Help laarree configure a MacPro

[laarree]

I've decided to go ahead and buy a MacPro, having grown weary of waiting
for Leopard, shiny new zillion-core BluRay models, etc. I'm primarily going
to using it for Photoshop CS3, Lightroom, other CS3 apps, usually all at the
same time along with the usual web browser, email app, etc. and I don't think my
aging dual MDD 1GHz is up to the job.

Right now I'm thinking of the quadcore 2.66 GHz MacPro, but I'm not sure
how much RAM I should add, or which video card to get. Right now I'm
guessing that I can start off with 4GB of RAM, but I wonder if there would be any
real gain in adding more RAM, considering that I'll frequently be working on
Photoshop files up to 1 gigabyte in size, and might be doing stuff like exporting
images from Lightroom to Photoshop, switching from InDesign CS3 to Photoshop
to Lightroom to Illustrator in quick succession, etc.

I also wonder about the video card--I originally thought that the Radeon X1900XT
would be necessary, but someone told me today that if I wasn't planning on running
two 30" displays, there was little reason to get it instead of the GeForce 7300.

Of course I'd like to maximize bang for the buck, not having an unlimited budget.
Does anyone here have any wisdom to offer that might help me make a smart
decision about these MacPro variables?

[St. Bernard]

I think your plan is pretty sound.
--I think the 4x 2.66GHz is a good, balanced choice of high-end processor
--I'd go with 4GB RAM at this point, then evaluate system performance to determine whether or not you need more. I'd expect that you'd see the return drop off pretty steeply beyond 4GB; I'm sure there are *some* performance gains, but they're probably not worth the expense.
--If you don't plan on gaming, you can probably just stick with the 7300. You sound as if you don't plan to drive two 30"--what monitors will you be using?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

The Radeon X1900 is an extra $250, but it is the fastest video card for most things and can easily handle HD video. It is $360 if you want to upgrade it later.
http://www.barefeats.com/octopro2.html

[laarree]

[quote St. Bernard]I think your plan is pretty sound.
--I think the 4x 2.66GHz is a good, balanced choice of high-end processor
--I'd go with 4GB RAM at this point, then evaluate system performance to determine whether or not you need more. I'd expect that you'd see the return drop off pretty steeply beyond 4GB; I'm sure there are *some* performance gains, but they're probably not worth the expense.
--If you don't plan on gaming, you can probably just stick with the 7300. You sound as if you don't plan to drive two 30"--what monitors will you be using?
Thanks for the input. Right now I have a Dell 2405 LCD. A 30" display isn't in my
immediate future. I don't do any gaming, although I could argue that the Photoshop
work I do much of the time is my form of gaming.

[quote Filliam H. Muffman]The Radeon X1900 is an extra $250, but it is the fastest video card for most things and can easily handle HD video. It is $360 if you want to upgrade it later.
http://www.barefeats.com/octopro2.html
The Radeon is very tempting -- I had planned on it originally as I had thought
of using Aperture -- I have also done some 3d modeling and rendering in the past,
and have screwed around with AfterEffects and other video software (and might
again), so it's probably smart to get it.

[berger]

Personal opinion of course;
1GB PSD files + multiple apps open + 4GB RAM = not fast enough.

I'd go at least 6GB.

Running a Mac Pro quadcore 2.0 (warranty replacement to a G5 dual 2.0), 3GB RAM, PS CS2 & 3, lots of 1+GB PSD files = too slow.

[jeffNOTjon]

Scroll down and read the section on Photoshop and memory:

http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/free/MacPro/memory.html

[berger]

Thanks for the link Jeff, I forgot about that one. I will take his advice on populating the risers.

[jdc]

but if you order the stock 2.66 from amazon, or smalldog or powermax you can skip the tax (and shipping at amazon) + the $150 rebate from amazon -- which more than makes up the difference in the radeon 1900 card

buy it later if you think you need it, and sell the 7300

if you can stomach macmall, and need it -- they have parallels for $10 with a new mac purchase + the same $150 rebate amazon has

[laarree]

[quote jeffNOTjon]Scroll down and read the section on Photoshop and memory:
http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/free/MacPro/memory.html
That's some interesting stuff--so it looks like it would be worth it to have more than
4GB of RAM, although his advice to have either 4 or 8 modules installed, not 6,
makes upgrading slightly more complicated. I've never heard of dual-rank or
single-rank modules before. I've read photography-related articles on diglloyd's
website before, but not recently, so I hadn't seen this page.

[quote jdc]if you can stomach macmall, and need it -- they have parallels for $10 with a new mac purchase + the same $150 rebate amazon has Parallels is something I can live without -- I can't think of a single Windows app
I would need to run.

Thanks for all the input.