But at what cost?
This tool from ZDNet allows for super-easy overclocking of your Mac Pro. Until recently, overclocking has been one of the few remaining legs Windows users had up on Mac users, from an objective standpoint at least. The OC tools I’ve used on XP have ranged from the graphic to the obscure, and from the stable to the ridiculous. This ZDNet tool looks pretty simple, but being simple, it’s not really comprehensive. This is evident from the fact that multiple errors occur reliably while using the tool: the time gets messed up, it can’t restart without crashing past certain speeds, and the clockspeeds reset themselves when your machine goes to sleep — among other issues.
So why would you do it? Because an overclocked version of the cheapest Mac Pro on the market easily outperformed the most expensive available — a savings of $1600 if you care to track it that way. They made sure there were no errors in calculation, so I’d get this tool just to use as essentially a “Turbo” button (remember those?) for when you need to process a bunch of footage in Final Cut or something at high speed, and can then safely restart so your box doesn’t implode. Pretty bad-ass, actually. Get the tool here, and be sure to read the whole article so you know the risks.