Hi everyone. I need some expert advice, as I am a Mac Pro novice. I know almost nothing. 
I have worked and gamed on iMacs all the way through and was about to get the 5k iMac; but I always have gpu/heat issues and although I like a lot about the iMac, when I realized how close a max spec 5k iMac was to a Mac Pro I decided it was time to give up on the all-in-one. (I don't need a 5k monitor as such.)
But I don't know a lot about Mac Pro innards, and what is upgradable later, so I'm not sure what to buy.
I do a little photography, a little (light) video editing, and some gaming.
I have read that the Mac Pro video cards aren't really designed for gaming; as I say, I'm going Pro as much for lifespan and reliability reasons as for performance per se.
So having said all that - is there a strong difference between the video card options for gaming performance? I will want to run Bootcamp Win 8.1 as well - anything I should be aware of there re hardware choices?
My budget is somewhat limited. At the moment I am thinking:
3.7GHz quad-core - price
12GB (3x4GB) - easy to upgrade later
512GB PCIe-based flash storage - I'd like 1TB but compromise for price
Dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs - compromise for price; if D300 is "as good" for gaming use please tell me!
Anything else I need to think about?
Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it!
UPDATE: Been looking around the internets and it seems like there isn't a huge difference between D300 and D500 in gaming performance, under OSX or bootcamp http://www.barefeats.com/tube07.html . Is that what people have found?
I have worked and gamed on iMacs all the way through and was about to get the 5k iMac; but I always have gpu/heat issues and although I like a lot about the iMac, when I realized how close a max spec 5k iMac was to a Mac Pro I decided it was time to give up on the all-in-one. (I don't need a 5k monitor as such.)
But I don't know a lot about Mac Pro innards, and what is upgradable later, so I'm not sure what to buy.
I do a little photography, a little (light) video editing, and some gaming.
I have read that the Mac Pro video cards aren't really designed for gaming; as I say, I'm going Pro as much for lifespan and reliability reasons as for performance per se.
So having said all that - is there a strong difference between the video card options for gaming performance? I will want to run Bootcamp Win 8.1 as well - anything I should be aware of there re hardware choices?
My budget is somewhat limited. At the moment I am thinking:
3.7GHz quad-core - price
12GB (3x4GB) - easy to upgrade later
512GB PCIe-based flash storage - I'd like 1TB but compromise for price
Dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs - compromise for price; if D300 is "as good" for gaming use please tell me!
Anything else I need to think about?
Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it!
UPDATE: Been looking around the internets and it seems like there isn't a huge difference between D300 and D500 in gaming performance, under OSX or bootcamp http://www.barefeats.com/tube07.html . Is that what people have found?
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