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Please Help with a decison

M

Marcosmg

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 6, 2011
41
2
Hi
I'm new here and would like to ask for a help with a purchase.
I have a mac pro 2.66 1.1 with a 8GB and a ATI 4870.
I just came across to a deal which is a brand new 09 model 2.66 Quad (1) for $1800.
I already have the ati 4870 which is a good card that I could use on the 09 model and my OWC SSD.
The only thing I would have to buy is more RAM.
There's also the 2010 model 2.8GHZ that I could get for $2.299 (student discounted). That's a $500.00 difference between both model and part of this money would go for the RAM.
Another option (the cheaper one I guess) would be the CPU upgrade for my current 2.66 (2 5355) for about $350.00.
As you all can see, I'm kind of confused here.
Your advices will be very helpful to me.

Best Regards to all
 
I forgot to mention that I use my mac mostly for RAW files, CS5, Aperture, Lightroom, Imovie and DVD rip.

Thanks again
 
Hello,

The differences between the 2009 and 2010 MP are slim if you're not going to use lots of cores. I'd use the 500$ on lots of ram on the 09 MP.

Loa
 
I agree with Loa here. Your money is better saved by buying the 2009 MP and then reinvesting it into ram.
 
Your performance gain would be marginal at best. It's really not worth all that potential hassle and expense. The best way to speed things up is max the RAM out and add an SSD drive.

You already have a great system and I would keep it and do the RAM/SSD upgrades.
 
Thanks Loa and Jessica for the advices.
Just two more questions: By getting the 09 1QUAD 2.66 now, will I be able to upgrade the CPU down the road? Also, if I upgrade my existing computer CPU to 2 X5355 am I going to get the same performance as the 1 QUAD 2.66 QUAD?

Thanks again
 
Hi Zen!

I already have an SSD and my home user folder is on a WD 600 velociptor.
Do you mean that I should keep my existing dual 2.66, add more ram and save the money for the future?

Thanks Zen
 
Marcosmg said:
Hi Zen!

I already have an SSD and my home user folder is on a WD 600 velociptor.
Do you mean that I should keep my existing dual 2.66, add more ram and save the money for the future?

Thanks Zen
Click to expand...

That is pretty much exactly what I was saying yes.
 
I would consider buying a 2010 hex 3.33ghz from the apple refurb store using a discover credit card.

wait for it to come back into stock

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0LF1LL/A?mco=MTkzMjkzMjU


this is pretty much the best option of course once you get it you would need to sell your current machine. and to get a refurb hex 3.33ghz might involve clicking the link i gave you 4 times an hour for the next two weeks. when it shows up it sells out very fast. I mention discover card as it will let you shop from apple online with a 5% discount.
 
Those are all great advices.
I think I'm going to stick with what I have for now since I'm still able to get things done with it.
What I'm going through is to have the "latest and greatest" syndrome.
I found this deal at Microcenter and it was the only one left, so I bought it but didn't open the box until I would be certain that this would be a major step from what I currently have.
I'm going to return it a save the money for maybe the Westmere and until my current 2.66 can't handle the apps I use anymore.

Thanks again for the sugestions and help
 
Similar situation like yours and same temptations.
At the end a $50 CPU upgrade to 3.0GHz and SSD start-up disk helped the rationale part of my brain...
 
Marcosmg said:
Hi
I'm new here and would like to ask for a help with a purchase.
I have a mac pro 2.66 1.1 with a 8GB and a ATI 4870.
I just came across to a deal which is a brand new 09 model 2.66 Quad (1) for $1800.
I already have the ati 4870 which is a good card that I could use on the 09 model and my OWC SSD.
The only thing I would have to buy is more RAM.
There's also the 2010 model 2.8GHZ that I could get for $2.299 (student discounted). That's a $500.00 difference between both model and part of this money would go for the RAM.
Another option (the cheaper one I guess) would be the CPU upgrade for my current 2.66 (2 5355) for about $350.00.
As you all can see, I'm kind of confused here.
Your advices will be very helpful to me.

Best Regards to all
Click to expand...

JMO, but it's not worth the cost/hassle going from what you currently use to an 09 Quad.

If you're convinced and upgrade is needed then I would highly recommend the 2010 Quad. This machine gives you a much better long term upgrade potential.

Do a search as this question has been asked before.

cheers
JohnG
 
That's the way I'm thinking now, do I really need to buy a 09 model my now?
But as I said before, I had no intention in buying a new mac until I walked to the store to buy an external case for an extra HD I have.
Then I decide to look at the mac section (as usual) when I came across to this deal.
The smell of a brand new mac pro went through my head :).
As you can tell by looking at my current mac pro 1.1, I like to make upgrades (graphic cards, memory, HD's) the next thing would be just the CPU left that I haven't done to this machine.
I'll just wait a bit a save my tax return for a better one when the time comes.
But I believe we all agree that a 09 mac pro 2.66 quad (new) for $1800 is not a bad deal at all.
I also want to thank Philipma for the Discover card tip. ;)
 
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