decisions wait to upgrade mac pro 2008 or get new mac pro.

[gdeusthewhizkid]

hi,

i have a 2008 quad core mac pro that I've updated with a 24 inch led cinema display. 16 gigs of ram, 5770 video card, and about 7tb of hard drive.. Im really a fan of the old mac pros but I'm noticing on fcpx video editing and lightroom 5 editing that the machine is a bit slow at times.. I would like to get a newer machine but i do love the upgrade possibilities of a mac pro and don't like the newer macs much since you can't really open them up and update them. any suggestions? I don't like not being able to access the latest os either.


thanks..

 

[usna92]

As you can imagine this isn't really a new question and I think the answer would depend on your use case, willingness to tinker with it, and budget. There are plenty of people on this site who gotten a 3,1 machine to run Sierra. It is not a significant technical hurdle, but it is one that since the release of Sierra, is dependent on 3rd party samaritans to continue to make hacks that allow that machine to run Sierra. Just running Sierra is essentially free, so the question really is, what part of your workflow is bound by the machine and how much your willing to pay before just getting a new machine or going hackintosh starts to make more sense. You really don't have a lot of headroom in the CPU department. You could add more memory, upgrade the video card, and switch to an SSD boot drive if you haven't already. The video card is probably the only thing that will give you significantly more grunt in the FCPX department. I think if you wanted a short term solution, you could go SSD and medium range video card, but after that you really need to think whether a later model 2010/12 cMP with dual CPUs as a next cheaper step? Waiting it out until WWDC to see what is coming next, or deciding Hackintosh is the way to go.

 

[now i see it]

There's no need to go beyond Snow Leopard for a "workstation". None of the selling features of Sierra will work on a 2008 machine. All Sierra is going to do is be slower, look a lot worse & use more ram.

I think the best bet is to get the last version of the cheese grater MP (cMP) and upgrade the CPU etc & run SL 10.6.8 until cook & co can figure out what they're doing with their computer business.

 

[chrfr]

There's no need to go beyond Snow Leopard for a "workstation".

Most modern professional apps at this point won't run on 10.6.8. Final Cut Pro X, in particular, which the OP mentions, is one of those. The latest version requires 10.11.4 or later.

 

[macuser453787]

I think the best bet is to get the last version of the cheese grater MP (cMP) and upgrade the CPU etc & run SL 10.6.8

This would be a great option for the OP if they were running FCP7, since they already have a 5770 (which apparently in some cases requires a patch to work correctly in 10.6.8).
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The latest version requires 10.11.4 or later.

This.
[doublepost=1488816998][/doublepost]

I think if you wanted a short term solution, you could go SSD and medium range video card

Could be a low-cost option depending on price point that the OP is comfortable with spending.
[doublepost=1488817515][/doublepost]

any suggestions? I don't like not being able to access the latest os either.

Maybe consider 1) what your budget is, and 2) how far you want to go with upgrades for using FCPX on your current cMP vs. buying nMP?

usna92 mentioned possibly getting a later model 2010/12 cMP with dual CPUs as a next cheaper step, which is a good option if you want to retain upgrade-ability and then invest in some upgrades that will really make it sing. With the right upgrades, it could be very, very fast, but it requires spending money to do that.

On the other hand, buying a nMP could very well mean spending more money than the upgraded 2010/12 cMP option.

 

[fastlanephil]

On the other hand, buying a nMP could very well mean spending more money than the upgraded 2010/12 cMP option.

Unless you can somehow find a good deal on a used nMac Pro you'll probably spend a lot more. I see the person(soupsr) I bought my cMac Pro from a few years ago is selling a flashed 5,1 2009 3.33GHz six-core with a 5770 on eBay. He's an honest seller I can reccomend.

 

[shaunp]

I see these questions time and time again on here because Apple basically don't make a product buyers of the cMP want. Apple want you to have an iMac or a laptop. Yes if anyone suggest Apple has lots its way with regards to hardware strategy there's plenty of people point out 'you aren't the customer Apple wants', 'everything is in the cloud', 'get over it and move on', etc, etc, etc.

Apple have basically abandoned a loyal, yes small, but loyal part of their customer base. It wouldn't take that much for one of the biggest companies in the world to address this, but they can't be bothered. If I were you mate I would learn Premier and move on. Lightroom works just fine on Windows as do all other Adobe products.

The money you would get from your 2008 MP would cover about half of what you need for a reasonable PC do to the same job and it's much more future proofed. Apple have proved beyond doubt they don't want to be in the Pro market and no longer care for the enthusiast either. A shame considering they were founded by enthusiasts in a garage!

 

[macuser453787]

I see the person(soupsr) I bought my cMac Pro from a few years ago is selling a flashed 5,1 2009 3.33GHz six-core with a 5770 on eBay. He's an honest seller I can reccomend.

OWC (macsales.com) and macofalltrades.com are also great places to buy used cMPs. Bought my 4,1 from OWC back in 2013.

 

[LorenK]

My 2008 was acting glitchy, and I was concerned about Apple EODing it with the next OS update. I bit the bullet and bought a 2012 12 core to give myself a few more years. I gave the 2008 to my son who reloaded the software and is using it as a media server. I moved my SSD, my eSATA card, my USB 3 card, and my many internal and external drives over to the 2012 and am content to wait until Apple sees the error of its ways and comes out with a new used upgradeable Mac.

 

[rpmurray]

Waiting it out until WWDC to see what is coming next

wait until Apple sees the error of its ways and comes out with a new used upgradeable Mac.

Apple has already given those that want a new Mac Pro the finger. Waiting for Apple to bring out a new model is living in denial.