Hosting and bandwidth provided by WebCentrix.net.
Mac Pro Q&A (Mac Pro FAQ) @ EveryMac.com
With the Mac Pro Q&A, from EveryMac.com, you can get answers to all of your Mac Pro questions from "How much faster are the 'Early 2009/Nehalem' Mac Pro models than the 'Early 2008' Mac Pro models?" to "Does the Mac Pro support standard PC video cards? Does it support SLI or Crossfire?" and everything in between.
Please note that the "Early 2009" (Nehalem) Mac Pro systems are currently shipping and earlier Mac Pro models are discontinued.
To be notified of new Q&As, subscribe via RSS or follow on Twitter. To be notified of major site updates and use EveryMac.com Pro, please become a member. It's free!
The answers to some of these questions may no longer be up-to-date. Please refer to the date published, updated, or revised.
Most Frequently Asked Mac Pro Q&As:
How much faster are the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models than the "Early 2008" Mac Pro models?
How do you upgrade the hard drives in the Mac Pro models? How many drives of what type are supported?
How do you upgrade the processors in the "Early 2009" Mac Pro models? How are the processors mounted?
What are the differences between the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models and the "Early 2008" Mac Pro models that they replaced?
How do you upgrade the RAM in the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro? How much RAM of what type does it support?
Does the Mac Pro support standard PC video cards? Does it support SLI or Crossfire?
What are the "pros and cons" of the Mac Pro? Is it right for my needs?
How much noise does the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro make compared to earlier models?
Is it possible to install an SSD in the Mac Pro models instead of a hard drive? How does this impact performance?
What options are available for the second "optical drive bay" on the Mac Pro? How do you install a second optical drive or replace the primary one?
Software Compatibility Q&As:
What version of the MacOS is pre-installed on the Mac Pro?
Can the Mac Pro run all MacOS X applications written for PowerPC-based Macs?
Can the Mac Pro run MacOS 9/Classic applications?
Can the Mac Pro run Windows? What drivers are required?
Comparison & Performance Q&As (Current "Early 2009"):
What are the differences between the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models?
What are the differences between the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models and the "Early 2008" Mac Pro models that they replaced?
How much faster are the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models than the "Early 2008" Mac Pro models?
How does the gaming performance of the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro compare to earlier models?
How much noise does the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro make compared to earlier models?
Comparison & Performance Q&As (Disc. "Early 2008"):
What are the differences between the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro configurations?
What are the major differences between the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro and the original Mac Pro?
How much faster are the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro models compared to the original Mac Pro?
How does the stock graphics performance of the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro models compare to the original Mac Pro?
How much noise does the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro make compared to the original Mac Pro?
Comparison & Performance Q&As (Disc. Original):
What are the major differences between the original Mac Pro and the Power Macintosh G5?
What are the differences between the original Mac Pro configurations?
How does the stock original Mac Pro compare to a similar Windows PC?
How fast is the stock original Mac Pro in real-world tests compared to its predecessor? How fast does it run Photoshop?
How much faster are the custom configured original Mac Pro models with either 3.0 GHz "Quad Core" or 3.0 GHz "Eight Core" processors compared to the stock Mac Pro? How much slower is the custom configured Mac Pro 2.0 GHz "Quad Core" model?
What is the overall gaming performance of the original Mac Pro? How well does it run Windows games?
How much noise does the original Mac Pro make compared to the Power Macintosh G5?
Expansion & Upgrade Q&As:
How do you upgrade the processors in the "Original/Early 2008" Mac Pro models? How are the processors mounted?
How do you upgrade the processors in the "Early 2009" Mac Pro models? How are the processors mounted?
How do you upgrade the RAM in the original Mac Pro? How much RAM of what type does it support?
How do you upgrade the RAM in the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro? How much RAM of what type does it support? Is it backwards compatible with RAM from the original Mac Pro?
How do you upgrade the RAM in the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro? How much RAM of what type does it support?
How do you upgrade the hard drives in the Mac Pro models? How many drives of what type are supported?
Is it possible to install an SSD in the Mac Pro models instead of a hard drive? How does this impact performance?
What are the capabilities of the "SuperDrive" provided by the Mac Pro?
What options are available for the second "optical drive bay" on the Mac Pro? How do you install a second optical drive or replace the primary one?
How many PCI slots of what type are provided by the Mac Pro models? How do you add another PCI card?
How does the original Mac Pro allocate lanes for the PCIe bus? What configurations are possible?
What ports are provided by the Mac Pro?
What AirPort and Bluetooth capabilities are provided by the Mac Pro?
Graphics & Video Q&As:
What graphics cards are available for the Mac Pro? Which models have which ports?
What is the maximum resolution supported by the default configurations of the Mac Pro models? How many displays can the Mac Pro support?
Does the Mac Pro support standard PC video cards? Does it support SLI or Crossfire?
How many PCI slots of what type are provided by the Mac Pro models? How do you add another PCI card?
How does the original Mac Pro allocate lanes for the PCIe bus? What configurations are possible?
How does the stock graphics performance of the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro models compare to the original Mac Pro?
How does the gaming performance of the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro compare to earlier models?
Design, Configuration & Purchasing Q&As:
Who designed the Mac Pro?
Where can I buy a Mac Pro?
What are the default configurations?
What are the "pros and cons" of the Mac Pro? Is it right for my needs?
Add the Mac Pro Q&A to EveryMac.com Pro for future reference.
Suggest a Q&A Addition/Correction | Ask a Question | Become a Member
EveryMac.com is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind whatsoever. EveryMac.com, and the author thereof, shall not be held responsible or liable, under any circumstances, for any damages resulting from the use or inability to use the information within. For complete disclaimer and copyright information please read and understand the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy before using EveryMac.com. Use of any content or images without expressed permission is not allowed, although links to any page are welcomed and appreciated.