So the early mac pro 2008 :-
£1799
2x 2.8ghz quad core
2gb ram
320gb hdd
2600xt
mid 2009 mac pro :-
£1799
1x 2.66ghz quad core
3gb ram
640gb hdd
120gt
to get a similar performance 2009 machine compared to the base 2008 :-
£2400
2x 2.26ghz quad core
6gb ram
640gb hdd
120gt
£2400 - a good £600 more than the 2008 version, the 2009 really wasnt that great value for money compared to 2008 and it wasnt faster in any terms worth mentioning. It keeps getting worce.
2010
£1999
1x 2.8 quad core
3gb ram
1tb hdd
5770
£2959
1x 3.3 six core
3gb ram
1tb hdd
5770
£1000 extra for 2 cores... eh!!!
£2799
2x 2.4 quad core
6gb ram
1tb hdd
5770
So now we get to the real nitty gritty!
so to get a similar spec to upgrade your 2008 machine you need an extra £1000!!! the parts were about the same price at the time of introduction, so in terms of technology.. it grows but surly the price stays the same? to go from an 8 core as standard to a quad core in 2009 was a p*ss take then. Now 2010 you need an extra £1000 to get a slower clock speed 8 core machine...???? (compared to 2008, extra £400 over 2009)
Before everyone starts getting pi*sy at my view think of it this way, yes the new tech is faster, but isnt that the point of computer evolution? and lets be honest the spec for an 8 core 2010 is not setting everyones taste buds alight. The fact you have to pay more for a 6 core... yes faster clock speed etc. but still it is getting abit ridiculous even from a pros perspective.
So now we get ok spec finaly we hit the 1tb drive size, you've been able to buy a 1tb drive for £65 for over a year now, and we get a year old 5770 and £200 to upgrade to its brother, just rubbish value. So really you are paying a massive premium for 6x 1gb sticks of ram! no real change of case design so no change there, so where does the extra cost come in? Just apple tax so that they get more people buying an imac because they make more money shifting those. Costs less to produce and people will be back within 2-3 years because there spec is not looking quite as good as it was when they bought it! Also intel monopoly.
So after you have bought your pro you need to upgrade it because lets be honest you arnt going to pay £120 for every extra 1tb drive or £240 for a 2tb! or even spend £1020 for 12gb of ram to upgrade 9gb (9+3)! So you spend £1000 (3rd party) on 3x2tb drives a 256gb SSD and say 2x4gb sticks of ram to finish the budget.
You will be spending on the 8 core £3800, when a 2008 with those upgrades will cost you £2800 and not be significantly slower even 2 years later. My 2008 pro benches at 12000 and if these new 8 core bench much more than that i will be suprised.
Other posters are correct, to pros this wont matter too much if they need a machine they will buy a machine regardless, because they make 10 fold on one. But in this time of recession i think the pockets of the companies will not be quite as open when they look at the spread sheets of their previous expenditure on technology. Because lets be honest no companies are going to downgrade to quads so itl be the 8 or 12 core. So between 30-50% extra expenditure.. wont be particularly attractive. The 2009 machines are looking very tempting with discount and this brings me onto my last point.
The only pro i actually see as being value for money is the 2.66 12 core. It is the only one with something new to bring to the table and the only one which actually brings some improvement to technology worth purchasing. All the other pros on offer arnt worth purchasing if you have a 2008/2009, and to be honest i think anyone with those models it is worth waiting the extra year for the next iteration.
I think the 2008 model was such good value because apple did a deal with intel over their new xeon processors, with there new fangled friendship over apples switch to intel architecture. Now apple and intel arnt getting along so well and the honeymoon period is over. With Intels monopoly and their ideas on graphics technology and licensing, apples nose has been put out of joint and Intel arnt being quite so kind. Evidence of this is also in the time frame of when these processors came out and when apple implemented them. So most of the price increase is down to intels monopoly on the processors and reduced discount and availability on bulk purchase. Seen as tho AMD cant compete with these processors Intel will continue to do this and the increase will be passed onto us the consumers and straight into the intel shareholders pockets!
Shimples....