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UnixMac · 01:58 PM

here you go guys.. took ALL day to get it set up and working with the RAID, and the migration mess.. but it was worth it!

Any Questions I can answer, please ask...

Mac Family

waxcrash · Sep 7, 2006, 11:45 PM

Congrats. I'm extremely jealous. Those are some nice photos. The pic of the RAM looks cool.

Senbei · Sep 8, 2006, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

Any Questions I can answer, please ask...

I've heard the stock Mac Pro and it is near dead silent except for the hard drive and optical when in use. How loud is the X1900XT under normal use (and if you have a way to stress it, under heavier loads)? I remember past PC reviews mentioning the blower was a bit loud/buzzy (and has since been addressed with a re-designed blower on the new X1950XT).

Thanks! (and nice setup pictures)

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 12:15 AM

Sen, this thing is DEAD silent... period. The only sound I hear is the occasional sound of the noisy Raptor... I is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than the Dual G5 with 6800 Graphics..

phantomdragonz · Sep 8, 2006, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

Sen, this thing is DEAD silent... period. The only sound I hear is the occasional sound of the noisy Raptor...

SWEET, I get mine tomorrow... can't wait for a new mac... my old one was a g4 400mhz with a 1ghz upgrade...

glad to hear it's silent..

Zach

Simon · Sep 8, 2006, 02:59 AM

Nice pics. Does the GPU remain quiet under heavy load? What kind of noise the box make when you play a 3D game? How does it compare to the idle noise level? Or is all drowned in the Raptor noise?

Did you put the Apple stickers on the HDDs or did Apple send them like that?

Oversoul · Sep 8, 2006, 03:17 AM

I'm guessing those are OWC RAM?

Congrats on the new system!

hatim · Sep 8, 2006, 03:45 AM

congrats. You need to work on the floor wire management

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 09:17 AM

Simon: I played QuakeIV and it was just a bit more fan noise... not as loud as the G5.

Oversoul: OWC indeed.

hatim: I'm open to ideas... I hate it as much as anyone else!

Oversoul · Sep 8, 2006, 11:08 AM

I love the red heat sinks on the OWC RAM, and I'm very much tempted to pick these up because of that.

BTW, you've got a great kitchen.

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 11:50 AM

Can't say well enough about OWC.. Got 3 hard drives, and 4GB RAM from them for a net $1100 savings from if I used Apple.. and they're all top brands.. IBM/Hitatchi, Western Digital, and the Memory is all made in the same factory anyway..

thanks Oversoul... Wife insisted we spare no expense on it! Gave me ammo for a nicer Mac

draizor · Sep 8, 2006, 12:32 PM

Excellent pics! makes me even more eager to finally get mine! September 14th... *sigh* still 6 days to go! I was thinking about getting the raptor as well to use as boot disk; is it really that noisy? How does it compare to stock drives?

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by draizor

Excellent pics! makes me even more eager to finally get mine! September 14th... *sigh* still 6 days to go! I was thinking about getting the raptor as well to use as boot disk; is it really that noisy? How does it compare to stock drives?

Ok... if you're a noise Nazi, don't get the Raptor.. YES, you can hear it over every other component.. and it's a bit irritating in the sound it makes.. but IT'S VERY FAST.. so there is a trade off.

As for doing it.. it's more hassle that I originally thought.. you first have to mount it into another bay, and "erase" it, thus formating it.. then you can mount it in Bay 1, and boot to CD to install.. That got me messed up for two hours trying to understand why the OS would not find the Darn disk!

mac128k-1984 · Sep 8, 2006, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

As for doing it.. it's more hassle that I originally thought.. you first have to mount it into another bay, and "erase" it, thus formating it.. then you can

Was the raptor drive an OEM or retail drive. I have not heard of needing to mount the drive in a different bay just to format it. I'm waiting for a maxline drive from pcconnection and its good to know that I may have some extra steps.

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 02:06 PM

It's brand new and from OWC is all I know.. it was sealed in the box. So it needed formating as did the two other Deskstars..

draizor · Sep 8, 2006, 03:10 PM

Ok... if you're a noise Nazi, don't get the Raptor.. YES, you can hear it over every other component.. and it's a bit irritating in the sound it makes.. but IT'S VERY FAST.. so there is a trade off.

As for doing it.. it's more hassle that I originally thought.. you first have to mount it into another bay, and "erase" it, thus formating it.. then you can mount it in Bay 1, and boot to CD to install.. That got me messed up for two hours trying to understand why the OS would not find the Darn disk!

Alright that sounds like a deal! Thanks so much for the answer and for paving the way !

I just ordered the 150Gb Raptor! Damn, now I have the christmas eve feeling , I just can't wait for everything to sit at my house!

angelmb · Sep 8, 2006, 04:17 PM

As usual, UnixMac delivers… IMO so far the nicest set-up pictures I have ever seen around here.

Lovely iMac desk

- - e r i k - - · Sep 8, 2006, 04:30 PM

Thanks. A lot. You made my MacPro feel inferior what with your 30" display and what not. Boo. Hiss.

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 05:01 PM

eric.. It was these damn forum members that talked me into it!

I kept saying how I was happy with my 23" and how I had no use for a 30, but I'd get occasional posts or PM's saying why? why? So I took the plunge, and to be honest, it's a bit overwhelming.. and may not be for everyone. Plus it's a huge piece of real estate to fit into your office/work area.. My advise, keep the 23" unless you really "need" it..

Oversoul · Sep 8, 2006, 05:16 PM

I was actually talking to an Apple Genius about it, and we both agreed that 2x 23" ACDs were a better value than 1x 30". Of course, because the Genius was "hooked up" and regularly works with FCP, Motion and Shake, he has 2x 30" displays at home.

But if UnixMac's got the money and use for the 30", why not?

Following up on an earlier note, I just ordered 4x 1GB RAM sticks from OWC. I'm going to guess that I'll get my RAM before Apple gets around to shipping my Mac Pro.

At least they'll be here and ready to go into the Mac Pro when it finally arrives.

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by Oversoul

I was actually talking to an Apple Genius about it, and we both agreed that 2x 23" ACDs were a better value than 1x 30". Of course, because the Genius was "hooked up" and regularly works with FCP, Motion and Shake, he has 2x 30" displays at home.

But if UnixMac's got the money and use for the 30", why not?

Following up on an earlier note, I just ordered 4x 1GB RAM sticks from OWC. I'm going to guess that I'll get my RAM before Apple gets around to shipping my Mac Pro.

At least they'll be here and ready to go into the Mac Pro when it finally arrives.

2 x 23 came to mind, but the real estate is even more on such a setup.. adding a 20" may happen though for the Pallets for CS2.. time will tell.

As for OWC memory.. yup, I had my OWC memory, and 3 hard drives here 2 weeks before Apple sent the Mac.. they weren't very much fun to play with as you can imagine... especially wrapped up in the anti-static plastic!

derekn · Sep 8, 2006, 06:14 PM

Hey UnixMac, I noticed on the pic of the hard drives, the two in bays 3 and 4 have an Apple logo on them. Is that a sticker Apple stuck on? Or some kind of embossing? Looks really cool.

BTW, love the train pics on your site (big train nut myself LOL).

Oversoul · Sep 8, 2006, 06:24 PM

I'm guessing he took the two white Apple stickers that come with a new Mac purchase and stuck them on the hard drives.

MindFad · Sep 8, 2006, 06:41 PM

Mmmmmm, X1900 XT.

awcopus · Sep 8, 2006, 06:49 PM

Beautiful setup UnixMac. Congrats. I'll probably go with the same rig.

My G5 is behaving like... oh, what's the word?.... ah yes, the word is poop.

So, I'm probably looking at an imminent MacPro upgrade. Even if Apple Care is able to address my woes, which they haven't been able to do in 3 weeks, I need a 2nd production machine so that if one goes down, I'm still making progress.

trevorM · Sep 8, 2006, 07:26 PM

Thanks Unixmac for sharing those pictures and comments.

I have decided to hold off replacing my Dual G5 till just before I graduate from Law School so I can make one good last use to my EDU discount.

Its great to read that it is so quiet because to this day my G5 still bugs me with the SOUND it produces.

I see you find the 30" overwhelming? In a week or two's time it will feel like your 23" display I swear. You get so used to the nice big size that you eventually take it for granted and want more space!!!

mac128k-1984 · Sep 8, 2006, 08:28 PM

I received my HD today and I popped it into bay 1, rebooted off the CD and successfully zeroed the drive and installed Tiger. I'm not sure why you couldn't just do that.

UnixMac · Sep 8, 2006, 09:06 PM

derek.... yes those are the freebies and I used them to cover up the open area for "looks"..
And the Trains are indeed another bottomless pit!

..as for why my HD's didn't work until I erased them, that's one for OWC to answer.. I know that they're working fine now though.

thanks for the nice compliments..

derekn · Sep 8, 2006, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

derek.... yes those are the freebies and I used them to cover up the open area for "looks"..
And the Trains are indeed another bottomless pit!

Ah I see.

I was wondering if they were some new Apple touch, some really out there OEM thing. LOL

I know the feeling. LOL My neighbor got me hooked on LGB G-Scale trains awhile back and I've been hooked since. Finally had to stop buying them since I don't have a place to run them, they're all packed up safely in their boxes now though.

Xyrrus · Sep 9, 2006, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

here you go guys.. took ALL day to get it set up and working with the RAID, and the migration mess.. but it was worth it!

Any Questions I can answer, please ask...

http://web.mac.com/sjsamaha/iWeb/Site/Library.html

I've got a question about your ram install. You have 2x512 in the upper riser, then 4x1gb in the lower, correct? I was under the impression that you should create pairs of pairs across the risers, not on each riser.

That is, shouldn't you have 2x1GB on the upper, 2x1GB on the lower and then the remaining unpaired 2x512 on the upper? Or am I totally misunderstanding how the pairs of pairs things works?

-Xy

Dark_Lotus · Sep 9, 2006, 05:15 PM

Im extremely jealous of you.. Its gotta feel good to be rich.

Oversoul · Sep 9, 2006, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by Xyrrus

I've got a question about your ram install. You have 2x512 in the upper riser, then 4x1gb in the lower, correct? I was under the impression that you should create pairs of pairs across the risers, not on each riser.

That is, shouldn't you have 2x1GB on the upper, 2x1GB on the lower and then the remaining unpaired 2x512 on the upper? Or am I totally misunderstanding how the pairs of pairs things works?

-Xy

This is was OWC has to say about it:

"Only Pairs need to be matched. Each Slot Pair can be different size or make. Example: 1 Set Apple 512MB x 2, 1 Set OWC 1GB x 2, two Sets OWC 2GB x 2Total = 11GB of total Memory."

UnixMac · Sep 9, 2006, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by Xyrrus

I've got a question about your ram install. You have 2x512 in the upper riser, then 4x1gb in the lower, correct? I was under the impression that you should create pairs of pairs across the risers, not on each riser.

That is, shouldn't you have 2x1GB on the upper, 2x1GB on the lower and then the remaining unpaired 2x512 on the upper? Or am I totally misunderstanding how the pairs of pairs things works?

-Xy

yeah.. I actually have since changed it to 2x1 GB up top + 2x512 AND 2x1GB on bottom.. this is due to Latency issues.. you want the bigger memory cards closer to the CPU (or in DIMM bay 1 and 2) and the smaller pair (the 512's) in DIMM bay 3 and 4..

I'm trying to score a second set of 512's (someone has to want to sell them).. so I can even match it on the top, and have a round 6GB.

Anyone wana sell they're 512's???

dpicardi · Sep 9, 2006, 10:36 PM

It can't be the heat sinks can it? What's driving the price up so much?

And why does no one else around here seem to be surprised by the premium price?

I can't imagine spending $500 on 2GB of RAM...

Dave

Senbei · Sep 10, 2006, 03:33 AM

Originally Posted by dpicardi

It can't be the heat sinks can it? What's driving the price up so much?

And why does no one else around here seem to be surprised by the premium price?

The few vendors that have those larger heat spreaders are indeed charging a higher premium for them since the actual FB-DIMMs with standard sized ones are significantly cheaper. The memory itself has the same part numbers; one example are 1GB modules like the Samsung M395T2953CZ4-CE601 0634. With a regular size heat spreader, I've seen those going for $380 a pair. Some of the ones vendors ship with the larger heat sinks tend go for around $499 a pair so there is around $100 additional profit for a part that probably costs them $10. So long as there is strong demand by Mac Pro users, there isn't much incentive for these vendors to drop prices.

Someone on the Apple Discussion Forums called up Crucial to see if they could just buy the spreaders but the answer was no. Not surprising since it is currently a cash cow for them. So some folks are jury rigging their own like this person.

Mac Pro 667Mhz Fully Buffered DIMM Installation

Someone else used these larger heat sinks from this other Thermaltake product on some $180 1GB Kingston FB-DIMMs.

Thermaltake HEAT SPREADER(A1092) DDR & SDRAM Heat Sink

hldan · Sep 10, 2006, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

here you go guys.. took ALL day to get it set up and working with the RAID, and the migration mess.. but it was worth it!

Any Questions I can answer, please ask...

http://web.mac.com/sjsamaha/iWeb/Site/Library.html

Yeah, I have question, how come the link to your page is no longer working?

UnixMac · Sep 10, 2006, 01:59 PM

fixed it.. sorry, I'm still learning how to use the new iweb.

derekn · Sep 10, 2006, 02:37 PM

Hey UnixMac, would it be possible for you to try the UB version of Quake 4? With the settings maxed out, just to see if how smooth it is. Thanks.

I WAS the One · Sep 10, 2006, 03:21 PM

congrats!

(how much you spend setting your dream desk?)

I'm in the middle of a desition here...

hldan · 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

fixed it.. sorry, I'm still learning how to use the new iweb.

Nice set up! It's gotta be nice to be you and to have disposable income.

polendo · Sep 10, 2006, 10:08 PM

Congrats on your setup. It's really convenient to have the kitchen near the computer room hahaha. BTW the retro fan you have there looks cool. The guitar too!

regards

UnixMac · Sep 10, 2006, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by polendo

Congrats on your setup. It's really convenient to have the kitchen near the computer room hahaha. BTW the retro fan you have there looks cool. The guitar too!

regards

thanks.. that fan (and all my fans) are made in the USA by Casablanca.. great product made the "like they used to make 'em"

dpicardi · Sep 11, 2006, 07:35 AM

Originally Posted by Senbei

The few vendors that have those larger heat spreaders are indeed charging a higher premium for them since the actual FB-DIMMs with standard sized ones are significantly cheaper. The memory itself has the same part numbers; one example are 1GB modules like the Samsung M395T2953CZ4-CE601 0634. With a regular size heat spreader, I've seen those going for $380 a pair. Some of the ones vendors ship with the larger heat sinks tend go for around $499 a pair so there is around $100 additional profit for a part that probably costs them $10. So long as there is strong demand by Mac Pro users, there isn't much incentive for these vendors to drop prices.

Wow so it is price gouging. Bummer! But in the long run I guess that is good news as these prices will come down.

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

I'm waiting to buy my next Mac when it comes with the next version of OSX as I have no dire need. Hopefully by then the price of RAM will be significantly different.

UnixMac · Sep 11, 2006, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by derekn

Hey UnixMac, would it be possible for you to try the UB version of Quake 4? With the settings maxed out, just to see if how smooth it is. Thanks.

I did, and it was sort of dissappointing.. I set everything to the max, and the opening scene while looking nice was very choppy... When I did the autodetect it gave me a meager 600x800 on my 30" display and still didn't max out the textures etc..

Also, the included folder with the Terminal apps that are called benchmarking didn't work..

Can you walk me thru a bench marking, or time demo for it so we can run some tests?

derekn · Sep 11, 2006, 11:13 AM

Eww... that start doesn't sound promising. LOL

We can try this, instead of doing the timedemo, just have the game display the framerates. Just pull up the console by hitting option, control and tilde, then type this:
com_showFPS

Thank you.

UnixMac · Sep 11, 2006, 12:40 PM

Ok, I downloaded and installed the MP update for QuakeIV

Much better...

At max settings 2048x1528 (or something), and 16x anti-alising, Ultra quality.. in the opening scene, and initial fight iside the doorway.. I'm getting from 60 (which seems to be the cap) down to as low as 20-30 during heavy fighting/firing.

Can anyone walk me thru how to do the timedemo? I'd love to see what it can do?

derekn · Sep 11, 2006, 02:17 PM

Oh man.

I was wondering how it'd be on ultra quality. ID mentioned when Doom III came out that it would have that option, but that only the next gen cards would be able to do it. I'm glad to see they can.

I think there might be a problem with the timedemo stuff, macgeek tried that too and he couldn't get them to work.

thag-simmons · Sep 11, 2006, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

Ok, I downloaded and installed the MP update for QuakeIV

Can anyone walk me thru how to do the timedemo? I'd love to see what it can do?

The following is from barefeats.com. When they say "enter console", type CTRL OPTION ~

If you would like to test your own Mac against those we featured, just be sure to have the 1.2 patch for Quake 4 and use the "id_demo001" net demo file that comes with that patch. (A "Benchmark" folder gets added to your Quake 4 folder after the patch is installed. Move the Demos folder with "id_demo001" into your USER/LIBRARY/APPLICATION SUPPORT/QUAKE4/Q4BASE folder.)

Also, if you have a multi-core or multi-processor Mac, be sure to go into console mode (CTRL+OPTION+~) and enter "r_usesmp 1" to enable SMP mode. Be sure you are set to High Quality with Shadows enabled in Advanced Settings.

To use a resolution other than those offered by Quake 4's menu, go to console mode and enter:
r_customwidth 1280 (or other)
r_customheight 800 (or other)
r_mode -1
vid_restart (saves you from quitting and relaunching)

After the vid_restart takes, enter "r_mode" to see if it's still set to "-1." If not, it means that the custom resolution you defined is not able to be handled by Quake 4 on your Mac.

To run the network timed demo, enter console mode and type:
playnettimedemo id_demo001
Make two runs and compare the second run's result to ours.

UnixMac · Sep 11, 2006, 04:29 PM

great info thag..

48.4 fps in 16:10 aspect 1900x1200 maxed out settings..

37.8 fps 4:3 aspect 2048x1548 same settings..

Both very playable.. but the 16:10 looks best on the 30"..

Are those good numbers compared to the PC's??

thag-simmons · Sep 11, 2006, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

great info thag..

48.4 fps in 16:10 aspect 1900x1200 maxed out settings..

Good. Is that in Ultra quality, or High quality? If that's Ultra, it's very impressive...

Here are some PC results using various cards and CPUs:

Quake4 pointrelease 1.2 Benchmark! [Archiv] - 3DCenter Forum (sorry these are in german)

It's hard to find comparable results, since most published PC results use a custom timedemo, not the playnettimedemo id_demo001.