2009 vs. 2010 Mac Pro

2010 models come with wireless and can support 6-core Westmere processors, if you wish to upgrade later. 2009 models don't support any of the 6-core CPUs.

CyberCat said:

I'm in the market for a Mac Pro and wondering if there are any important differences between the base 2009 and 2010 Mac Pros. The price difference for me is about $430. Either way I plan to get the 5870 as I would like to do a lot of gaming on it.

Cost breakdown:

$1800 (2009 Mac Pro) + $500 (5870) = $2300
$2550 (2010 Mac Pro) + $180 (5870) = $2730

Basically are there any significant or important differences between the two models that may not be obvious beyond the 2.66 GHz vs 2.8 GHz quad CPU?

Click to expand...

Just to throw this out, the 2.8 2010 Quad from the refurb store can be had for $2119 http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC560LL/A?mco=MTkyMTM1OTY

Now, to get the 5870, you'd have to pay full price (since you can't customize the refurbs), but you'd then be able to sell the 5770 to recoup a little.

If you do go refurb.....do not buy the 5870 right away. I got the 2.8 refurb (and another member on the forums got the 6-core 2010 refurb) both ours came with the 5870. It's a shot in the dark with no guarantees, but if you go refurb, wait until you get the machine to see if Apple surprises you with and extra upgrade.

-Kevin

yeah I would buy the 2010 at apple refurb store here is link



http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC560LL/A?mco=MTkyMTM1OTY


this is for usa and canada is below


http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC560LL/A?mco=MTkyMTM1OTY

you can get bonus items better gpu better hdd more ram. I have purchased over 60 refurbs since 2008 and got better gear around 6 or 7 times.

Maybe this article will help:

What are the differences between the "Mid-2010" Mac Pro models and the "Early 2009" Mac Pro models that they replaced?
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-2010-westmere-early-2009-nehalem-models.html

philipma1957 said:

yeah I would buy the 2010 at apple refurb store here is link



http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC560LL/A?mco=MTkyMTM1OTY


this is for usa and canada is below


http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC560LL/A?mco=MTkyMTM1OTY

you can get bonus items better gpu better hdd more ram. I have purchased over 60 refurbs since 2008 and got better gear around 6 or 7 times.

Click to expand...

get the 2010 2.8 refurb... trust us, you will not regret it.

CyberCat said:

Hey guys thanks for your advice. I will definitely go with the 2010 model then. However I'm a little confused about going with the refurb model as it is actually more expensive once you factor in the 5870, as you can see:

As you can see see it's almost $100 more expensive to get a refurb + 5870 after the fact. I know kbmb mentioned some refurbs may come with a 5780 preinstalled but that seems a little unlikely in most cases... maybe not?

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Yeah, it would be more because upgrading the stock model is only $200 and Apple swaps the 5770 with the 5870. With the refurb you would still have the 5770 to sell. Not sure what they are going for basically new.

-Kevin

Sure its $100 more, but you would have an extra 5770 the you could sell, keep as a backup, use, do whatever with.