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iMac or Mac Pro?

iZac

iZac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 28, 2003
2,815
3,507
UK
I'm going to ask what im sure will be a popular discussion on this board, but here goes:

I'm what id call a mid level user, an architecture student in university. I do a lot of photoshop work, and a little less (but still a fair amount) of 3D work which you can check out on my site for reference.

http://www.bobgoulden.com

(my site is not yet finished)

I'm currently rocking a lowly 1.25 mac mini with a gig of ram. (which was always meant to be an interim machine for me) and since yesterdays macpro announcements, im in a minor pickle.

i put the question to you, the esteemed forum jockeys:

do i....

a) get a 20" iMac

b) get a 2.0 / 2.66 MacPro

c) anything else

im intending to bump the ram on any of the options to 2 gig at least. If i had the Pro, i would also have the luxury of upgrading the GPU / CPU / HD at a later date. A task that doesn’t require me buying a SPATULA like i did with my mini *rolls eyes*

any advice from you all is welcome!
 
I'm a prosumer/amature video editor. I think the ability to upgrade the machine in the long run is well worth the cost of the Mac Pro. When your warranty is out you can even upgrade the CPU's.

I'm trying to save up so I can go with the 2.66 GHz model. The performance drop on the 2.0 GHz is rather surprising.
 
My brain agrees with you! (my original plan was to get a Pro, hence why ive waited this long to upgrade)

My wallet is trying its best to come up with a counter argument.

everyones opinion is helpful for perspective, thanks :)
 
iZac said:
My brain agrees with you! (my original plan was to get a Pro, hence why ive waited this long to upgrade)

My wallet is trying its best to come up with a counter argument.

everyones opinion is helpful for perspective, thanks :)
Click to expand...
I have to agree with you on brain vs. wallet. I can afford the Mac Pro but good lord it's the most expensive thing I've bought yet. Well not if you count tuition. :D

Still, I might hop over to the store in the next few days if someone wants to buy the free Nano off of me at work. Hell, the original Power Mac G4 is usable today if you spend a little on upgrades.
 
All I can say is that the 7300GT is trash (atleast for PC games anyways). If you plan on getting a Mac Pro with that and do any 3D work, GOOD LUCK
 
I have a feeling threads with this title are going to be popping up everywhere.

But anyway I think for your purposes the ability to expand would certainly be a blessing. I have a feeling the life of these machines is going to be phenominal. If only I had the money and the need for such power:D
 
Everything is relative Wako, compared to my minis ATI Radeon 9200 32 meg card (which did me proud for a year and a half) anythings going to be like grease lightning!

But yeah, if i get the Pro, i will be upgrading the GPU at some point.

In any case, ive never been so excited about potentailly being so poor!
 
iZac said:
Everything is relative Wako, compared to my minis ATI Radeon 9200 4X AGP (which did me proud for a year and a half) anythings going to be like grease lightning!
Click to expand...



True... but once you go down and start crunching some numbers (again in games and PC benchmarks) it is a terrible card. Even in SLI, it barely beats ONE 7600GT. I would rather even take onboard over a 7300GT...

here is one for example


Im still confused why Apple would put in a low end card in their top of the line system.
 
I really love my 20 inch 2.0GHz iMac. I got it back in February and it was deffinatly worth it. I will be keeping it around until Lepoard comes out, then I will get a Mac Pro. However, The Mac Pro was not out when I made my purchase. I say, If you already have a Monitor, get the Mac Pro hands down... but If you need to buy a monitor as well.... get the iMac for sure.
 
Thanks for the general consensus guys, the Pro is certainly looking to be the better option. ^_^

I do see your point wako, but at least i will be upgrading and I can use the 7300GT as a door stop, which you're pretty much suggesting. Do you (to the general audience, not just Wako) think I should first bump the RAM, or the GPU with my hard earned student loan?

oh, yeah ive got a 17" samsung tft with my mini, ill also be shopping for a 2nd one for my first extended desktop!
 
here is a problem that I read from another thread you should think about...


The past video cards for other PowerMacs required you to either buy the video card from Apple, or to go out on a limb and buy a PC video card and then flash its firmware so it would be compatible. Since it is still a Mac, and even though it is on Intel now, the problem might still exist where you cant just go out and upgrade your video card like how you might with RAM.


My vote is upgrade the video card :D
 
iZac said:
Thanks for the general consensus guys, the Pro is certainly looking to be the better option. ^_^

I do see your point wako, but at least i will be upgrading and I can use the 7300GT as a door stop, which you're pretty much suggesting. Do you (to the general audience, not just Wako) think I should first bump the RAM, or the GPU with my hard earned student loan?

oh, yeah ive got a 17" samsung tft with my mini, ill also be shopping for a 2nd one for my first extended desktop!
Click to expand...
Don't buy Apple RAM. You're charged an arm and a leg for it. I'd hold off another day or two if you can. We might see some hardware reports on it.

wako said:
The past video cards for other PowerMacs required you to either buy the video card from Apple, or to go out on a limb and buy a PC video card and then flash its firmware so it would be compatible. Since it is still a Mac, and even though it is on Intel now, the problem might still exist where you cant just go out and upgrade your video card like how you might with RAM.
Click to expand...
This isn't Open Firmware. You're not going to need to flash your card. You're going to need drivers for it. You don't flash your video BIOS running Boot Camp.
 
I agree with you there Eidorian, apple inserted RAM is certainly more expensive than everywhere else, I was going to scour some 3rd party sources, ive used Crucial in the past (that’s their UK site) but I don’t know exactly what kind of RAM I’m looking for, wonder if you lot can spot it?

The potential to use off-the-shelf PC graphics cards would be very useful, I’m eager to see what the 1st users find out regarding this (and socketable CPUs) as these beasts start to trickle though into the consumers hands. Either way, I’m pretty much convinced to buy one before the week is out.

Sorry wallet.

Oh, and Wako, I think you're so eager to turn people away from the base graphics card, (justifiably) that you might want to BUY me a new one :)?

haha
 
IMO if you have to ask, you should get the imac. ;) But I'd wait until they are bumped to Conroe soon; then they'll really rock!
 
QCassidy352 said:
IMO if you have to ask, you should get the imac. ;) But I'd wait until they are bumped to Conroe soon; then they'll really rock!
Click to expand...
I love the iMac and all. I just want to be able to upgrade my machine. I'm not to happy selling an iMac every year and buying a new one. I already get up to date software from Apple through my campus program.
 
QCassidy352 said:
IMO if you have to ask, you should get the imac. ;) But I'd wait until they are bumped to Conroe soon; then they'll really rock!
Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea, I'm considering getting a new Mac soon but I'm a little lost in what to get and I don't want to break my credit card either :confused:
 
Eidorian said:
I'm not to happy selling an iMac every year and buying a new one.
Click to expand...

"Say Hello to iMac, the iPod of the Macintosh line"

Since Jobs claimed you need to get a new iPod at least once a year!

(I know im taking what he said a little out of context)

My G4 iMac lasted me 2 1/2 years, but by then it was rather long in the tooth
 
iZac said:
"Say Hello to iMac, the iPod of the Macintosh line"

Since Jobs claimed you need to get a new iPod at least once a year!

(I know im taking what he said a little out of context)

My G4 iMac lasted me 2 1/2 years, but by then it was rather long in the tooth
Click to expand...
Well, I like being up to date on my hardware. I sold my iMac G5 for $1,000 this year. It was only a $400 loss in my year of use. Still, I'd like to keep a Mac Pro tower for A LOT longer then a year.

I'm hobbling along in my spare iMac G4 800. It has to stay home for my brother though.
 
only a $400 loss over a year is pretty good!
haha, my flatmate still runs a 800mhz G4 iMac, he complains about it on a daily basis, poor thing.

slackersonly, for $18,000 i wonder how many of my organs i need to sell to afford it!

and glen, you star, thanks for the link! you think there would be any problem plonking in RAM from different manufacturers? or is it ok as long as they're in pairs? and what about sizes, does it matter if ive got a 512 and a 1 gig for each processor?
 
iZac said:
only a $400 loss over a year is pretty good!
haha, my flatmate still runs a 800mhz G4 iMac, he complains about it on a daily basis, poor thing.
Click to expand...
I know that a $400 loss is pretty good. It's just annoying finding someone who's willing to buy it every year. I built my last PC for $750 and sold it for $500 before I bought my iMac.

I like being able to expand my tower. I don't think that Xeon will be poor for web browsing and iLife in 4 years. :rolleyes:
 
wako said:
True... but once you go down and start crunching some numbers (again in games and PC benchmarks) it is a terrible card. Even in SLI, it barely beats ONE 7600GT.
Click to expand...


And for most people doing real work this is quite irrelevant. Photoshop doesn't care how fast your graphics card is.
 
after all that deliberation, ive ordered one stock 2.66 with a 2 gig nano for my £100 rebate (which I will subsequently sell)

Ive sourced some extra RAM and a second (identical) monitor for a humble dual 17" tft setup. I can expect it in 6-10 days *sigh*

I feel pretty bad for spending £1600 on a computer, but I’m sure my financial apprehension will be replaced by pure euphoria when its sitting on my doorstop like a lost puppy.

Thanks for your help guys in my decision making process! I would promise to put some unboxing pics, but by the time it arrives you’ll probably all be sick of them! Ill certainly take a pic of my subsequent rig though, might put it on TUAWs flickr thing.
 
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