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iMac 3.06GHz vs 2.8GHz Quad Mac Pro
- Thread starter kabunaru
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Yes, the new iMac can beat the 4 core (or even 8 core) Mac Pro at 'some things'. Generally that would be things that aren't able to take advantage of the multiple cores.
The 2600xt is not as fast as the 8800gs in games, but should be faster for pro applications.
-Allen
The 2600xt is not as fast as the 8800gs in games, but should be faster for pro applications.
-Allen
Beat
Hi,
The Mac Pro will beat out the iMac.
The Mac Pro's CPU's are Xeons and they are considered to be for highend development. Programs like Lightwave, Finalcut Pro, Adobe CS3 Applications all have the ability to function with faster CPU's.
The real answer will come about by how you will use the computer.
Are you going to be doing any professional rendering or high end video editing? If so, the Mac Pro is going to bes the iMac in CPU processing.
If you are only going to dabble in video and use the machine primarly for homework, internet, games etc. The iMac is more suitable.
For the specifics of the GPU Cards. There are plenty of reviews on the cards you mentioned that will answer your question. Games demand more from the GPU than the cpu these days and an iMac with a better GPU than a Mac Pro will look better for games. But never assume that because a computer with a better GPU than another computer is more powerful.
Then again if you just want to just have the Mac Pro for bragging purposes, that works too!
Hi,
The Mac Pro will beat out the iMac.
The Mac Pro's CPU's are Xeons and they are considered to be for highend development. Programs like Lightwave, Finalcut Pro, Adobe CS3 Applications all have the ability to function with faster CPU's.
The real answer will come about by how you will use the computer.
Are you going to be doing any professional rendering or high end video editing? If so, the Mac Pro is going to bes the iMac in CPU processing.
If you are only going to dabble in video and use the machine primarly for homework, internet, games etc. The iMac is more suitable.
For the specifics of the GPU Cards. There are plenty of reviews on the cards you mentioned that will answer your question. Games demand more from the GPU than the cpu these days and an iMac with a better GPU than a Mac Pro will look better for games. But never assume that because a computer with a better GPU than another computer is more powerful.
Then again if you just want to just have the Mac Pro for bragging purposes, that works too!
Not many applications use full 8 core.
On some photoshop test (i'll try to dig it) a 8 core was only 20% faster than the 4 core while a C2D was head to head with it.
It really depends.
Of course Mental Ray will use all 8 cores but to get it with some decent app you need to cash about $2000-$5000
So if you are even considering iMac then it means you won't ever use those 4 cores to the max.
On the other hand I use Lightwave, Poser, Vue Infinite, Silo on my iMac at home and to be honest I like it. It's not slow at all.
For gaming, the iMac with 8800 GS beats the Mac Pro with 2600 XT and X1900 XT.
That's partly because of the power of the GeForce for gaming but also because no game uses more than two cores. So having four or eight cores won't speed up gaming.
For high end Pro Apps that use all available cores and memory, the Mac Pro wins no matter what graphics card it has.
If you want a Mac that does all things well, the Mac Pro with the soon-to-be-released Radeon HD 3870 is the best balanced setup.
That's partly because of the power of the GeForce for gaming but also because no game uses more than two cores. So having four or eight cores won't speed up gaming.
For high end Pro Apps that use all available cores and memory, the Mac Pro wins no matter what graphics card it has.
If you want a Mac that does all things well, the Mac Pro with the soon-to-be-released Radeon HD 3870 is the best balanced setup.
Dont forget that the mac pro can do the 8800 gt card which is a better card than the gs model.
