So my 2008 MP 2.8 8x core 3,1 is getting on a bit. Would a 2010 Westmere 2.4 8x core be a significant upgrade? Would I notice the speed/performance difference? Looks like RAM is 1 third the price of my 2008 MP RAM.
I think I can migrate literally all the peripherals from my 2008 to the 2010? -- things like the internal SSD, HDD's, ATI 3870 & 4870, 3x 30" ACDs, firewire 800 external drives and so on...?
You can migrate the hard drives and whatnot to a 2010, yeah. As for significant upgrade, depends on what you call significant, and what 2010 you're getting. I got myself a 5,1 Quad 2.8 and unsurprisingly it was only slightly faster in single-threaded and much worse in multi-threaded. It's since been upgraded just this week to a W3680 3.33 hex; here's some benchmarks. (first number is my 2.8 8-core 3,1, second is the stock 5,1 w/ 4GB 1066MHz memory, third is the 5,1 with upgraded processor and 1333MHz RAM. Percentage is improvement from 3,1 to upgraded 5,1):
Geekbench
32bit SC 1551 2009 2549
39.15%
32bit MC 10758 7618 14038
23.37%
64bit SC 1674 2180 2745
39.02%
64bit MC 11577 8538 15620
25.88%
Memory 64bit SC 815 1908 2166
62.37%
Memory 64bit MC 1727 2148 2609
33.81%
Luxmark Scala
CPU only 326 347 550
40.73%
So if you're getting one of the dual processor or fast single processor models, you'll see a general speed increase in all sorts of areas. All told since I could migrate my graphics card and sell off the 3,1 the upgrade cost me about $500 for the RAM, new processor plus upgrade accessories. For the AE work I do, and the fact that I know I'll be holding onto this computer for at least the next two years, the performance bump was worth the cost.
