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2009 Mac Pro Upgrade or iMac 5k?

P

Pablo2k

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 5, 2011
9
0
Hi, I have a 2009 Mac Pro Nehalem quad core 2.66 with ATI 5870 with ssd drive.
Upgrades will be: CPU 3.33 6 core w3680 cpu (Mac Pro 2010) nVidea GTX 660 and New NEC NEC PA272W
about $1600
Or iMac 4ghz 5k with upgraded video card.
I use lightroom, photoshop, final cut x, no games, and Im still on the fence with wide gamut display (Nec can be set to both i believe)
about $2800
thanks.
 
Hi,

Anyone has any suggestions?

Seems like 2009 upgrade will bring me to a geekbench of 15.k and the iMac is about 16.5k But Id be saving about $1500
I know the iMac is crazy fast as a single chip, but I believe adobe suits uses multicores.
thank you.
 
lowendlinux said:
I'd upgrade, I think the 5k iMac is pretty but I want to pick my own displays.
Click to expand...

I think I will,
the more i read the more promising it sounds to upgrade the old mac.
Specially now being able to pretty much run any video cards after Mavericks, or even run dual cards.
I will still be cheaper and Ill be able to keep all my internal hard drives.
thanks.
 
You’ll have more upgrade options with the Mac Pro. To upgrade the hard drive in the iMac will be more of a hassle than upgrading the processor in your Mac Pro! Look at the benchmarks for the two systems and the cost then work out the performance to price ratios - that really helped me decide. My Mac Pro was about 90% of the performance of the ‘equivalent’ nMP for about 30% of the price. Ratio might be a bit closer between your upgrade and a 5k iMac but don’t quote me on that, I could be wrong. You could also upgrade your vid card to a GTX980 if Final Cut can use it?
 
Dartanian77 said:
MacPro MacPro MacPro!
Click to expand...

Spoken like a true MacRumors Mac Pro Forum member. I feel the same way. Occasionally I look at the 21.5" iMacs at the Apple Store. They look like a great second Mac to use as an EyeTV TV/DVR but then I start thinking; do I really want a glued together, impossible to clean, hard to upgrade computer where all the heat from all the components sinks in to everything?

The HP all-in-one Z with the flip open lid I can see. Having bought eight Macs I still haven't gotten an iMac. I did however get the opportunity to repair a family member's heat-tortured 2010 iMac though.
 
Went though the same dilema

Decided to stick with the Mac Pro.

INTERNAL STORAGE.. Those Internal Bays just make life so much easier.

Went for the 3.33 6 Core for £130
Graphics I was going to go for a GTX750Ti for £90 but decided to stump up a bit more and went for a GTX970 for £250.

Like you said Geekbench runs in at about 15.5k. but it feels so snappy now

I have had the 27" iMac (Late 2013 i7) Fusion Drive, Loved ther screen Lothed the lack of storage,

Made the mistake of getting a nMP at launch, Just could not get on with it.

And Though it all the Mac Pro 4.1 has rolled on

The OWC 480Gb PCIe SSD is I would say my best investment, but the 3.33 6 Core is not far behind, And I am hoping the GTX970 proves to be a long lasting purchase.

My Final Resting Spec is

Mac Pro 4.1
3.33Ghz 6 Core
16Gb Ram
480Gb OWC PCIe as Boot Drive
3Tb Drive in Superdrive Bay for Scratch and Backup
4* 4Tb HDDs in main Trays for Storage


I really think upgrading the MacPro is the way to go for now.
 
Guess I am the only one that kinda wanna go the other way.

I like the simplicity of the iMac and as a graphic designer I think the single core speed and the good display would be more appealing for me.

I have a 4.1 2.93 Ghz 8 Core with 32 GB memory, ssd, enough storage for files and a HD5870 1 GB.

I would benefit more from having a 6 Core 3.46 Ghz or even a 4 Core 3.46 Ghz. Since I never take advantage of the cores. I would say it depends on what you are doing for sure.
 
I have a mac pro 4.1 2009 4core 2.9 to firmware 5.1 6core cpu.
OWC pci 256 whith video 120 gt .
Whats is the best video card for it?
 
The iMac 5K may be a wonder of engineering but running the 295 GPU at 105C just to get reasonable performance is going to bite SOMEONE in the butt.

I used to get nervous when we first figured out GTX480. They would run in the 90-94C range, and I thought that was hot. The scorching high end Fermi was a cool breeze in comparison.

It wouldn't be AS big a deal if you could just replace the GPU with another MXM board, but when the 105C GPU is soldered to the same board as rest of items on Logicboard, that is going to be one EXPENSIVE repair.

Oh, you could always just plug in a DisplayPort cable and use it as a 5K display.....NOT !

More of Apple's "Make it look great TODAY, maybe the future won't come"

(Or, more accurately, "Make it great today, but make sure they'll be back soon to buy another one")
 
*UPDATE*
Purchased Intel W3680 (Hex core 3.33) $193, EVGA GTX 680 $90, 16GB 1333 OWC $100 and Sold my Mac ATI HD 5770 for $190 on ebay so total update cost was $193
I went from a Geekbench 9,500 to Geekbench 15,600 so I would recommend this upgrade to anyone that has a 2009 2.66 quad.
One day Ill get the new GTX980
Thank you everyone for your input.
 
Pablo2k said:
*UPDATE*
Purchased Intel W3680 (Hex core 3.33) $193, EVGA GTX 680 $90, 16GB 1333 OWC $100 and Sold my Mac ATI HD 5770 for $190 on ebay so total update cost was $193
I went from a Geekbench 9,500 to Geekbench 15,600 so I would recommend this upgrade to anyone that has a 2009 2.66 quad.
One day Ill get the new GTX980
Thank you everyone for your input.
Click to expand...

Congrats. Enjoy!
 
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