Newbie - Mac Pro 8 core, Dell U3011 Monitor and initial system setup help

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I'm getting ready to order my Mac Pro and could us some advice. I've found some discussions regarding issues using a three monitor setup (needing two apple accessory cables $$$ etc...) but if wanted to ask you more knowledgable folks for some suggestions to my situation.

I'll be doing quite a bit of photo work with the new system (mostly Aperture) along with video editing. I'd also like to run windows (through parallel or dual boot - more on that later).

Along with the Dell monitor I have a samsung monitor and an older Dell monitor (both have DVI inputs - samsung has HDMI too). I might want to use those two additional monitors in the setup. I definitely want a second monitor but the third ?????

Questions - what type of video card(s) - 5770 or 5870 would you suggest. I lean to the 5870 but realize it might not make a huge difference with Aperture (except for rendering ???). Hopefully so new programs etc...can take more advantage of the 5870???

Other question regarding initial setup of the system is partitioning the hard drive. I read somewhere it's quicker to have a partition for the bootup and another for the rest of the programs etc...(I'm not very knowledgable about this yet).

Finally if I do load Windows 7 should that be on a separate partition etc...Suggestions??

I realize you may not be able to answer all my specific question but would appreciate any links to additional info and I'll read more about it to bring my knowledge level up a bit.

I want to start out the new system as clean and organized as possible. I'll be transferring files, photos, etc...from my current iMac.

Thank you for your assistance -

B
 

chscag

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I'll let our Mac Pro experts answer your questions regarding the three monitor setup and which video cards to purchase.

Finally if I do load Windows 7 should that be on a separate partition etc...Suggestions??

It just depends on what you need Windows 7 for. If you do not intend to run graphic intensive games or a program which requires fast 3D rendering, running Windows 7 using VM software would suffice. And you would not need a separate partition.

However, if you need the full graphic power of your machine in Windows 7, then it would require using Boot Camp to create a separate partition for installation. That also requires rebooting each time. Using the VM method negates having to reboot.
 
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Thanks chscag - I'll probably do a little of both, using VM software to quickly switch to Windows 7 for basic windows programs and boot camp when I need to utilize more graphic intense programs. I'm guessing to can do both????
 

chscag

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I'll probably do a little of both, using VM software to quickly switch to Windows 7 for basic windows programs and boot camp when I need to utilize more graphic intense programs. I'm guessing to can do both????

Yes, with both Parallels and Fusion you can use the Boot Camp partition as a VM. You would then have the best of both uses.
 

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