Until today I had been intent on buying a used MP 8 or 12 core 4,1, or 5,1. However, more or less out of curiosity, I looked at the cost of 4 & 6 core 4,1 & 5,1 and of 3,1 and older MPs of all sorts.
I looked through older threads on this topic, but could not find the information I needed.
I am rather amazed at the price jump between the 8-12 core models and those that are older and/or have fewer cores. While I can afford a 8-12 core 4,1 or 5,1 like everyone I have finite resources. If I can do what I need to do with a $400 MP I see no reason to spend $1400 on one with capabilities I will not use.
Whatever model I purchase will be used for some light photo & video editing, a small bit of audio production, as well as the usual word processing, web surfing, and light gaming (mostly older and less performance intense titles such as Europa Universalis IV and IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover).
I also intend on running Boot Camp, primarily to use software that is either only available for Windows or simply less costly for PC (e.g. most games).
I have looked at benchmarks, and I can see the difference between the more expensive and more powerful models and the cheaper but less powerful models. However, those are simply numbers. What I would like to know is, based on the forums collective real world experiences:
Will I notice a significant difference when performing the tasks listed if I purchase an older or less powerful model ?
Also, which model(s) would be best for my needs (e.g. would a 2009 4 or 6 core 4,1 be better purchase than a 2008 8 core 3,1)?
I looked through older threads on this topic, but could not find the information I needed.
I am rather amazed at the price jump between the 8-12 core models and those that are older and/or have fewer cores. While I can afford a 8-12 core 4,1 or 5,1 like everyone I have finite resources. If I can do what I need to do with a $400 MP I see no reason to spend $1400 on one with capabilities I will not use.
Whatever model I purchase will be used for some light photo & video editing, a small bit of audio production, as well as the usual word processing, web surfing, and light gaming (mostly older and less performance intense titles such as Europa Universalis IV and IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover).
I also intend on running Boot Camp, primarily to use software that is either only available for Windows or simply less costly for PC (e.g. most games).
I have looked at benchmarks, and I can see the difference between the more expensive and more powerful models and the cheaper but less powerful models. However, those are simply numbers. What I would like to know is, based on the forums collective real world experiences:
Will I notice a significant difference when performing the tasks listed if I purchase an older or less powerful model ?
Also, which model(s) would be best for my needs (e.g. would a 2009 4 or 6 core 4,1 be better purchase than a 2008 8 core 3,1)?
