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2nd hand Mac Pro 8core for adobe premier/AE/Photoshop/Muse

D

Designingstuff

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2013
4
0
Hello to you all,

It's about time ill leave my white MacBook and move on to a proper machine.
I mainly work on large photoshop files, premier, AE and the new adobe web design apps. I saw this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1415169/ but stil I have a couple of questions.

I found a Mac Pro 8core with these specs for €1000:

2x 2.8 Quadcore
16 gb ram
320 and 500 GB HDD's
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT

Is this a good working station?
What would you check before buying?
Is the graphic card good enough for video editing, or I'll have to upgrade?
Anything else I forget?

Thanks a bunch for your time!
 
Designingstuff said:
Hello to you all,

It's about time ill leave my white MacBook and move on to a proper machine.
I mainly work on large photoshop files, premier, AE and the new adobe web design apps. I saw this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1415169/ but stil I have a couple of questions.

I found a Mac Pro 8core with these specs for €1000:

2x 2.8 Quadcore
16 gb ram
320 and 500 GB HDD's
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT

Is this a good working station?
What would you check before buying?
Is the graphic card good enough for video editing, or I'll have to upgrade?
Anything else I forget?

Thanks a bunch for your time!
Click to expand...

Hi Designingstuff. Welcome to Macrumors. I think the amount €1000 is a bit high for that 2008 Mac Pro. The ram for 2008 is also more expensive than the later models. And you still need to upgrade the Radeon 2600XT for After effects and Prem Pro. You can try to shop around for a 2009 4.1 Mac Pro like the 2.26ghz 8 core or 2.66ghz 8 core. If your budget permits, try the 2010 models 5.1 Hexcore at 3.33ghz or 2.4ghz 8 core. But it's your decision to make. If you stlll prefer the 2008 Mac Pro, try to negotiate for a much lower price. Because at €1000 you can get a good, upgraded 2009 or 2010 Mac Pro. Thanks :)
 
that system i would buy for no more than $800 US, and that's just because it comes with 16gb ram (like the poster before said, the ram is still slightly pricey)

because you will still need to have an SSD setup, cuz of course using an ssd for a scratch disk is crucial for speed

also, the gpu will have to be chucked (FCPX doesn't like the 2600xt), and replaced with at least an ATI 5770
 
Since you will be using Adobe products look into the Nvidia line of graphic cards. Quadro vs Geforce but CUDA is still the key.
Look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foLxsL5RU6k
and see what he did with PP5, a Mac pro and CUDA
Afterwards search for equivalent results with an AMD card.
Also, a used 4,1 will be your best buy!:)
 
OS6-OSX said:
Since you will be using Adobe products look into the Nvidia line of graphic cards. Quadro vs Geforce but CUDA is still the key.
Look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foLxsL5RU6k
and see what he did with PP5, a Mac pro and CUDA
Afterwards search for equivalent results with an AMD card.
Also, a used 4,1 will be your best buy!:)
Click to expand...

Just found a 4,1 Mac Pro. I got confused... The ad says:" Macpro 4.1 2010 2.66ghz quadcore xeon" , the 2008 model was 2X2.8 quad... Am I missing something? Isn't it slower? :confused:
http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/compute...285449651fa109c354bbabe740c1b&previousPage=lr


Thanks again
 
Designingstuff said:
Just found a 4,1 Mac Pro. I got confused... The ad says:" Macpro 4.1 2010 2.66ghz quadcore xeon" , the 2008 model was 2X2.8 quad... Am I missing something? Isn't it slower? :confused:
http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/compute...285449651fa109c354bbabe740c1b&previousPage=lr


Thanks again
Click to expand...

You might find this useful

http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

Although synthetic CPU only benchmarks aren't always the best.

The 3,1 uses to Core2quad xeons ( Geekbench 9623), while the 4,1 uses a nehalem i7/xeon ( Geekbench 8258).

The 4,1 can also be upgraded to a 5,1 ( through firmware), to use a 2010 3.33Ghz 6Core ( geekbench 13,690) which is much faster compared to both the 3,1 8 core, and 4,1 quad core.


For instance if you buy this as well
http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/compute...285449651fa109c354bbabe740c1b&previousPage=lr

You can use that W3680 Xeon to upgrade the Mac pro 4,1 to a 5.1 which would be much better than the 3.1.

Or you can just buy the CPU separately somewhere else.
 
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Also, Adobe has done all the work with their Mercury Engine. The way it uses the CUDA cores along with a 4,1 and enough ram you won't think about the processor upgrade for awhile if at all.
Read online how PPr users with the right setup don't need or think about R3D Rocket cards. Even h.264 was a breeze!
I used the 30day trial of PP5 (summer 2012) and saw 1st hand what the "fuss" is all about! No trasncoding or rendering!:eek:
With the Mercury Engine, Adobe has taken the need to chase the newest/fastest computer out of the equation!:D
At best you may need to use HD slots 2-4 as a software Raid 0.
I've seen 3,1 for $650.00 usd. When the 6,1 come on the market you may find one for $400.00! There may be a fire sale. You can get the things you listed done with a 3,1. If you ever need to upgrade to 10.9, the 3,1 is still on the list.
 
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