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The $10,000 Mac Pro

Posted by Aaron Freedman | Saturday, October 07, 2006 11:17 AM PT

So, you all know that the Mac Pro is a very customizable computer, especially when selecting how to configure it when you first buy it. You also probably know that the Mac Pro is a pretty expensive computer. But what if you had a lot of money, say $10,000, to spend on a Mac Pro? How would you configure it? Personally, I would get one with dual 3Ghz Xeon processors, four 500GB hard drives, 8GB of RAM (4 x 2GB), three NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB graphics cards, a 30” Cinema display, two SuperDrives, and Bluetooth and Airport. So, post your $10,000 (or less) dream Mac Pro configuration in the comments.

Update: After commenter David pointed out to me that multiple graphics cards are worthless without enough monitors to fit them, I decided to update my “dream configuration”:

  • Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
  • 8GB (8 x 1GB)
  • 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
  • Apple Cinema HD Display (23” flat panel)
  • Apple Cinema HD Display (23” flat panel)
  • Two 16x SuperDrives
  • Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
  • Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
  • Mac OS X - U.S. English
  • Final Cut Express HD preinstalled
Comments (9)

here is mine:
-two 3.0GHZ Duel core intel xeon
-8 gig RAM
-2 tera hard drive
-4x nvidia 7300 256mb
-2 23" inch cinema displays
-bluetooth and airport
-and of course apple car plan

total price:$9,975.00

Adam
October 07, 2006
4:46 PM PT

With an eduactional discount:

- Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon

- 8GB (8 x 1GB)

- 4 x 500GB HD's

- NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB

- 2 x Apple Cinema HD Display 23"

- 2 x 16x SuperDrives

- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort

- $9973.00

But if I could spend $10,000 not just from apple...

- Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon

- 8GB (4 x 2GB)

- 160GB HD

- NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB

- 2 x Apple Cinema HD Display 23"

- 2 x 16x SuperDrives

- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort

- $8880

+

- I would ditch the 160GB drive

- 2 x 150GB 10,000 RPM 1.5 Gb/sWD Rapors running a stipped RAID for speed

- 2 X 500GB 7,200 RPM 3.0 Gb/s WD RE2's running a mirrored RAID for storage

- $ 786

Grand Total of $9,666 and what a machine it would be.

October 07, 2006
6:12 PM PT

I would definately go for dual 30" :D

October 07, 2006
8:49 PM PT

Lets try this:
-Two 3.0 GHz Zeons
-8GB memory (8x1GB)
-2TB Hard drive
-GeForce 7300 GT
-2 23" displays
-2 Super drives
-Air Port Extreme
-Final Cut (gotta have a program to use on it)
-APP protection plan.

Although if I could go just a little over $10,000 I'd drop two hard drives and upgrade one display to at 30"

Merlyn
October 07, 2006
10:52 PM PT

Why would you get 3 or 4 graphics cards and then get only 1 or 2 displays, especially when one of these graphics cards can already drive 2 23" displays? 3 graphics cards and 1 30" display makes no sense.

David
October 08, 2006
6:24 AM PT

Hey you have to have iSight, a printer, and why mess with a 23" when you can have 4 30 inchers....

ISight
AirPort Extreme Base Station
HP Color LaserJet 4700dtn Printer
Mac Pro Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse 500GB 4-7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Final Cut Express HD preinstalled
Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Two 16x SuperDrives
16GB (8 x 2GB)
Mac OS X - U.S. English
4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB 4 x Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro/Power Mac

Cart Subtotal: $23,379.95
Free Shipping: $0.00
Estimated Tax*: $1,636.60

Estimated Total: $25,016.55

Dan
October 08, 2006
7:09 AM PT

BAH! Lucky Mac Pro people! My black MacBook maxed my budget for a year or two...

October 08, 2006
10:08 AM PT

Mac Pro

Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
iWork '06 preinstalled
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Accessory kit
Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Two 16x SuperDrives
Mac OS X - U.S. English
8GB (4 x 2GB)
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI)


Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)

Cart Subtotal: $9,966.00

October 08, 2006
10:49 AM PT

Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
8GB (8 x 1GB)
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
One 16x SuperDrive
Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
Mac OS X - U.S. English

9,986.00

October 09, 2006
6:10 PM PT

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