Protools - which of these Mac pro would be better?

[contoursvt]

8 core 1st gen Mac Pro 8 core with 8GB RAM
4 core current gen Mac Pro 2.8Ghz with 6GB RAM

It will be the latest version of Pro Tools and each machine will have two drives, one for the system and software and one for data/work drive.

Much appreciated.


PS. I'm asking because we have a current pro tools edit suite and its got the old mac pro and we just got received the new box for a second suite which will be doing less work. Which one to have in the main edit suite....Hmmm...

 

[minifridge1138]

The current gen 4 core has higher geek bench scores according to EveryMac.com.

 

[derbothaus]

There were no 1,1 Mac Pros with 8 Cores.
There is a 2,1 at 3GHz. Is this the one?
Keep the 2010 2.8GHz Westmere as you can get a 6-core 3.2 GHz and plop it in for 500.00 or so and prices keep falling and the memory prices favor the new Mac Pro as well.

 

[george-brooks]

Would definitely say the current gen. Much better processors, way cheaper (and more expandable) RAM upgrades which is what you want with ProTools. Best to stay current, more aftermarket parts available for the 2010 model than anything else.

 

[ekwipt]

current gen easy

 

[contoursvt]

Thanks everyone. Its a landslide for the current 4 core vs the early 8 core so 4 core it is then for the main suite. I guess if we need more RAM down the road, we'll pull the current ram and go with 3x4GB modules.

 

[ekwipt]

12gb is definately the optimal amount. And now Protools is 64bit it will see the full amount. The other good thing is the PCIe lanes are faster across all ports so the new accel cards won't come across any bottlenecks there. Good move with the 4core