"AlmostNew" 2010 12cores vs Brand new 6Core 2012 ?

[SimeoneSergio]

Greetings mac users,

my first post after weeks of lurking!

I've been offered an almost brand new (maybe 1 month usage) 12Core 2010 that was bought like 1 month before WWDC 2012 (2,9 GHz + 6 gigs + 5870 + 1TB drive) at almost 4,400k euros. I would have upgraded ram immediately to 16/24 and put a SSD drive so that makes an additional 500/600 euros, bumping it up to 5k.

I was tempted to buy it, then i saw the old revision about 6 vs 8 vs 12 cores and i thought that a 6cores 3,33 Ghz with a OWC and a truckload of RAM (and the 5870) would have been a better choice (and a cheaper one, considering the rent option) for what i do.

Main use: Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign - with pretty much RARE use of Premiere and AE. I don't recall CS6 being optimized THAT much for PS/AI/ID so i'm not really sure i'm going to use all cores at the same time.

I plan to sell it maybe in 2 years (with an additional 12 months of warranty)...

Question is: did i make the right choice?

Thanks for your time answering!

 

[khollister]

Can't speak to Illustrator or InDesign, but the only thing in Photoshop that really lights up all the cores is several of my 3rd party plugins (Nik, Topaz and Perfect Resize). The hex is probably the better choice. Not sure the 5870 will help much either, but it is fairly reasonable on a new BTO, so you might as well. RAM is essential - the trick is to keep PS out of the swap drive.

If you use a SSD for your working files, it will make a huge difference. Just archive them off to a HDD or array once processing is done.

There are some crazy good prices on Crucial M4 SSD's now in the US. Not sure what the situation is over there.

 

[calaverasgrande]

I'd check out geekbench's Mac scores.
The 12 core looks pretty good over the hex core.
After Effects will flatten either Mac. It's a love hate relationship with that program around here.
Okay maybe not flatten, but regardless of what Mac you have, you will wish you had more Mac!

You also gotta realize that dual processor quad core/hex core has twice the ram banks as a single processor quad/hex core. This means it can not only load more ram, but also that it has a twice as wide conduit to and from that ram.
For Photoshop and Illustrator this isnt as big a deal. But in FCP, AE and Premiere you can tell the difference.

 

[derbothaus]

Pretty simple, if you are an Adobe designer and projects don't need more than 32GB Memory then the hex will beat all other Mac Pros thanks to clock speed. If you are more video based then 12-core is for you as previously pointed out you'll want the processing power/ memory slots and video apps are generally better at using all available resources. But I would avoid the 2.4GHz 12-core 2012 model. Get that 2.93 or the new 3.06.

 

[spacedesign911]

I think you did well, you have a superb computer, fully upgradable, with lots of room for ram, I'd have bought it if I say it at that price! I settled on a 3.3 hex but I would not regret your purchase, that's an absolutly incredible computer. Enjoy it you got the top of the line current machine for about €2k less tha the top of the line 3.1 now, and the only difference is .1mhz!

So what's it like? What did you upgrade from?

 

[SimeoneSergio]

@Khollister: Keeping PS out of the RAM is exactly what i had in mind; Regarding the 5870 i have a further question: is there something that will make a difference? Quadro 4000 or 5000?

@Calaverasgrande & @Derbothaus: Well, AE and PR wil be seldom used so... That's why i went to the single cpu. I'm not really sure if I'm going to light up all those cores. I yes use Nik and Topaz but i don't think i'm going to work on files bigger than 70 megs... So single processor still is the best choice in my eyes, but thanks a lot for your insightful arguments.

@Spacedesign911: I have jumped on Apple platform after 20 years of MS in November 2011 when i bought a 15" MBP with 8 Gigs of ram, a decent SSD inside and the fastest processor available. I am totally satisfied, plus when i'm at clients i can feel i'm bringing "value" when their faces "melt" after having seen my lil' beast's booting speed
Now i am in need of the desktop, will keep PC only for gaming.
And btw i refused the dual because the seller was trying to push price up...

All the questions i have asked may sound "noobish" to you, but i don't know the architecture, the platform, how it works (while on PC i was able to assemble them by myself and it's what i did for like 14 years) etc. Even if i've been lurking this forum since 2 months and read all the articles linked.
Being the super curious person i am, i think i'll be diving in the hackintosh "world" pretty soon!

This is the final config:
6core 3,33 Ghz, 16 gigs RAM, 5870, OWC Accelsior 240 Gb (still looking for a euro reseller!), the USB 3.0 + eSATA 6Gbs PCI-E slot card.

As i said i plan to keep it for like 2 years and then see whats the situation; it will have an additional year of warranty in order to be "attractive" so i can be sold easily, with such a configuration.

It's going to be plugged into a EIZO CG275W. I wanted such a working platform since ages, and now i can afford it!

Thanks all for the kind answers; additional suggestions are welcome and highly encouraged!

 

[spacedesign911]

Doooh sorry I thought you bought the 12 Core!, so is the 12 core still for sale? Can I ask where?

Her eis the European reseller for the Mercury Accelsior, which will allow you avoid duty.

http://www.macupgrade.eu

 

[SimeoneSergio]

There you go!

http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221050687856&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:FR:1123

 

[spacedesign911]

There you go!

http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221050687856&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:FR:1123

Hmmm, I spoke to a lady selling this in April, she was based in Rome, the specs back then included an apple 512 sdd, raid card, slightly different but the same pictures on the advert, it then went unsold and reappeared from a seller in Monaco. The reason I say its the same one is the photos in the advert are the same as the earlier 2 listings. Each add had the 24" LED screen with the test Cinema4d rendering running, price back then was €5500.

 

[SimeoneSergio]

So basically we avoided a scammer? Nice one!

 

[thekev]

@Khollister: Keeping PS out of the RAM is exactly what i had in mind; Regarding the 5870 i have a further question: is there something that will make a difference? Quadro 4000 or 5000?

@Calaverasgrande & @Derbothaus: Well, AE and PR wil be seldom used so... That's why i went to the single cpu. I'm not really sure if I'm going to light up all those cores. I yes use Nik and Topaz but i don't think i'm going to work on files bigger than 70 megs... So single processor still is the best choice in my eyes, but thanks a lot for your insightful arguments.

ackintosh "world" pretty soon!

This is the final config:
6core 3,33 Ghz, 16 gigs RAM, 5870, OWC Accelsior 240 Gb (still looking for a euro reseller!), the USB 3.0 + eSATA 6Gbs PCI-E slot card.

As i said i plan to keep it for like 2 years and then see whats the situation; it will have an additional year of warranty in order to be "attractive" so i can be sold easily, with such a configuration.

Quadro cards are useless for photoshop under OSX. You can't get 10 bit displayport under OSX due to Apple. The Quadro 4000 isn't supported (at least not entirely) by the mercury engine under photoshop. Premiere should be different.
http://barefeats.com/pscs6.html
The Quadro 5000 isn't really supported under OSX as far as I know. Even if it will run, you buy Quadro cards for the drivers. If they aren't properly optimized, you're not really paying for anything at that point. I'm not sure the 5770 vs 5870 will make much of a difference there.

70 meg files are nothing. It can change quite a bit if we're talking about a lot of layers though. Typically you just want enough to keep things in ram rather than hitting scratch disks.

It's going to be plugged into a EIZO CG275W. I wanted such a working platform since ages, and now i can afford it!

Thanks all for the kind answers; additional suggestions are welcome and highly encouraged!

I like Eizo quite a bit. They seem to charge less in Europe too.

 

[spacedesign911]

So basically we avoided a scammer? Nice one!

Sometimes things like this pass around until its sold, happens cars between car dealers all the time, it could well be the computer is being passed between dealers, the lady selling it was very familiar with the computer and claimed to have receipts and apple care and all upgrades. Perhaps she sold it to the seller in Monaco, and then they decided to strip the Sdd and Raid and sell it. Who know's. I was about to fly to Rome to see it, and if all was good I was going to bring it back as hand carry on luggage, as it would fit in a cabin! As it turned out the 6 core hex dropped in price and I was more comfortable buying new.