a clean install....Most folks dont like going through the pain of 2 days to do a clean install but I knew deep down it would have ot be done. Before I did that I decided to do some research on those new SSD cards everyone is raging about. Remeber your Mac Pro's bus speed is only so big...remember this when doing this last and most important upgrade!!
The market has all kinds of SSD drives for sale and OWC has a PCIe option (too much money for me) they have 3G drives 6G drives and so on. I could be wrong but buying a more expensive 6G card is a waste of money with bus speed of the Nehelem (this my differ with Westmere) I bought an of the self Kingston Hyper X 120GB (get at least 240GB if you can) and the OWC Mac Pro Drive Sled.
This by far was the best upgrade! Before installation please go through the pain of the clean install...For Mavericks you need to create a bootable drive on a USB stick first. You then need to monut SSD in an empty enclosure in order to get it to mount for the OS to be installed
OSX install Instructions-http://www.macworld.com/article/2056561/how-to-make-a-bootable-mavericks-install -drive.html
link- Drive Sled http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MMP35T25/?utm_source=go ogle&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=googlebase&gclid=COyxzMyOub0CFcqUfgo d8xUAPQ
kin
link-SSD http://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/hyperx
PCIe Expansions
H.264 Encoding-
Matrox Compress HD PCIe card, This card is amazing however it does not support Compressor 4.1 but it does support legecy Compressor 3 and I did successfully install both Apps in Mavericks. (You must hide legecy versions in a folder in applications)
ESATA CARD- 4 Port 6G Caldigit esata card.
USB 3.0- Newertech 2 port USB3.0 Mac Pro Card. I dont recommend buying this card. Mac Pro Nehelem, was not made for USB3.0 and the drives I plug into it rarely mount...if ever mount... restart...when they do its a little faster than firewire and close to my Esata options. Dont bother....
I have setup my drive structure as follow.
Drive Bay 1 All System Apps run on the SSD drive.
Drive bay 2 hold the contents of all the Media for my projects.
Drive bay 3 hold all the AutoSaves and the FCPX Libaries and daily Project backups and renders.
Drive bay 4 Is Special Effects drive.
Dual Samsung 27 inch HD displays
M_Audio Monitors
1-3TB Caldigit RAID
12-TBs of drives attached to every port on the back.
2_USB docking ports voyager s3 for archive drives.
Now that I have all these upgrades, a clean install, fresh updates to my softwares, my Mac Pro runs better that ever! My boot ups time is twice as fast as before and my OS is very snappy...Oh yeah FCPX, After Effects, Boris RED, Mail, Safari all open at the same time a running brilliantly!
Many of us are not ready to upgrade to the new Mac Pro, and as we all know the legecy Mac Pro was built like a tank with military grade proccessors and endless upgrade options. It wont ever be as fast as that new black can but I know I will be working faster with my trusty Mac!
Good luck!
basementape films

SSD Killer-fast Mac Pro
Upgrade RAM to 16GB (4 x 4GB)
Upgrade all the hard drives to 2TB
Upgrade to 10.6.8 and CS5.5
Replace graphic card with ATI 5770
Upgrade the processors with X5355s, which is what many are doing now with theirs.
Forget Lion. Dropped PowerPC and Rosetta code support
Clone your drives.
Keep 40% or more free space on any drive.
Move any non-OS or applications off the boot drive to a data drive.
Move system and apps to SSD
Use SSD(s) for Aperture Library or stripe RAID.
None of the above, sell yours and pick up a 2010 2.8GHz $2100 (people that want or need to run Tiger and PowerPC will likely pay $700 range for MacPro1,1). Upgrade the processor in 2010, with 6-core 3.33GHz $590.
Apple Special Refurbished Mac Pro 2.8GHz Quad
Intel Xeon W3680 3.33 GHz, SLBV2
Intel Xeon UP W3680 3.33 GHz Processor - Hexa-core
W3670 Upgrade photos
At some point, it doesn't make sense to pour money into older system.
But you can, and do it gradually one step at a time.

Windows – but Which? (What to install on Mac Pro Quad Core?)

First, apologies in advance if this seems like repetition of a recent topic, but I read through the recent "Vista vs XP" thread and it didn't quite answer my questions.
Basically, I'm planning on buying a Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.8 and installing Boot Camp and a Windows OS startup. This puts me into the notoriously tricky area of picking the right version of Windows for my needs, something I haven't really had to deal with in regards to OS X.
Basically, I'm not looking for something with too many bells and whistles or to much bloatware built into the OS. Also, I'll probably be using some older software/shareware, so backwards compatibility is an issue. On the other hand, I'd like something that works with the Quad Core architecture at its greatest efficiency.
This means I'm wondering about a couple of features that I may or may not need, and it would be of great help if you folks could point me in the right direction regarding these:
x64 – Since the Xeon processors in the Mac Pro are 64-bit processors, am I better off with "x64"-compatible versions of Windows (either Windows Vista or x64 versions of XP)? Will this cause problems starting up older programs that may not have been written for x64?
*Dual Processor Support* – the Quad Core, of course, is a dual processor – will I get better performance from a version of Windows that list "Dual Processor Support" among its features (basically, the "pro", "business", or "ultimate" versions of XP and Vista)?
If I need those features, I'm probably looking at getting either the x64 version of Windows XP Pro or the Business or Ultimate versions of Vista. However, I'm leaning against Vista based on backwards-compatibility and bloatware issues. That leaves XP Pro x64, but I might go for a more basic version of XP if I find out the x64 or DPS features aren't actually something I need. (The other "extras" in XP Pro don't sound like anything I need.)
Also, I'm likely to install Parallel Desktop at some point and don't want a version of Windows that would have compatibility problems there, either.
Anyway, any answers you folks can provide for me in this regard would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Peter

Truth is, I am disappointed in VMware Fusions slow walk toward full support for 64-bit and SP1 but 2.0 beta is getting there. Never used Parallels but best to check their own support forums. They also updated the 1.x version recently.
http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/fusion
http://forums.parallels.com/
You don't need anything first, except I would start with a new hard drive for Vista, don't even do anything with it and pull OS X drive, boot Vista DVD and go from there, just as you would normally. Much easier. After it is installed is when you need Apple BootCamp from your Leopard OEM DVD, install, and then Apple Software Update will take care of 2.1. And install your graphic drivers yourself.
The problem(s) come with trying to use BootCamp Assist and setting up partitioning, and it only makes it harder - not easier - on Mac Pro (you aren't and don't want to use your OS X boot drive).
Windows on Mac forum @ MacRumors
http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86
And their Mac Pro area http://forums.macrumors.com which has a lot of Vista talk from Mac Pro owners.
The only real issues are which graphics card to get today or in next weeks, what drives you are going with and other upgrades like memory (8 x 1GB is actually a good base ideal figure so all DIMM slots are taken up).
Barefeats has a number of benchmark articles:
Radeon 3870: http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-06-16/#8451
Vista graphics: http://www.barefeats.com/harper11.html
Memory: http://www.barefeats.com/harper12.html
Drives: http://www.barefeats.com/harper9.html
WD 300GB Raptor: http://www.barefeats.com/hard103.html
- this is the drive to die for, but not natively supported
I buy most of the upgrades I need over the last ten years from OWC http://www.MacSales.com that specializes in Mac.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD6400AAKS/
- until the WD "Black" series (I guess Blackbird name or SR71 are already taken) along with 3rd generation of their RE series drives. WD has been popular, reliable, with Mac Pro for last two years. Can't say the same of every vendor. Samsung F1 is also a real winner.
If you buy only one book to understand and get the most out of OS X: "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" (Pogue has a Missing Manual Series on most everything, and this is the most popular recommended for Mac OS).
http://books.slashdot.org/books/08/02/27/1551206.shtml
I needed 3-4 for Vista before I found "Administrator's Pocket Consultant" and O'Reilly's "Vista Annoyances" are both excellent along with MS Press's "Inside Out."

How to choose the right Mac Pro Specs?

Hello all,
Below is a question I posted in May along with someone's response. I'm wondering if I should still go with the response I received considering the new release of the mac pro 12 core. Did anything change that I need to note in my purchase or is the below response suitable? THANKS!!!!!
my question:
I need some help in choosing the right specs for my mac pro. I am looking for a computer that will help me in running my small business and keep my art portfolio organized. I'll probably be running several programs at a time (ex. mozilla, itunes, adobe bridge, dreamweaver, illustrator, and photoshop). More specifics below
What i'll be using it for:
building a few websites
managing my small business
large photo file editing
keeping business files, artist receipts, etc
cataloging my art portfolio (large photo files)
storing photos, music, and short videos
graphic design
infrequent film editing
infrequent sound editing
what programs i'll be using:
CS5 (mostly photoshop, illustrator, bridge, dreamweaver)
iphoto
itunes
maybe minimal finalcut/soundtrack pro
maybe minimal aftereffects
Advice?
My concerns are that it needs to run pretty smoothly with multiple programs open, no overheating, plenty of space for file storage and application support.
Hello washleyill,
My advice would be to buy the standard configuration 2.66GHz Quad Core (i.e. 3 x 1GB RAM, 640GB hard drive) from the Apple store, with the exception of the graphics card which you can buy as a CTO option for $200.00. It is well worth the upgrade from the GT120 - I know, because I upgraded myself last November after using a GT120 for 4 months.
With regard to the memory, if you can afford it now, buy 4 x 4GB from OWC now. If not, I would suggest that you buy 2 x 4GB now, and then add another 2 x 4GB in the future. 16GB of RAM is a much better option than 8GB for your requirements. You can sell the 3 x 1GB RAM to OWC in "part exchange", and there would be little difference in price for 2 x 4GB to the CTO option of 4 x 2GB.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1066-memory
Instead of buying 2 x 1TB hard drives as a CTO option, you could purchase 2 x 1.5TB or 2 x 2TB HDDs for less money, and you would still have the 640GB. Spare drives are always useful. I use my original 640GB as a spare emergency system boot drive (OS and applications) in an external enclosure.
Another alternative is to wait a few more weeks, in case the rumours of the introduction of a new Mac Pro range in June have any foundation.
Regards,
Bill

Hello again washleyill,
The defining factor, which you haven't mentioned in either this or your original question, is what your overall budget is.
With the introduction of the new models, it's a new ball game now since I replied to your original question.
Now, if it is within your budget, I would recommend the 2010 Mac Pro 3.33GHz 6-Core "Westmere", with the standard 1TB hard drive, the basic 3 x 1GB RAM, but with the CTO Radeon HD5870 1GB Graphics Card.
This is the same configuration that Lloyd Chambers (of Mac Performance Guide fame) has recently ordered:
http://macperformanceguide.com/index.html
Then buy as much memory as you can afford now from OWC (trade-in the 3 x 1GB of Apple RAM against this):
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1066-memory
(The 1333MHz is now listed on this page as well as the 1066MHZ)
If your budget is large enough, then certainly it is worth considering the 2.93Ghz 12-Core, but the 3.33GHz 6-Core, with maxed out memory and fast hard drives, should be more than adequate for your requirements. The more memory the better for Photoshop CS5!
I have just ordered Photoshop CS5 myself. It is a big step-up from Elements 8, and I was going to wait until next year, by which time, hopefully, any initial problems and bugs should have been resolved.
However, Adobe UK made me an offer I couldn't refuse! The full boxed Photoshop CS5 edition for half price!
Also, the offer included an option to buy Lightroom3 at the same time with a 30% discount off its normal price, and so I have taken the plunge and ordered that as well, because I have never been completely happy with Aperture (II or III). Normally, I would not have purchased both Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3, but at these prices the offer was too tempting.
Best of luck with your purchase,
Regards,
Bill

My Mac Pro is running slow...

Not ready to buy a new computer yet.
it is 5 years old running 10.6 Lion. What might I do to clean it up and get it running faster?
Thanks,
Mark

5 yrs old does little to tell us what yours is and has now...
But 2007-8 and you need FBDIMMs and should start with 16GB probably, some faster and more disk drives for system, media and projects, for scratch. Even processor upgrade.
ATI Radeon 5770
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-ATI-Radeon-5770-MC742ZM/dp/B003Z6QH6M
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726537-REG/Apple_MC742ZM_A_ATI_Radeon_HD_5 770.html
How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $36
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
For best performance on Mac Pro, install memory in risers symmetrically
The Mac Pro comes with two memory riser cards, each with four DIMM slots. With a total of eight slots, you can add up to 16 GB of memory.
Note: DIMMs must be installed in pairs of equal size from the same vendor. For instance, you must not have one or three DIMMs on either riser at any time. Additionally, two DIMMs from different vendors should not be combined and used as a pair.
Other configurations of DIMM pairs are still compatible with Final Cut Studio, but may not achieve the same performance levels as when DIMM pairs are installed on both risers evenly.
Riser A contains:
Riser B contains:
2 x 512MB
2 x 512MB
2 x 1GB
2 x 1GB
2 x 2GB
2 x 2GB
4 x 512MB
4 x 512MB
4 x 1GB
4 x 1GB
4 x 2GB
4 x 2GB
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1957
WD Black 1TB $93
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/
WD Green 3TB $149 - backup
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Green-Desktop/dp/B004RORMF6/
WD VR 10K 250GB $103 200MB/sec boot drive :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V5A1BK/
Those last and last and make a nice boot drive.
SSD: Samsung 830 128GB $99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077CR60Q/
Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4: Graphics card compatibility
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/specs/

Choosing specs for a mac pro

Hello all,
I've posted this question a few times in the past and am still a bit unsure of what specs i should go with. With the student/teacher discount coming to an end soon, I thought I'd give it one more go. I am also curious how the new mac pro might affect my decision. I will not be needing a 12 core, but did this new product affect the specs for the lower models?
I am looking for a computer that will help me run my small business and keep my art portfolio organized. I'm willing to spend around $3000 and am also willing to use another source to buy less expensive parts to install myself.
My concerns are that it needs to run pretty smoothly with multiple programs open, no overheating, plenty of space for file storage and application support.
Ideally this computer will be my work horse for many years to come.
The programs that would most likely be open in conjunction with one another would be a combination of the following...mozilla, itunes, adobe bridge, dreamweaver, illustrator, and photoshop.
Specifically, i'll be using it for...
building a few websites
managing my small business
large photo file editing
keeping business files, artist receipts, etc
cataloging my art portfolio (large photo files)
storing photos, music, and short videos
graphic design
infrequent film editing
infrequent sound editing
The programs i'll be using:
CS5 (mostly photoshop, illustrator, bridge, dreamweaver)
iphoto
itunes
maybe minimal finalcut/soundtrack pro
maybe minimal aftereffects
I received this response the first time I posted this question and have found it to be very helpful, thanks bill! I'm wondering if anyone else would like to expand on it or perhaps offer other options for my situation. Thank you all very much, any advice is appreciated.
"My advice would be to buy the standard configuration 2.66GHz Quad Core (i.e. 3 x 1GB RAM, 640GB hard drive) from the Apple store, with the exception of the graphics card which you can buy as a CTO option for $200.00. It is well worth the upgrade from the GT120 - I know, because I upgraded myself last November after using a GT120 for 4 months.
With regard to the memory, if you can afford it now, buy 4 x 4GB from OWC now. If not, I would suggest that you buy 2 x 4GB now, and then add another 2 x 4GB in the future. 16GB of RAM is a much better option than 8GB for your requirements. You can sell the 3 x 1GB RAM to OWC in "part exchange", and there would be little difference in price for 2 x 4GB to the CTO option of 4 x 2GB.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1066-memory
Instead of buying 2 x 1TB hard drives as a CTO option, you could purchase 2 x 1.5TB or 2 x 2TB HDDs for less money, and you would still have the 640GB. Spare drives are always useful. I use my original 640GB as a spare emergency system boot drive (OS and applications) in an external enclosure.
Another alternative is to wait a few more weeks, in case the rumours of the introduction of a new Mac Pro range in June have any foundation."

That advice looks pretty sound to me. What I would add is for internal drives you need one for storing your working files (better not to have those on your system drive but not really a big deal). And one for backup with Time Machine. What I also have is a separate external drive to clone my system so I have 2 backups.
And I have a partition on one of the internal drives that is used ONLY as a Photoshop scratch disk. This is by far the fastest solution unless you want to create a raid system. Never have your scratch disk on the same drive as your system drive, not even as a partition. You only need around 500 MB for this and it's best if that partition is dedicated only as a scratch disk.
You can create all of this with partitions for some of it, no need for lots of drives, except use different drives for Time Machine and your clone disk so both can't go out at the same time. I think for speed purposes that the scratch disk and Time Machine should be on internal drives, but Firewire 800 is pretty fast for an external.
Other than that your biggest concern is ram. Get as much as you can afford because that will determine your speed more than anything else.
I was working on a 4 year old iMac, which is a pretty good machine, but the limited 3 gb ram was causing problems because I have Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign open all the time along with Mail, Chrome and a couple of others. When I got a Mac pro last year to replace it I got 8 gb of ram and the speed has been incredible.
Kevin
Edit: Forgot to mention that you shouldn't buy the hard drives or ram from Apple, they are way too expensive, get the minimum you can from Apple then get new stuff, OWC is a good source.
Message was edited by: Kevin Horn

Can I add a ram of 1333mhz in my mac pro which had a stock of 1066mhz. Will the ram be compatible ???....because ,I was not able to find a 1066 MHz of ram in apple store. And it's for my mac pro which I bought recently a month ago

Can Anyone help me out for a good solution?

DDR3 is backward compatible, no one really buys theirs from Apple, you can do a lot better on price and warranty going elsewhere.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433
http://macperformanceguide.com/Recommended-MacPro-Memory.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1333-memory

Mixing Memory Mac Pro 2.66 Xenon

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