Dear members,
I have a "late 2008" (3,1) eight-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro. Of course, it is showing a bit of age now, but it has been very reliable and is still a strong computer. At present, it is equipped with:
* 5770 graphics card (not too bad).
* 12 GB memory (it's been fine).
* 1 TB solid state memory configured in software RAID 0 via two of the normal drive bays (2x 500G disks). A third hard drive is used as backup via time-machine. (SATA-II has its limits even with RAID.)
I can afford a new Mac Pro if I wanted, but I don't do video (which seems to be the new pro's real forte). Photoshop, writing, occasional games and general stuff is the majority of my use. It seems like the $6,000 I'd probably spend on a new Mac Pro is overkill. An iMac would probably be an acceptable alternative, though I'd wind up with a fully-loaded one costing close to $4,000, and something about that doesn't sit quite right with me.
Instead, I'm considering the following:
* Swapping the 5770 with a 5870. This would likely gain 50-100% in speed for the occasional game I play, albeit at an abysmal cost/benefit ratio. I understand that I could get something faster and with more memory flashed, etc., but from what I see on Netkas, I'd rather not mess around with this very much. I definitely don't want to add a secondary power source or push the existing one, by the way.
* Adding a 1TB SSD, e.g. an 840 Evo via an Apricorn Velocity X2. This will be 50-100% faster than my software Raid disk.
Between the two, I'd be out about $1,000. I think they ought to extend the life of the machine by maybe 18 months (not that it's a need, just a want). So, my questions:
* Am I foolish to trade my 5770 for an expensive yet obsolete 5870 for that extra 50-100% performance? I note that, aside from the difference in memory (quite a bit), it's not that much slower than a Sapphire 5970, which is now also discontinued, and has already reported trouble working on 3,1's. New genuine Apple 5870's are hard to find now, but they are the fastest Apple-blessed "enthusiast" cards, and I have one on tap.
* The SSD-on-a-card seems a no-brainer; bootable on a 3,1, etc. I guess there are better solutions coming down the road, but this ought to be a welcome addition.
Of course, the counter-argument is that it's time-enough to let the above machine go and move on. It's in great shape, I even have the original box, etc., and so I could put its value plus the above cash towards something new. Well, a third of something new, anyway.
Cheers.
I have a "late 2008" (3,1) eight-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro. Of course, it is showing a bit of age now, but it has been very reliable and is still a strong computer. At present, it is equipped with:
* 5770 graphics card (not too bad).
* 12 GB memory (it's been fine).
* 1 TB solid state memory configured in software RAID 0 via two of the normal drive bays (2x 500G disks). A third hard drive is used as backup via time-machine. (SATA-II has its limits even with RAID.)
I can afford a new Mac Pro if I wanted, but I don't do video (which seems to be the new pro's real forte). Photoshop, writing, occasional games and general stuff is the majority of my use. It seems like the $6,000 I'd probably spend on a new Mac Pro is overkill. An iMac would probably be an acceptable alternative, though I'd wind up with a fully-loaded one costing close to $4,000, and something about that doesn't sit quite right with me.
Instead, I'm considering the following:
* Swapping the 5770 with a 5870. This would likely gain 50-100% in speed for the occasional game I play, albeit at an abysmal cost/benefit ratio. I understand that I could get something faster and with more memory flashed, etc., but from what I see on Netkas, I'd rather not mess around with this very much. I definitely don't want to add a secondary power source or push the existing one, by the way.
* Adding a 1TB SSD, e.g. an 840 Evo via an Apricorn Velocity X2. This will be 50-100% faster than my software Raid disk.
Between the two, I'd be out about $1,000. I think they ought to extend the life of the machine by maybe 18 months (not that it's a need, just a want). So, my questions:
* Am I foolish to trade my 5770 for an expensive yet obsolete 5870 for that extra 50-100% performance? I note that, aside from the difference in memory (quite a bit), it's not that much slower than a Sapphire 5970, which is now also discontinued, and has already reported trouble working on 3,1's. New genuine Apple 5870's are hard to find now, but they are the fastest Apple-blessed "enthusiast" cards, and I have one on tap.
* The SSD-on-a-card seems a no-brainer; bootable on a 3,1, etc. I guess there are better solutions coming down the road, but this ought to be a welcome addition.
Of course, the counter-argument is that it's time-enough to let the above machine go and move on. It's in great shape, I even have the original box, etc., and so I could put its value plus the above cash towards something new. Well, a third of something new, anyway.
Cheers.
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