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October 10, 2006
Introduction
On August 7, 2006 Apple announced the Intel based Mac Pro models which complete the Apple Intel transition. The Apple Mac Pro 2.66 GHz model ($2,499) is the stock version that you will find at retail outlets like Amazon. Apple also has custom versions available which can be ordered with 2.0 GHz or 3.0 GHz dual-core Intel Xeon processors. In addition, the Apple on-line store allows users to configure a Mac Pro with other memory, hard drive, SuperDrive, video card, displays, wireless and fibre channel options. All Mac Pro models utilize an external aluminum enclosure that is similar to the previous PowerMac G5 models.
What's Included?
The stock Apple Mac Pro 2.66 GHz model includes two 2.66 GHz dual-core Intel Xeon processors, a new Intel four slot PCI Express architecture with a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB graphics card. Higher performance graphics options are available including the ATI Radeon X1900 XT ($250) and the NVIDIA’s Quadro FX 4500 ($1650) at the Apple Store. The Mac Pro comes with 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 fully buffered EEC memory. It has eight memory slots that can be used to upgrade to as much as 16GB of memory using 2GB chips. Each 2.66 GHz dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 series processor has 4MB of shared L2 cache and a front side bus speed of 1.33 GHz.The Mac Pro includes a 250GB SATA hard drive and a 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW). One FireWire 800 port is provided on the rear and one on the front. Two FireWire 400 ports are also provided with one in front and one in the rear. Five USB 2.0 ports are included. Three are located on the rear and two in front. No modem is included but two gigabit ethernet ports are provided. Wireless airport, bluetooth and an external modem are all optional.
The Mac Pro package includes an Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable and a DVI to VGA adapter. The software provided with the Mac Pro includes Mac OS X, iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand), iCal, DVD Player, Comic Life, OmniOutliner, QuickBooks, Xcode Development Tools and a demo of Office, iWork and FileMaker.
667MHz DDR2 FB-DIMMs
The stock Mac Pro configuration includes 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 fully buffered EEC DIMM memory. This is double the amount of memory that was provided with the PowerMac G5. This new Apple memory specification includes advanced heat sinks that keep the memory from over heating. As 667MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM memory is available without advanced heat sinks, I would only buy additional memory that is advertised as "Mac Pro compatible" from a reputable company with a history of Macintosh support. Installing more memory will help users with applications that require Rosetta and heavy processing. Most users will want a minimum of 2-3 GB of memory. However, if you are a new Mac Pro user don't be afraid to try it
with the stock 1GB and see how it performs for your needs. The stock Mac Pro is much more responsive than the PowerMac G5 Quad was with only 512MB of memory installed.The Mac Pro has two memory trays that can be removed when installing memory. Once the aluminum side panel has been removed from the Mac Pro you will see the memory cage in the bottom right side of the case. Intel's 5000X MCH Chipset provides the Mac Pro with a quad-channel FBD memory controller. Two of these channels are linked to each memory tray. Four FB-DIMM slots are provided on each Mac Pro memory tray. Memory is required to be installed in matched pairs. The inside surface of the Mac Pro removable side cover provides user instructions for installing new memory upgrades. You can see the instructions in the image below . Clicking on the image below will display the Apple Mac Pro memory DIY install guide.
The initial 1GB of Apple memory is installed in the rear two slots of the top memory tray. The next pair of FB-DIMMs should be installed in the rear slots of the bottom tray. If you add additional memory it should be placed in the front two slots of the top tray as shown in figure "2" above. Figure "3" displays the last two slots of the bottom tray being filled, should you require all eight memory slots. The front of the Mac Pro memory trays provide circular cut outs in the left and right sides so that the boards can be easily removed from the memory cage.
In theory, using both memory trays provides the maximum quad-channel Mac Pro memory performance by increasing the available bandwidth. However, testing by barefeats has shown that using both memory trays may not always translate into faster application performance. If you want to optimize the memory performance of the Mac Pro with quad-channel technology, users can upgrade to 2GB by using the 2 x 512MB of Apple memory in the top tray and adding 2 x 512MB FB-DIMMs in the bottom tray. A 4GB configuration would use 2 x 1GB in the top tray and 2 x 1GB in the bottom tray. By only using the rear two slots of each tray, performance will be optimized. Using the additional slots will add more memory but will also slightly increase the latency of the FB-DIMMs serial interface.
The Mac Pro will work with different memory sizes too. Using the Apple 2 x 512MB memory in the top tray and 2 x 1GB modules in the bottom tray is a good way to start your memory acquisition toward a 4GB setup. Once FB-DIMM memory prices drop to a comfortable price level users can acquire another pair of 1GB modules. If you plan your memory purchases to eventually provide an optimized quad-channel setup, it will provide the best memory configuration available for the Apple Mac Pro.
In order to determine how the Mac Pro 2.66 GHz 1GB stock memory setup might compare against several other memory configurations and a PPC PowerMac G5 Quad, Xbench 1.3 was utilized. The results are provided in the table below.
Mac Pro Memory Performance
| Xbench 1.3 |
Mac Pro 2.66
1GB Top 2x512MB |
Mac Pro 2.66
2GB Top 2x1GB |
Mac Pro 2.66
3GB Top 2x512MB Bottom 2x1GB |
PPC Quad 2.5
2.5GB |
| Memory Test |
113.43
|
132.31
|
144.71
|
137.59
|
| Fill |
5.21 GB/sec
|
5.67 GB/sec
|
7.2 GB/sec
|
8.25 GB/sec
|
| Copy |
2.3 GB/sec
|
2.55 GB/sec
|
2.81 GB/sec
|
2.1 GB/sec
|
Based on these Xbench results, the Quad seems to be able to provide a faster memory fill rate even though the Mac Pro 3GB configuration has a higher overall score. Mac Pro users will need to utilize the rear slots of both Mac Pro memory boards to exceed the memory performance of the PPC PowerMac G5 Quad. The memory bandwidth of the Mac Pro seems to have some limitations. While the Xeon family has a theoretical 21 GB/s memory bandwidth when using a quad-channel FB-DIMM configuration, performance results available on the web indicate that 4.22GB/sec to 6GB/sec may be a more realistic figure. Anandtech.com has posted an article on Mac Pro memory performance that suggests that the memory in a dual channel Core 2 computer can out perform the quad-channel FB-DIMM memory configuration of the Mac Pro. This is disappointing as the 667MHz DDR2 FB-DIMMs are not inexpensive.
The current price of Mac Pro memory is approximately $230 per GB. That is almost twice as much as the cost of memory for the Apple PowerMac G5 Quad. As this is the case, I would suggest purchasing a 2GB memory upgrade kit for the Mac Pro and adding another 2GB kit on price dips.
Most Mac Pro users will find using between 2-4GB of memory works very well for most situations. Heavy Photoshop users may want to install as much as 8GB and there are some users (yes, you know who you are) that will want as much memory as they can install in the Mac Pro. Energy conscious users will want to know that each pair of 512MB FB-DIMM modules added to the Mac Pro will increase energy requirements by approximately 15 watts and each pair of 1GB FB-DIMM modules can add as much as 17 watts of extra energy usage to the otherwise energy thrifty Mac Pro. Installing more memory than you actually need may not only drain your wallet from the initial purchase but also decrease the energy efficiency of the Apple Mac Pro. Using 2-4GB of memory seems to provide a nice balance. When using a fast hard drive, I do not find a little disk caching with the Mac Pro to be objectionable.
Mac Pro Memory tray with Trans International 2GB kit and the Apple (black) stock 512MB FB-DIMMs.
Apple charges $300 on-line for purchasing a Mac Pro with 2GB of memory (4 x 512MB). You can also purchase two 512MB FB-DIMM Mac Pro memory chips separately for $300 from Apple. As most readers probably already know, buying memory from Apple is usually an expensive option.
Another option is the Trans International 2GB memory kit ($438). This Mac Pro memory kit provides a matched pair of high quality 1GB 667MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM chips with advanced aluminum heat sinks. The Apple chips provide four heat sink fins on each side, while the Trans International memory supports six fins. From my testing the Trans International 2GB kit is fully Mac Pro compliant, looks great and performs very well. The Apple on-line store charges $700 for two 1GB chips for the Mac Pro while the Trans International 2GB memory kit is $438. In addition, Trans International offers a lifetime warranty. It doesn't take much calculating to figure out that savings can be obtained by installing the Trans International 2GB kit in a Mac Pro instead of Apple branded memory. I have purchased memory from Trans International for several Macintosh models and they have always provided high quality memory at a reasonable price.
The Apple Mac Pro provides quiet, high performance computing at a reasonable price. Some of the new features include four internal hard drive bays, backplane mounting, cool running Xeon 5100 processors, dual optical drive capability, support for a double wide video card and Windows compatibility. If you want a Macintosh system that provides expansion capability and the ability to use it with any monitor you can imagine, the Apple Mac Pro is what you want. While the Mac Pro uses just as much energy as a PowerMac G5 Quad when idle, it is able to use considerably less energy than the Quad when it is hard at work. Compressing video, working with large hard disk
arrays, installing faster video cards and the option to boot with Mac OS X or Windows are all features that Mac Pro users can enjoy.JOIN AMUG!
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Copyright 2006
Arizona Macintosh Users Group, Inc. (AMUG)
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