mac pro motherboards?

[dubrichie]

alrighty,

in my quest to get a new quad core intel mac pro in a rackmount configuration i am now considering building my own (or having it built for me) using most of the same components in a rackmount case of my choice.

so, to this end can anyone tell me what model of motherboard they are using for these beasts?

many thanks,

regards,

richie.

[6strings]

The Apple MB likely is a custom job you won't be able to aquire yourself other than buying a replacement board directly from Apple. ($$$) Do you know anyone who has built a mac?

I'd look into one of these instead:

http://www.apple.com/xserve

The new Intel chips may provide a cooler, quieter model than the G5 versions...

[mikedaul]

Are you looking to run OSX, or do you just want a dual proc dual core xeon system?

Here are some options from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813182096

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813182095

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131027

[FFTT]

I asked my Apple rep about rackmounting an XServe for mobile audio.

He said you would have to custom build a very deep, shock resistant enclosure and then may still
have problems if the internal components can't handle the ride.

Price wise, you'd be better off building a shock resistant enclosure for a Mac Pro Tower.

Personally, I'd hold off till October's release of the Intel XServes and talk with Apple's Commercial Pro representatives about your portable needs.

They cart this stuff around for Expos and trade shows, so they've probably figured out
what it takes to protect the gear in transit.

You may also want to talk with the makers of Anvil road cases for recommendations.

I know they do or did make shock suspension enclosures.

[theblue1]

Apple, fresh from the G5 mobo peripherals bottleneck fiasco, went with an Intel motherboard.

There is an article at Extremetech.com:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1886868,00.asp

... that describes building a Mac -- but around a 3.8 GHz P4, apparently similar to the machine Apple was using to demo OS X for Intel before the Core Duos hit the runway.

But that's pretty far afield from what you want to do. Kind of an interesting read, though.

[dubrichie]

cool, good replies, thanks for the info everyone.

i would think about running OSX on this machine at some point, which should be fairly possible?

regards,

richie.

[mikedaul]

Originally Posted by dubrichie

i would think about running OSX on this machine at some point, which should be fairly possible?

Check this site out: http://www.osx86project.org/

[LarsVinter]

Originally Posted by dubrichie

alrighty,

in my quest to get a new quad core intel mac pro in a rackmount configuration i am now considering building my own (or having it built for me) using most of the same components in a rackmount case of my choice.

so, to this end can anyone tell me what model of motherboard they are using for these beasts?

many thanks,

regards,

richie.

As stated elsewhere, the motherboard in Mac Pro is from Intel. You can buy one pretty similar to the one in the Mac Pro (specs alike, but obviously without the TPM chip). Have a look at the S5000XVN. Although the PCI/PCIex specs differ, they are very similar.

You CAN (very easily) get OSX to run on proprietary hardware, but if you really want to do it, you'll want to make sure you choose hardware supported by OSX. (Look here http://forum.insanelymac.com/).

However, first of all it's not legal to do this and secondly it's not recommended to use such a setup in a professionel environement since you have to hassle with cracks and compatibility issues etc. everytime you want to upgrade OS or some applications. (And at present time there is VERY limited support for a dual monitor setup, which you probably want for audio work).

In addition to this, it makes absolutely no sense to build you own Mac Pro. If you were to copy the hardware specs from the Mac Pro and build it yourself, you would very likely end up paying as much (or even more) than the list price for the Mac Pro. (Just look at the proce for Intel Motherboard with support for FB-memory and 2 CPUs + FB-mem blocks + the price of 2 dual core CPU's). Steve Jobs wasn't lying when he said that the Mac Pro was very cheap!

However, if you don't really care about having 2 seperate CPU's, fully buffered memory modules etc., you can get a performance very close to the Mac Pro (or even better) if you build a Conroe-based setup and overclock it. (See Xbench results on the insanelymac-forum - some custom built OSX-setups beat the hell out of Mac Pro using hardware worth half the price).

Just my 2 cents...

Regards