tried a little mockup to help me try to visualize the differences and it's still pretty hard for me to see what the hell you're talking about
Seriously, if you can't see the difference maybe it time to pass the bong....
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Can't decide on which gen Mac Pro
- Thread starter Ursadorable
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Seriously, if you can't see the difference maybe it time to pass the bong....
I agree. It's effectively a Xeon based Mac Mini on steroids. I have 2 internal drives on my Mac Mini, 1 SSD I boot from and the original drive I use for general storage and recording to as a tie over till I can obtain an external Firewire drive. I also use a USB 2.0 drive for backup.
With a little planning ahead, I can get myself a drive that's Firewire 800 now but has a Thunderbolt option in the future so when I do get a Mac Pro, all my data will be available from day 1 and I can just migrate everything over and treat it as a turbo charged equivalent to my current system.
My plan all along was get a Mac Mini and then wait and see on the Mac Pro because one day, I'll use the Mac Mini as a media centre and whatever Mac I get next as my main system.
The combined CPU performance and cost is the biggest factor.
I could buy 2 BTO 2.6Ghz Mac Mini's for £1500, move from Pro Tools to Logic X for £140 and then network them together to utilise remote plug-in processing. Each system would be faster than the current entry level Mac Pro and combined would be faster than the current top of the range Mac Pro (for plug-in processing specifically).
For the 2013 Mac Pro to be a viable option, it needs to offer that kind of CPU power with just one system for £1500 or it's yet more form over function smoke and mirrors. If it doesn't offer at least double the CPU power of the 2.6Ghz Mac Mini for a comparable price, it's dead in the water to me from day one.
Seriously, if you can't see the difference maybe it time to pass the bong....
come on man.. just explain the differences
(i'm not asking for you to explain it to me.. i'm asking for you to take a stab at explaining it yourself.. to yourself.. because i'm definitely not going to change your mind but you can)
New Mac Pro concerns
A couple things that bug me about the new model is it may seem nice and neat on top of your desk but the snarl of cords and cables will get even worse. Especially the growing wad up from the power strip.
Also only 4 RAM slots means even if you can get above 64GB, you need super expensive 32GB DIMM to get you there. Give me the current 8 slots that I can use cheaper 4GB and 8GB parts in thank you very much.
A couple things that bug me about the new model is it may seem nice and neat on top of your desk but the snarl of cords and cables will get even worse. Especially the growing wad up from the power strip.
Also only 4 RAM slots means even if you can get above 64GB, you need super expensive 32GB DIMM to get you there. Give me the current 8 slots that I can use cheaper 4GB and 8GB parts in thank you very much.
When the original MP came out the memory was really expensive, now it's 1/3 of the original cost or less. Price will drop, and onestly I really doubt that the majority of users(read>where the money come from) needs more than 32/64GB. Yes, there are tasks that need more than that, but there's also the chance that if you need more ram you will not be happy with 128GB either.
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IF I decide to buy one, it will sit on a dolly with its attached storage devices under my desk, just like my 5,1 MP.
That might be a nice plan. Use a little Mini screamer for a year or two and see how things go before jumping into the deep end... Sounds like good advice to me. I'm pretty sure the Mini does bootcamp too so you're good on that point - ya might wanna check it yourself tho.
Unless of course you have business needs requiring TB2, up to 12 CPU cores or dual GPUs.