Help with buying a Mac Pro

[JordanSimps]

Lately, I've been getting frustrated with using Cinema 4D with my MacBook Pro I bought in mid-2009 and decided in buying a Mac Pro Tower. First of all, is a Mac Pro really worth the money? Secondly, what makes the Mac Pro Server different from the Quad-Core and 12-Core? Thirdly, How much of a difference would getting a SSD affect my rendor speed in Cinema 4D? And lastly, would I get a cheaper Mac Pro if I buy the RAM, HDD, SSD, and Graphic Card separately and not through Apple? Do they actually sell these items that are compatible with the Mac Pro? If so, can I get links of these items? If anyone has any other comments or questions on my decision, please, reply.

 

[El Awesome]

First of all, is a Mac Pro really worth the money?

If you find a good second-hand model, then yes.
New, not at all. The Mac Pro is still from 2010, that means no USB3, no TB, no SATA-III. no Sandy/Ivy Bridge and so on.

Secondly, what makes the Mac Pro Server different from the Quad-Core and 12-Core?

Mac Pro Server? Never heard of that. I know there have been G5 servers, but I don't know a Mac Pro server.
The Mac Pro uses server technology anyway, such as Xeon CPUs and ECC RAM.

Thirdly, How much of a difference would getting a SSD affect my rendor speed in Cinema 4D?

Pure render speed, nothing. That's just CPU, nothing else.
But a SSD is definately something that has to be included in every high-end machine. You will feel your machine is 10x faster. Faster Boot (under 10s in a RAID0), apps open faster (I don't even see the C4D loading screen, it opens directly in just 2-4 seconds) and everything.

And lastly, would I get a cheaper Mac Pro if I buy the RAM, HDD, SSD, and Graphic Card separately and not through Apple? Do they actually sell these items that are compatible with the Mac Pro? If so, can I get links of these items?

Do not ever buy that stuff from Apple. Everything of what you mentioned costs about twice as much.
A Mac Pro uses standart components - it's actually easy to find them.
Be sure to buy ECC RAM, this is very imprtant. Otherwise, the CPU won't be able to use the RAM.
In terms of GFX cards - here on the forum you'll find several threads of how to put a officially unsupported card into a Mac Pro.
I did put in a GTX 570 in mine, and I love it.

Read these 3 threads:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1440150/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1360927/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1385329/


These are also useful:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1280517/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1122551/
(In the Mac Pro, you can update the CPU yourself. Careful, you'll loose warranty.)


Cheers.

 

[JordanSimps]

But a SSD is definately something that has to be included in every high-end machine. You will feel your machine is 10x faster. Faster Boot (under 10s in a RAID0), apps open faster (I don't even see the C4D loading screen, it opens directly in just 2-4 seconds) and everything.

What's a good amount of space I should have on my SSD?

I did put in a GTX 570 in mine, and I love it.

Would you recommend this card to me for what I want to get out of my Mac Pro? If so, where could you recommend the cheapest price for this GFX Card? I noticed Newegg doesn't carry this at the moment.

EDIT: I just looked at the price of that GFX Card and it's on the expensive side for me. Any other GFX Card that is recommended that is in the $200-$300 range?

 

[El Awesome]

What's a good amount of space I should have on my SSD?

I have one 128Gb SSD for Mac OS X and another one for Win7. Depending on how much Apps you have, I would say a 256GB is best. I don't have very much, so a 128Gb was sufficent for me. I only have the System and the apps on the SSD, nothing more.

Would you recommend this card to me for what I want to get out of my Mac Pro? If so, where could you recommend the cheapest price for this GFX Card? I noticed Newegg doesn't carry this at the moment.

Yes, it's great. But I took the EFI-flashed one from MacVideoCards, runs PCIe 2.0 speed.
For Pro apps, it is even better then the Kepler-Cards (GTX 6xx), because they have limited CUDA.

 

[JordanSimps]

Yes, it's great. But I took the EFI-flashed one from MacVideoCards, runs PCIe 2.0 speed.
For Pro apps, it is even better then the Kepler-Cards (GTX 6xx), because they have limited CUDA.

Can I get a link where you bought this, please?

 

[gpzjock]

Mac Pro Server? Never heard of that. I know there have been G5 servers, but I don't know a Mac Pro server.
The Mac Pro uses server technology anyway, such as Xeon CPUs and ECC RAM.


Be sure to buy ECC RAM, this is very imprtant. Otherwise, the CPU won't be able to use the RAM

Mac Pro Server is the replacement for the now deceased Xserve Apple killed off due to lack of interest (read profit), basically a Mac Pro with OS X Server installed not the Client version installed. Same hardware slightly different software. The Mac Mini comes in a server version too.

ECC RAM is not required in 2009 or later models as long as you replace all the existing ECC RAM with non-ECC RAM. Cheaper, faster RAM on the later models too.

Can I get a link where you bought this, please?

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/macvidcards

 

[JordanSimps]

If I decided to get the 6-Core Mac Pro along with the GTX 570 GFX Card and a SSD how much RAM should I get?

 

[El Awesome]

For C4D and rendering, I would get 24GB OWC (not Apple ) RAM.

This is exactley the GPU as I have:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nvidia-GT...997?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item4d04aa81c5

 

[gpzjock]

I would max out the RAM it isn't expensive:
http://www.memoryamerica.com/k4d310247213aw.html
32GB for $20 more than 24GB OWC kit.

 

[JordanSimps]

Yes, it's great. But I took the EFI-flashed one from MacVideoCards, runs PCIe 2.0 speed.
For Pro apps, it is even better then the Kepler-Cards (GTX 6xx), because they have limited CUDA.

Would this be the one you're talking about?
Graphic Card