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Decision time

C

chockymonster

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
45
0
I've been sitting on the fence about waiting on the Mac Pro refresh or buy now but I can't really wait a whole lot longer for the new ones to appear.

I use my macs for business use and can't afford to be without a machine should I have an issue with my MBP. I'm a photographer and primarily use Photoshop CS5, Lightroom 3 with the occasional slideshow video creation.

My head is telling me that a 3.3ghz 6 core with 16gb and a couple of raided SSDs is going to do me fine, my heart keeps looking at the dual proc options. I know photoshop and lightroom aren't multi core aware at the moment so I won't get a benefit and mostly the dual options will be slower, but I do wonder if Adobe get their act in to gear how much quicker it might be this time next year.

If I was going the dual proc route I'd only go for the 8 core and upgrade it myself but am I wasting cash on doing it?
 
photoshop doesn't scale well (if it does at all?!) with 8-12 core machines atm.
But who knows what CS6 will bring us? I'm guessing you're not buying the comp for only 6 months or 1 year.

Maybe CS6 will not bring such big improvements but we don't know yet.

Just dont regret your purchase later on...

As for a smaller investment for photoshop: might wanna check out the new i7 with discrete gfx. Budget-wise it might not be a bad choice until the MP's hit the streets.
 
You could always wait and then if something happens to the MBP buy the mac pro that day, correct?

The i7 upgrade is very nice and a mac pro with large hdd space is a must for a photographer (as you know).

I say wait until you NEED it (which will happen if the MBP breaks)
 
blunti said:
photoshop doesn't scale well (if it does at all?!) with 8-12 core machines atm.
But who knows what CS6 will bring us? I'm guessing you're not buying the comp for only 6 months or 1 year.

Maybe CS6 will not bring such big improvements but we don't know yet.

Just dont regret your purchase later on...

As for a smaller investment for photoshop: might wanna check out the new i7 with discrete gfx. Budget-wise it might not be a bad choice until the MP's hit the streets.
Click to expand...

I'm not looking to buy for 6 months - 1year, normally I look at a 3 - 5 life cycle depending on what it's doing performance wise.
The photoshop scaling is why I was considering the 6 core it seems to be the best config, It's just a big purchase to get wrong!

New i7 what?
If you mean mac mini then I'd considered, but it works out at $1600 in the uk for an i7 dual core with 8gb of ram. That's not a stop gap measure!
 
jbg232 said:
You could always wait and then if something happens to the MBP buy the mac pro that day, correct?

The i7 upgrade is very nice and a mac pro with large hdd space is a must for a photographer (as you know).

I say wait until you NEED it (which will happen if the MBP breaks)
Click to expand...

a Mac Pro with 3.3 bto is a 3 day turn around. The MBP is covered by apple care but that doesn't help! I lost both the iMac (6th and 7th panel replacement) and the MBP (faulty hard drive) over the same week and it's taken me 3 weeks to catch up. I hate missing deadlines so it's not really how I want to do things.
 
chockymonster said:
I know photoshop and lightroom aren't multi core aware at the moment so I won't get a benefit and mostly the dual options will be slower, but I do wonder if Adobe get their act in to gear how much quicker it might be this time next year.
Click to expand...

That is not true. CS5 fully supports multi-threading. Just run Surface Blur on a large image and take a look at Activity Monitor.
 
chockymonster said:
I'm not looking to buy for 6 months - 1year, normally I look at a 3 - 5 life cycle depending on what it's doing performance wise.
The photoshop scaling is why I was considering the 6 core it seems to be the best config, It's just a big purchase to get wrong!

New i7 what?
If you mean mac mini then I'd considered, but it works out at $1600 in the uk for an i7 dual core with 8gb of ram. That's not a stop gap measure!
Click to expand...

If you're "not looking to buy for 6 months - 1 year...."
then, why are you posting this question? Everything will be different in the MP lineup in 6 months.

JohnG
 
johnnymg said:
If you're "not looking to buy for 6 months - 1 year...."
then, why are you posting this question? Everything will be different in the MP lineup in 6 months.

JohnG
Click to expand...
you missunderstand me, I meant i don't buy for short term and go for the latest greatest in 6 months to a year, this machine has to last for 3 or so years.

getz76 said:
That is not true. CS5 fully supports multi-threading. Just run Surface Blur on a large image and take a look at Activity Monitor.
Click to expand...
No it doesn't, it will use up to 4 or so cores pretty well but anything above sort of gets ignored and can slow certain tasks down!
 
3.33 Hex

I bought a 3.33 Hex with 16GB and 2 SSD's 3 months ago.

The best decision I have made! I love the computer. I have 2 Apple Cinema Displays. I am using Final Cut X, Motion 5, Photoshop CS5, logic, garageband and it flys. At least for me.

I am happy with it for video and my multi layered PSD's open real quick. I don't know how much speed you need but this computer for me is a beast. I did buy a Mac Book Air 11 for travel and to work in the living room etc... I am actually on it now.

I have no regrets, I don't care if they come out with a Sandy Bridge 5.55 18 Core. This machine matches my mission and will for at least 2 more years. I don't need thunderbolt I have 5 hard drives and they all work extremely fast for me.

Just wanted to let you know I am VERY happy with my purchase and I bought based on the suggestion of many of the users here. If you do go don't look back.

I love the Mac Pro 3.33 = very happy!

JB
 
You will be fine with a 3.33 hex, 16GB Ram, and a pair of RAID0 ssds. Maybe even three or four of these? It's almost pointless waiting for the latest and greatest because performance will literally be doubled if not tripled 6 months later...
 
I'd recommend the SP Hex as well, as it's more than suitable for the described usage (actually, it's the best balance of both single threaded and multi-threaded applications performance).

At the time you're looking to purchase, newer systems will be nearly out, if not so (depending on exactly when you buy). So if the next MP doesn't offer enough additional performance in areas you need, then get the current system (should be at a discount via the Refurbished store if they're still available - again, when you buy will be critical).

As per RAID-ed SSD's, you may run into a couple of limitations, so it's in your best interest to see if this really is the best way to go.
  1. The SATA ports built into the 2010 systems throttle at ~660MB/s, so really fast SSD's can actually throttle.
  2. Striping (RAID 0) only increases sequential throughputs (large contiguous files), not random access (OS/application use).
For example, most have done really well by using separate SSD's for both scratch and OS/applications, while working data and backups are kept on mechanical media due to the lower cost/GB (i.e. 7200rpm for working data, Green's for backup <~5400 - 5900 rpm>).
 
Nano exactly

nanofrog said:
I'd recommend the SP Hex as well, as it's more than suitable for the described usage (actually, it's the best balance of both single threaded and multi-threaded applications performance).

At the time you're looking to purchase, newer systems will be nearly out, if not so (depending on exactly when you buy). So if the next MP doesn't offer enough additional performance in areas you need, then get the current system (should be at a discount via the Refurbished store if they're still available - again, when you buy will be critical).

As per RAID-ed SSD's, you may run into a couple of limitations, so it's in your best interest to see if this really is the best way to go.
  1. The SATA ports built into the 2010 systems throttle at ~660MB/s, so really fast SSD's can actually throttle.
  2. Striping (RAID 0) only increases sequential throughputs (large contiguous files), not random access (OS/application use).
For example, most have done really well by using separate SSD's for both scratch and OS/applications, while working data and backups are kept on mechanical media due to the lower cost/GB (i.e. 7200rpm for working data, Green's for backup <~5400 - 5900 rpm>).
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I did with my hex - 1 SSD for boot 1 SSD for scratch -
1 TB 7200 for Media - 1 TB for Cloning drives and 2 TB for Backup via Time Machine....

It really rocks that way - I am not sure if RAID would have made that much of a difference. I am not that technical just know "It works" and very well...

Thanks to people like you Nano I got the system I needed and wanted for everything I do.

I work my projects on the scratch SSD - then when I am done I just move them into media for storage.

Thank you for the help,

JB
 
chockymonster said:
you missunderstand me, I meant i don't buy for short term and go for the latest greatest in 6 months to a year, this machine has to last for 3 or so years.


No it doesn't, it will use up to 4 or so cores pretty well but anything above sort of gets ignored and can slow certain tasks down!
Click to expand...

Wrong.
 
Jbgloss said:
I bought a 3.33 Hex with 16GB and 2 SSD's 3 months ago.

The best decision I have made! I love the computer. I have 2 Apple Cinema Displays. I am using Final Cut X, Motion 5, Photoshop CS5, logic, garageband and it flys. At least for me.

I am happy with it for video and my multi layered PSD's open real quick. I don't know how much speed you need but this computer for me is a beast. I did buy a Mac Book Air 11 for travel and to work in the living room etc... I am actually on it now.

I have no regrets, I don't care if they come out with a Sandy Bridge 5.55 18 Core. This machine matches my mission and will for at least 2 more years. I don't need thunderbolt I have 5 hard drives and they all work extremely fast for me.

Just wanted to let you know I am VERY happy with my purchase and I bought based on the suggestion of many of the users here. If you do go don't look back.

I love the Mac Pro 3.33 = very happy!

JB
Click to expand...

I love mine too, my configuration is in my signature. I use it for Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, Corel Painter, Xcode, Unity 3D, Sketchbook Pro, Aperture, and a slew of others but those are my biggies. I never have speed issues, its great.
 
getz76 said:
That was debunked on the Adobe forums. Google it.
Click to expand...

Of course it was:rolleyes:

Photoshop is the ONLY multi core aware in the Design suite. Illustrator is terrible and InDesign is horrendous with multicore. Still dealing with all the lack of re-writes for the suite. They just gave you PS in 64-bit multi-core aware. That's it.
To buy cores for Adobe CS5 is relatively useless and given their "update" schedule even more so. I am not referring to after effects, premier or lightroom.
 
Thanks all.
Decision made, 6 core purchased. At least I know the new spec machines will be released in about 20 days :) (that's a joke btw!)
 
You will love it!

chockymonster said:
Thanks all.
Decision made, 6 core purchased. At least I know the new spec machines will be released in about 20 days :) (that's a joke btw!)
Click to expand...

LMAO - that is how I felt a few months ago.... I thought they would be around the corner, but the much smarter people on here such as Nano and Hellhammer etc... and many others say the Intel is still far behind so you may not have to worry - but don't look back you have an hell of a machine!!!.

AWESOME!!!

You will love it - I personally bought OWC SSD's and RAM and have had not issues just FYI...

Report back after you get it all set up... love to hear your thoughts :)



JB
 
chockymonster said:
Thanks all.
Decision made, 6 core purchased. At least I know the new spec machines will be released in about 20 days :) (that's a joke btw!)
Click to expand...

Good choice. Great for running CS5 (and I'm in the middle of downloading CS5.5). Final Cut Pro 7 runs OK but that's the fault of FCP. I'm trying Adobe Premiere Pro for a new project since iMovie Pro X, er I mean FCP X, doesn't cut it for me.

Consider sticking in 24GB of RAM and an SSD and you won't regret it.
 
If it were your hobby, I would say wait, but for business reasons, I had to pull the trigger from my old 1,1 2006 model due to productivity reasons, and besides, it makes a nice write off for this year.

I went with the 6x3.33, 32GB of ram, 120GB SSD, 12TB of internal, 2x3TB for RAID O = 6TB, 2 3TB separate and two external 6TB RAID-1 arrays via e-Sata for backup. I also upgraded from my 23" ACD to a Apple refurb 30" ACD, thumbs up non-glare. I put the OWC 120SSD in the empty lower optical ( DVD ) slot, least used 3TB drive below it in bay-1 for temp reasons and 3 more 3TB drives in bays 2,3 & 4 including the RAID-0 pair. I am dealing with a photo library of over half a million images after culling, new video projects and an enormous scanning project ahead after editing some 1,200 rolls of film for a high profile book project. So having a fast machine, lots of ram plus a total of 30 TB of storage all told is essential for everything from time efficiency to peace of mind.....

Enjoy your "6-Pak", it is plenty of machine and by the time you even think about upgrading, the new versions will have any bugs worked out of them, Thunderbolt options mature, bigger and cheaper Sata-III SSD drives, etc...

My rig has already paid for it self...
 
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