sorry.. they can't. Apparently the wireless card has not yet been approved by Sirim.

Its okay lar... i'll get it separately when the time comes. Its not that expensive anyway for it not to be covered by the AppleCare.

You're buying an upwards of 15k config and you don't want to get AppleCare?

With my prior experience with Apple repair costs, that's not a good idea. AppleCare for my MacPro cost RM8xx. I consider that money well spent. It costs the same for any MacPro btw. (even the ultimate high end like yours) and covers a CinemaDisplay too if you buy both on the same reciept.

What i meant was that no applecare for the wireless card...

i'll be crazy if i don't get applecare for the machine...

Have to add something about the MacPro..

Audio is seriously good with this machine. Now the WorkRig was no slouch in the Audio department with a Creative XFi soundcard but the MacPro blows it out of the water. And this is running on an Aego2 2.1 system.

Some upgrades to the MacPro: Just in time for the HOLIDAYS!

1. ATi X1900xt

Ordered this when I picked up the MacPro. Always felt that the stock config nVidia 7300gt was seriously underpowered card as compared to the dual Xeons. Kinda like buying a Ferrari and putting wheels from a Kancil on em. Finally got a call from VR yesterday that the card was ready for collection... Comes in a big box:



Within the box is a HUGE card. Actually: not that big (My XFX nVidia 7950GX2 has a bigger PCB) but if you include the "stabilizer" it's very looooong. Design wise it oozes class. Shiny red metal always does.



Now while it appears that it is possible to buy a PC X1900xt (512Mb version) and flash it to a MacPro compatible EFI BIOS, see HERE (you will need to register with StrangeDogs forum) I was not keen on this for the following reasons:

1. I'd need to source a power cable to use with the Mac Pro as the card gets its power directly from a slot on the motherboard. (now why can't PC Mobos have this sort of functionality?). Apple provides the cable in the box. And it's is the exact right length in typical Apple business black.

2. The cards for the PC are lacking of the stabilizer which should help with noise/vibration and are simply COOL.

The price differential is however quite compelling. A PC X1900xt should set you back around RM1500. The Mac version goes for (gasp) RM2300. Below is a picture of the card installed. Note the power cable from card to mobo.




2. Kingston MacPro RAM (512Mb x 2)

When I can buy regular PC DDR2 512Mb sticks for a just over a hundred ringgit, it certainly hurts to have to pay RM1080 for two sticks of Kingston 512Mb RAM. Of course they are fully buffered and come in a big box BUT it doesn't make the pain any more bearable. However, OS X was never meant to run with only 1 gig and I really don't know the rationale of this configuration being the default for a "Pro" machine. Adding another gig has stopped the page-outs as monitored by MenuMeters 1.3 (excellent control panel: donationware!) and the MacPro now is a speedy as it should.

Adding more RAM has a second major benefit in that four sticks means running with quad channel. AnandTech reports at best only a modest speed boost and while I didn't get out the stopwatch to refute this, it does feel much snappier even performing the usual open/close windows and launching proggies.

No worries about the compatibility. Kingston guarantees that they are identical to Apple's part number for MacPro RAM and they have big, beefy heatsinks too:



As you can see, installing additional RAM is a breeze. Apple even includes the diagram to install RAM with the recommended configuration path for two, four, six and eight sticks on the cover for the MacPro. Essentially you slide out the riser card, add the pair and slide it back in again. Took under a couple of minutes.




3. Apple Bluetooth Module

Finally, added bluetooth functionality to the MacPro with this little guy:



It's tiny and plugs directly into the Mobo. See if you can spot it in the picture of the installed ATi card above. There are two screws that hold it into place. I now have a bluetooth icon on my menubar BUT can't use it with my M600i until Apple updates iSync. Sheesh!


Anyways, for those of you who like pictures of computer internals, more pics are at my homepage HERE.

This post has been edited by MacDaNife: Oct 21 2006, 11:36 AM

mmm.... yummy. im still saving for those upgrades. been using USB bluetooth dongle from my previous powermac.

The stock graphic card is not good for your Mac Pro? Want something more powerful for the powerful rig(Mac Pro)?

so much for the slogan "It Just Works". yes, Mac is well designed and stylish but not everything works.

Of course "It Just Works"....

...and it works very well too, I might add.

Its really not that big a deal waiting for the next update to iSync.

am still waiting for mine.. scheduled to be delivered next week.

i CTO-ed the ATI card, bluetooth and additional RAMS (hence the damn blardy long wait time)..

hmm...

airport express card.. due to be delivered monday the week after next

he he

Well, CTO does offer the benefit of saving some money by not paying for the nVidia 7300gt card.

Mine will sit in the X1900xt box. Just in case the ATi card dies.

Another note: The ATi card is very quiet. While reports on the web indicate an AcceleroX2 cooler swap, to me its not necessary. Even with extended gaming (Call of Duty, Quake 4) it doesn't get to levels in which it irritates. I'm leaving the pretty white cooler as it is.

i dun plan to hack much on the macpro.. for now..

just some standard stuffs is good enough .. add memory..add hard disk.. errr.. pretty much it..

i can't find 500GB hard disk around lar.. damn it.. any tips?

I would recommend rather than installing ONE 500Mb additional disc; install TWO 250Mb harddisks in a Raid0 stripe. That's what I did.

Why? Go HERE for the benchmarks. As BareFeats has exhaustively shown, the benefits of Raid0 are quite remarkable. The usual caveat to Raid0 of course applies. You double your failure risk in that should ONE hard drive fail, ALL data is lost. To protect against this you need to keep your original drive as a backup drive. This policy is especially important since every OS X update so far has refused to boot from a Raid0 stripe without first booting from a single drive configuration.

The speed however is addictive.

been using raid0 FW800 case for sometime, to able to use raid0 on internal SATA2 drive is like dream come true. have you guys heard about the 7 drives + raid in MacPro setup? it's amazing.

This post has been edited by wei: Oct 22 2006, 09:01 AM

i already have 1TB from apple...

planning to get 1TB more from somewhere else..

am actually planning do RAID1 (mirror) on the additional 1TB for my data...

the first 1TB probably i can RAID0 - for striping.. hmm...

It's soooo much cheaper (and very easy) to DIY hard drive upgrades.

I'd get the base configuration, and just go over to LYP and get some nice WD Caviar drives....

(Stay away from Seagate, they apparently don't play nice with the Mac Pro according to XLR8-your-mac)

how much for your ATI card ?

Read the post bro...

bro, do u use any UPS for your machine?

At present, no... Although the WorkRig is connected to a APC UPS system.

Will probably get one for the MacPro too but need to do some research first on which one would be most appropriate. Have you any recommendations?