8-core processing was once reserved as a high-end option. Now it's at the heart of the Mac Pro line. This incredible power stems from all-new Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors, featuring speeds up to 3.2GHz and 12MB of L2 cache per processor.

With its 8-core processing, advanced Xeon architecture, 1600MHz dual independent front-side buses, and 800MHz memory, the new Mac Pro delivers up to 2x greater application performance.

The cable-free, direct-attach hard drive bays make it easy to install up to 4TB of storage with Serial ATA 3Gb/s drives. For enhanced data protection, the optional Mac Pro RAID card delivers hardware RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 0+1. Used with this card, 15,000-rpm SAS drives bring added performance to RAID configurations.

All new, high-performance graphics cards from ATI and NVIDIA offer even greater performance for 3D and graphics- intensive applications. For more power, upgrade to a workstation-class card with up to 1.5GB of memory. All cards now support up to two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD displays.

The PCI Express 2.0 graphics card slot delivers twice the transfer rate of the previous generation. And you can install up to three additional PCI Express cards in three full-length slots — one PCIe 2.0, the other two PCIe.

Add up to 32GB of fast 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered memory — a memory architecture that's up to 256 bits wide and allows for incredible memory capacity, bandwidth, and reliability.