2006 Mac Pro Fast Enough?

[macnerd93]

Hey guys

so after seeing that the 2006 2.00GHz and 2.66GHz Mac Pros models have come down in price on ebay quite recently I wanted to know how fast are these machines in comparison to say my 2009 13'' MacBook Pro. I am intending to upgrade by years end since my pro is slow even with 8GB ram.

I'm certain the Mac Pro is going to be a lot faster than the 2.53Ghz C2D at the tasks I primarily do such as iMovie, Final Cut Editing, Aperture 3.0, Photoshop etc the question is how much faster will it be though?

I'm also considering an iMac or 13'' MacBook Air. Personally If I can get a refurbished Mac Pro for a few hundred quid less than a 13'' MBA I'd get one in a heart beat.

I know about OS X ML not being officially supported on the machine, but I've seen hacks and mods to get it to install & boot and work rather well.

hope someone can help

thanks

 

[JesterJJZ]

My 2.66 MP1.1 is still my workhorse. Yeah, things could be faster, but i still cut prores HD just fine. Even cutting RED now without much trouble. Definitely upgrading to whatever the next MP ends up being though. This machine has served me well, and will continue as my second machine for years to come I'm sure.

 

[paulrbeers]

Yes it would be faster than a Core2duo 2.53ghz for computational tasks that utilize multiple cores since you have in essence 2 - core2duos @ 2.66ghz in the 2006 Mac Pro. I just picked one up myself. You can also upgrade all the way to Octocore 3.0ghz by replacing the 2 dual core processors with quad core. With that said, the Quad Core 3.0ghz X5365 is pretty expensive on Ebay, but if you go with the Quad Core 2.66ghz X5355's you can get them pretty cheap (in the US I got two X5355's from ebay for $100 total). Not everyone wants to upgrade their processors and I understand that, just saying you can get a screaming fast desktop if willing to do a processor swap.