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All is good - I am happy:)

Killerbob

Killerbob

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 25, 2008
1,916
664
These last months I have been planning my nMP purchase. I come from a moderately complex setup, with an oMP3,1, which had been upgraded along the way to include a lot of RAM, a GTX680 videocard, an Accelsior boot disk, an internal Samsung SSD, 2 internal HDDs in Raid0, as well as a USB3 card, some FW discs, and some eSATA discs. It all worked fine for me (I do a lot of photographic work and some video editing on the side.)

Of course when the nMP came out it was eagerly awaited, but lo and behold, there were caveats in making the change; limited internal storage, defined graphics solution (no CUDA), no FW, and very few upgradeable parts. I couldn't just expand later...

However, I started looking for solutions, and found plenty, even in the span of a few months following nMP introduction.

So I took the plunge and ordered an nMP (6-core, 16GB RAM, 2xD700, 1TB SSD), along with an order from OWC for 64GB RAM, a Sonnet Echo Express III-D, a Sonnet Tempo Pro card, and a LaCie external TB SSD.

It all arrived last week, along with an additional Apple Thunderbolt Display, and I must admit, having spend the last days setting it up, as well as reinstalling everything (it was that time)... I AM HAPPY:D

The nMP is up-and-running with the 64GB RAM, with OSX, and all my Apps. With two displays (the ATD and my old ACD). The Accelsior card is moved into the Echo box, along with 2 Samsung SSDs on the Tempo Pro card. The box is connected to the nMP, as is the external LaCie SSD. My USB and FW boxes are connected to the ATD.

And WOW it is fast. Much much faster than the good ol' oMP... Adobe CC is blasting through graphics work, Aperture opens up, and feels, faster than ever before - I have a few libraries with over 100K pictures each. I can multitask with no worries than the system locks up:p The system hasn't locked up on me even once. It feels like there is simply ample performance to take everything I can throw at it...

Now on to getting BootCamped Windows 8.1 to run on the external TB SSD..

THANK YOU APPLE:apple:
 
Killerbob said:
So I took the plunge and ordered an nMP (6-core, 16GB RAM, 2xD700, 1TB SSD), along with an order from OWC for 64GB RAM, a Sonnet Echo Express III-D, a Sonnet Tempo Pro card, and a LaCie external TB SSD. It all arrived last week, along with an additional Apple Thunderbolt Display, and I must admit, having spend the last days setting it up, as well as reinstalling everything (it was that time)... I AM HAPPY:D
Click to expand...

Congrats on your nMP and always a nice read when someone is real happy about their new upgrade after much 'debate'!

Code: 
Uh, because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
Click to expand...

I'll clap along with you! :D

Enjoy your new Mac Pro!

~ Cheers
 
Last edited:
I'm very happy for you Bob, it's all about getting the setup just right from the starting gate. When you can only afford to do incremental upgrades slowly after the initial purchase, the performance sneaks up on you and tends to be underwhelming (for me anyway). But when you put it altogether like this you get that seat of the pants feel that leaves you satisfied.

Congrats. I'm envious of the feeling.
 
Congrats! Glad your enjoying your purchase and that the nMP is fulfilling your needs.
 
Glad you're enjoying the machine, but why did you configure I it with 16gb of RAM if you were just going to get the 64gb kit right away?
 
I got the 64GB from OWC, and the 12GB price vs. the 16GB one was small due to me buying as B2B customer in Denmark, getting a deal on the package.
 
Greetings and Congrats!

Hi Bob,

That is one impressive setup you have there. Congrats! I would have two questions for you if you don't mind.
Working with those large photo libraries you mentioned, what is your profession on that? (Are you in professional photography, web design, music, movies, post production, -what do you do?)

You are using an Echo box from Sonnet. I love that solution, Sonnet always provided great stuff in the past. Do you experience a delay from the Echo box compared to the internal SSD? Does the Echo SSD appear as an external drive or as an internal drive on your desktop?
Anyway, great setup!
Would you mind sharing a photo of your setup in the nMP Picture Gallery section?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1700893/
 
Yes please. This thread is useless without pics! ;)

Awesome sounding set up [see what I did there?] you have! I'm not a power/pro user by any stretch of the imagination, and so will probably never have reason to buy a nMP - but am still fascinated by its real-world usage! Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks for the comments. I will post some pics soon.

I actually do not use this for anything professionally. I am just a prosumer with a big hobby... On an amateur basis I take pictures at a lot of events, and as there are no real professional photographers here in Nuuk, a few other guys and I are it. Hence one school graduation or confirmation, easily is 1'500 pictures (half RAW, half JPG). The workflow for that is significant, and having a setup which zips through it, is priceless. Also, spending a few thousand on this is cheap in the long run. My MP3,1 lasted me 6 good years, and even with a few upgrades along the way, still cost me less than USD4/day. This setup, if it lasts me 5 years, will cost me USD5-6/day.

As for the Echo box, the two cards, the Accelsior and the Tempo Pro (2xSSD in Raid0), both appear as external drives. They test out at around W740MB/s and R700MB/s on the Accelsior, and W745MB/s and R880MB/s on the Tempo using AJA. I think it can get faster... The internal Apple SSD tests out at W900MB/s and R990MB/s...
 
Thanks!

Wow, thanks for the heads up on the Echo box.

Since you live so close to the ocean, I bet you make world class photos up there.
Did you ever consider using a RC Drone with gimbal & GoPro cam?

Anyways, thanks for the update!
 
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