Mac Pro or Higher End iMac

[tekboi]

Well, my budget is about 2500 bucks and i'm looking to buy a new computer. I'm into web development and graphic design (3DMax, C4D, etc....) I also produce soundtracks for small independent films in my area and really can't pull myself away from logic studio.


I had a 2010 iMac that I lost last week due to my house catching on fire and now i'm looking for a new solution. Something better of course. I'm reading the rumors about the MacPro being discontinued in the near future, and i'm also noticing that the high end iMac specs actually rival the low end mac pro specs. Of course I understand that the mac pro holds a different class of hardware than the iMac. I could really use the power of a Mac Pro, but i'm just not sure if it would be a wise investment right now...


which is why i've decide to consult with some of you Guru's who frequent this forum. At this point, is buying a Mac Pro a wise move? should I wait? or should I go in another direction.

 

[derbothaus]

Your budget is too low for Mac Pro unfortunately. I don't suggest anyone get a 2010 Mac Pro that has less than 6-cores unless you are planning on swapping out the processor. The 2.8GHz and 3.2GHz quads are slower than the 3.4GHz i7 in the new iMacs. and with 2500.00 you will get a pretty great display on the iMac as well. Only issue is the storage. That is up to your needs.

 

[Apple...]

Your budget is too low for Mac Pro unfortunately. I don't suggest anyone get a 2010 Mac Pro that has less than 6-cores unless you are planning on swapping out the processor. The 2.8GHz and 3.2GHz quads are slower than the 3.4GHz i7 in the new iMacs. and with 2500.00 you will get a pretty great display on the iMac as well. Only issue is the storage. That is up to your needs.

It's a bummer he can't wait until the Ivy Bridge iMacs. I would do as you recommend, and get external storage.

 

[tekboi]

@Apple...

I really can't wait, seeing as I have no computer right now. A mac pro would be ideal for me... but the cost is not. I would still have to buy a decent monitor to go along with it and that's just not in my budget.

I'm considering buying something used or refurbished at this point.

 

[Apple...]

@Apple...

I really can't wait, seeing as I have no computer right now. A mac pro would be ideal for me... but the cost is not. I would still have to buy a decent monitor to go along with it and that's just not in my budget.

I'm considering buying something used or refurbished at this point.

I understand you can't wait and that the Mac Pro isn't in your budget. Are you planning on buying a used MP or iMac?

 

[CaptainChunk]

Do you already have a display or would you have to buy one of those, too?

I'd also consider Apple refurbs. They carry the same warranty as new and can save you a few hundred bucks versus new.

this is a refurb base quad-core for $380.00 less than new, just as an example.

Unfortunately, hex-core machines are typically going to be out of your set price range, even used.

If you do go the iMac route, no harm in that (it's a lot of machine for the money), but you'll limited in the same way as you were before, upgrade-wise.

 

[wallysb01]

@Apple...

I really can't wait, seeing as I have no computer right now. A mac pro would be ideal for me... but the cost is not. I would still have to buy a decent monitor to go along with it and that's just not in my budget.

I'm considering buying something used or refurbished at this point.

You could buy something used or refurbished now, particularly an iMac, then in about 6 months time when the Sandy Bridge Mac Pros and Ivy Bridge iMacs are out you could revaluate your situation to determine if you want a new computer.

The base single processor Sandy Bridge Mac Pro should be a pretty big step up from the current base (likely .8 GHz improvement and at least 10% clock for clock speed increase, 4 channel memory, SATA III). Plus, you'll then be on the LGA 2011 socket, which will allow you to upgrade your processor through the Ivy Bridge Xeons.

If I were you, I'd scrape by on refurbished 27" iMac until the new Mac Pros, and in the mean time save up the needed $300 to get a display with it. If expandability at all bothers you, it will be worth it to go for a Mac Pro over the top of the line iMac that cost almost the same as the base Mac Pro. It just sucks that the base 2010 Mac Pro is a pretty slow processor by current standards (8665 Geekbench vs. 11581 for iMac with the i7 2600).

 

[AppleDroid]

Do you already have a display or would you have to buy one of those, too?

This. I always ask this first + "Are you okay with a glassy/gloss screen?" if your answer is "NO" then there's your answer on the purchase.

If the answer is "YES" and you don't expect to do 48hr renders/encodes the imac is more than enough.

 

[wonderspark]

If expandability at all bothers you, it will be worth it to go for a Mac Pro over the top of the line iMac that cost almost the same as the base Mac Pro. It just sucks that the base 2010 Mac Pro is a pretty slow processor by current standards (8665 Geekbench vs. 11581 for iMac with the i7 2600).

Expandability is the only thing that saved my butt. I started with a 2009 3.33GHz Mac Pro with internal RAID and 16GB when editing a feature length movie shot on DVCProHD, and it was fine. Editing another movie shot on three different DSLR HD cameras has necessitated an external RAID via a fast RAID card and 32GB of RAM in order to keep the editing smooth. I now Geekbench at 11627, and it's taking all my will to hold off dropping $587 on a new 6-core chip to drop in, which should then hit around 16000.

I give up... I'm buying the chip.

 

[~Seb]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I read this and started to search. I found an amazing deal, 8 core Mac pro for $1300! Jump on it quick if this is what you want.
http://www.megamacs.com/index.php?action=frameview&id=404951109&D=1

 

[Loa]

Hello,

I'd find myself a refurb or used 2009 MP and a decent screen. Then, as soon as you can get the money, upgrade its CPU to a 3.33 Hex. It should get you a very powerful computer now, and a great computer once you do the upgrade!

Loa

 

[CaptainChunk]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I read this and started to search. I found an amazing deal, 8 core Mac pro for $1300! Jump on it quick if this is what you want.
http://www.megamacs.com/index.php?action=frameview&id=404951109&D=1

That appears to be a base 2008 8-core with (oddly, I may add) the 2006 base graphics card fitted to it.

The OP will also want to consider that on these machines, RAM costs about 3x as much to upgrade versus the 2009-10 models.