High-end "off the shelf" PC required
Discussion
Andrew[MG] said:
LukeBird said:
I wouldn't bother partitioning as has been said above pretty much useless.
If you're doing it for backup reasons it's a little pointless IMO.
If the drive fails, you'll in all likelihood lose everything anyway.
Means you can format the windows drive without having to wipe everything on the disk...very useful!If you're doing it for backup reasons it's a little pointless IMO.
If the drive fails, you'll in all likelihood lose everything anyway.
It's (the only stuff I'd be annoyed if I lost) on my PowerBook, on my PC storage drive, on my portable HD and some on discs, so if I can't recover from one of those, I obviously don't need the data!
I also only have windows on a 36Gb raptor which removes that problem for me as well
LukeBird said:
Andrew[MG] said:
LukeBird said:
I wouldn't bother partitioning as has been said above pretty much useless.
If you're doing it for backup reasons it's a little pointless IMO.
If the drive fails, you'll in all likelihood lose everything anyway.
Means you can format the windows drive without having to wipe everything on the disk...very useful!If you're doing it for backup reasons it's a little pointless IMO.
If the drive fails, you'll in all likelihood lose everything anyway.
It's (the only stuff I'd be annoyed if I lost) on my PowerBook, on my PC storage drive, on my portable HD and some on discs, so if I can't recover from one of those, I obviously don't need the data!
I also only have windows on a 36Gb raptor which removes that problem for me as well
If I only backed up when I rebooted the machines.... well my Cube was last rebooted 205 days ago.
I'm a bit more paranoid as I've lost data due to power surges, power cuts, and lightning strikes, all of which got past the 'surge protector' extension cables I paid for... I've now got well over-specced 1500VA UPS boxes (3 of them) which should keep 'em running
Aaah it's not as bad as it sounds.
I only back up a few gig, so it's not much bother.
It's just randomly deposited data on various devices, but I try and keep it up-to-date on each.
Haven't decided whether I want to bother using time machine yet.
The files I want to keep I use quite a lot of the time hence them being on my portable HD, PB & desktop. (When it lives again!/
)
I only back up a few gig, so it's not much bother.
It's just randomly deposited data on various devices, but I try and keep it up-to-date on each.
Haven't decided whether I want to bother using time machine yet.
The files I want to keep I use quite a lot of the time hence them being on my portable HD, PB & desktop. (When it lives again!
/)
Holst said:
Memory is cheap at the moment, so you can put allot in, just remember that you will need to be running 64bit OS to use over 3gb (i think thats the XP limit)
Numpty question I'm sure, but if I go for 64bit Vista do I have to buy 64bit software (e.g Office) or will "normal" software work fine?Cheers,
Gixxer
gixxer1000 said:
Holst said:
Memory is cheap at the moment, so you can put allot in, just remember that you will need to be running 64bit OS to use over 3gb (i think thats the XP limit)
Numpty question I'm sure, but if I go for 64bit Vista do I have to buy 64bit software (e.g Office) or will "normal" software work fine?Cheers,
Gixxer
There are very few (if any, at the moment) 64-bit apps anyway.
I believe Adobe CS4 is rumoured to be, but I imagine in the beginning, the performance increase will be minimal.
And as Holst says, there is limit in XP of RAM (although this is to do with it being a 32-bit OS, so you'll have the same problem in Vista 32 AFAIK) I have 4Gb RAM in my windows box and de-activating unused motherboard functions (i.e. things I don't use) I have it showing 3.4Gb.
On average it'll show approx 3.25Gb, which is rather a lot
Cyberface - where would you recommend buying a mac pro if one is a little price aware but also slightly risk averse ?
Thanks
Miles
Editted to add: I also need what ever machine I end up with pretty quickly so a secondary question to you all would be where can one buy Mac Pro quickly but still be able to configure them (unlike John Lewis!)? Thanks
?Thanks
Miles
Editted to add: I also need what ever machine I end up with pretty quickly so a secondary question to you all would be where can one buy Mac Pro quickly but still be able to configure them (unlike John Lewis!)? Thanks
Edited by miles_stylus on Tuesday 5th February 07:30
What's Lepod? A french iPod?
Memory addressing is dependent on northbridge architecture - Leopard is 64-bit so no problems there. The iMac and Macbook / Macbook Pro use the Santa Rosa chipset and are limited to 4 GB RAM. The Mac Pro is a full-on Xeon workstation beastie and can take up to 16 GB of RAM or something obscene like that. OS X can use it all.
If you put Windows XP 32-bit on it though (Boot Camp) then you'll only be able to use the first 2 GB IIRC.
As to where to buy, Apple run a cartel and there aren't any savings to be had on brand new machines. John Lewis offer added value with the free second year warranty, but if configuration is an issue then you're stuck with the Apple Store.
Personally, with an expensive machine that's mission critical, the easiest bet is to order from the Internet Apple Store, wait until the end of the first year (free warranty), then buy Applecare (extended warranty, and Apple *don't* dick about if you've got Applecare, they'll replace virtually anything - some people have even dropped beer over their powerbooks and got them replaced...).
If you're cost sensitive and don't need the unnecessarily monstrous power that the latest Mac Pros offer, then check out the Internet Apple Store on a Wednesday, they have the 'Refurbished' store that basically sells open-box returns or repaired machines. If you are *really* unlucky then the case may have a scratch or two on it, the vast majority are as-new. They have the same warranty as a brand-new machine, and you can do the same trick (year warranty, then buy Applecare 364 days after purchase). Be quick though, since they get snapped up very quickly!!! Because they are returns / repairs, they will be random configs. If you're lucky, there'll be one in there with just the config you want (really the only thing to worry about with a Mac Pro is the graphics card, and perhaps the CPU speed).
Buy RAM from your favourite memory retailer - I use Crucial, lifetime warranty and they don't dick about (instant replacement, have done this once or twice even when the memory wasn't faulty, I ordered the wrong stuff). Unfortunately they don't sell the special RAM for the brand-new Mac Pros yet.
Disks are similarly user-replaceable without losing the Apple warranty (Mac Pro disk replacement is shockingly easy!) - I regard disks as consumable commodities so as long as it's the brand and model I want, I buy purely on price. If it breaks, I buy a new one and swap them out.
Obviously things are trickier if you're talking about iMacs or laptops - laptops I'd go straight to John Lewis as there aren't many configs available and they'll order you any of them. iMacs.... probably best to get Apple to install GPUs / disks etc.
Memory addressing is dependent on northbridge architecture - Leopard is 64-bit so no problems there. The iMac and Macbook / Macbook Pro use the Santa Rosa chipset and are limited to 4 GB RAM. The Mac Pro is a full-on Xeon workstation beastie and can take up to 16 GB of RAM or something obscene like that. OS X can use it all.
If you put Windows XP 32-bit on it though (Boot Camp) then you'll only be able to use the first 2 GB IIRC.
As to where to buy, Apple run a cartel and there aren't any savings to be had on brand new machines. John Lewis offer added value with the free second year warranty, but if configuration is an issue then you're stuck with the Apple Store.
Personally, with an expensive machine that's mission critical, the easiest bet is to order from the Internet Apple Store, wait until the end of the first year (free warranty), then buy Applecare (extended warranty, and Apple *don't* dick about if you've got Applecare, they'll replace virtually anything - some people have even dropped beer over their powerbooks and got them replaced...).
If you're cost sensitive and don't need the unnecessarily monstrous power that the latest Mac Pros offer, then check out the Internet Apple Store on a Wednesday, they have the 'Refurbished' store that basically sells open-box returns or repaired machines. If you are *really* unlucky then the case may have a scratch or two on it, the vast majority are as-new. They have the same warranty as a brand-new machine, and you can do the same trick (year warranty, then buy Applecare 364 days after purchase). Be quick though, since they get snapped up very quickly!!! Because they are returns / repairs, they will be random configs. If you're lucky, there'll be one in there with just the config you want (really the only thing to worry about with a Mac Pro is the graphics card, and perhaps the CPU speed).
Buy RAM from your favourite memory retailer - I use Crucial, lifetime warranty and they don't dick about (instant replacement, have done this once or twice even when the memory wasn't faulty, I ordered the wrong stuff). Unfortunately they don't sell the special RAM for the brand-new Mac Pros yet.
Disks are similarly user-replaceable without losing the Apple warranty (Mac Pro disk replacement is shockingly easy!) - I regard disks as consumable commodities so as long as it's the brand and model I want, I buy purely on price. If it breaks, I buy a new one and swap them out.
Obviously things are trickier if you're talking about iMacs or laptops - laptops I'd go straight to John Lewis as there aren't many configs available and they'll order you any of them. iMacs.... probably best to get Apple to install GPUs / disks etc.
Cyberface - if running parallels which OS is addressing the memory; is it OSX or Windows? i.e. rather than using boot camp where XP 32bit can only address the first 2 Gb can running MS Appications under parallels then access all the memory?
Many thanks
Miles
Edited to add: Ah ha, found the answer - x64 is not supported at the moment by parallels but hteir working on it - does anyone have any gossip on this??
Many thanks
Miles
Edited to add: Ah ha, found the answer - x64 is not supported at the moment by parallels but hteir working on it - does anyone have any gossip on this??
Edited by miles_stylus on Wednesday 6th February 10:25
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