nMP or a cMP?

[wildmac]

Ok, been trying to look at a purchase a different way...

Choice 1 - nMP $5k
Hex/D500/32MB/512MB + GTech 4TB USB3 drive.

Choice 2 - cMP ~$3k
5,1 3.2Ghz Quad/32MB/GTX780 + 3x1TB internal drives

So, I'm paying $2k more for 2 more faster cores, TB, USB3, over a system with a slower memory bus that is 3 years old already.

Yeah, the cMP is cheaper, but... is it a wise investment if I want another 3-5 years out of the system? Not sure about that.

 

[VirtualRain]

Ok, been trying to look at a purchase a different way...

Choice 1 - nMP $5k
Hex/D500/32MB/512MB + GTech 4TB USB3 drive.

Choice 2 - cMP ~$3k
5,1 3.2Ghz Quad/32MB/GTX780 + 3x1TB internal drives

So, I'm paying $2k more for 2 more faster cores, TB, USB3, over a system with a slower memory bus that is 3 years old already.

Yeah, the cMP is cheaper, but... is it a wise investment if I want another 3-5 years out of the system? Not sure about that.

Of course, without knowing what you're doing with it, it's hard to say. But if you're editing HD with FCPX, want to use 4K displays, will use any kind of OpenCL enabled app now or in the future, or value a fast SSD in your workflow, this is a no brainer in favour of the nMP.

Regardless of what you're doing, the CPU is over twice as fast, the SSD is 3-4x faster in sequential I/O and probably 100x faster in random I/O, and you get double the number of GPUs.

The only rational thing in favour of the old Mac Pro is CUDA support and price.

And seriously, who would ever advise anyone to buy a 3 year old computer? (Cue the slots and bays crowd )

 

[wildmac]

Regardless of what you're doing, the CPU is over twice as fast, the SSD is 3-4x faster in sequential I/O and probably 100x faster in random I/O, and you get double the number of GPUs.

The only rational thing in favour of the old Mac Pro is CUDA support and price.

And seriously, who would ever advise anyone to buy a 3 year old computer? (Cue the slots and bays crowd )

Thanks for that sanity check.

It's mostly PS and LR, and who knows how big the next generation of raw files will be..

 

[VirtualRain]

Thanks for that sanity check.

It's mostly PS and LR, and who knows how big the next generation of raw files will be..

If you're interested in more of my rambling, I wrote this somewhat extended essay on the nMP for photography here...
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1686374/