Suggestions for upgrading 3 Mac Pro FCP edit stations

I want to upgrade our three Mac Pro (Power PC) FCP5 edit stations. Our Mac Pro G5s currently access a Xraid/Xserve/Xsan fiber network. There seems to be plenty of speculation out there that Apple is discontuing the Mac Pro line and FCP X is not compatible with our exisitng projects - which number in the hundreds. So, I might be leaning toward new high-end iMacs using FCP7 but I'm not sure how to network them and share FCP projects. Any suggestions on where to go from here are appreciated. Thanks.

*** Fibre Channel
Probably the most important thing that you'll be losing on an iMac is the Fibre Channel connection; however, Promise Technologies has their SANLink - Fibre Channel adapter using Thunderbolt Technology (I don't know if it's actually shipping yet),
Here's the product link:
http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?region=en-global&m=192&rsn1=40&r sn3=49
The upside here is that if this adapter works as expected, you could use any Mac with Thunderbolt (all the current models have it). Even though the Mac mini is the least powerful of the Apple line, it's a huge performace leap over a PowerMac G5 and the Mac mini supports both a computer display via its Thunderbolt/Display PortMini and a HDMI TV via its HDMI out. This takes perfect advantage of FCP Digital Cinema Desktop modes.
*** Which version of FCP do you own?
Another issue is going to be your FCP software installers (which I'm sure you're already aware of). Your PowerMac G5s must be running Final Cut Pro 6 or older as 6 was the last version to run on a PowerPC. And Final Cut Pro 5 was the first version that could be installed on an Intel based Mac.
In theory, FCP5, 6 or 7 will run on an intel Mac, however, the current Mac OS and support for it is probably going to be your biggest issue for everything that curently works as expected on your G5s.
The upgrade from FCP 5 to 6 or 7 is as easy as it gets other than having to order Final Cut Pro Studio 3 directly from Apple (last I read, they're still selling it if you call them with the part number and you say you need it for exisiting projects).
*** Do you use 3rd party capture cards like the Blackmagic-Designs Decklink? Blackmagic makes a Thunderbolt replacement which should work fine on its own, but will need to be carefully tested with the Fibre Channel adapter.
Be ready to be on the phone with tech support, checking user forums, and make sure you can take anything that you're purchased back.

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Suggestions for a Mac Pro 8-core Studio set up

After much research, clutter of information and opinions i find myself asking for suggestions.
Im trying to run Logic Pro 8 on a macpro 8-core with Broadway Big Band, EastWest, Play, Kontakt3 and some other plug ins running simultaneously. My question is how much ram could i install and effectively use to run those plug-ins and samples on logic? Should I instead max out the ram on the computer and run all the major samplers outside logic with an audio routing tool like "Jack osx"? Im trying to figure out how much ram would be of use to my system without wasting resources. Any reasonable advice would be greatful.
Thanks

I don't know how the OS X version of the Jack Audio Connection Kit would stand up under those situations. I've used it myself between Logic and Ardour but no further. I
think ultimately it would be easiest to simply run your sample libraries/players from within Logic itself. The other method is ultimately asking for trouble in an area where very few people could offer up any real insight... especially if you're trying to setup something that would be viable in a high-demand commercial studio environment.
I'm by no means against trying it out though, since Jack OS X is free and you'd have all the other software either way.
In fact, I'd be interested in the results! (My main concern would be in-system Midi data routing - but that could be quite simple ultimately).

PCI Video Interface Card for Mac Pro/FCP

Could someone please recommend a PCI Video Interface card for my Mac Pro? I'm looking for something that will capture in Beta SP, as well as support HD-SDI (bnc connector) -- does such a card exist?
Thanks!
Message was edited by: Matinicus Rock

Matrox:
http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mac/mxo2_family/
You are flush with options...
Shane

Can an iMac be used as a monitor for a Mac Pro?

Hi all,
I'm getting nowhere looking in the search, so I'm hoping someone can clear something up for me:
is it possible to use an iMac as a display for a Mac Pro?
I am beginning to think I'd better get a Mac Pro, but I already have an iMac, for which I've been researching getting external storage so I can do Final Cut Studio editing and back up of it all... as someone suggested, might be better in the long run to just get it all in the Mac Pro, and have the option and simplicity to upgrade as and when... but then there's the need for a display for the Mac Pro, which does whack the price up... but if I could use this iMac, what a beautiful monitor...
I thought someone said that Final Cut would not allow another computer to be attached though... is that the case, anyone know?
Thanks for any knowledge and help, much appreciated... I'm learning to not rush into anything, as you learn more the whole picture seems to change!
Cheers, Syd

The current 27-inch iMac can. Other iMac models can't outside of a VNC setup or ScreenRecycler; all such solutions require a standalone monitor for setup and troubleshooting.
(51433)

Upgrading Mac Pro.

My main use for my Mac Pro is Audio/Midi Editing/mixing etc with Logic Pro. I currently have one 250GB and one 120GB SATA drives, with 1GB RAM. Can anyone suggest good 3rd party Hard Drives and RAM which I could install? It would be cool to have a 1TB HD, but I've heard that these may not work in the older Mac Pro's (I bought this one in August '07).
IF anyone can direct me to some products that would be great. Thanks!

Everything you need:
http://www.macsales.com
"I've heard..." you or they heard very wrong there is no size limitation for SATA.
I would put in 4 x WD RE2 500GB drives and put your older drives in an external case for backup/emergency use. Then pick up 4 x 1GB of memory and another 2 x 512MB with that.
1TB drives are expensive.

Help with new video card for 2008 mac pro

I was looking to upgrade the speed of my 2008 Mac Pro Video
I currently have a nvidea 8800 512mb
Looking for any suggestions?
I need something that will not block the 2nd 2.0 pci slot?
From my understanding my mac has two 2.0 pci slots and one is used by the video card?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nvidia-GTX-780-3-GB-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-/331071998403?n ma=true&si=TLQfb78DRSdpDaz0cZAp4FFlvP8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p204767 5.l2557
this Nvidia GTX 780 is the best your mac can handle safely, the card can work on 1 slot at around 95% according to another site:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/3.html
this is what i plan to use in my mac pro 3,1

Where can I obtain the AHT on disk for my Mac Pro 4.1?

Where can I obtain a disk (iso) of the AHT for my Mac Pro 4.1 (latest OS X Yosemite) that I am busy upgrading?

If you can fiddle with file permissions without going nuts, the original gray discs or the downloads mentioned (once the .dmg is mounted) provide a roughly 60 to 100 MByte .diagnostics [invisible] directory at:
/Volumes/disc_name/System/Library/CoreServices/.diagnostics
You can see this folder (on the DVD or in the download) with the Finder by looking in CoreServices, using the Find command and specifying name .diagnostics and Visibility [invisible].
Open a second Finder window and navigate to the comparable place in the current Directory structure:
/System/Library/CoreServices
drag and drop the .diagnostics directory from the DVD or the download in one window to the current Core Services folder in the other window. Observe carefully to see that it actually does the copy, as Find-ing it in the current directory structure is quirky.
You may have to authenticate as Admin, or you may already have access --
-- otherwise you can change the permissions of the current CoreServices folder to allow you to Read & Write
-- don't forget to change permissions back if you modified them.
NOW try Restart and hold the D key.

Upgrade mac pro 1,1 to mac pro 2,1

hi there.
can i upgrade mac pro 1,1 to mac pro 2,1? if possible, how to do it.
thank you

How about trying to say what you mean?
Want to upgrade the BIOS? can't.
Want to use 800MHz RAM? nope.
Want to upgrade processors to 5300-series? yes.
Reports on processor upgrades and such -
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com
Or sell and buy ref'd 2010 or 2009 ($2100), you should be able to get $850+ for yours if in good condition.
And this section is for 2009/2010 (Nehalem, DDR3, UEFI 2.x) and another for 2008 and earlier (use DDR2 FBDIMMs and front side bus, 5100-5400 Xeon series)

SSDs for 2008 Mac Pro

I'm thinking about buying an SSD for my Mac Pro (see specs in my signature), any recommendations? I've been a big fan of products from OWC in the past, so I'm considering their Mercury line. On the other hand, Crucial drives are a bit cheaper (especially on Amazon). Question: would there be any point in my getting an M4 from Crucial rather than a V4? My understanding is that the primary difference is the 6gb/s vs. 3gb/s transfer rates, but that my Mac Pro can only handle 3gb/s anyway.
I'm still on Snow Leopard for now, but I'm looking into whether or not Mountain Lion will be a worthwhile upgrade for me--still not sure about compatibility of certain key apps in my workflow.

The main improvement in performance in a Mac Pro is establishing a boot drive with only System, Library, Applications and the hidden Unix files including paging/swap.
The bulk of the performance increase is not from the speed of the Boot Drive, but from what it is NOT doing -- it is not moving the Data Drive heads away from your data files to go "snacking" for system files or Paging in the middle of your production work. At a cost of tens of milliseconds for every access plus that much time again to get back to the Data areas.
ANY separate drive will produce the majority of the improvement.
A faster drive will produce a slight incremental improvement. A low-latency SSD will produce another slight incremental improvement. These incremental improvements will be most perceptible in a very slightly faster boot-up time and very slightly faster Application launch times.
You are concentrating on the absolute LEAST important issues, that will have the smallest, possibly not even perceptible performance impacts.
My Advice: Get a Boot Drive that is cheap and live happily ever after.

Options for second Mac Pro display

I have been looking for a second display for my Mac Pro. Since it won't be used all of the time I don't want to spend the money for the Apple display. I recently tried a Samsung T240 24" HD monitor but had to return it because it caused severe eye strain. I can use the 23" Apple display all day long with no problem, but an hour with the Samsung caused eye strain no matter what combination I set for brightness, contrast, etc. The "Apple Expert" at Best Buy claimed that it was because the graphics card doesn't support high definition, but his answers to some other questions didn't impress me. Will I have problems with any HD monitor, or was it this particular Samsung? Any suggestions?

I have solved the problem by purchasing a Dell S2209W display. It is an HD monitor and seems to be working fine with no eye strain. Of course, it is not as nice as my 23" Apple display, but at $239 it is perfectly adequate for use as a second display. I still don't know why I had problems with the Samsung, but I am happy for now.

Graphics Upgrade Mac Pro 1.1 change 7300 to 8800 GT

Hi Everyone.
I would like to clarify the situation with my upgrade Mac Pro. I bought on Ebay video card 8800GT Mac Upgrade Kit(Ex. for 1.1 mac pro), at that time I had system 10.4.1 and standard 7300. Then I put in 8800 instead of 7300, and plugged the *monitor in 8800* - the picture was not at all. I updated the system to 10.5.5 (with original Upgrade Disk) and plugged the slot 8800 in the third, and 7300 remained in place (1st slot). When I plugged the monitor cable back in 8800, the picture appeared, but the download Mac OS stayed on the apple loading. I bought a snow leopard in the hope that it works as it should. But everything still works the same way, if i connect the monitor to the 8800GT, load stops at the apple, if the 7300 - works. Interestingly, if in worked system disconnect the monitor cable from the 8800Gt and plugged in 7300, appears the picture of the desktop. What's the problem. What should I do? Save me, help me!
Thank you all. Sory for badly Eng 8)

zap pram: use keyboard...while restarting the Mac , hold down these four keys >commandoption+pr
until you hear a chime reset ie a second round of chimes while the Mac restarts.
Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.
from Apple doc....http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379..... Contents of PRAM
Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below. For Mac OS X information, refer to Mac OS X: What's Stored in PRAM?
* Status of AppleTalk
* Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
* Alarm clock setting
* Application font
* Serial printer location
* Autokey rate
* Autokey delay
* Speaker volume
* Attention (beep) sound
* Double-click time
* Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
* Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
* Startup disk
* Menu blink count
* Monitor depth
* 32-bit addressing
* Virtual memory
* RAM disk
* Disk cache

Better for gaming: Mac Pro or 24-inch iMac?

Well, I was already considering a Mac Pro since after I got my G5 iMac I started playing games like WoW and Sims 2 that really push the graphics card to its limit (especially the Sims).
Considering that the iMac setup I want (2.33 GHz, 2GB RAM, 7600GT card) would cost me $2500 before tax, and that I would still have to buy a separate monitor for the Mac Pro, which is the better deal? Is the 7600GT better enough than my current FX5200 that I won't feel the need to upgrade the graphics card in six months?
I'm not one of those that always gets the latest and greatest, but I've been mulling over an Intel Mac purchase for a while now, and I need some help with this decision.
20-inch iMac G5; black iPod nano Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hello,
I'm sorry, but I believe that an Intel Core 2 Duo is
much faster than the MacPro's processors. Having 4
processors does not mean that the machine will be
faster.
Also, please note that the MacPro and iMac both have
different processors from a different family. Tha
MacPro's processors are designed for servers and
multi-tasking. Playing games is not multi-tasking.
Also, most high-end Windows XP machines have Intel
Core 2 Duo processors in them rather than the
processors that the Mac Pro has.
Sure, the MacPro can be upgraded but there is only a
limited number of hardware that can be put into a
Mac. With Apple, you probably won't need to
upgrade... atleast for 4 or 5 years, depending on
one's usage.
Please consider this,
Robert
I'm sorry, but you are very mistaken. The processors in the iMac are low-power (i.e. laptop) version of those found in the Mac Pro's. The Mac Pro's processors are even faster than the iMac, and not because there is more cores. The Mac Pro is powered by Core 2 Extreme processors, while the iMac is powered by a Core 2 Duo. Intel even quotes the Core 2 Extreme to be "the world's best gaming processor". So the Mac Pro is no doubt more powerful, but since we talking games here, the 2nd processor (3rd and 4th cores) won't get used. A wast of money to get them IMHO. So my recommendation is get the iMac with a 7600GT and 2GB of RAM (or more).
Further reading on the subject:
Intel's Core 2 Extreme (aka Xeon): http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2XE/index.htm
Intel's Core 2 Duo (aka Merom): http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/index.htm
iMac 1.83Ghz, 1.5GB RAM (Jan 2006) Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Best replacement internal Hard Drive for a Mac Pro 3

I am looking for a replacement Hard Drive for my Mac Pro 3. It currently has an Intel ATA drive. Can I replay it with a SATA drive or a Solid State drive to upgrade it? Thanks.
Craig

I need to inform you there are no SATA. hdd in your or any Maqc Pro. Serial ATA only.
Buy yourself a 250GB Samsung SSD $150 or 500GB $250 are best.

Looking on saving up for a mac pro questions

Ive been recently wanting to get a mac pro. But before i even atempt to start to save for this i have a few questions. Also before i start talking about this id like to mention that im not looking to buy the newer mac pro thats comming out later this year i wanna buy the one thats currently on the market. Anyways my questions are is it possible to upgrade mac pros? I know this is a obious question but what i really mean is not ram and the hard drives but i mean like GPU and processor to the like haswell chip and basicly things on that line. This is one of the main reasons for me wanting to buy a mac pro is because i have a iMac mid 2011 and i feel like i want something more customizable and that i can change at anytime. My next question is, is it worth it? I know its a big price point and everything but is it worth paying that much for it? Like i do a lot of heavy computing and i want something that i can have for a long time while being able to make it newer and better so it kinda evens out and i dont have to buy a whole new machine when mine becomes slow and sluggish. Thanks for the help and just as a little side note im 13 comming up on 14, but ive been saving my birthday money and pretty much any money i get since i was like 10 so im almost there (plus i dont get things like allowances or things like that).

is it possible to upgrade mac pros?... like GPU and processor to the like haswell chip
The current Mac Pro 65lb tower uses XEON processors. These are Server-class Processors that include Hardware assist for Error Correcting Code (ECC) Memory. This allows the use of very large Memories without fear of having Memory Errors pollute your computing environment or your data.
Replacing the XEON processor with a Haswell Processor is impossible, and you would be taking a major step backward by doing so. The slight advantage of the latest desktop processors may soon be erased by the next generation of XEON processors.
The Graphics cards are in a PCIe slot, and can literally be replaced, and you can support three displays on a card and in some cases add multiple cards (limited by their appetite for power).
The 65lb tower Macs MAY be replaced by the small black cylinder Mac, and if they are, your options will be refurbished or used machines. My opinion is that the Mac Pro 4,1 and later (2009 and later) are a better choice than any of the older models.
What has happened several times in the last decade or so is that new things we do with our computers have made the old ones obsolete much faster than predicted. For example, a Power Mac G3 is a nice machine -- but it will not play Web Videos.

Best Router for a Mac Pro with Leopard

Can anyone suggest a good router to purchase that would work with no problems for a Mac Pro with Leopard?
I would be connecting to the router via an ethernet cable, but I'm looking specifically for a g and b router, because my roommate has a Dell and she uses a wireless usb adapter to connect wirelessly. We have a modem (cable or DSL, I think?) and high-speed internet service.
I've heard that some routers are having problems with leopard and macs in general, so I wanted to be sure I'd be getting a good one before I go out and spend a hundred bucks or more.

a linksys wrt150n i got mine for about $99 to 129
and its pretty good
Since the cd comes with pc only software follow these instructions
1 hook up the router to the modem
2 connect to the router
if you want to add a password continue the steps
3 you may have to plug in the router to your mac if not skip this
4 go to http://192.168.1.1 using the password admin
5 now your in the routers menu
6 change the network name if you want to
to add a password go to wireless once you click on it under you will see wireless security select your setting oh by the way passphrase is a name for password if you didint know.
sorry if that was a mouthful if you still dont understand
email me at [email protected]
it works great with my imac my dell inspron and even my ipod touch

Suggestions for upgrading 3 Mac Pro FCP edit stations

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