Future Upgradeability ?
Sorry to post something which I am not aware of, but probably every other user on this forum knows.
I was going to wait 'till Februrary to buy my Mac Pro, when just over 15 minutes ago, on this very forum, I heard that you can upgrade your Mac Pro with future hardware.
So hold on, let me get this straight,
If I get my Mac Pro now, and say, in January in MacWorld, the 3.33GHz Quad Core is revealed, will I be able to change the Processor myself/get a specialist to change my Dual core to a Quad Core ?
And same for a new GPU, which according to all of you, should be revealed around November.
If for example, a 8800GTX is announced in November, will I be able to fix that onto my Mac Pro myself/With specialist help ?
And where will I get Drivers ? (Which im not sure what they even are . I apologise for my lack of knowledge)
I was going to wait 'till Februrary to buy my Mac Pro, when just over 15 minutes ago, on this very forum, I heard that you can upgrade your Mac Pro with future hardware.
So hold on, let me get this straight,
If I get my Mac Pro now, and say, in January in MacWorld, the 3.33GHz Quad Core is revealed, will I be able to change the Processor myself/get a specialist to change my Dual core to a Quad Core ?
And same for a new GPU, which according to all of you, should be revealed around November.
If for example, a 8800GTX is announced in November, will I be able to fix that onto my Mac Pro myself/With specialist help ?
And where will I get Drivers ? (Which im not sure what they even are . I apologise for my lack of knowledge)
Comments
this you shd post in current hardware, so that some one who owns the Mac Pro could answer your questions ...
Oh, and yes, I apologise, I should have put it in Current Hardware.
My 2¢
Aside from perhaps a speedbump sometime in early '07, I don't expect to see major revisions to the Mac Pros until after Leopard's launch. Sure, waiting you'll be able to get more bang for your buck, but that's always the case!
I suggest you buy now so you get use of the machine for another 6 months or so. But I guess it depends on what you do and what the Mac Pro is replacing.
The only real impact I could see is if Apple releases the consumer tower everyone's pining for. It won't have the performance or as many upgrade options as the Mac Pro, but it might be enough for you -- assuming such a system comes out!
Regarding specifics to your questions, if future processors are pin and mother board compatible you should be able to drop them in to your Mac Pro. You should be fine with graphics card upgrades including keeping your original card as an option depending on card sizes, etc. Drivers are part of Mac OS and you won't need to worry about it for the most part.
You have answered all my questions
What am I buying it for ? (Cliche alert) mainly gaming.
Wait...before you flame me for wasting my cash, the reason I want a Mac Pro for gaming is because I absolutely love OSX, and could not imagine a computer without it for 95% of my tasks.
Then ill use Windows for gaming.
Also I dont have anything to worry about in terms of ugrading the processor for atleast a year.
3GHz should handle almost every game for a long time to come.
And if they unviel a 7950GX2 or maybe (Even though the possibility is nil) a 8000 series on Sep. 12th...ohhh..im in heaven !
Few applications will leverage it - if any, and I think Apple will wait, and use the extra time until later in 2007 when intel releases TRUE Quad Core processors before upgrading it.
Applications that need many processors are probably written generically to count the number of cores available and divide the work up appropriately in a data parallel fashion. This approach is much more useful and scalable than a coarse-grained approach of finding heterogenous tasks and dividing along those lines. Typically an app that is properly written and takes advantage of more than 2 cores will take advantage of as many as you throw at it.
I agree that it is worth waiting for the machines in the middle of 2007 though.
Wha..what ?!
So youre telling me I should wait ??
Shortly put, it makes no sense to buy a Mac Pro for that. If you have a Mac that is fast enough and has enough features for you, the smart thing to do is to get a smoking fast Windows PC at around $1200 (I think you can include a GX2 at that price) and use that to run games. You won't have to boot your "real" computer just to play, you don't have to risk the contents of your hard drive in case of Windows security problem, et cetera. You'll pay less and have much better availability (probably price also) for upgrades in your Windows box.
If you don't have a Mac or have to upgrade, it might still make sense to get an iMac or a mini plus a Windows PC.
If Apple only had a reasonable midrange headless computer, things would be different.
If I get this correctly, you want the machine because you want to run games.
Shortly put, it makes no sense to buy a Mac Pro for that. If you have a Mac that is fast enough and has enough features for you, the smart thing to do is to get a smoking fast Windows PC at around $1200 (I think you can include a GX2 at that price) and use that to run games. You won't have to boot your "real" computer just to play, you don't have to risk the contents of your hard drive in case of Windows security problem, et cetera. You'll pay less and have much better availability (probably price also) for upgrades in your Windows box.
If you don't have a Mac or have to upgrade, it might still make sense to get an iMac or a mini plus a Windows PC.
If Apple only had a reasonable midrange headless computer, things would be different.
Um, what is he gonna buy for non-gaming? A mac mini? A computer in that price range won't be able to handle any CPU heavy games like Doom 3 that come out, anyway.
Get the Mac Pro, I'd be incredibly suprised if you couldn't upgrade the graphics card a year or two on from now. (The processors, less likely... I don't know when Intel is switching to a new chipset, but I think it's pretty soon.)
I don't think the quad-core (octo?) computers are going to be standard for a while—I don't know if it's really worth waiting a year or so "just in case." Unless you want to wait and save up, because I'd imagine those machines are gonna be lik $3000+
If I get this correctly, you want the machine because you want to run games.
Shortly put, it makes no sense to buy a Mac Pro for that. If you have a Mac that is fast enough and has enough features for you, the smart thing to do is to get a smoking fast Windows PC at around $1200 (I think you can include a GX2 at that price) and use that to run games. You won't have to boot your "real" computer just to play, you don't have to risk the contents of your hard drive in case of Windows security problem, et cetera. You'll pay less and have much better availability (probably price also) for upgrades in your Windows box.
If you don't have a Mac or have to upgrade, it might still make sense to get an iMac or a mini plus a Windows PC.
If Apple only had a reasonable midrange headless computer, things would be different.
Gon...you dont understand.
I HATEWindows.
I would never, EVER pay for a computer which can not run OSX.
I only want Windows to run games.
Greg, I really am not so patient as to wait a entire year
Although $3000 wouldnt be an issue-
im spending £4500 for the Mac Pro
The thing is, I was going to buy it at launch, but then I was told to wait a bit 'till the dust settles as prices will go down.
That was true.
So the dust settled, and everyone told me wait 'till Sept. 12th ! Maybe a new GPU will be unvieled.
So after the 12th, I really can not be bothered to wait anymore.
Besides, it seems as though some price gets slashed, or a new screen is released every day.
And im sure this trend has no intent of slowing down.
But then again...this trend worries me, as I know, some day soon, something will be released, and I know I will regret having had brought the computer so soon.
Ach...life sucks hehe
Gon...you dont understand.
I HATEWindows.
I would never, EVER pay for a computer which can not run OSX.
I only want Windows to run games.
Greg, I really am not so patient as to wait a entire year
Although $3000 wouldnt be an issue-
im spending £4500 for the Mac Pro
The thing is, I was going to buy it at launch, but then I was told to wait a bit 'till the dust settles as prices will go down.
That was true.
So the dust settled, and everyone told me wait 'till Sept. 12th ! Maybe a new GPU will be unvieled.
So after the 12th, I really can not be bothered to wait anymore.
Besides, it seems as though some price gets slashed, or a new screen is released every day.
And im sure this trend has no intent of slowing down.
But then again...this trend worries me, as I know, some day soon, something will be released, and I know I will regret having had brought the computer so soon.
Ach...life sucks hehe
As a rabid Apple stockholder, I'd encourage you to spend as much money as you want, as often as you want, for your enjoyment.
Gon...you dont understand.
I HATEWindows.
I only want Windows to run games.
This I understand.
I would never, EVER pay for a computer which can not run OSX.
If there was a midrange Mac, this could be a price issue - you'd get by cheaper not getting a Mac and a gaming PC separately, but instead a Mac with a good graphics card. But this is the other way - you plan to get an expensive workstation for quite a bit more than the separate solutions.
And you'll get a worse experience. You'll get slower components (difference in gaming between dual and quad core doesn't matter yet, and will probably take a long time to start affecting the experience). The biggest hindrance is having to shut down all your work in OS X and boot to another OS. That would drive me nuts, not to mention worrying about the Windows computer getting hacked and endangering my actual work data.
It seems you are trying to make things hard for yourself for no reason.
The only thing I can think of that is good about the Mac Pro in this situation are that you don't have two boxes taking space.
so there is little chance of getting '[-]4Xx0rD'.
I wont really be at one point thinking 'Im done working. Lets play'.
I get up in the morning specifically to play.
Although thats not to say I wont to work on the computer...
But like I said, anything that doesnt run OSX, isnt something i'd even consider.
All the games I play are Mac native or for my console. The only hard part is waiting for some of the ports... The wait for Civ IV for example was kinda tough.
Gon...you dont understand.
I HATEWindows.
I would never, EVER pay for a computer which can not run OSX.
I only want Windows to run games.
You hate windows but you'll shell out $200-$300 for a copy and actually want to use it? strange...
Greg, I really am not so patient as to wait a entire year
Although $3000 wouldnt be an issue-
im spending £4500 for the Mac Pro
The thing is, I was going to buy it at launch, but then I was told to wait a bit 'till the dust settles as prices will go down.
Who told you to wait? Can't be an longtime AI member. Prices won't go down. They stay the same. Specs go up though, once or twice a year. (and once in a while Apple reduces prices at the same time )
That was true.
What?
So the dust settled, and everyone told me wait 'till Sept. 12th ! Maybe a new GPU will be unvieled.
First time I hear from an Hardware update 1 month after the introduction of a new model. Hardware downgrades (AGP G4) and price increases (iMacG4) on the other hand.
So after the 12th, I really can not be bothered to wait anymore.
Besides, it seems as though some price gets slashed, or a new screen is released every day.
And im sure this trend has no intent of slowing down.
But then again...this trend worries me, as I know, some day soon, something will be released, and I know I will regret having had brought the computer so soon.
Ach...life sucks hehe
Life is a bitch. As always buy if you need it, wait if you can.
And always buy if the computer is fresh.
So I agree with Programmer
Anandtech grabbed a pair of 2.4GHz Clovertown samples and tossed them in a 2.0Ghz Mac Pro.
And I bet they will be quite a few pennies more than the 3GHz Woodcrests !