News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

August 8, 2006

hardware

Configuration dilemma

Posted Aug. 8, ’06, 7:33 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Hardware

Customize your Mac As Apple is really pushing the whole build-to-order thing, I imagine a lot of people are, like me, wondering what to change. A quick rundown is in order.

First, RAM and hard drive. For RAM, get the minimum. Apple’s prices are always way too high. You’ve got six slots left you can jam full. As for the hard drives, this is new territory as the G5 had such limited options. Rather than go with the 250 GB drive, go with the $160. You’ll save $75. Some careful shopping will net you a 250 GB SATA drive for that amount. You just got a 160 GB drive for free.

What about the video card? This is something I’ve been struggling with. The Nvidia 7300GT is probably better than my Radeon 9800 Pro. Way better. But then I look at the comparison graphs on the graphics page for the Mac Pro and the Radeon X1900 XT is so much better. It’s $350 though. That’s not a minor upgrade. I’ll remain a fence sitter on this one.

Finally, the wireless. I you think you’re going to use it, get it. It’s not worth quibbling over a few dollars, particularly when we don’t yet know if it can be done after the fact. Hopefully, it can. At the very least, the Bluetooth module is a worthwhile add-on.

Based on what I’ve said, you can basically guess what I’m buying. Now point me in the right direction with the graphics card.


5 Comments

Skaran said:

Well, I suggest getting the X1900XT, because, looking from the specs on Apple's web site, it really looks like it's value for money. 512MB of VRAM along with almost as many frames per second as the Quadro. This looks good.

August 8, 2006 9:45 AM
macnuke said:

poor Derik

confronted with a purchase with this many decisions for one model Mac.
get the good deal tax free and upgrade the video next year.
you should still be able to pwn a few with the stock card.
it's still more than 3X faster than your 9800 on Doom3.
same mem.. more pipes and higher clock.

August 8, 2006 9:18 PM
Derik Author Profile Page said:

You're right nuke. That's the plan.

It's good to see you commenting here so regularly. :)

August 8, 2006 9:21 PM
dmlawrence said:

http://www.apple.com/macpro/expansion.html

"To help dissipate heat, every Apple DIMM you purchase for your Mac Pro comes with its own preinstalled heat sink. This unique heat sink lets fans run slower — and quieter — yet keeps the memory cool enough to run at full speed."

It seems like the Mac Pro won't accept non-Apple memory.

August 9, 2006 4:58 AM
Paul said:

It will, actually, as long as they have some sort of heat sink attached (all FB-DIMMs I have seen on sale do).

However, Apple notes that "acoustic performance" may be affected.

In other words, if the temp sensors on the RAM sense them getting to warm, without those huge heatsinks that Apple suggests the fans will have to go faster.

Other than fan speed, there's nothing stopping you from using 3rd party RAM and Apple doesn't specifically disallow it.

August 9, 2006 8:07 AM

Leave a comment

 



Visit other IDG sites: