New Mac Pro, Quad-Core or 8-Core?

I need to decide whether to purchase a Quad-core or 8-core new Mac Pro. Using the computer for commercial and fine art work, in Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 2.0, and InDesign CS4. (No video.) Is there any advantage in the 8-core?

Photoshop probably won't benefit much from twice the cores - but they will help when running multiple apps simultaneously. I have a first generation Mac Pro 2.66 and am (still) perfectly happy with the performance.
About the only app in your list that would probably benefit is Lightroom (or ACR), when processing RAW files. My four cores are fairly pegged when processing files from a 1Ds MK II.

Similar Messages

Will my Cinema HD Display work with a new Mac Pro Quad Core?

Will my Cinema HD Display work with a new Mac Pro Quad Core?

Yes.
Thunderbolt ports and displays: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT5219
https://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5299

Wake From Sleep Reboots New Mac Pro 2.8 GHz 8-core 10.5.2

Add me to list of users with this problem.
I bought NEW computer yesterday.
Mac Pro 2.8 GHz 8-core 10.5.2
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Yesterday, I ZeroWrote the OEM Apple hard drive and Installed 10.5.1 from OEM Install disks -- ran all updaters, repaired permissions numerous times during build.
Only 2gb OEM Apple RAM installed
Added on (from original installers): CS3, Office 2008, Toast 8.03, Stuffit 12.01, Silverfast AI 6.5x (Epson 4990). It appeared to be waking properly during the build.
Last night, last Software Update updater ran was ATI RADEON HD 2600 XT Firmware UPC 1.0.
This morning, wake from sleep rebooted machine.
Apple had me disconnect all cables, including power cable for a minute and then plug back in.
This worked for a couple few minute sleeps, but after lunch it rebooted again waking it from sleep.

I got my 8-core StartUp Disk deselected and have had only one auto reboot when waking from sleep.
HOWEVER, now I have heavy vertical bands twice now when it wakes up my 30" Cinema Display:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6919620#6919620
It had wide vertical banding, white edges in corners and edges, and white fog over entire screen that seemed burned into the screen -- it eventually corrected itself back to normal after being on over a couple hours.
Second time, I had wide vertical banding, 6" and 3" wide with rows of white, green, blue pixels.
I connected the 30" to the old Mac Pro -- 10.4.11 -- AND THE BANDING GRAINY SCREEN APPEARED CONNECTED TO THE OTHER MAC like it was burned in the LCD.
So it appears the banding is in the monitor the monitor.
The burn-in cleared itself after being on about 120 minutes.
*It seems the new Mac Pros have some devilish issues with sleep on their Apple Cinema Displays to the point it is destroying the monitors -- or it is coincidence...*

New Mac Pro (quad) does not shut down!

Hey guys
I've just taken delivery of a new Mac Pro for my home music studio, and have loaded up various software such as Native Instruments Komplete, BFD3, Sympobia etc... and Logic Pro X.
In the last two days, whenever I shut down the Mac Pro, it goes to a grey screen (light grey) with the mouse pointer still visible, and then just freezes and doesn't proceed to power off.
Before I provide further information, does anyone have an idea of what might cause this behavour and anything I should be trying to resolve it?
Cheers and thanks,
Mike

yeloop wrote:
...does anyone have an idea of what might cause this behavour and anything I should be trying to resolve it?...
I don't know what might be causing that but one way to find out is to set your Mac to start up and shut down in "verbose mode."
To turn on Verbose booting, at the Terminal type the following:
sudo nvram boot-args="-v"
Disabling Verbose booting is just as easy:
sudo nvram boot-args=
You'll see the various steps the Mac runs through to boot and to shut down. When it hangs, you'll be able to see what point it's hanging at.
BTW, did it behave this way before you loaded up all that software?

Downgrade 10.5.1 to 10.4.11 on the new MAC Pro's (early 2008) 8 core

Hi all
I'm an AVID MediaComposer user and I was using it on a PC until the beginning this year I decided to go to MAC. I ordered the MAC pro according AVID's specs and I received the new model (I can't get anymore the old Mac Pro's - said the dealer). I noticed that even the new version of MC adrenaline V.2.8 will not run on the 10.5.1. Only on the 10.4.11. I tried to install 10.4.11 on this machine without any luck using the OS CD's. I even tried to install an internall 10.4.11 fitted disk drive but it wouldn't startup. I phoned the dealler and he said: "No way we can downgraded to 10.4.11. Sorry." The same thing was told by the Apple support line!!
Is that truth???!
Is there any way of doing it?
I need to start working and, if that's true, I'll need to go back to PC... Possibly I shouldn't have gone to MAC
Regards
Message was edited by: goncas_pt

There are a couple of things you could do......
1. Order a NVidia 7300 card from Apple for $149 & run that with a cloned 10.4.11 system, that works fine for 2d apps and video in a 2006 mac pro
I am not aware of any other incompatibilities with your motherboard but that is something you would need to test ! I am sure about the video card you have needing 10.5 though.
2. Offer to swap your mac pro for an earlier model. Try to get one still under warranty and find someone who will offer a cash adjust, if that matters to you. There must be heaps who would jump at the offer, and from your point of view it may just be worth it .....
Andrew

New Mac Pro quad 8 - This is great! PS CS3 at 200 MPH

Well, I have my new quad 3.0 Mac Pro up and running - and it is great.
I purchased the quad 8 3.0 at an Apple Store - with 2 optical drives, 1 GB (4 X 512), the Radeon X1900 video card, and a single 250 GB hard drive. It was a bundle and the only way to get a quad 3.0 at the store.
I ordered 8 GB of RAM (4 X 2 GB) from Crucial - bringing me up to 10 GB. I used the VERY helpful information here to install the extra RAM:
http://peloche.smugmug.com/photos/91752872-O.jpg
I added a FW 800 PCI Express card to run some LaCie external hard drives. They booted up fine.
I also purchased 2 Raptor 10,000 RPM 150 GB drives and a 500 GB maxtor hard drive. They were all easy to install and I set up a Raid 0 with the Raptors for a Photoshop CS3 scratch area. The 500 GB drive will be for internal image storage.
Everything was easy to install. The Apple designers have done a fantastic job of making internal expansions of drives and memory a snap.
I hear no beeps - everything is whisper quiet - there are no crashes or spinning beach balls.
I installed the Photoshop CS3 Creative Suite 3 Design Premium software and it is very happy with the new machine.
Compare to my old dual 2.7 G5 and PS CS2 this machine/software combo just plain blows me away.
Start up of PS CS3 is in seconds. Applying layer adjustments or filters to 300 MB images is so fast I cannot believe it!
My next task is to get my 3 wide format Epson printers (7600, 9600 and 9800) up and running. I'll update if there any problems there. I also need to calibrate the 20" and 23" cinema displays wtih my X-Rite eye one system - and make some new paper profiles for the printers.
So - I want to post this simply because almost everything one can read on this Mac Pro discussion is from the handful of people who experience some kind of problem. The thousands of users who are happy and even ecstatic do not show up here.
If you are contemplating getting the Mac Pro for PS CS3 - just take out that credit card and do it!
Life is good.
Dick
Mac Pro 3.0, G5 2.7, 2 intel iMacs, 1 MacBook, 1 Powerbook, 18 G4 Macs, 3 iPods Mac OS X (10.4.9) I teach Digital Photography clases - on Macs

Dick,
Your machine sounds great. You'll love it!
I purchased a 2.66 with 2GB RAM and the geforce7300 floor model from Bestbuy 2 days before the final closeout.
I went into the store to see if I could buy a work bench from their rear lab since there wasn't anything left, and amazingly I saw the Mac Pro among a pile of old computers and other junk with the keyboard and mouse tangled on top of it. It looked great with no scratches -- just great -- but there was not even a working monitor to try it and see if it was working.
I opened the lid to see if anything was missing or something and it looked so clean -- no dust -- that I don't think they ever plugged it in (If you look inside the floor models at an Applestore they have so much dust from being ON 24/7 or 12/7).
The price was just so amazing that I gambled and bought it. From there I went straight to my Applestore and had it install the Airport+BT cards and asked the genius to plugit in to see if it was working. He said it was OK. I also updated the date of purchase with Apple to get the full one year warranty.
Got home, connected my 23" Cinema and fired it up. I did all the software and firmware updates since it had none. It was working perfect! Next day I ordered 2 more Gigs from crucial and 4 HDDs.
It's my first Mac desktop since I always used PowerBooks/MBPs. The difference in speed with CS3 is just incredible. It takes less than 10 seconds to apply a filter that on my MBP 2.16 takes 35sec.
I'm blown away with this machine; it's design, easiness of expanding, build quality, ect.
Looking at some benchmarks from Barefeats comparing the 8-core with the 4-core, you will see that the 8 blows the 4 away in many video apps, but amazingly with PSCS3 the diference is 0%. I use it mainly for CS3 and Aperture and it changed my whole experience.
Like you say: Life is good
Bests!
-pablo

Adding new hard drive to Mac Pro (quad core)

I've just ordered a new Mac Pro quad core (2.66 GHz) with one GB HD. Since Apple is charging £240 for a second drive I decided to get it from somewhere else. I found a 1GB Western Digital Caviar Green but I also noticed 1GB WD Caviar Black. I wonder if anybody has any experience of those drives and would they work with the latest Mac Pro ?
Does anybody knows what make of drive is Apple using in their latest Mac Pros ?
Tom

*WD Caviar Black 640GB*
HD Tune: WDC WD6401AALS-00L3B2 Benchmark
Transfer Rate Minimum : 59.1 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 118.1 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 96.4 MB/sec
Access Time : 11.8 ms
Burst Rate : 125.3 MB/sec
*Black Caviar 1TB:*
HD Tune: WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B Benchmark
Transfer Rate Minimum : 53.9 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 108.7 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 86.1 MB/sec
Access Time : 12.9 ms
Burst Rate : 111.5 MB/sec
+(note the slower average to the smaller 640GB model)+
*Green Power 1TB*
HD Tune: WDC WD10EADS-00L5B1 Benchmark
12-23-2008
Transfer Rate Minimum : 41.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 95.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 74.3 MB/sec
Access Time : 14.0 ms
Burst Rate : 117.2 MB/sec
*WD Caviar Blue 640GB*
HD Tune: WDC WD6400AAKS-00A7B Benchmark
Transfer Rate Minimum : 55.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 113.3 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 90.2 MB/sec
Access Time : 11.8 ms
Burst Rate : 112.9 MB/sec
the 32MB cache did not make a real or noticeable difference in benchmarks
http://www.barefeats.com/hard112.html

Is a SSD drive for a new Mac Pro "worth it"?

I will be purchasing a new Mac Pro quad-core in the next month or so. My computer usage, other than email and some word processing, consists primarily of editing RAW photo files using Nikon Capture NX2, Photoshop Elements, and iPhoto. I do almost nothing with video. Would a SSD boot drive offer me any significant advantage over a 1 TB hard drive? Would it appreciably speed up photo editing of the RAW files, or simply boot faster? If you do recommend one, what size would I need for a boot drive to contain the OS and all program software? I will be upgrading from my current G5, so I suspect anything will initially seem very fast. Thanks!

It depends on just how dependent on disk I/O your software is. Hard drives are still, by far, the slowest link in the performance chain for a computer. If your software is primarily CPU bound and goes to the hard drive very little, you won't notice the benefits of an SSD that much. I use Apple's Aperture, and Aperture is VERY sensitive to disk speed for the volume where your library file is. There are several key databases in the library package that are extremely sensitive to disk performance and particularly file fragmentation.
I have an OWC Mercury Extreme SSD that I use for my operating system and applications, and then I have a RAID 0 of three Western Digital Hard drives for my Aperture library. RAID 0 is striping with no parity. Since there is no parity and no protection from hardware failure, I back up with TimeMachine, manual copies and I also use Mozy.com for automatic offline backups.
The machine boots nearly instantly, and application launching is extremely fast. Most programs show a definite improvement and overall I am very pleased with the configuration.
However, Aperture's library databases are extremely prone to fragmentation. There is a noticeable and significant increase in performance every time I defrag my aperture volume with iDefrag, and if I have a really long editing session I can notice performance degrading over time.
Right now my workflow with Aperture is pretty sporadic, so defragmenting routinely isn't that big of an issue. However, I anticipate getting into Aperture more as I start photographing more projects. I think if that happens, I will probably get a second SSD and also finally convert my Aperture library from managed to referenced. Apple has added features in Aperture 3 so that referenced libraries aren't that big of a PITA, so I should be able to keep the Aperture databases on the SSD and reference my masters on my RAID drive. Best of all worlds.
Also do not buy the SSD from Apple. Right now the only viable SSD's are ones that do internal garbage collection like the OWC Mercury Extreme. See my other post here for the ups and downs of SSDs:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11248829&#11248829

Using the New Mac Pro (can) - AE will not let me use Race Traced 3-D

Using the New Mac Pro (can) - AE will not let me use Race Traced 3-D
Hi, I'm using the new Mac Pro
2.7 GHz 12-core Intel Xeon E5
64 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB
OSX 10.9.2
I'm using After Effects 12.2.1.5
When I attempt to invoke the race trace 3D renderer in a comp, I get this error
"After Effects Error: Ray-traced 3D: Out of paged mapped memory for ray tracer. Your project may exceed GPU limits. Try closing other applications. Try updating the CUDA driver. (5070::2)"
My preferences are set to use the CPU for Raytraced 3D since I do not have an Nvidia card.
So, obviously there is an issue here in that it thinks I have an Nvidia card.
I know (or assume I know) the cause for this is that when I set up this machine, I used Apple's migration assistant to move most of my data over from the previous gen Mac Pro which DID have a CUDA card.
So my question is, what files can I delete/reset to cause After Effects to no longer look for CUDA files that do not exist on this machine?
I do not have the CUDA control panel in System Prefs, so THAT did not carry over.
Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks!

> I know (or assume I know) the cause for this is that when I set up this machine, I used Apple's migration assistant to move most of my data over from the previous gen Mac Pro which DID have a CUDA card.
Ugh. That causes so many problems.
The first thing to try is deleting the CUDA frameworks from your Mac: Look in /Library/Frameworks for the CUDA.Framework and get rid of it.

AMD Crossfire, Boot Camp, and the new Mac Pro Issue

Hello, all.
I have a new Mac Pro (Late 2013) with 6 cores, 32 GB RAM, and dual D700 AMD graphics cards. I'm using an older 30 inch Apple Cinema Display (with the dual link DVI adapter). I've successfully installed Windows 8.1 under Boot Camp. Here's my problem...
I understand that for the new Mac Pro under Boot Camp enables AMD CrossfireX by default from multiple sources online. However, it's disabled on mine, and every time I try to enable it (and hit "Apply" in the AMD Control Center), it disables again.
Is Crossfire only available for use with a Thunderbolt Display attached? Could that be the problem? Or is the AMD Control Panel lying to me?
Now, games in Windows are still running well... But I'd like to take full advantage of the dual graphics cards in the new Mac Pro with Crossfire. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Fixed it!
So, not only would Crossfire not enable under Windows 8.1 on my Mac Pro in Boot Camp... But Windows started crashing massively. I was about to wipe Boot Camp entirely and try a clean install (even though the only three things I'd installed were Windows itself using Apple's exact instructions, Steam, and Skyrim), but decided in a last ditch effort to try disconnecting and reconnecting peripherals.
Turns out the culprit was my Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock.
Disconnecting the Belkin Thunderbolt dock not only stopped Windows from crashing, but now I can enable Crossfire, as well!
Now, this is especially strange since I have read elsewhere that people have no problems using the Belkin dock under Boot Camp with other Macs... This issue is probably isolated to using it in Boot Camp with the new Mac Pro. But disconnecting the dock from my Mac Pro has solved not just one but all of my Boot Camp issues. (Of course, using the Belkin dock under OSX on my Mac Pro is no problem.)
Long story short, if you have a new Mac Pro and plan on using Windows 8.1 under Boot Camp, don't have the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock attached.
I'm going to contact Belkin and tell them what I've discovered.
Hope that helps y'all.

New mac pro recognises usb 2.0 as 1.0 - super slow data transfer!

updated my new mac pro 3.5 GHz 6-core intel xeon E5 to mac OS 10.9.2 today.
all periphals (standalone hubs, hubs in monitors, harddisks) are now recognised not as is (USB 2.0) but as USB 1.0 (ie transfer rate 12 Mbit/s), no matter whether they are plugged into a port of the mac pro directly or thru a hub. i do not get anything done anymore!
any advice how to get back to USB 2.0?
thank you!

The warranty entitles you to complimentary phone support for the first 90 days of ownership.
If you bought the product in the U.S. directly from Apple (not from a reseller), you have 14 days from the date of delivery in which to exchange or return it for a refund. In other countries, the return policy may be different. If you bought from a reseller, its return policy applies.

UPGRADING AND MIXING MEMORY ON MY MAC PRO QUAD CORE DUAL 2.8 (Xeon)?

Hello,
I have a Mac Pro Quad Core Dual 2.8GHz (Xeons) with 4GB of memory (2 x 1GB Apple modules + 2 x 1GB other brand - Shown as "Manufacturer 0x855D") and now I want to fill the other 4 memory slots by adding an additional 16GB (4 x 4GB modules) for a total of 20GB of RAM.
My 2 questions are:
1.- In which order/pattern should I install these new 4 X 4GB modules along with my original Apple 2 x 1GB modules and the "Manufacturer 0x855D" 2 x 1GB modules the best way (for better performance)? - I have heard stories that if I do it improperly, I could slow down my Mac Pro...
This is how I have them configured right now:
Raiser A / DIMM 1 = 1GB (Manufaturer "0x830B") - I assume this is the Apple memory, right?
Raiser A / DIMM 2 = 1GB (Manufaturer "0x830B")
Raiser A / DIMM 3 = Empty
Raiser A / DIMM 4 = Empty
Raiser B / DIMM 1 = 1GB (Manufacturer "0x855D") - How can I find which manufacturer is this?
Raiser B / DIMM 2 = 1GB (Manufacturer "0x855D")
Raiser B / DIMM 3 = Empty
Raiser B / DIMM 4 = Empty
2.- What brand would be most compatible to work with my Apple 2GB (2 x 1GB) factory memory? Kingston? Crucial? Mushkin? iRam? Corsair? OWC? (Does OWC sell their own brand? or which one do they carry?-its not specified on their web)
Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

About RAM installation in the Mac Pro
Mac Pro memory arrangement photos
Mac Pro Memory Configuration
Memory Tests- "2008" Mac Pro
Ram should be installed minimally in matched pairs and optimally in matched quads. This means the memory modules are the same size and specifications. They should also be equipped with the Apple-certified style of heat sink.
Brand really doesn't mean much as long as they work.

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."

Are these Seagate 2TB drives compatible in my Mac Pro Quad Core 2.66 GHz?

I still have an Apple Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.66 that was introduced August 7, 2006. I currently have 4 of the following Seagate internal hard drives installed: ST3750640AS SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.10 - HARD DRIVE - 750 GB - INTERNAL - 3.5" - SATA-300 - 7200 RPM - BUFFER: 16 MB
I want to know if these hard drives will work in this computer: Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive.This computer is powered by two 2.66 GHz dual core Intel Xeon 5150 processors.
The old drives were purchased from NewEgg and I want to purchase the new ones from there also. Are these 2TB drives compatible in my computer?
Thanks,
Lou Hosta

SATA is SATA.
Apple introduced GPT (GUID) years ago to support 2TB and larger (default partition scheme).
SATA III is also backward compatible with SATA II (otherwise, who would Seagate have to sell to?)
The only issues have been with green drives, using green version for RAID or for performance purposes.

Mac Pro Quad core Intel Xeon upgrade advice please!

Hi all, i have a Mac Pro Quad core 2 x 2.8ghz Intel Xeon (2008 model) with 4gb RAM.
I am planning on giving it some upgrades and a fresh OS install as it is slowly grinding to a halt (particualrly noisey hard drives)
Can anyone recommend best/fastest/silent! S-ATA hard drive to upgrade to?
Can anyone recommend a good replacement ATAPI DL DVD-RW Drive as mine is also on its way out.
Ram upgrade. Lots of space for RAM so what would you all recommend?
Ultimately i am finding myself working with alot of large PS file and so would welcome any suggestions to improve/soup-up the processor/performance.
Thanks for any advice in advance...

24GB RAM gets cost ly when you look at 800MHz FBDIMMs in 2x4GB
You shoudl have added more as 4GB is vary basic and miinimal
Any SATA drive device is fine. WD Black 1-2-4TB / WD 10K VRs are fast but not as quiet though I do hear those WD Blacks.
A single SSD for a system is nice.
10.6.8 works best in that system.
Your GPU most probably is in need of an upgrade.
You should never need to do a reinstall of the OS. Clone. Yes. And start wit h a new OS by not upgrade in place over the old OS but that is when to clean install, clone and use Set up Assis tant.

New Mac Pro, Quad-Core or 8-Core?

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