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C2D Mac Mini vs. Used Mac Pro

N

Nanker/Phelge

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 6, 2010
168
1
Any thoughts on this? I'll be doing some work with Photoshop, iMovie, and a fair amount of Handbrake-type encoding. I'm tilting back and forth with getting one of the older generation (1st or 2nd) Mac Pros that I could upgrade myself and the current or upcoming Mini/Mini Server.

Cheers.
 
Definitely Mac Pro if they cost about the same. It's faster and offers much, much more upgradeability than any other Mac. Just be aware of the fact that first gen Mac Pro has 32-bit EFI so IF Lion only has 64-bit kernel (we don't know but IMO unlikely), it won't work in the first gen Mac Pro or with any other Mac with 32-bit EFI.
 
Thanks a lot, didn't even think about the EFI...

I'm also questioning how the upcoming Mini will bench with the new Sandy Bridge processors...am I safe in assuming they still won't touch the older generation Mac Pros?
 
Hellhammer said:
Definitely Mac Pro if they cost about the same. It's faster and offers much, much more upgradeability than any other Mac. Just be aware of the fact that first gen Mac Pro has 32-bit EFI so IF Lion only has 64-bit kernel (we don't know but IMO unlikely), it won't work in the first gen Mac Pro or with any other Mac with 32-bit EFI.
Click to expand...

That's not completely true. A 64 bit kernel does *not* require a 64bit EFI to run, just a 64bit CPU (which Gen 1 Mac Pros have). It may, however, be a restriction Apple arbitrarily places in order to encourage people to upgrade.
 
seek3r said:
That's not completely true. A 64 bit kernel does *not* require a 64bit EFI to run, just a 64bit CPU (which Gen 1 Mac Pros have). It may, however, be a restriction Apple arbitrarily places in order to encourage people to upgrade.
Click to expand...

You can't boot into 64-bit kernel in 10.6 with first gen Mac Pros
 
Hellhammer said:
You can't boot into 64-bit kernel in 10.6 with first gen Mac Pros
Click to expand...

Poor choice of words on my part. Right now Apple doesn't allow booting 64bit kernels in OSX on 32bit EFI machines, but there's no technical reason why it's not feasible, and therefore no reason why they can't allow it in the future if they wanted to continue to support those machines instead of forcing them into early obsolescence.

It's significantly possible that Apple will drop support for the first gen mac pro, it's an arbitrary choice not a technical inevitability.. I'd also be willing to bet that a hack, similar in nature to xpostfacto, will appear rather rapidly.
 
Curious why you wouldn't want an Intel machine? With Snow Leopard already out and established as Intel only plus Lion on the verge of being released as the same, you'll be buying into a platform that's mostly gone already. At least with the C2D machines, someone of the newer programs will have support even if they aren't the fastest game in town.
 
Tilpots said:
Curious why you wouldn't want an Intel machine? With Snow Leopard already out and established as Intel only plus Lion on the verge of being released as the same, you'll be buying into a platform that's mostly gone already. At least with the C2D machines, someone of the newer programs will have support even if they aren't the fastest game in town.
Click to expand...

Both the machines ZRD is talking about are intel boxes....
 
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