So heres the deal
.
Im expecting to come into some extra cash in a month or so.
Prior to February's MBP refresh announcement, I was ALL SET to use that money to upgrade from my 1,1 MP with 9GB RAM to a 3.33 Hexacore MP. Didnt have a doubt in my mind.
However, the advent of Sandy Bridge and the potential of Thunderbolt - and more importantly the LOOOOOOONG wait for when the MP finally gets those in an update probably sometime in 2012 - got me to thinking and questioning exactly how important is Thunderbolt to Mac Pros, and in particular how I should now proceed.
On laptops and Minis the benefit of Thunderbolt is obvious. On a MP, if you work with large amounts of HD Video on large external arrays and do rendering and the like, I can see a definite benefit from Thunderbolt there as well. But for someone like myself who doesnt work on video or Photoshop like that and is primarily into Logic Studio/Ableton Live audio production, Im having a hard time seeing the benefit on a MP except to say that Id have the port for the future.
But the last few months or so, Ive become more and more aware of the age of my machine with more beach balls, occasional sluggishness, etc. It performs well mind you, but you can definitely tell its not the speed demon it once was. Yet Im hesitant to pour money into SSD's, GPU and RAM updates for a machine that I question how long Apple will really support going forward when I could put those $$$ towards a new machine.
If my machine was a 2009 model or above, it probably wouldnt matter as much. However, I tend to keep my machines for 3-5 years and even though it looks as though Lion will run fine on 32-bit EFI Macs for now, I cant honestly say that I completely trust that Apple will continue to support those old EFI Macs beyond 10.7. At first, I thought that eventually someone would make 3rd party Thunderbolt PCI cards that I could just add to my machine, but even IF that were to happen, looking at the lack of video card support options for the 1,1 now, I'd say its a pipe dream at best. Id like to think theyd support it throughout 10.7, but you never know. Besides, I'm betting that old-EFI Macs may be cut off in 10.8 anyway. So with that in mind, I feel that nows as good a time as ever to upgrade especially with a few $$$ coming my way, but being caught in between product refreshes and new technology debuts in Thunderbolt/Sandy Bridge has done nothing but give me a headache! I've considered the new MBP's and Mini's, but as nice as those are, I want a desktop.
Yes, I know that a MP is complete overkill for how I use it, but I originally bought it in 2006 solely for the flexibility of internal storage. Maybe that wasnt the best reason to go with a workhorse machine like the Pro, but I had the money and thats what I wanted at the time and it has worked well for me.
But I have to be honest: even with my lack of reasoning for Thunderbolt for my uses, seeing the massive performance jump the MBPs got in the last refresh and probably what will be seen to a greater degree in the upcoming iMacs, it now just feels plain wrong to even *consider* a current MP without Thunderbolt, SATA III and Sandy Bridge. But what's worse is that I know my tendencies all too well: it will be damn near impossible for me to wait until Feb-March 2012 (we hope) for the MP refresh with actual $$$ burning a hole in my pocket; so much so, that Im now even considering one of the soon-to-be-updated iMacs to replace my system even though Im not thrilled about the idea of not being easily able to access the internal drive as Ive gotten used to doing in the MP. But no matter how you slice it, obvious drawbacks aside, the value of an updated Sandy Bridge iMac with SSD options with that stunning massive display coupled with the expected proportional increases in performance like the MBPs received is very hard to ignore.
Sorry for the long post, but in the interest of saving my sanity, Im hoping to get some opinions from fellow 1,1 owners. Save me from myself!
What are the rest of you 1,1 MP owners planning to do?
I don't need a new machine to make a living, but I do want a new machine nonetheless. It just that's its an exciting and confusing time to consider upgrading. Just hoping to canvas fellow 1,1 MP owners for friendly input!
Ken
Im expecting to come into some extra cash in a month or so.
Prior to February's MBP refresh announcement, I was ALL SET to use that money to upgrade from my 1,1 MP with 9GB RAM to a 3.33 Hexacore MP. Didnt have a doubt in my mind.
However, the advent of Sandy Bridge and the potential of Thunderbolt - and more importantly the LOOOOOOONG wait for when the MP finally gets those in an update probably sometime in 2012 - got me to thinking and questioning exactly how important is Thunderbolt to Mac Pros, and in particular how I should now proceed.
On laptops and Minis the benefit of Thunderbolt is obvious. On a MP, if you work with large amounts of HD Video on large external arrays and do rendering and the like, I can see a definite benefit from Thunderbolt there as well. But for someone like myself who doesnt work on video or Photoshop like that and is primarily into Logic Studio/Ableton Live audio production, Im having a hard time seeing the benefit on a MP except to say that Id have the port for the future.
But the last few months or so, Ive become more and more aware of the age of my machine with more beach balls, occasional sluggishness, etc. It performs well mind you, but you can definitely tell its not the speed demon it once was. Yet Im hesitant to pour money into SSD's, GPU and RAM updates for a machine that I question how long Apple will really support going forward when I could put those $$$ towards a new machine.
If my machine was a 2009 model or above, it probably wouldnt matter as much. However, I tend to keep my machines for 3-5 years and even though it looks as though Lion will run fine on 32-bit EFI Macs for now, I cant honestly say that I completely trust that Apple will continue to support those old EFI Macs beyond 10.7. At first, I thought that eventually someone would make 3rd party Thunderbolt PCI cards that I could just add to my machine, but even IF that were to happen, looking at the lack of video card support options for the 1,1 now, I'd say its a pipe dream at best. Id like to think theyd support it throughout 10.7, but you never know. Besides, I'm betting that old-EFI Macs may be cut off in 10.8 anyway. So with that in mind, I feel that nows as good a time as ever to upgrade especially with a few $$$ coming my way, but being caught in between product refreshes and new technology debuts in Thunderbolt/Sandy Bridge has done nothing but give me a headache! I've considered the new MBP's and Mini's, but as nice as those are, I want a desktop.
Yes, I know that a MP is complete overkill for how I use it, but I originally bought it in 2006 solely for the flexibility of internal storage. Maybe that wasnt the best reason to go with a workhorse machine like the Pro, but I had the money and thats what I wanted at the time and it has worked well for me.
But I have to be honest: even with my lack of reasoning for Thunderbolt for my uses, seeing the massive performance jump the MBPs got in the last refresh and probably what will be seen to a greater degree in the upcoming iMacs, it now just feels plain wrong to even *consider* a current MP without Thunderbolt, SATA III and Sandy Bridge. But what's worse is that I know my tendencies all too well: it will be damn near impossible for me to wait until Feb-March 2012 (we hope) for the MP refresh with actual $$$ burning a hole in my pocket; so much so, that Im now even considering one of the soon-to-be-updated iMacs to replace my system even though Im not thrilled about the idea of not being easily able to access the internal drive as Ive gotten used to doing in the MP. But no matter how you slice it, obvious drawbacks aside, the value of an updated Sandy Bridge iMac with SSD options with that stunning massive display coupled with the expected proportional increases in performance like the MBPs received is very hard to ignore.
Sorry for the long post, but in the interest of saving my sanity, Im hoping to get some opinions from fellow 1,1 owners. Save me from myself!
What are the rest of you 1,1 MP owners planning to do?
- Don't wait and upgrade to a current Pro Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge be damned?
- Do wait until early 2012 for MP refresh? (Hopefully)
- Bite the bullet and go with a soon-to-be-refreshed iMac?
- Or keep your trusty old 1,1 until it dies?
I don't need a new machine to make a living, but I do want a new machine nonetheless. It just that's its an exciting and confusing time to consider upgrading. Just hoping to canvas fellow 1,1 MP owners for friendly input!
Ken
