Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you're reading this review, you probably already know the basics about this computer. Let me tell you a few things you might not be able to find elsewhere:
This computer is practically silent. The fans rotate at around 600 (six hundred!) RPM. This is much slower than the fans on most computers, and as a result they cannot be heard even with my ear a few inches from the computer. The 320 GB hard disk is very quiet as well--I installed two 500 GB Seagate drives I already owned, and they are the noisiest part of this computer. For comparison, this machine is significantly quieter than my old dual 2.0 GHz G5 tower.
With four hard drives and two 2600 video cards installed, the computer draws about 220 watts of electricity when it is under little load. I've seen the wattage get as high at 300 watts when things really get cranking. The computer generates a fair amount of heat. I found that I wanted to leave at least 6" clearance behind the computer for good ventilation.
This Mac Pro is really really fast. I have the 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro as well, and had been very impressed with the speed of the laptop. But the Mac Pro is far faster for the work I do (software development, so a lot of VMs, a lot of code compilations, etc.). Compilations of Linux software in VMware are far faster on this machine than my old dual core Linux tower.
For any kind of serious work, you're going to want more than the 2 GB of RAM it comes with. Unfortunately, very few 3rd party vendors have significant amounts of the 800 MHz Mac Pro RAM in stock as of this writing (8 days after the introduction of the computer). I have an additional 10 GB on order. Even Apple has delays for the FB-DIMMs bigger than 1 GB.
I am running 4 displays with two ATI 2600 cards in the two 16 lane PCIe slots. 2D performance is very fluid. I have not tried any 3D games or applications.
A lot of people on the web have complained about the price. Yes, $2800 + accessories is a high entry point, but if you're considering this computer, you're probably using the computer for hard core work. If you need this kind of performance, then this computer is money well spent.
Update (May 2008): I've since upgraded to 12 GB of RAM, 2x1000 + 2x500 GB internal drives, and a third 2600 video card. The computer uses a bit more electricity than it did prior to the upgrades, mostly due to the RAM. However, it's still a very quiet computer and runs with cool temperatures. I've had this machine since a few days after its release in January and still am happy with the performance.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Apple Mac Pro MA970LL/A Desktop (Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive)
Boost your productivity with the Apple Mac Pro desktop PC--the fastest Mac Apple has ever made. Combining two of Intel's new 64-bit, 45-nanometer Quad-Core Xeon 5400 processors running at 2.8 GHz, the Mac Pro is an unbelievably powerful workstation that can handle even the most intensive graphics rendering. Its industrial-style enclosure offers improved functionality with a cable-free installation process and massive upgrade ability--up to 32 GB of 800 MHz RAM and four hard drive bays for up to 4 TB (that's right--terabytes) of storage under the hood. And while it comes standard with a 16x SuperDrive (compatible with burning DVD±R/RW and CD-R/RW discs), you can also add a second writing SuperDrive.
Additionally, the Mac Pro MA970LL/A features a 320 GB hard drive, 2 GB of installed RAM, and the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (two dual-link DVI ports) graphics card with 256 MB of video RAM, both FireWire 400 and 800 slots, optical digital audio input and output, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, and iLife '08. The Mac Pro also includes a DVI to VGA adapter and an Apple keyboard and Mighty Mouse.
Processor Based on Intel's next-generation Core micro-architecture, the two 2.8 GHz 64-bit quad-core Intel Xeon 5400 processors are based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture. With a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, 12 MB of L2 cache per processor (each pair of cores shares 6 MB), and dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses, the new Mac Pro achieves a 61 percent increase in memory throughput. These 64-bit buses give each processor a direct connection to the system controller and deliver improved processor bandwidth of up to 25.6GB per second--20 percent greater than the previous Mac Pro. Every Intel Xeon processor features an enhanced SSE4 SIMD engine. Capable of completing 128-bit vector computations in a single cycle, SSE4 is ideal for transforming large sets of data, such as applying a filter to an image or rendering a video effect.
Because Intel designed this dual-core Xeon to be more efficient, it consumes less power than similar workstation-level processors, so your system fans don't have to work as hard to keep them cool. Working with Mac OS X Leopard, it also continues the tradition of enabling 64-bit computation. Ideal for scientific applications, the 64-bit Intel Xeon processors can express the extreme precision needed for floating-point mathematics and to express integers up to 18 billion.
The Mac Pro incorporates a 256-bit-wide, fully buffered memory architecture with Error Correction Code (ECC), which corrects single-bit errors and detects multiple-bit errors automatically. These features are especially important in mission-critical or compute-intensive environments. Apple designed a more stringent thermal specification for the Mac Pro FB-DIMMs, so the internal fans spin at slower speeds and keep the system quiet.
Graphics This Mac Pro comes standard with the new, high-performance ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, and two dual-link DVI ports. GDDR3 (Graphics Double Data Rate, version 3) is a graphics card-specific memory technology that's better able to deliver fluid frame rates for even the most advanced games and applications. It provides great performance for typical creative applications, and you get dual 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display support out of the box. With support for up to four graphics cards, the new Mac Pro can drive up to eight 30-inch displays at once for advanced visualization and large display walls.
Hard Drive This Mac Pro (model MA970LL/A) comes loaded with a single 320 GB hard drive. It comes with four 3.5-inch internal hard drive bays for an enormous amount of internal storage--up to 4 TB. These bays are direct-attach and cable free, so it's easy to add or remove drives. Just attach the drive carrier to either a Serial ATA 3Gb/s or Serial Attached SCSI 3Gb/s drive, and slide the drive into place. There are no connectors or cables to contend with. Lock the drives with the side door latch, and you're done.
You can also choose ultrafast 15,000-rpm Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 3Gb/s drives with 300GB of capacity for the highest in disk I/O performance. Together with the Mac Pro RAID Card, these drives provide 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance. That's enough data to play back one stream of 10-bit uncompressed HD content. It's the ultimate storage solution for highly demanding data transfer situations like editing uncompressed HD video content or updating ultra-high-resolution images.
Using Mac OS X, you can stripe two, three, or all four hard drives in a RAID 0 array to increase performance and create a massive volume for video editing; or create a RAID 1 mirror for protecting your critical digital media assets against a drive failure. For the ultimate in data protection and enhanced performance, add the optional Mac Pro RAID Card with 256MB of RAID cache, a 72-hour cache-protecting battery, and hardware RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 0+1. Apple's RAID Utility software makes setting up and managing the RAID card easy.
Memory While this Mac Pro comes loaded with just 1 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 RAM--which is satisfactory--this Mac Pro has two memory riser cards with four fully buffered DIMM slots each. Just slide out the riser cards and snap in the memory. You don't have to dig around inside the computer or wrestle with wires or cables. With a total of eight DIMM slots available, you can install up to 32GB of 800MHz ECC fully buffered DIMM memory.
Expansion and Connectivity The Mac Pro features four full-length expansion slots, including a high-performance PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot, with up to twice the bandwidth of PCI Express. The graphics slot is double-wide, so it doesn't cover up an adjacent slot. In addition, three available expansion slots, one PCI Express 2.0 and two PCI Express, provide room to grow. And thanks to a tool-less PCI bracket, you can take out cards as fast as you put them in.
Two FireWire 800 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
Two FireWire 400 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
Five USB 2.0 ports (two on front panel, three on back panel)
Two USB 1.1 ports on included keyboard
Front-panel headphone minijack and speaker
Optical digital audio input and output Toslink ports
Analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks
Preloaded with Leopard and iLife '08 The biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever, the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system features over 300 new features, including:
Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac
A redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs
Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application
Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them
A brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock
Major enhancements to Mail and iChat
Leopard's new desktop includes the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks, a new way to organize files for quick and easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, email and other downloads in a Downloads stack to maintain a clutter-free desktop, and you can instantly fan the contents of this and other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. The updated Finder includes Cover Flow and a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way to search for, browse and copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network.
Time Machine lets you easily back up all of the data on your Mac, find lost files and even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, you can search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file.
The Mac Pro also comes with the iLife '08 suite of applications that make it easy to live the digital life. Use iPhoto to share entire high-res photo albums with anyone who's got an email address. Record your own songs and podcasts with GarageBand. Break into indie filmmaking with iMovie and iDVD. Then take all the stuff you made on your Mac and share it on the Web in one click with iWeb.
Dimensions It measures 20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7 inches, and weighs 42.4 pounds.
What's in the Box Mac Pro, Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse, DVI to VGA adapter, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs, printed and electronic documentation
