[striker100]

I haven't read of any MacPro issues, I remember when the G5 Powermacs were released there were several issues that were problematic.
Is it that the MacPro is just too new to know yet or perhaps Apple did a good job of getting it right, right out of the box?

[Big Mac]

It may be too early to tell, but, OTOH, Apple seems to be doing better with desktops than with laptops lately. The iMac CD is a pretty solid machine, while the same cannot be said for the MB and MBP.

[Dzokayi]

The vocal minority made a lot of noise, but the Power Mac G5 lineup was exceptionally reliable, earning top marks in PC magazine's reliability and customer satisfaction ratings the last couple of years.

When you look at first-tier server/workstation gear, which is the Xeon's turf, Intel has a stellar reputation for making no-frills, rock-steady workhorses.

I'm expecting the Mac Pros to have few - if any - issues. Of course, only time will tell for sure.

[wr11]

Yes - seems that these machines are pretty solid. http://macfixit.com/ doesn't seem to have many items on the MacPro at all. As one of the other posters said - you really only hear issues from the few vocal users, that being said it's pretty quiet on that front too.

I'm glad though - just waiting for my new machine to be delivered - feels like x-mas once more. I only wish I had not opted for the free delivery. In Canada apple now uses "sameday right-o-way" to do ground shipments. Don't be confused by the name, I am pretty sure I could have walked to Elk Grove in the time it's taking to get to my house. Worst thing is they have a horrible tracking system that really doesn't do much at all - I would feel much better if their system at least told me when to expect it.

[Jerome]

Mine has a serious issue: it hasn't shipped yet!
Damn ATI!

[wr11]

Seriously - about 10 minutes after I complained about my shipping - it arrives. So far so good - mother%$#&!# is fast!

[polendo]

Originally Posted by wr11

Seriously - about 10 minutes after I complained about my shipping - it arrives. So far so good - mother%$#&!# is fast!

Admit it.. you were dancing & praying for the Gods outside your place for the UPS guy to arrive

congrats on your new machine

[mduell]

As far as desktops being less issue-prone than laptops, I'm not convinced.
The Rev A (and some Rev B?) iMacs have horrible issues with the power supply and capacitors. The Rev A, B, and C PowerMac G5s have the strange noises (buzzing, beeping, hissing, chirping, humming).

[wr11]

Originally Posted by polendo

Admit it.. you were dancing & praying for the Gods outside your place for the UPS guy to arrive

congrats on your new machine

Thanks - and yeah I have been dancing for days now. It's truly amazing how transparent moving from PPC to Intel really is. The only hiccup I had was when my cat decided to trip my UPS right before I started the install.

[awcopus]

My dual 2.5GHz G5 worked great and was quiet for the first 1.5 years. Now it's at Apple's repair center. So far they've replaced the Logic Board, Power Supply, hard drive, and processors.

Still have the original optical drive though!

Seriously, it's been an awesome machine up to this point. Hopefully, the replacement parts do the trick for another year or so.

P.S. Applecare!

[iREZ]

Originally Posted by mduell

As far as desktops being less issue-prone than laptops, I'm not convinced.
The Rev A (and some Rev B?) iMacs have horrible issues with the power supply and capacitors. The Rev A, B, and C PowerMac G5s have the strange noises (buzzing, beeping, hissing, chirping, humming).

this maybe true, but with the intel transition, it seems that both the imac core duo and mac mini core duo have no issues whereas the mb and mbp have issues coming out the wazoo.

(i still sold my imac and kept my mbp )

[cgc]

No issues with my Mac Pro except I cannot right-click on anything in the dock without it locking up for a minute. Only the dock locks, all other apps run fine. I'm running FruitMenu (Intel) along with Ape and will disable them to see if problem persists.

Edit: Yup, I added "Dock" to the list of apps to not "enhance" and my lock-ups went away. Did anyone mention how ludicrously silent Mac Pros are? I can barely even tell it's on except for HDD activity.

[Rolling Musubi]

Originally Posted by cgc

Did anyone mention how ludicrously silent Mac Pros are? I can barely even tell it's on except for HDD activity.

Having read all the various reviews, it was pretty difficult getting a handle on how silent and warm these computers ran since it is often times subjective and relative. When I went to the local Apple Store the week after the announcement, they still had no Mac Pro demo units in so I tried to utilize some of the Kill-a-Watt volt-amp information supplied from some reviews to get a general idea of the potential BTU/hr these machines output just to compare with my QuickSilver 2002 with GigaDesign dual 1.2GHz, a G4 Cube, and my Sawtooth G4/500; the QS belches heat and is naturally also the loudest at expelling it.

Since they finally got them in, went back this evening and played with one for around an hour. I started running encodes in several different apps (iMovie HD, MPEG Streamclip, several QT exports to DV, MPEG4, H264, etc) simultaneously (I noticed QT during most exports would only utilize an average 160% even when it was the only major task running), continuously played around 10+ video clips from You Tube and 4 HD H264 clips downloaded from the QuickTime Gallery (reduced to half size so I could see them all on the 30" display), and running top in one shell while compiling a few opensource projects like MySQL and Apache from the terminal. Once I finally pegged all 4 cores, I began launching other apps like iPhoto, Word, Excel, etc and using those like I normally would.

Throughout all this, the system remained incredibly responsive. The store itself was also rather warm (closer to 80 degrees F/27 degrees C) from all the bodies in there so I really expected the fans to crank up a bit under the load I had going. Surprisingly it didn't (this was over a 10 minute timeframe with all 4 bars pegged). I was also expecting the machine to be exhausting much more heat than what my G4 does when both processors are at 100%. I placed my hand often at the back of the machine where the memory cage fan is and was very surprised at how little warm air was being expelled (much less than my QS at regular load levels). I felt the front, sides and top of the case and they weren't even warm unlike how my QS case normally feels.

I also put my ear to the front and side of the machine and it was pretty silent (the fans on my G4 tower can be heard from an arms length away by comparison so when you put your ear up to it, that familiar drone is more than discernable). To say the least, I came away surprised since I didn't expect it to be this quiet or cool running under load. I attribute this mainly to the tower design having better ventilation that allows more efficient heat dissipation compared to the El Capitan case which has poor ventilation/exhaust and traps quite a bit of heat. After this test, I think I'm pretty much sold on getting a Mac Pro in the next few weeks rather than waiting for a Core 2 Duo E6600 system (in whatever Mac it will eventually show up in) since it was able to handle similar tasks I normally do but at a much more absurd level without sounding like a vacuum cleaner or acting like a portable heater.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by awcopus

My dual 2.5GHz G5 worked great and was quiet for the first 1.5 years. Now it's at Apple's repair center. So far they've replaced the Logic Board, Power Supply, hard drive, and processors.

Still have the original optical drive though!

Seriously, it's been an awesome machine up to this point. Hopefully, the replacement parts do the trick for another year or so.

P.S. Applecare!

My dual 2.5GHz G5 also not too long ago had the power supply and both processors replaced (hooray Applecare!). Still as loud as ever though.

A partial solution to the noise (though certainly not endorsed by Apple or anyone else for that matter) was to remove the fan assembly that sits over the RAM modules. After two weeks of testing the temps (via the app Hardware Monitor) under various load levels, I can see no difference in average or peak temps. And while most of the noise actually comes from the motherboard backside fan, the high-pitched din from the front fan assembly is gone. I'd say about 50% quieter at idle, and maybe 20% quieter at full load. Still sounds like my wife's vacuum cleaner though when really cranking.

[cgc]

I was working my Mac Pro pretty hard the other day and checked the temp of the CPUs (using Temperature Monitor http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994) and they were <100 F each.

[MindFad]

So they seem to be a hit. Way to go, Apple.

[chirpy22]

The only software issue I have noticed is that Adobe GoLive will unexpectedly quit if I am uploading something and then switch to another app to do something else while it is uploading. Seems to do it every time. If I stay in GoLive while uploading, then no problem.

[Naaaaak]

Originally Posted by mduell

The Rev A, B, and C PowerMac G5s have the strange noises (buzzing, beeping, hissing, chirping, humming).

I have a Rev A MacPro and I can report similar issues. Not from the fans; the machine is almost dead silent. But from the headphones. Occaisionally I notice a very fient beep or chirping from my headphones, usually after something finishes playing or I pause it. I'm not sure if it's an issue with VLC, Quicktime, iTunes, or general system sound playback yet.

[Naaaaak]

Originally Posted by cgc

I was working my Mac Pro pretty hard the other day and checked the temp of the CPUs (using Temperature Monitor Temperature Monitor 3.8 - VersionTracker) and they were <100 F each.

I have a stock MacPro (2.66 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, 7300 GT). Close to idle in an 85 degree room all of my cores are below 100F. The HD itself is about 102F.

Handbrake is an app that can use all cores, for the most part. I did a 2 pass h264 rip of a DVD. After running it for a little over half an hour while monitoring temperature closely, my cores topped out between 132F and 137F, which I find very respectable. During this time the system was also quite usable.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Naaaaak

I have a Rev A MacPro and I can report similar issues. Not from the fans; the machine is almost dead silent. But from the headphones. Occaisionally I notice a very fient beep or chirping from my headphones, usually after something finishes playing or I pause it. I'm not sure if it's an issue with VLC, Quicktime, iTunes, or general system sound playback yet.

That is not the issue the PowerMacs had. The issue with the PowerMacs was the noises coming from the machine, not a speaker plugged into the machine.

Unfortunately what you describe is not uncommon with integrated audio. You should purchase a discrete, external sound card if you want higher fidelity.

[pyrite]

sounds like the only issues so far are pretty minor, god i want one

[SpaceMonkey]

My Mac Pro kicked me in the nuts and slept with my girlfriend.

[newtech]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

My Mac Pro kicked me in the nuts and slept with my girlfriend.

"He's a better man than you Gunga Din.." (sic)