Thunderbolt question.

I have a 2008 Mac Pro 8 Core 3Gz with 8 gigs Ram. It runs pretty fast. Joey and others here tell me that a Solid State Drive would be a really good idea for my System and Final Cut.

Which, in my thirst for speed and efficiency, brings me to Thunderbolt.

I understand that this Thunderbolt lark is sort of built in to the new Mac Book line.

Does this mean that the basic technology of Thunderbolt (which I do not understand due to my geriatric condition) would not allow for a Thunderbolt card for my Mac Pro made by either Apple or a third party manufacturer?

I really don't want to buy a new computer since I feel that my current one has some life left in it, but aside from Final Cut, I also use Protools 9 extensively with "Virtual Instruments" and massive audio samples, so I am always nosing around for ways to increase speed and efficiency - hence my recent post asking for advice about Solid State Drives.

Anyway, maybe some kind soul can inform me as to whether Thunderbolt would shake my world, or even if it would be theoretically possible to have a Thunderbolt card for my Mac Pro.

Many thanks,

Best wishes,

Harry.

You won't see a MacPro card this year I don't think...especially for an old 2008 machine. When it does come out, it will probably be for the new stuff.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

It's been stated by all the major manufacturers that there will be NO thunderbolt add-on cards made to give older computers thunderbolt connectivity. It has to be integrated into the motherboard for it to work at full capacity.

If you don't actually need a new computer right now, Thunderbolt is not going to change that.

For your stated uses (FCP/PT) Thunderbolt holds little new capability that will radically change your life, unless you need brand new hardware like a RAID or I/O cards.

An SSD would be a much better thing to look into, as well as more RAM.


FYI here's a look at some of the Thunderbolt stuff that's coming down the pipe.

[www.sonnettech.com]
That Echo Express is what people are hoping will be a popular kind of product, a PCIe host for cards that will work on a TB enabled MacBookPro and iMac and the TB capable Mac Pros that we hope to see soon.

Storage will be the first and largest TB sector to roll out. They're used to new connectors and standards being changed every 6 months.
[www.promise.com]

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

Thank you both very much for the replies and advice.

Best

Harry.