Mac Pro Early 2008

The Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.8 (Early 2008), is technically classified as "made-to-order" configuration of the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (Early 2008), but is also listed as a separate model for easy reference. Apart from processor (this model has one 2.8 GHz Quad Core processor and the stock model has two), both models share identical specifications.

The Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.8 (Early 2008) features one 2.8 GHz Quad Core 45-nm Intel Xeon E5462 (Harpertown/Penryn) processor with 12MB of L2 cache (each pair of cores shares 6 MB), a 128-bit SSE4 SIMD vector engine, and a 1.6 GHz 64-bit independent frontside bus.

The standard configuration featured 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 EEC "fully-buffered" FB-DIMM memory, a 320 GB (7200 RPM, 8 MB cache) 3Gb/s Serial ATA hard drive, a double-layer 16X "SuperDrive", and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and two dual-link DVI ports.

Expansion includes two external 5.25" "optical" bays (one available by default), four internal 3.5" "cable-free, direct attach" hard drive bays (three available by default), two PCIe x4 slots, and two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (one free with one graphics card installed). Port selection includes dual Gigabit Ethernet, five USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire "400" ports, two Firewire "800" ports, and optical digital audio in/out, and more. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR comes standard, AirPort Extreme (802.11g/n) and a modem are optional.

In comparison to the original Mac Pro which it superseded, the "Early 2008" Mac Pro employs an enhanced architecture with improved speed and efficiency processors with larger L2 caches, a more advanced vector engine, faster frontside buses (1.6 GHz instead of 1.33 GHz), faster memory (800 MHz instead of 667 MHz), compatibility with optional faster Serial Attached SCSI drives (with the installation of the Mac Pro RAID card), and two 16-lane PCIe 2.0 slots.

Offered as a custom option for the 8-core model, this quad-core configuration presented a more affordable entry point to the Mac Pro platform. [34] Despite being a single-processor setup, the 2.8 GHz quad-core Xeon "Harpertown" processor delivered excellent performance in many applications. This model was highly regarded by users who did not require the extensive multi-threaded capabilities of the 8-core configuration but still wanted to benefit from the Mac Pro's robust chassis, superior expandability, and architectural advantages like PCIe 2.0 and faster memory. [34] It served as a solid foundation for building a professional work environment while leaving room for future upgrades. [12, 37]