Help Me Choose... Please!

[TJunkers]

I do a lot of graphic design work; I use Adobe CS4's Master Collection and I mean I use it all. I am running it on my MacBook Pro and it's been great but I want to get a serious machine; aka Mac Pro.

I also use Final Cut Studio 2 once in a while for Final Cut Pro, Motion and Color specifically.

What machine do you think I should look at. I'm looking at getting a machine that will last me a long time.

I want one of the current Mac Pro's. Reason being is used / refurbished machines anger me due to many many problems I have had in the past.

So what are your thoughts on the configuration. You think the "low end" Mac Pro should work find considering I will rarely, if ever, use the power of an 8-core machine?

-Pre Thanks!

 

[opeter]

I would buy the "low end" Mac Pro with a single Quadcord 2.66 GHz CPU. You can still bump the RAM up to 8 GB, so I think, this should be enough for a while.

 

[TJunkers]

Yeah thats what I figured. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[oscuh]

Buy as much machine as you can afford. Otherwise you'll regret not doing so ...

 

[smurfjammer]

Get the Mac Pro, you'll find that you get more done.

 

[efxgraphx]

Buy as much machine as you can afford. Otherwise you'll regret not doing so ...

Agree 110%.... get as much as you can afford. Check on ram and HD cost before you get the system then get the most you have for your budget.

Personally im glad I purchased my 8-core 2.8 back in Dec. Prices have jumped alot to get the the same power from what I can tell and reading the reviews.

Dont mean to start a flurry of debate, just going off of whats been posted on the other forums here.

 

[TenPoundMonkey]

the more power you buy now, the longer it will be useful...

also, if like you say, you really "use it all", then you certainly will see advantage from the top of the line.

You will want the best machine you can afford... not really sure why you are asking.

If the cost is an issue, then you should get whatever you can afford- any newer mac pro hooked up with some RAM and a few drives will be faster than your MBP.

 

[Claytoniss]

I usually try and get the middle Mac Pro specs(min ram/HD). That way I can upgrade with third party hardware to boost it's performance. Adding additional HD's to your MP is super easy and it's such a great performance boost also 1tb HD's are very cheap now.

I'm running a G5 at home and a Xeon at work. My g5 is still pretty reelable, but, soon it will be time to upgrade.

 

[jjaugu]

What to buy.

I would suggest any of the current Mac Pros, either the Quad-Core or the Quad Core. They both should handle the software you've mentioned. In addition to that I would add an extra hard-drive and up the memory to 6GB.

The base graphics card, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, is good enough, but if you can afford it, get the ATI Radeon HD 4870.

Have fun shopping!