Mac pro 2.66ghz xeon quad vs new 21.5" imac (mid level)

[eninety88]

the title. i can get a good condition used mac pro 2.66ghz xeon quad with 3gb of ram, 250gb hdd for around $1100 or i can splurge for a new mid level imac 21.5". What would you do? with the extra $300 difference i can upgrade the mac pro and or get an apple cinema display.

[alphaod]

Mac Pro… if you have the space for it.

What are you needs though?

[Badger^2]

seenthis?

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/11/14/...-improvements/

[pukifloyd]

Mac Pro...the expandability of this machine is amazing..you can upgrade anything without any problems...

[Dr.Pants]

Is it the 2006 2.66 Quad or the 2009 2.66 Quad?

If its from 2006, you may run into some upgrading troubles with nVidia graphics cards. Furthermore, 10.6 won't run 64-bit AFAIK, and for 64-bit Windows OSes you would have to run the ISO image, methinks, to make it interface with EFI32 correctly. All of the above aren't really downsides, just minor annoyances.

If its from 2009, you have a pretty good friend.

And you don't have to get a cinema display. There's good stuff out on the market for a better price.

[pbkiller]

I was on the same boat as you are (kinda). I currently OWN a Mac Pro 1,1 (2.66 Xeon Quad) and i wanted to change it for one of the new iMacs. With the stock configuration (1GB RAM, stock video card) My Mac Pro blows the Core 2 Duo iMacs. I kinda wanted to get rid of it because of the space and i was just using it for web browsing, iTunes, Youtube, email, Handbreak, etc. I fell in love with the 21.5" LED monitor. But the expandability and power brought my senses down and i decided to keep my pro.

Now the only thing left is to find a decent LED monitor (like Apple's LED Cinema). Is there a compatible video card that has the mini display port and can you use it with the first gen Mac Pro? If not, what's a good LED+IPS monitor?

[eninety88]

its the 2006 one. 2x 2.66 dual core processors.

[Badger^2]

you have a 1st gen MP -- so thats what, almost 3 years old and it still has the *stock* 1 gig ram and video card (and drive too I bet?) -- but you decided to keep it because of its "expandability" but you have yet to expand anything on it?

that logic just fails me?

An LED monitor is still an LCD, it just uses LEDs rather than cathod rays.

You dont need a new video card to run a new Apple monitor, just a $30 adapter.

$1100 isnt bad for the 2.66, I would probably snag it if I was going to use all of its power (multi drive RAID, big giant video, eSATA externals, lots of video ripping/encoding) ... otherwise a new iMac with a 1 year warranty, rather than a 3+ year old MP makes a lot more sense...

[kellen]

Originally Posted by Badger^2

You dont need a new video card to run a new Apple monitor, just a $30 adapter.

Link to said adaptor? I think you are confused, as you need a DVI to MDP, which run about $150 or so. That is unless your card has a MDP or DP port, but the 2006 MP's had neither.

[pbkiller]

Originally Posted by Badger^2

you have a 1st gen MP -- so thats what, almost 3 years old and it still has the *stock* 1 gig ram and video card (and drive too I bet?) -- but you decided to keep it because of its "expandability" but you have yet to expand anything on it?

that logic just fails me?

An LED monitor is still an LCD, it just uses LEDs rather than cathod rays.

You dont need a new video card to run a new Apple monitor, just a $30 adapter.

$1100 isnt bad for the 2.66, I would probably snag it if I was going to use all of its power (multi drive RAID, big giant video, eSATA externals, lots of video ripping/encoding) ... otherwise a new iMac with a 1 year warranty, rather than a 3+ year old MP makes a lot more sense...

I think your logic is indeed failing you... I was telling the OP that the Mac Pro that he's talking about (1st gen) with the stock configuration (1GB RAM, stock video card, 250GB drive) blows the 21.5'' iMac. My Mac Pro is not stock, although my upgrades are not like yours (4GB RAM, 4x500GB HD's, 2x SuperDrives, Bluetooth+Wifi cards and a new Video Card).