Mac Pro “Nehalem” 2.93GHz
I’ve got a writeup of Nikon 24mm options coming to DAP, but in the short-term all eyes are on the fast new Apple Mac Pro.
Apple tells me that my new Mac Pro 2.93GHz will arrive tomorrow. Kudos to Apple for comping me the Mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter and one-day shipping; it took a little negotiating, but it’s made me a satisfied customer.
I have the hard drives and 16GB memory lined up ready to go (with 32GB to come on loan from OWC when available).
I’ll be running the new Nehalem-based Mac Pro through its paces, focusing on what it does for photographers with Photoshop, RAW-file conversion, Genuine Fractals and other tools.
If it measures up, I keep it and sell my existing awesome 8-core 2008 Mac-Pro, perhaps to a lucky reader of this blog. If not, it goes back to hype-land at Apple. I suspect that it will measure up, but stay tuned for my usual objective take on things, a little bit of bitchin' about what I don’t like or is missing, and what you can really expect over the prior model.
And yes, I do hope to “pimp” it with Samsung’s new 256GB SSD, but not quite this extreme.
Let’s be real though: some photographer’s needs will be perfectly well-served by the new 4GB MacMini, which now offers Firewire 800. Get the base model, stuff 4GB of OWC memory (and a faster/larger hard drive into it), and you’re good to go.
