Apple offers PCI Express RAID Card in Mac Pro

As if Cupertino didn't give you enough to chew on today, it looks like the Mac Pro received a small update as well. 'Course, it seems pretty minute until you check out the pricetag ($999, for those wondering), but nevertheless, users looking to maximize their machine can now opt for a PCI Express RAID card to come built right in. The card promises "up to 304MBps of sequential read performance in RAID 0" and supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. Moreover, it sports 256MB of cache and an integrated 72-hour battery for protection, and while the machine ships with each hard drive individually configured in the Enhanced JBOD level, you can migrate the drives into a RAID setup of your choosing without reinstalling OS X by tapping into Apple's RAID Utility software.

[Thanks, Alex]

[Shannin @ Aug 7th 2007 6:19PM]

its also a whopping $50 cheaper to upgrade to 4 gigs of memory in the mbps!
cmon apple couldnt you do alittle better? i can buy 4 gigs of memory for the mbp from newegg for less then $300

[Jared @ Aug 7th 2007 6:25PM]

I guess I figured out how I'm going to spend my next 17k

[Steve @ Aug 7th 2007 6:26PM]

is this in the iPhone too?
can it be "pushed" the update over-the-air or through USB, too?
that's what i thought.

[eqsf @ Aug 7th 2007 6:29PM]

enough of apple already! apple is already 90% of engadget's home page right now.

[w00fd06 @ Aug 7th 2007 6:43PM]

yeah, really, and besides, shouldn't apple have done this in their last Mac Pro, or are they really just now seeing the trend. Alienware has had this for what, like 2, 3 years now.

[HineyWipe @ Aug 7th 2007 7:42PM]

They should have had this on the Xserve Intel...they dropped this after the G5... (The intel Xserver, they FINALLY put integrated video).

Would be nice to have enough room for 6 drives...or even 8...

[Jared @ Aug 7th 2007 6:29PM]

I'm glad I figured out how I could spend my next 17k!!

[Blah @ Aug 7th 2007 6:53PM]

I hope its on a car, because this thing isnt worth a dime. I could easily build a superior machine for 10K or less, and have it look about the same if not nicer (Lian Li server cases are to die for), and still have enough left over to pick up a used corolla. Enjoy wasting your 17K.

[Richard @ Aug 7th 2007 6:31PM]

Xserve now has an option for a hardware RAID adapter which is far more important really...

[lotech @ Aug 7th 2007 6:35PM]

Owww - this card in NZ on the Apple Store is $US1600 - does sound like a nice card to have though.

[GregA @ Aug 7th 2007 6:48PM]

Wow, for the price you would be better off getting an HP Integrity server.

[w00fd06 @ Aug 7th 2007 7:02PM]

Amen to that. However, i was thinking an SLI / Crossfire Setup. couple of ATI Radeon HD 2600s. Just a suggestion.

[Sean O @ Aug 7th 2007 7:36PM]

Wow. This is pathetic. $1000 for what exactly? Just a hardware RAID controller? No external SATA ports? You're still stuck with the 4 internal slots (one being used by the system disk)?

I can't believe how stupid a person would have to be to buy this thing. But there are a lot of stupid people out there.

You can get a 3ware 9650SE, for the Mac Pro, for less than $500. Battery backup for it is like $125. And you get more internal SATA ports or run it externally to a multilane enclosure like the Sidecar.

[km @ Aug 7th 2007 7:50PM]

The Mac Pro desperately needs a video card update. The baseline iMac has a better graphics card than the baseline Mac Pro! Argh.

[Terc @ Aug 7th 2007 8:24PM]

The iMac also has 1GB drives available... but not the Mac Pro! Come on Apple, get with it!

[engadget @ Aug 7th 2007 8:01PM]

wow, now how about a refresh to you're grossly outdated video card selection. Or how about offering an octo-core configuration that's one step down for a more proportianately reasonable price. How about getting your memory upgrade prices out of the stratoshpere. How about fixing any number of other product cycle problems instead of adding a GROSSLY overpriced raid controller.

[John Doe @ Aug 7th 2007 8:09PM]

Does the controller store RAID settings on just the card or the card and drives as well? Also are there any tools to monitor the condition of the card's battery? Kinda important. 72 hours means jack if the battery is on its last leg.

[Constable Odo @ Aug 7th 2007 8:51PM]

Let me check my piggybank. OK, I'll take two of those cards.

[scott @ Aug 7th 2007 9:30PM]

*raises hand*

I do...

[Chicksta @ Aug 7th 2007 11:12PM]

If you just want to say 'I'm a homophobe and think all Apple people are gay', just say that. You'll still be wrong and an asshole, but at least you'll sound a little less drug-induced.

[mad@apple @ Aug 8th 2007 2:32AM]

What are they smoking over there???? Because whatever it is, it must cause brain farts. Where the hell are the new video cards?? Why do they continue to sell this machine with YEAR AND A HALF OLD video cards in it? And I could swear I heard something about Intel price drops. And FB-DIMMs are cheaper too. How about passing some of that savings on to your customers. Nah, let's add a THOUSAND DOLLAR RAID card that NO ONE has been asking for.

UPDATE THE DAMN VIDEO CARDS ALREADY APPLE!! > ATI HD 2600XT (low end) nVidia 8800GTX (high end).

[Oscar @ Aug 8th 2007 7:27AM]

Peter: What the hell does rant mean?

[craig @ Aug 8th 2007 3:42PM]

I think battery-backed cache cards are a cool idea even if they are decades old. I don't understand why 256MB for $1000 makes any sense though. 256MB is only 1 seconds worth of data! Forget it.

[Leo @ Aug 10th 2007 1:56AM]

i thought that mac pro had 4 HDD bays that were 'RAID-ready' or whatever...? - why the funk are they including a PCIe RAID card and calling it an extra? - does it have faster throughput than the built in RAID-Bays or what - anyone know what's going on here?????