[Winston A. cely]

Thanks Mark!

Yup, all Mac Pro’s have the PCIe. What was confusing me on Apple’s website were the “Questions & Answers” section. Some people are suggesting that the 4870 will not work in earlier Mac Pro’s (like mine with the identifier 1,1), some are suggesting that it’s not supported on earlier Mac Pro’s even though it will run, and other posts are saying it runs great.

Like I say, the money’s not the issue, it’s just making sure that I’m not wasting it on something that won’t improve my performance with Motion and overall work.

Has anyone had luck with the 4870 on an early Mac Pro (model identifier 1,1)?

PS, Am I the only one who wishes that Apple would name their different revisions of desktops computers with actual names, and not just numbers or years? It gets kinda confusing, when everyone uses a different way – Early 2008, late 2009, etc – to identify them.

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
8 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 3 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling illusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

Just bumping this to the top, to see if anyone has had a chance to read it.

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
8 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 3 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling illusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

I’m about to spring for the 4870, but I was reading all the questions on Apple’s website about this card, and now I’m getting confused. My Mac Pro has the Model Identifier of “MacPro1,1” and some responses on Apple’s site have said that I can use the 4870, while others are saying I can’t use this card (both positive and negative response have been marked as “Best Answer”).

I have had nothing but trouble with the x1900xt (I’m on my second one now -thank you Apple Care – and it’s starting to give me trouble) and I was waiting to see if Apple would update the line of Mac Pros and therefore hopefully upgrade the line of graphics cards offered. Now, having read that I may not be able to upgrade to the latest greatest because of the age of my computer (bought at the end of ’07) I need to move forward with getting a card. I use Motion every day, and I’m getting more and more requests for work from Motion that is 3D space oriented, and would therefore tax the card a great deal. I can’t afford to wait for long renders, or worse, trouble shooting because my graphics card suck *cough, x1900xt *cough. I have no problem springing for an expensive card, but it’s got to be compatible with and be the best available for Motion 4.

BTW, I also checked the “Tech Specs” via Apple’s site for Motion 4 and it doesn’t list all the card it’ll work with. It just says Nvidia or ATI. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
8 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 3 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

Thankfully, I’m loving and very happy with my current late ’08 Mac Pro, but I have been waiting to upgrade the graphics card depending on the release of a new Mac Pro. I can’t justify spending $349 for a graphics card that’s older (I believe I read by 1 year) than the last revision to the Mac Pro line. It’s the last part to my Mac Pro that I need to upgrade (already did hard drive and RAM) and it’s very frustrating not being able to just shop for any high end graphics card. Oh well….

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

That’s classic Mark!

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

I’ll look into both of those.

I totally agree that when it comes to true photo retouching, and most of the higher end functions, nothing compares to Photoshop. For me personally, I feel as though I’m paying for a lot of things I’ll never use as a video editor. I’m NOT saying I want something for free. I totally expect to pay for my applications, even the one’s that are “free” I at least try to donate something even if it’s only a few bucks. It’s just that Photoshop, I only use an extremely small amount of what that application is capable of, and I wanted to see if anyone else, as an editor, felt that way too and used another application to achieve what they needed.

Thanks for the responses!

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

Wow! This is just like that SNL shipment service that takes the blame for your packages not being delivered on time when it’s really your fault. What a great feature!

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

Thanks for the heads up!

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

I’d bet that the lack of a lot of third party plug-ins for FCP has something to do with the smooth upgrades you’ve had in the past. I don’t use many myself, I don’t always do a fresh wipe the drive install, and I have yet to have that many problems. Typically, the problems arise when Software update says something needs to be updated. Typically I’ll wait a week or so, but then, no matter what the update is for, I start to have problems.

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick

[Winston A. cely]

I’ve actually already got the drive, wiped it, and reinstalled just the apps I need for work. I have noticed a difference between this drive and the previous 7200 drive I was using. Startup is noticeably quicker, opening apps and Finder windows is MUCH quicker, along with searches, previews and others tasks of that nature. I haven’t had the chance yet to see if there’s any difference in the pro apps yet.

As for how I picked, I knew I wanted a faster drive, so I started there, but for me it really comes down to the real world reviews. I’ll first use something like CNET to get a few drives to look at, but then I’m looking at personal product reviews and go from there.

BTW, I did get the Velociraptor from Newegg. I’m loving it.

Winston A. Cely
Editor/Owner | Della St. Media, LLC

Mac Pro 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
4 GB RAM | Final Cut Studio 5.1.4 | Aja Kona LHe

“If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject, you can create the consoling allusion it has been mastered.” – Stanley Kubrick