PowerMac G5 to Mac Pro Upgrade?

Hello everyone,
I am using my PowerMac:
Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,3
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
GeForce 6800 Ultra with 256 MB RAM
mostly for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign (all CS2), work with MS Office 2008 and play World Of Warcraft and other Blizzard games. As I work from home and use this as my main computer (Skype, iPhoto, iTunes, Internet surfing, Streaming content to my Playstation 3 etc.) it sometimes gets a bit slower.
Would you recommend a new desktop machine (Mac Pro 3.2 GHz) or will the advantage be not that noticable and more RAM (I have 2GB at the moment) would give me some speed up so I can work with it for another year or so?

I think going from 2 x 2GHz to an 8-core 2.8GHz would be more than adequate and nice upgrade, no need for spending a fortune extra for minor improvement when you'll need RAM and disk drives.
2GB falls in the "malnourished" department
Some articles and benchmarks, mostly Barefeats:
http://www.barefeats.com/octopro3.html 4 vs 8 cores
http://www.barefeats.com/harper2.html GPU tests
http://www.barefeats.com/harper.html CPU crunching
Photoshop:
http://www.adobe.com/go/kb401089
http://homepage.mac.com/boots911/.Public/PhotoshopAccelerationBasics2.4W.pdf
And of course well-suited for CS3/4 (you NEED CS3 on Mac Pro). And of course there are Radeon 2600 OEM or 8800GT, or there is a retail ATI Radeon 3870, better options in video.
Memory. Look for at least 8 x 1GB to get ideal bandwidth of memory performance, and if you work with large files, even more memory.
http://www.barefeats.com/harper3.html
If you want to stay where you are for now and wait/save for a year, I'd upgrade your RAM to 4-6GB, and invest in disk drives, anywhere from $150 up, which will help now and tomorrow, now that 100MB/sec is doable with single drives.
http://www.barefeats.com/harper14.html
http://www.barefeats.com/hard103.html
One person put in three WD VelociRaptors, one for boot system, and two for stripped RAID for data and editing (using Sonnet Jive for two of them along with SATA controller). Instantly launch and open large files and applications.
Shop the Apple Store Specials. You can walk away and save on ref'd Mac Pros.

Similar Messages

Moving from PowerMac G5 to Mac Pro, just swap hard drive?

Hey all!
I'm finally upgrading to a Mac Pro from my PowerMac G5. I'm hoping that I'll be able to take the HD out of my PowerMac and install it in the Mac Pro and be able to continue my work with as little downtime as possible.
Can you all confirm or deny that I should be able to do this even though I'm moving from a non-Intel to Intel machine? I'm running 10.5.4 on the PowerMac G5 now.
Thanks!

What I would do:
Install a 3rd drive and format.
Clone your OEM Mac Pro system to the new drive.
Disk Utility Restore is fine, but for keeping it updated, SuperDuper.
Migrate your home account only.
Copy only applications that can be drag-installed.
Install anything that has an installer.
Copy media and data files to 4th drive.
Pull the G5 drive for now. Later, when you know everything is working, reformat it to GPT (GUID partition table) which is default format. While APT is suppose to work, in reality it is best to reformat even if it is a data drive. And having your G5 OS is best wiped clean, though there should be almost zero trouble with Leopard and with applications that are Universal Binary (under Tiger there were problems and migrating would result in sluggish performance, problems and just not running properly, that may still be partially true).
Also, Apple's OEM drives are not the best always in the performance department and moving the system to a new drive helps. For $82 pick up a couple WD Caviar 640GB drives.
Add plenty of memory, check everything out as you move forward, and take precautions up front avoids problems later.
As an experiment, you could try removing the OEM drive and just try running off your G5 drive, as a test, and assuming it is also backed up.

2009 Mac Pro upgrading graphics card to GTX 680 mac. What is the best version of AE and PP and OSX to have?

Hello,
I have a 2009 Mac Pro 4.1
Mac OSX version 10.6.8
Processor - 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory - 24GB
Graphics Card - ATI Radeon HD 4870
I use After Effects and Premiere Pro daily for my work. I am not too technically minded. I want to update and improve my machine as much as possible and am thinking of buying an SSD drive to replace my current start up disk. I also am thinking about getting the GTX 680 mac version graphics card. I have read many online discussions regarding OpenCL and CUDA, many discussions with mixed feelings about the improvements the 680 gives an older Mac Pro - some people say it is amazing others say the improvements seem minimal or worse.
What I want to know is if I purchase the SSD and 680 graphics card what is the optimal OSX - 10.8 or 10.9? and what is the optimal versions of AE and PP to have - CS6 or CC? Also what settings and what additional drivers would I need to consider?
I contacted an independent authorised mac reseller and he thought it was a bad idea to put a new graphics card and get the latest OSX in an old machine and tried to sell me a used 2010 Mac Pro, but I think it would be more cost effective to get the SSD and 680 instead, it's just I read the occasional horror story on a forum and I worry about making the wrong choice, I rely on my Mac Pro to make a living!
Thanks in advance

Thank you for the valuable information Eric, I think I will go with the 680 but I understand that it wont be fully utilised on my old Mac Pro.
Perhaps I will replace my startup/applications hard drive with a 480GB SSD. My other 3 bays are full with 3 x 2TB Hard drives that have media on them so I have no spare room for a dedicated SSD drive for AE cache. But could I put a 250GB SSD into one of the PCI-E slots using something like - SSD SuperSpeed Upgrade Kit for Apple Mac Pro 2008 2009 2010 2012 | eBay
Would this be my best solution? Is it a relatively simple installation, does anyone have any experience of a similar setup?
cc_merchant, thank you for the reply, I am aware you have to pay monthly payments for CC, that is no problem.

2009 Mac Pro upgrade to Yosemite failed

Hi,
Seven days in and my 2009 Mac Pro is still dead. Very frustrated. It had a 4x3TB AppleRAID array in RAID1+0 giving 6TB. I initially did an upgrade to Yosemite and it got stuck at the half-way point after the restart. Yes, I did patiently wait ... but gave up after 12 hours (left it overnight). I assume the upgrade was supposed to finish sooner than that?
Found one stripe in the RAID array was 'degraded' - replaced that disk (seems they had 11000 hours on them) but it was impossible (for me) to see how to get the new disk back into the RAID scheme under Disk Utility (booted up using an upgraded MacBook). Once all the disks were removed from the array, Disk Utility gave no option to create a new RAID scheme, so I downloaded SoftRAID - yay, my RAID array was back (seems Apple gave up on their software RAID in 2009?).
However, still no joy. Created a Yosemite install USB drive - seems to run but then fails at the end ... "couldn't bless installation disk: /Volumes/Image Volume".
Okay, so downloaded the Mavericks installer and created an install USB drive - same as Yosemite ... can't bless the installation disk.
What else can I try? The Yosemite upgrade seems to have well and truly screwed my poor Mac Pro. I'd already successfully upgraded two of our four Macs successfully to Yosemite (one upgrade and one clean install) so thought it was okay.
I might try booting off one of the Macs again, with the Mac Pro in target disk mode, and try to run the installer to install Mavericks or Yosemite onto the Mac Pro's RAID array as an external disk ...
Otherwise ... ?

Booted the Mac Pro from the MacBook Air running Yosemite in target disk mode. Ran the Yosemite installer on the MBA to install on the Mac Pro's SoftRAID array "Hollie" - when the installer tells me it's going to restart I see the final logs written at 04:50 below:
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: @(#)PROGRAM:Install PROJECT:Install-920
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: @(#)PROGRAM:IA PROJECT:InstallAssistant-532
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Hardware: MacPro4,1 @ 2.66 GHz (x 16), 24576 MB RAM
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Running OS Build: Mac OS X 10.10 (14A389)
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: USER=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: LOGNAME=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.AzaK6cdqED/Listeners
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.o7DsCKSkcX/Render
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: HOME=/Users/brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SHELL=/bin/bash
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: __CF_USER_TEXT_ENCODING=0x1F5:0x0:0x0
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: TMPDIR=/var/folders/r9/vckptcb10fxgj44jppfcg04h0000gn/T/
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: XPC_SERVICE_NAME=com.apple.InstallAssistant.Yosemite.158788
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.AzaK6cdqED/Listeners
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.o7DsCKSkcX/Render
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: XPC_FLAGS=0x0
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: LOGNAME=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: USER=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: HOME=/Users/brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SHELL=/bin/bash
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: TMPDIR=/var/folders/r9/vckptcb10fxgj44jppfcg04h0000gn/T/
Nov 1 04:45:20 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using distribution archive from /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/OSInstall.mpkg
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Configuring products from SharedSupport folder
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Install is double-dmg. Not adding chunklist to download list.
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSInstallDVDProduct> based on media at /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport at distance 5
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSInstallESDProduct> based on distribution at /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/OSInstall.mpkg at distance 5
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Checking Software Update catalog URL https://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-l ion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: No available package ref for compatibility update. Ignoring.
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: No available package ref for compatibility update. Ignoring.
Nov 1 04:45:23 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSSoftwareUpdateCatalogProduct> from product keys (null) at distance 25
Nov 1 04:45:30 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: LSExceptions [0x6300000bee40] unloaded
Nov 1 04:49:16 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: IATool launched
Nov 1 04:49:16 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Connected to IATool 26fa80
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Preventing machine sleep.
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product IA_PKSecureNetEnabledProduct <file:///Volumes/Hollie/OS%20X%20Install%20Data/> at distance 5
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Using existing boot files dir at /.IABootFiles
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using mutable product path: /Volumes/Hollie/OS X Install Data
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using boot files path: /.IABootFiles
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Retrieving 1 packages (0.000 GB)
Nov 1 04:49:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Retrieved package com.apple.pkg.CompatibilityUpdate (http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/14/57/031-11010/vhdn34frx9suyfcrslj0xyx n3t0dafhkn8/OSX_10_10_IncompatibleAppList.pkg)
Nov 1 04:49:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Verifying InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg
Nov 1 04:49:33 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Finished operation queue
Nov 1 04:50:10 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to set prev-lang:kbd
Nov 1 04:50:10 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: hdiejectd already disabled.
Nov 1 04:50:12 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to prep /Volumes/OS X Install ESD for brtool
Nov 1 04:50:12 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to prep /Volumes/OS X Base System for brtool
Nov 1 04:50:13 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Failed to write mutable product url to NVRAM

New mac pro upgrade advice needed or keep the old clunker

I have a 2008 mac pro with only 8gb ram
I am use the computer for FCP and Logic as well
as photo editing. It is not my livelihood I am just a serious hobbiest.
My option is to go with a new Mac Pro probably 8 core with 1 TB
I would have to get an enclosure for my 4 thunderbolt internal drives.
I also have 2 firewire 800 2T external drives.
My monitor is a 30 inch cinema display
so an 8 core with 64gb plus 4k monitor and upped graphics card is $11,600 add my buisness discount i am probably
looking at around $11,000
My other option is to keep the clunker add a 1TB SSD PCIe card form owc and add 8gb ram this will
cost me $1,400. I am really only throwing away the $200 for increasing the ram as
the PCIe ssd drive can be salveged and used in the new mac pro if I bought an pcie/ thunderbolt enclosure.
Tha advantage of going this route is I could use the clunker for another year allowing time
for the kinks in the new mac pro to be ironed out as well as the advantage of faster chips in next years model.
The other issue I have is a use a Universal Audio PCI card with 4 sharc processors to run specific plugins that need that
card in logic. That card will no be compatible with the new Mac pro and the replacement cards are over $1000 that are compatibe
Just looking for some advice do you think the SSD PCI card and ram will keep me happy with the performance to hold off upgrading for
a year or shoul I just put the clumker out of its misery?

radman wrote:
Just looking for some advice do you think the SSD PCI card and ram will keep me happy with the performance to hold off upgrading for
a year or shoul I just put the clumker out of its misery?
On this page Apple compares the 2012 Mac Pro (12-core) to a 2013 Mac Pro (12-core). The new Mac Pro performs about 3x faster at rendering. You didn't say how many cores your Mac Pro has but you could expect about a 4-5x faster performance increase.
I would have some questions for you:
How much time do you spend waiting on your current Mac Pro?
How much money are you willing to spend for a 4-5x increase?
I have a 2010 Mac Pro with a 960 GB OWC Mercury Accelsior E2 PCIe SSD, program launches and computer restarts are much faster. Compressing video takes the same amount of time as it did when I booted from a hard drive. I can't read or type email any faster, iTunes plays music just as fast as it always has with a hard drive.
I would use Activity Monitor to monitor your computer's memory use while you work with FCP and Logic to see if you are maxing out your memory then adding more may be the way to go.
I use my Mac Pro for recording over-the-air TV and compressing that video into an Apple TV usable format. I've found that having a dedicated drive for capture works well. Also, when I compress the video my capture drive becomes a dedicated source drive for Compressor and I write the output file to a separate dedicated drive. This ensures I maximize data flow and keep all my cores nearly fully utilized. I tend to do the processor intensive tasks (compressing video which can take hours) at the end of the day when I know I won't be using the computer (or only doing light work on it such as email or web surfing).

Mac Pro Upgradable from one core to two cores?

If I were to buy a Mac Pro with One 3.33GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” would I be able to get a second One 3.33GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” and put it in later?

From what I could grasp at this forum and general googling, you can totally upgrade the Mac Pro with another processor later. People have done it to 2006, 2008 and 2009 models. Take a look at AnandTech and also www.o0o.it.
It doesn't seem to be an easy procedure, but if you had some experience with computer parts before it would not be a too much of a trouble.
There are two main issues you can face:
1. You need to make sure that your Mac Pro will have two processor slots on the motherboard. I wasn't able to find an exact confirmation of that on the net.
2. You will most definitely have only one heatsink installed, so you will need to buy a second one. Apparently, they are not identical, as in Apple's parts list they are listed as "A" and "B", but I'm not sure about that. Check the www.welovemacs.com they seem to have one on sale. Btw, it also looks like the 2010 model and 2009 models have the identical heatsinks, so you should be able to find it on eBay.
I'm looking at the Mac Pro myself at the moment, and it seems that there is literally no reason to buy more dual-CPU models. Xeons will not cost peanuts in the future, but they will definitely be cheaper than now.

G5 to Mac pro upgrade/transfer/cannibal advice needed

My Mac g5 (2.5 dual) was dead this morning, (PMU or the motherboard ???). Rather than putting more money into it, I purchased a new Mac Pro today. Since I can't start up my old computer at all, I need some upgrade/transfer/cannibalize advice.
1) Can I just put my drives from the G5 into the new drive slots? (I will really need to get to my files ASAP when it gets here)
2) Do you recommend using Migration Assistant or clean installs of all programs? Obviously, MA would be so much faster but I am not sure how dependable it is
3) Can I use the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256MB) card from the G5 as an extra? Or just sell it with the G5 for parts?
4) Is there a list somewhere that shows compatible hardware and software? I'm using 10.5 so Snow Leopard is new to me. I'd like to keep from spending money on peripherals.
5) Did I forget anything? Any additional tips would be appreciated
TIA

Hi-
There is a list of SL compatible software here:
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
More here:
http://www.macintouch.com/specialreports/snowleopard/slcompat.html
Here is an article on incompatible apps:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3258
Another:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Listof_Applications_Not_Compatible_with_SnowLeopard
Hardware-wise, peripherals shouldn't be much of an issue unless they require third party drivers that weren't updated.
Your G5 internal parts are limited to hard drives for compatibility.
You do want to be aware of hard drive format differences for Intel Macs and PPC Macs regarding GPT (GUID Partition Table) and Apple Partition Map (APM).
Intel Macs boot to either, but PPC Macs only boot to APM.
Intel Mac software (OS) installer only want to install and update to GPT, so if you want to use existing drives to install OS X SL to, you will need to reformat the drive.

Mac Pro Upgrade

Looking for some advice with computer upgrade and compatibility of Creative Cloud 2014. We're looking at the Mac Pro Quad-Core and Dual GPU. Any input; pros/cons?

Scan all the help tips here first:
http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html
6-core 32-64-128GB RAM, D500 or D700s, and of course the 1TB SSD.
Otherwise a maxed out iMac
The 2012 Mac Pro is probably a better fit even though it is older.

Mac Pro Upgrading Questions!

Hello,
I have a 2007 model mac Pro with these specs:
2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor
6GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM Memory
I work with a lot of AVCHD video footage and graphics, there is a lot of rendering involved and my computer can no longer handle such things without an inordinate amount of slowdown and waiting!
So! Do I upgrade my current machine or get a new Mac pro? Or an iMac? Refurbished or new? Quad core or eight? Forgive my basic Mac knowledge I would be hugely grateful for any insights or advice.
Thank you all.
(Also I wish to use FCP7 and Motion 4, I understand there are some problems using Final Cut Studio 2 with Lion, is this true?)

You can find a long thread on putting a pair of 5355s to get 8-core and nearly double performance. Some time and paitience but very popular and cheap to do now.
MacRumors Mac Pro
Mac Pro 2010 6-core 3.33GHz would be in $3500 ball park but I'd hold off and wait.
SSD boot drive
4 x 4GB RAM minimum
ATI 5770

HT4889 Just got a new macbook pro. Trying to migrate data from a MacPro to the macBook. MacBook will recognize the Mac Pro but not vice versa. Using Mac OS X 10.6.8 on the Mac Pro(powermac G4. The Mac Pro searches in vain for the MacBook. What should I do

Just bought a new MacBook Pro. Attempting to migrate data from a power mac G4 running Mac OS X 10.6.8 using a firewire.
Mac Book will recognize the Mac Pro but the Mac Pro just continues to search for the Mac Book. What should I do?
Dave VanHorn
[email protected]

Put the G4 into Target Disk Mode and open Migration Assistant on the new MBP. Your G4 needs to be running 10.5.8.

Is the Mac Pro upgradable beyond 3GHz?

I'm considering a 2 GHz Mac Pro and it's nice to know that in a few years I can drop 3 GHz processors into it. Does anyone have any insight as to whether there will be processors beyond 3 GHz supported by the current generation of Mac Pros? Or is the 3 GHz Xeon 5160 part the fastest chip that will ever live in the current Mac Pro?

That depends on whether the chips have been soldered to the board. In a few years, though, it would be rather pointless. It woud be more realistic to get a new system, Xeon's would have a new generation by then, heck, we are getting Core3 by the beginning of next year, and they will be quad core.
The Mac Pro's Xeon CPUs sit in sockets. They are not soldered.
The quad-core chips that are coming (Clovertown) are backward compatible with Woodcrest, like Merom is backward compatible with Yonah. It's not impossible that when those quad-core chips arrive we'll be able to drop them into current Mac Pros without buying new systems.

Dear Mac Pro upgrade hardware & Photoshop CS5 64 bit speed experts...

I'm an illustrator that works w/ brushes(can they ever get fast enough ?) in PS CS5 and, at times, some very large files:
Mac Pro 2 x 3 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon ("early 2008"), 20 GB or RAM
OS 10.6.6 Running in 64bit
Boot(system only) drive: 60 GB OWC Mercury Extreme SSD
Data drive(user folder): 860 GB Striped RAID - from 3 partitions of 3 7200 RPM drives
Scratch drive: 96 GB Striped RAID - from 3 partitions of 3 7200 RPM drives
Storage drive: 1 TB (includes time machine partition)
What is my next "biggest bang for the buck" hardware move for speed of PS CS5 (done lots of reading on the software prefs/settings)?:
Is it still more memory - 24 GB?
Or a single OWC SSD drive for data(120 GB -- I can dump a lot more items in data to storage HD)?
Or a smaller OWC SSD for scratch?
Thank you!
T

Mac Pro 2 x 3 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon ("early 2008"), 20 GB or RAM
3GHz in 2006 is not the 2.8GHz 2010. But if 20GB works for you, adding an SSD boot drive, and an SSD for scratch might be good investments for now instead. 5365 (Woodcrest 8-core) are still a little expensive.
DDR3 is of course faster, more bandwidth, and not having to deal with FBDIMMs.
$3100 for 3.33 4-core / 3-4 x 8GB for 24-32GB RAM might not be best investment.
Booting in 64-bit mode pays a dividend.
Barefeats has gone head to head with 2008s 2.8/3.0/3.2 vs the newest Mac Pro 2009/2010s.
The nice thing is that CS5 has only lately begun to catch up to Snow Leopard, and there will be another round of catch-up if you want a year with Lion and whenever CS6 (which will be better optimized).
You can't add 5870 and gain much (not the PCIe 2.0 bandwidth) or Quadro 4000 (wrong EFI firmware). PCIe 3.0 is probably another year plus away.
People that went from 2006 to 2008 felt the difference even though that too was "small" it was 2.8GHz but 8-core.

Can Mac Pro upgrade to 32 Gb?

We're looking to replace our 4 Gb with the max. I see that it's now possible to buy 32 Gb instead of 16 Gb. Will our Mac Pro recognize all the memory?
667 MHz DDR2 fully buffered ECC RAM in eight FB-DIMM slots

I think it does boil down to 'heat' in the end. We've seen that 2GB DIMMs ran warmer. Reading between the lines, a number of vendors "revised" or improved on their heat sinks around Feb/March of this year.
There are still a few instances of RAM that:
shows up as 1GB instead of 2.
"needing" to use smcFanControl to bring DIMMs down 10ºC
A server is designed or expected to be used in a controlled environment and where noise from fans and AC isn't an issue and heat and humidity are kept within acceptable limits.
Back in summer of '03 it was 'suggested' in at least one official white paper that there was/might be support for 2GB DIMMs for a maximum of 16GB in PCI-X models, but didn't happen until DDR2 memory was introduced in late 2005. Better to be cautious and conservative and not lead to unfulfilled expectations. (I read of one person who did plan to order the Xserve or had just to be able to install 32GB.)
However... there might be a new term for what happens when you now have a form of "memory thrashing" as FOUR dual-core dies (8 cores total) are forced to move chunks of data between cores in order to process and execute, an issue that will be resolved with advanced bus technology, better compilers, and a 'true' 4-core package.

I just moved from a G5 PowerMac to a Mac Pro with one drive running Yosemite and one running Snow Leopard, Do I need Lion to be able to upgrade iPhotos

How can I see my iPhotos from a G5 PowerMac on a MacPro running Yosemite and Snow Leopard? Is Lion a more advance system that Snow Leopard?

The last iPhoto version you can run with Snow Leopard is iPhoto 9.2.4, and Yosemite needs iPhoto 9.6.
Move your photos to your Yosemite partition, if you want to use iPhoto with Photo Streams and other iCloud features.
As you are asking about Lion, you can run iPhoto iPhoto 9.2.3 or iPhoto 9.2.4 both with Lion and SnowLeopard, but there is no iPhoto version, that runs both on Yosemite and Snow Leopard, or Lion and Yosemite.

PowerMac G5 (not Mac Pro) with Radeon X1900 Xt locks after Leopard install

have a PowerMac G5 (not a MacPro) with an ATI Radeon X1900 XT (w/256 RAM). After installing Leopard, my system crashes regularly, especially after the screen saver kicks in. I also see blue horizontal lines on any display connected to the card. The original Gforce 6600LE remains stable.
I see all this jabber about the upgrade for the XT card if you are using a MacPro. My card is not THAT card. It was specifically recommended by ATI as being G5 compatible.
So now I think I may back off of Leopard and go back to 10.4.whatever unless someone can tell me how to get past this unacceptable performance. Apple support has been no help at all.
Anybody...???
Vfalzone

Saw two updates pass by in the last two days: 10.5.2 and another 'Graphic Upgrade'. I mistakenly thought the problems would be corrected. No dice. Still get horizontal lines on any monitor connected to the X1900 Xt card.
Not too many cards I can get for this box that have dual DVI ports. SO much for my $250+ CARD and Leopard!
This really *****.

PowerMac G5 to Mac Pro Upgrade?

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