Model ID Description Mac Pro Late 2013 4 slots DDR3-1866Mhz The latest model of the Mac Pro takes DDR3-1866Mhz RAM. The machine has four slots that can take up to 32GB. per slot for. Mac Pro Mid 2010 8 slot and 4 slot versions DDR3-1333Mhz The DDR3-1333 DIMMs for the 2010 Mac Pro require a Thermal Sensor for full performance and compatibility. Mac Pro Early 2009 and Mid 2010 8 slot and 4 slot versions DDR3-1066Mhz The DDR3-1066 DIMMs for the Mac Pro require a Thermal Sensor for full performance and compatibility. Mac Pro Early 2008 8 Slots DDR2-800Mhz The Mac Pro DDR2 series (800Mhz) uses a type of memory called an FB-DIMM.
There are eight (8) slots, and the FB-DIMMs. Mac Pro 2006-2007 8 Slots DDR2-667Mhz The Mac Pro DDR2 series (667Mhz) uses a type of memory called an FB-DIMM. There are eight (8) slots, and the FB-DIMMs are installed. The Xserve 3,1 DDR3-1066 comes in two versions, the 4-core and the 8-core.
The 4-core has 6 DIMM slots, and it is upgradable to a maximum of 24GB with the. The Xserve 2,1 is based on the Intel Xeon 5400 series CPU. The Xserve 2,1 uses fully buffered memory, also known as an FB-DIMM.
There are eight (8) slots,. For long time Mac users, iTunes became the default media server for all your movies, television shows, music, home videos, and the like. It worked decently enough, but the user really had to take the time to manage file information, metadata, album or movie artwork, and much more. Plex A much better solution has gained widespread adoption over the last few years, and that is Plex. Plex does what iTunes does, serving up your content over your network, but it does so much more, and it does it so much better.
Old Mac Do you have an older Mac sitting around with nothing to do? You have to really watch those old Macs, they get lazy if you don’t tell them what to do!
Why not repurpose that Mac to be a Plex media server? OS X Minimum Requirements The biggest software requirement for an older Mac to become a Plex media server is that it has to run Mac OS 10.8 or later, otherwise known as Mountain Lion. If Older Than Mountain Lion, Try Linux If you have an older Mac that does not run Mac OS 10.8, you could install Linux on the machine and run a Plex media server that way. Ubuntu 10.04 can be run on many older Macs, and will make a fine server. And you know you always wanted to play around with Linux a little, right? Here is your chance!
Meta Heaven A Plex media server does something really cool that we only wish Apple’s iTunes did: it takes care of all the meta data for you. It will scour the internet to provide movie descriptions, album artwork, keep television series tagged correctly for season and episodes, provide album data for your music, and much more.
Interested in Buying an Old Mac for Cheap? Storage Running a large media library via a Plex server is no problem.
Simply connect a large external hard drive, or even a RAID, to your Mac, configure Plex to look on that drive, and your all set. Any time you add something new, Plex will update your library automatically at a set interval. (I have mine set to once an hour). While we all love Apple and Apple products, we also live in a world with numerous other technologies. Smart TVs, Android, Windows, Playstation 3 and 4, the Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, and ROKU (just to name a few). And everything listed above is compatible with running the Plex client software, which is what you will use to enjoy all your content!
Apple TV The new Apple TV (forth generation) has a Plex client you can download, so if you are an only-Apple technology household, you can still take advantage of the better Plex media server. (One caveat: iTunes purchased content cannot be played via Plex). You can download for free. Requirements for a Plex media server. Apple's Mac Pro 5,1 series is an excellent machine to upgrade. By upgrading the original server with an Intel Hex Core CPU of 3.2GHz or 3.33GHz, our benchmark tests show a 70% increase in CPU power for the multi-core version. And don't forget, all of our come with a 30 day money-back guarantee.
CPU Description Single-Core Multi-Core 2.8 GHz Quad Core Original Mac Pro 5,1 (no upgrades) 2140 8455 3.2 GHz Hex Core Upgraded Mac Pro 5,1 (3.2 GHz) 2604 14692 3.33 GHz Hex Core 2748 15465 Geekbench 3.3.2 for Mac OS X x86 (64-bit). The 2013 Mac Pro will come standard with a Solid State Drive (SSD) connected via a PCIe port for faster data transfer rates as compared to standard SATA III.
This is definitely one of the faster options that will be available on the market. The downside is the internal SSDs are of limited size. The base option is 256GB, configurable to 512GB or 1TB upon purchase. There is only one drive slot as well, so again, internal drive bay expansion is limited. This was a definite design decision on the part of Apple, however. They are pushing Thunderbolt peripherals very aggressively with this machine, the idea being you would just use Thunderbolt connected media for external bulk storage.
The drive slot is user-accessible, so the drive can be upgraded or replaced after purchase. There are no standard hard drives offered with the 2013 Mac Pro.
The new Mac Pro will only use PCIe Flash Based Storage internally. It is fast, potentially up to 2.5 times faster than SATA based SSDs, and up to 10 times faster than a 7200 RPM SATA hard drive, but with only one slot, it is not particularly expandable. Upgrading to the relatively modest maximum 1TB of internal storage upon purchase will most likely be fairly expensive, though the drive slot being user-accessible makes it a possibility to wait and upgrade at a later date when PCIe SSD drives start to become more inexpensive. Mac Pro Internal Storage Specs: 2013 Mac Pro 2012 Quad-Core Mac Pro 2012 12-Core Mac Pro PCIe SSD x 1 slot Four 3.5-inch cable-free, direct-attach drive bays with built-in independent 3Gb/s Serial ATA channels; four internal drive carriers included Up to 1TB of space via SSD PCIe Flash Storage Up to 12TB of internal storage in bays 1 through 4 using hard drives or solid-state drives No optical drive 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) One open optical drive bay for optional second SuperDrive. 2013 Mac Pro SuperDrive The new Mac Pro does not come with an optical drive internally. This should not present many problems with program installation as so many programs now are simply downloaded via the Mac App Store or other means online and no longer require installation disks.
Unfortunately, for users who need to burn DVDs or CDs, they will need to use an external SuperDrive, connected via one of the many ports the 2013 Mac Pro offers on the back of the machine. Continue reading to learn more about the. Apple announced the new revision for its 2013 Mac Pro line at the company's WWDC and provided more details at their keynote in October. Coming in December, the new Mac Pro boasts an all-new, substantially revamped design. Apple Mac Pro Memory, for example, will use a four channel memory controller at speeds of 1866MHz. Let's take a look at the new machine and compare it to its recent predecessors.
Each individual user will have different needs for their machines, so we'll cover all the different components and let you be the judge as to how the 2013 Mac Pro will stack up for you. Pros and Cons From the get go, the new machine looks radically different then previous modules of the Mac Pro (which shared a body design with the original G5 towers); the cylindrical design is a definite departure from previous models. At first glance, your initial question might be, “Where do I put my stuff?” With no obviously accessible panels or optical bays, it is a fair question to ask. So before we get into the core “pros and cons,' it is important to state from the onset that Apple intends for you to do most of your expansion externally through the Thunderbolt 2 ports on the back of the machine. With that said, let's move on to the core components. Aesthetic Footprint Easily the most obvious change to the 2013 Mac Pro is its design.
The overall footprint and weight of the machine has been noticeably decreased. The new design is much sleeker then its previous incarnation and a definite departure from standard PC builds. While this is definitely a plus to some users, there are downsides. With the smaller design, there is less room for internal upgrades. Compared to earlier Mac Pro models, there really is not much you can upgrade internally after purchase. This can be further exacerbated depending upon the peripherals you use. If you have already made the shift to Thunderbolt or USB 3.0, then this should be a minor concern; however, if you have been using mainly internal expansions (slots and drive bays), this can present numerous issues such as eSata compatibility, MIDI plug-ins, etc.
Also, the sorts of peripherals available at release are still highly speculative, as Thunderbolt is still relatively new technology. Dimension Specs: 2013 Mac Pro 2012 Quad-Core Mac Pro 2012 12-Core Mac Pro 9.9 x 6.6 inches 20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7 inches 20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7 inches Continue reading to learn more about the.
The 2013 Mac Pro will offer dual AMD FirePro GPUs. These graphics processors are powerful and blazing fast. The base 4-core 2013 Mac Pro model will offer dual D300 graphics processors with 2GB of GDDR5 VRAM each, while the 6-core offers the D500 with 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM each. Each model can be configured higher, up to dual D700 graphics processors offering 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM with 3.5 teraflops performance. The graphics processors, combined the the Intel Xeon E5 processor, makes a combination so powerful, users will be able to run three “4K” ultra-high resolution streams simultaneously.
Due to the construction of the machine, the graphics processors are configurable only during purchase due to proprietary engineered components. The lack of expansion ability at a later date may be a downside to users who would prefer to upgrade and change out the video card at a later date, but the sheer power and performance of the graphics processor may deliver results for many years to come without the need to upgrade.
Graphics & Display Specs: 2013 Mac Pro 2012 Quad-Core Mac Pro 2012 12-Core Mac Pro Dual AMD FirePro workstation-class GPU Double-wide, 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot Configurable as Dual D300, D500, or D700 cards Option to install two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards Supports up to three 4K displays and 6 Thunderbolt displays Support for up to six displays Support for digital resolutions up to 2560x1600 pixels Support for analog resolutions up to 2048x1536 pixels Continue reading to learn more about the 2013 Mac Pro options. When it comes to upgrade-ability, the 2013 Mac Pro has multiple external expansion ports. At release, it will ship with four USB 3.0 Ports, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, two Ethernet ports, and one HDMI port. The memory modules for the machine are user upgradeable, so some modifications are possible. Sadly, that is about the extent of the internal upgrade-ability, which falls short when compared to some of its predecessors.
The limit of one SSD internally or not being able to add additional GPUs is a significant down side for some users. The new Mac Pro is essentially trading forward thinking design and the latest technology versus the ability to customize and upgrade your machine after purchase. Mac Pro Expansion Specs: 2013 Mac Pro 2012 Quad-Core Mac Pro 2012 12-Core Mac Pro PCI Express Generation 3 Three open full-length PCI Express expansion slots Up to 40 GB/s of bandwidth One PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot This is the internal bus open only to memory, storage, and processor.
All other expansion appears to be external. Two PCI Express 2.0 x4 slots All slots provide mechanical support for 16-lane cards 300W combined maximum for all PCI Express slots Mac Pro Connections and Audio Specs: 2013 Mac Pro 2012 Quad-Core Mac Pro 2012 12-Core Mac Pro Six Thunderbolt 2 ports Four FireWire 800 ports (two on front panel, two on back panel) Four USB 3.0 ports Five USB 2.0 ports (two on front panel, three on back panel) Two USB 2.0 ports on included keyboard Two Gigabit Ethernet ports Front-panel headphone mini-jack and internal speaker Optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports One HDMI v. 1.4 port Analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks Multichannel audio through Mini DisplayPort By and large, the 2013 Mac Pro offers a complete re-think on PC desktop design. Depending upon your use and the tasks you envision using your machine for, it could be an excellent option. Our biggest concerns with the new Mac Pro are the lack of user upgradeable components (a hallmark of its predecessors,) and the complete dependence on external media could represent hidden additional costs for the machine. Also, users who hoped for a Mac Pro that could be used as a server may be disappointed due to the lack of internal swapping available. However, the underlying technology looks very good.
The processor architecture is solid, and the GPU will be readily supported by professional developers (easier updates for drivers.) So all in all, the new Mac Pro is a fair upgrade to a storied line of machines. Our PCI Express card is compatible with Apple's Mac Pro 2006-2012 towers. You can mount two 2.5' Mac compatible Sata III Solid State Drives onto this adapter card.
By taking advantage of your Mac Pro's quicker PCI Express bus, you can substantially increase the access time over your conventional SATA II drive bays. The drive bays in a Mac Pro are limited to 275/255 Mbps read/write speeds. This adapter/drive combination is capable of 450/350 Mbps read/write speeds, depending upon the speed of your SSD. This drive adapter is bootable, making for the quickest possible system performance.
This PCI Ultra Express card is compatible with Apple's Mac Pro 2008-2012 servers. You can mount a pair of 2.5-Inch Mac compatible SATA III SSDs onto this adapter card. By taking advantage of your Mac Pro's quicker PCI Express bus, you can substantially increase the access time over your conventional SATA II drive bays. The drive bays in a Mac Pro are limited to 275/255 Mbps read/write speeds. This adapter/drive combination is capable of 550 Mbps read/write speeds, depending upon the speed of your SSD.
Our PCI Express card/SSD Combo is compatible with Apple's Mac Pro 2006-2012 towers. For this kit, we mount one of our blazing fast 550 Mbps 1TB 2.5-inch Solid State Drives is mounted onto our PCIE adapter card. By taking advantage of your Mac Pro's quicker PCI Express bus, you can substantially increase the access time over your conventional SATA II drive bays. The drive bays in a Mac Pro are limited to 275/255 Mbps read/write speeds. This adapter/drive combination is capable of 450/350 Mbps read/write speeds!