OMG what a piece of CRAP!. It looks like Apple has done it again. Managed to build another outdated,underpowered machine with a huge price tag.Sure the Nehalem is a descent processor but why cripple it with Only 3GB memory and a 512Mb Nvidia gt120.For those who don't know the Nvidia gt120 is a re-branded Geforce 8600gt. You can currently buy a 1GB 8600gt for ~$50.00. I won't even get into the 640GB hard drive. This is a joke and a complete waste of money but, then again it is targeting Apple fanboys.
I couldn't agree more - I was looking to buy one of these, but this is outrageous. Only 8GB supported and the GT120 which is the re branded 8600GT? Apple, you just lost a potential sale.
No, it's targeting high-end graphic design/video/photo houses and academia. The fan-boy market is actually quite tiny, despite the fact that they upset you so.
i7's are Triple Channel CPUs. For the best performance, they need all three channels filled, just like dual channels need both channels filled for maximum performance. So, not 4GB, but 6-12GB.
@eric f."We seem to have a lot of "selective readers" here. You can upgrade the graphics on either machine to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $200."
You've got to be joking. You are talking about buying a new system for $2,000+ then upgrading it to be comparable with a system that still isn't worth $2,000+
xdurus - obviously your definition of "worth" needs some tweaking. Have you seen how the logic board and RAM slots just sort of slide out? Does your PC do that? Here's a hint for those of you that are especially dense: R&D is not free. Aluminum is not free, custom logic boards, cases and everything Apple designs is not free. You may not care that there are dozens and dozens of sensors that can tell you every tiny little thing about every single component in a Mac Pro, but they're in there anyway - and they're not free.
Furthermore, Mac Pros are not gaming machines, and gaming seems to be the only benchmark you dim-witted mouth breathers are able to use. Mac Pros are WORKSTATIONS. They are optimized for the fastest possible I/O using Intel's latest technology. People actually use them for work, not gaming. You think they have 8MB of L3 cache per processor for gaming? You think they run completely silently for gaming?
Exactly how far up your colon is your head right now?
"Furthermore, Mac Pros are not gaming machines, and gaming seems to be the only benchmark you dim-witted mouth breathers are able to use. Mac Pros are WORKSTATIONS. "
They certainly seem to be leaning that way, yet for some reason they feature low end consumer gamaing graphics cards rather than proper workstation cards (e.g. Quadros).
Why are there so many non-Apple dickwads on this forum. Who the hell doesn't know that you can build a slap-it-together PC for pennies on a dollar. A person could hand-build a sports car that could out-handle a Porsche Boxster for one-quarter the price. Who really gives a crap? I'd still want the Porsche Boxster. You buy what you like. Most businesses do not buy hand-assembled PCs. They buy something that they can get serviced on a contract. Most people cannot deal with hand-built PCs. Unless you're good at trouble-shooting, they can be a pain to service.
I know for a fact that if I built a PC with hand-picked parts I could build something less expensive that would certainly match benchmarks with Apple's best Mac Pro as long as I could acquire the same processors, but I couldn't vouch for it's reliability. Get a clue. Most computer users in this world do not build their own computers. As simple as it is to build an excellent computer around a decent motherboard and power supply.
I can very easily hand-build a PC out of parts with the best parts I can afford. It isn't that difficult. Apple doesn't even offer dual linking graphic cards nor can processors be overclocked easily. But I don't really care about all that stuff. I'd just want a reliable machine that if it needed repairs, I'd use AppleCare. A Mac Pro would last years longer than necessary, and most of my Macs are still running well after five years. Anyway I'm not going to be using it to play games.
It's just a personal preference to own a product. It's as simple as that. You're not being suckered if you know what you're buying and the reasons why you're buying it. This Mac Pro is not perfect, but it's as good as it gets for me. I want something that's relatively powerful and I can sit it in the corner and it just runs unattended for a year or two. The Mac Pro can do this.
Even though a gamer might consider a Mac Pro underwhelming it's still probably in the top 2% of all the world's desktop computers for outright computing power.
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OMG what a piece of CRAP!. It looks like Apple has done it again. Managed to build another outdated,underpowered machine with a huge price tag.Sure the Nehalem is a descent processor but why cripple it with Only 3GB memory and a 512Mb Nvidia gt120.For those who don't know the Nvidia gt120 is a re-branded Geforce 8600gt. You can currently buy a 1GB 8600gt for ~$50.00. I won't even get into the 640GB hard drive. This is a joke and a complete waste of money but, then again it is targeting Apple fanboys.
How much RAM does it need?
At least 4 gb starting out I'd say would make more sense.
I couldn't agree more - I was looking to buy one of these, but this is outrageous. Only 8GB supported and the GT120 which is the re branded 8600GT? Apple, you just lost a potential sale.
No, it's targeting high-end graphic design/video/photo houses and academia. The fan-boy market is actually quite tiny, despite the fact that they upset you so.
i7's are Triple Channel CPUs. For the best performance, they need all three channels filled, just like dual channels need both channels filled for maximum performance. So, not 4GB, but 6-12GB.
We seem to have a lot of "selective readers" here.
You can upgrade the graphics on either machine to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $200.
The low end is maxed at 8GB RAM, the Hight at 32GB RAM.
And BTW xdurus, The Mac pro is a badass machine. I have the 2x 3.2 quad core xeon model (previously hight end as of today).
I can have PS CS4, lightroom, capture one pro, bridge, safari, mail, all multitasking/processing without a hiccup. And I "only" have 6GB RAM.
@eric f."We seem to have a lot of "selective readers" here.
You can upgrade the graphics on either machine to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $200."
You've got to be joking. You are talking about buying a new system for $2,000+ then upgrading it to be comparable with a system that still isn't worth $2,000+
200 for an UPGRADE to a 4870? No thank you. You can get brand new ones much cheaper than that
xdurus - obviously your definition of "worth" needs some tweaking. Have you seen how the logic board and RAM slots just sort of slide out? Does your PC do that? Here's a hint for those of you that are especially dense: R&D is not free. Aluminum is not free, custom logic boards, cases and everything Apple designs is not free. You may not care that there are dozens and dozens of sensors that can tell you every tiny little thing about every single component in a Mac Pro, but they're in there anyway - and they're not free.
Furthermore, Mac Pros are not gaming machines, and gaming seems to be the only benchmark you dim-witted mouth breathers are able to use. Mac Pros are WORKSTATIONS. They are optimized for the fastest possible I/O using Intel's latest technology. People actually use them for work, not gaming. You think they have 8MB of L3 cache per processor for gaming? You think they run completely silently for gaming?
Exactly how far up your colon is your head right now?
"Furthermore, Mac Pros are not gaming machines, and gaming seems to be the only benchmark you dim-witted mouth breathers are able to use. Mac Pros are WORKSTATIONS. "
They certainly seem to be leaning that way, yet for some reason they feature low end consumer gamaing graphics cards rather than proper workstation cards (e.g. Quadros).
Why are there so many non-Apple dickwads on this forum. Who the hell doesn't know that you can build a slap-it-together PC for pennies on a dollar. A person could hand-build a sports car that could out-handle a Porsche Boxster for one-quarter the price. Who really gives a crap? I'd still want the Porsche Boxster. You buy what you like. Most businesses do not buy hand-assembled PCs. They buy something that they can get serviced on a contract. Most people cannot deal with hand-built PCs. Unless you're good at trouble-shooting, they can be a pain to service.
I know for a fact that if I built a PC with hand-picked parts I could build something less expensive that would certainly match benchmarks with Apple's best Mac Pro as long as I could acquire the same processors, but I couldn't vouch for it's reliability. Get a clue. Most computer users in this world do not build their own computers. As simple as it is to build an excellent computer around a decent motherboard and power supply.
I can very easily hand-build a PC out of parts with the best parts I can afford. It isn't that difficult. Apple doesn't even offer dual linking graphic cards nor can processors be overclocked easily. But I don't really care about all that stuff. I'd just want a reliable machine that if it needed repairs, I'd use AppleCare. A Mac Pro would last years longer than necessary, and most of my Macs are still running well after five years. Anyway I'm not going to be using it to play games.
It's just a personal preference to own a product. It's as simple as that. You're not being suckered if you know what you're buying and the reasons why you're buying it. This Mac Pro is not perfect, but it's as good as it gets for me. I want something that's relatively powerful and I can sit it in the corner and it just runs unattended for a year or two. The Mac Pro can do this.
Even though a gamer might consider a Mac Pro underwhelming it's still probably in the top 2% of all the world's desktop computers for outright computing power.
Zak, fastest possible I/O???
One 640gb 7200rpm drive in a $2500 machine???? ROFL
@ iphonerulez
Of all cars to compare you pick the poor mans porsche. In case you didnt know, Boxsters are lame.