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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Picked up the new MacPro tonight...

Picked up the new MacPro tonight...
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Bigfoot
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Jan 9, 2008, 11:06 PM
 
Bought the new 2.8 Xeon 8 core 2gig MacPro tonight and don't you know I couldn't hook up my older 20" ACD. I forgot it has an ADC connection on it and the MacPro is DVI I have a couple of adaptors but they're going the wrong direction... naturally. Off to CompUSA tomorrow to hopefully find the right adaptor or... get a new monitor, either there or down the street to Best Buy.

Though Apple may announce new monitors next week I don't want to spend that much on whatever they come out with. I primarily work in audio (ProTools/Logic) and use the web so I don't need high end.

Couple questions:

1) Any suggestions for a quality 22" small bezeled black monitor... Dell, NEC, Viewsonic, Samsung etc.?

2) Will the extra SATA (audio drive) I currently have in my dual FW800 G4 fit/work in the MacPro? I will be ordering another anyway, just wondering about the one I currently use.

After intitial setup, second bootup time was thirty five seconds, FWIW. Will be ordering another 2gig ram tomorrow as well.

Five years on this old gal (dual 1.25 G4/FW800)... doesn't owe me a dime.

Thanks for any help.
MacPro 2.8/8-core Xeon/10.5.8/8GB ram. MacBook Pro 2.26/10.6.2/4GB ram/250GB drive. Airport Extreme 802.11n
     
MarkLT1
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Jan 9, 2008, 11:13 PM
 
Congrats on the new Rig!

I am interested in 3rd party monitors as well. You may want to consider going to a 24" as then you'll get more usable resolution (the 22" monitors typically have the same res as the 20", with a higher dot pitch).
     
packet of krisps
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Jan 9, 2008, 11:34 PM
 
I have a 22" Samsung and its great, if you spend the time to configure the colors they work well, they get very bright too.

[15" MacBook Pro 2.6 Ghz] [G4 733] [G4 MDD DP 1.25]
     
Leonard
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Jan 10, 2008, 11:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
2) Will the extra SATA (audio drive) I currently have in my dual FW800 G4 fit/work in the MacPro? I will be ordering another anyway, just wondering about the one I currently use.
Is that a SATA or a PATA drive in your G4. Unless youu installed a PCI SATA card, the G4 only takes parallel ATA drives (PATA) which can't be used in a Mac Pro. If it really is a SATA drive, then yes it can be used in the Mac Pro.
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Jonesy
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Jan 10, 2008, 05:50 PM
 
I am intending to buy the new MacPro as well and I have the same old set-up as you (Dual 1.25 FW800 and 20" cinema display). I bought the DVI to ADC adapter made by Apple a while ago when I saw it in a sale. I don't know whether you can buy them from Apple any more. I knew I would need it when the new desktops finally came out. I don't know whether you will have any joy connecting your old screen without one of these.

Check ebay for one of these. They were quite expensive in the past (I think ~£70) but you might find a used one for a good price now.
     
mduell
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Jan 10, 2008, 06:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by Leonard View Post
Is that a SATA or a PATA drive in your G4. Unless youu installed a PCI SATA card, the G4 only takes parallel ATA drives (PATA) which can't be used in a Mac Pro.
ORLY? I think the Mac Pros still use PATA optical drives or at least have the headers for them available.
     
Leonard
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Jan 10, 2008, 07:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
ORLY? I think the Mac Pros still use PATA optical drives or at least have the headers for them available.
Ooops, I forgot about the PATA optical drive. You could fit a PATA hard drive in the second optical bay off of the second PATA connection, if the optical drives are still PATA.
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Bigfoot  (op)
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Jan 10, 2008, 10:33 PM
 
I forgot I needed that funky power adaptor to use my old ACD. Anyway, found one believe it or not in CompUSA today for $100. They are going out of business and had everything 15% off. I said screw it. I went down the street to Best Buy and bought an LG 22" 226WTQ for three hundred and change. I am pleasantly surprised by the picture (considering I paid $1000 for my ADC five years ago). Other than some backlight bleeding with solid color backrounds, the picture is better than the ADC. I'm thinking of getting a second for a dual setup. So I guess the old ADC will stay married with my old rig as a backup.

Next order of business is getting more ram and hard drives. Apparently ram is not available yet from Crucial or OWC.

I must say... happiness is a new MacPro

Thanks for the replies.
MacPro 2.8/8-core Xeon/10.5.8/8GB ram. MacBook Pro 2.26/10.6.2/4GB ram/250GB drive. Airport Extreme 802.11n
     
himself
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Jan 10, 2008, 11:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
Next order of business is getting more ram and hard drives. Apparently ram is not available yet from Crucial or OWC.
I believe it is.
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Photocro
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Jan 10, 2008, 11:21 PM
 
I use a Dell 2407 WPF, 1000:1 contrast. GREAT monitor. Plugged into the Mac Pro with ease. It is brighter on the Mac than on my old PC. Quite satisfied.
     
mduell
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Jan 11, 2008, 05:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
Next order of business is getting more ram and hard drives. Apparently ram is not available yet from Crucial or OWC.
OWC has RAM and the prices aren't bad ($50-100/GB).

And of course Newegg for drives. For what Apple wants for the 320->500GB upgrade, you can buy an entire 500GB drive at Newegg.
     
Bigfoot  (op)
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Jan 11, 2008, 07:54 PM
 
What is the difference between "certified" and "qualified" ram, with regards to OWC? Also seems to keep pushing the ship date up. Guess I should just order and wait.
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SierraDragon
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Jan 11, 2008, 08:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
...Will be ordering another 2gig ram tomorrow as well.
I would not buy anything until after Expo, but OWC does have RAM now. I suggest adding 2x2 GB minimum. 1-GB sized DIMMs IMO don't make much sense.

-Allen Wicks
     
mduell
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Jan 11, 2008, 09:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
What is the difference between "certified" and "qualified" ram, with regards to OWC?
"RAM that someone else says will work" vs "RAM that should work"
     
MarkLT1
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Jan 12, 2008, 12:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
"RAM that someone else says will work" vs "RAM that should work"
To extend this sentiment- I have a MP, pounded on for scientific research (very RAM and processor intensive applications run on it, almost 24x7). I have used the OWC qualified memory in it since November 2006, and have not had a single problem.
     
Bwa
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Jan 12, 2008, 01:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by SierraDragon View Post
I would not buy anything until after Expo, but OWC does have RAM now. I suggest adding 2x2 GB minimum. 1-GB sized DIMMs IMO don't make much sense.

-Allen Wicks
Long lead time on the RAM though. I ordered 2x1 GB sticks and 4x2 GB on the 9th; still haven't shipped (but their web site does clearly say it's going to take a few days).
     
AppleGirl1990
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Jan 12, 2008, 01:15 PM
 
more importantly, how do you like your new computer? is it everything you expected?
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mduell
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Jan 12, 2008, 03:38 PM
 
AppleGirl1990, you have a huge hotlinked image in your sig and your sig also violates forums rules.
     
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Jan 12, 2008, 04:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
AppleGirl1990, you have a huge hotlinked image in your sig and your sig also violates forums rules.
She probably doesn't see that the image isn't loading for anyone else since I'm sure the real image is cached on her machine. But, yes, she needs to sort it all out.
     
Bigfoot  (op)
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Jan 13, 2008, 12:38 PM
 
Moment of discovery this morning. My weekly video chat with a friend down in Florida flushed out a problem with my iSight camera and the new MacPro. After about two or three minutes the sound gets a broken up 3-4 second delay from me to him. Then the video gets distorted. I see and hear him fine. If I relaunch iChat we're good for another three minutes until the broken up delay starts again. I plugged the iSight back into my old G4 and perfectly fine. I'm wondering if there are too many processors in the mix :-) Is this a Leopard thing & iSight or Macpro & iSight? Off to webland to see if I can find something on this.
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mduell
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Jan 13, 2008, 02:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
Moment of discovery this morning. My weekly video chat with a friend down in Florida flushed out a problem with my iSight camera and the new MacPro. After about two or three minutes the sound gets a broken up 3-4 second delay from me to him. Then the video gets distorted. I see and hear him fine. If I relaunch iChat we're good for another three minutes until the broken up delay starts again. I plugged the iSight back into my old G4 and perfectly fine. I'm wondering if there are too many processors in the mix :-) Is this a Leopard thing & iSight or Macpro & iSight? Off to webland to see if I can find something on this.
Aside from working on the G4 it sounds like an ISP issue... does one of you have Comcast by chance?
     
Bigfoot  (op)
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Jan 13, 2008, 05:25 PM
 
I do have Comcast but the issue was gone when I hooked iSight to the G4. I realize they are doing maintenance this week but how does that explain the G4?

I was at the Apple Store today and one of the "Geniuses" told me to set the bandwidth in iChat prefs to the middle setting (not unlimited). He said the MacPro is so fast that its going faster than the bandwidth can handle (or something to that effect)... I will try it with Florida later.
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mduell
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Jan 13, 2008, 06:18 PM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
I do have Comcast but the issue was gone when I hooked iSight to the G4. I realize they are doing maintenance this week but how does that explain the G4?

I was at the Apple Store today and one of the "Geniuses" told me to set the bandwidth in iChat prefs to the middle setting (not unlimited). He said the MacPro is so fast that its going faster than the bandwidth can handle (or something to that effect)... I will try it with Florida later.
Comcast's attempted bit torrent filtering/trottling tends to catch other protocols also and can end up with the results you experienced. I'd guess that the G4 is so slow that it defaults to a lower bitrate which Comcast allows uninterrupted. Follow the Genius's advice and see how it works on the Mac Pro.
     
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Jan 13, 2008, 07:03 PM
 
I also have iChat troubles and have traced the problem to Comcast.
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mediahound
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Jan 13, 2008, 09:17 PM
 
I have the 30" Dell monitor (the 3007 model) and it's great for the price I paid. I recommend it.
     
Tesselator
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Jan 13, 2008, 10:18 PM
 
Originally Posted by mediahound View Post
I have the 30" Dell monitor (the 3007 model) and it's great for the price I paid. I recommend it.
I agree... For just about any kind of work I think the ONLY reasonable options are:

a) One 30" monitor 2560x1600 or

b) Two 24" monitors 1920x1200 (each).

And yeah, either Dell or Eizo...

That's my two centavos anyway.
( Last edited by Tesselator; Jan 13, 2008 at 10:29 PM. )
     
Bigfoot  (op)
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Jan 14, 2008, 10:50 PM
 
Another note of interest,

It takes four minutes, twenty seconds to repair disc permissions. As soon as it starts the progress meter jumps up about a quarter of the way and just sits there for about four minutes then the progress bar starts moving and finishes up in another twenty seconds. Seems unusually long to me... is this normal?
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mediahound
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Jan 14, 2008, 10:59 PM
 
That's Leopard. It takes a long time on all machines in my experience.
     
Simon
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Jan 15, 2008, 05:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Bigfoot View Post
It takes four minutes, twenty seconds to repair disc permissions. As soon as it starts the progress meter jumps up about a quarter of the way and just sits there for about four minutes then the progress bar starts moving and finishes up in another twenty seconds. Seems unusually long to me... is this normal?
Yeah, that's Leopard indeed. I've seen the exact same behavior on MPs and MBPs. Interestingly, they both also need roughly the same amount of time (the checked FS sizes were about the same) to get done.
     
   
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