Should I buy a Mac Pro now or later?

Ok, well here's my situation. I wanted a Mac Pro since January and I feel stupid for waiting up until now, because the "upgrade" we all just witnessed merely introduced 2x quad core processors, which personally isn't important to me.

My dilemma is that the Windows desktop I built will make up a large part of the money going towards a Mac Pro (I don't have a job right now; full time student). The more I wait, the less my desktop is worth, so the sooner I sell the more I will get for it and the more I can buy for my Mac Pro.

With WWDC coming up, I would go out of my mind if I bought now and we ended up seeing huge updates in a couple months. I don't NEED a Mac Pro right now, but as I said, the longer I wait, the less my current PC is worth. I doubt we'll be seeing any major revisions to the Mac Pro at NAB now.

The main things of importance to me on the Mac Pro are the prices of the more standard configuration components and the video cards offered. I know that I can upgrade these things on my own, but it would stink if say an 8800GTX was the gaming card offered after WWDC, or if the 3.0 GHz Xeons became the price of the current 2.66 GHz Xeons. Sourcing my own parts and installing them myself isn't an issue, as I have built Windows desktops (including my own), and I dissected my sister's eMac to add a bigger, faster HD and a Super Drive (using a high voltage probe for the CRT, of course).

I'm fine with the dual-dual core Xeons and would have this be a dual boot machine with OSX and either Windows XP or Vista (for gaming). I know there is the imminent release of the SS chipset and memory controller, but given Apple's track record, it might be a while before it's introduced into the Mac Pros and when it is, would it even benefit systems that aren't octo-core? The only benefit I can see from SS are the enhanced memory controller and the smarter snoop filter (which only benefits quad core chips anyway), as the FSB and RAM speeds supported will be unchanged. Yes, the PCIe lanes will be upgraded as well, but I don't plan on running SLi or Crossfire anytime soon. It might be August before Apple decides to do a major revision to the Mac Pro.

Given my situation, should I buy now, or hold out until the next revision of the Mac Pro is released? It's a hard decision because I don't feel like my money is being well-spent on an Apple product that has basically remained unchanged (in both price and configuration) since last August. I'm tearing my hair out over this decision, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Well, my parents would buy the Leopard family pack for their 3 Macs at home, and I would be able to use the remaining 2 installs on my PB G4 and a Mac Pro if I bought one, so having Leopard pre-installed isn't a huge issue for me. Also, I thought the Santa Rosa platform didn't apply to the Mac Pro, as it's a chipset for the Intel Core line and Stoakley-Seaburg would be the new Xeon chipset line?

spaz8 said:

I think the earliest we could see a GPU update is June with the release of 10.5 .. i believe we get Open GL 2.x with it, plus perhaps some new hardware better suited to make use of core animation. Thing is i only recall apple updating GPU options when theres a whole new system for them to go in.. but maybe like some ppl say this is the new apple where BTO is where the updates show up. I'm waiting for WWDC.

Click to expand...

As far as I understand, all the video cards offered in the current Mac Pro configuration are Open GL 2.0 complaint, aside from the Quadro, which is Open GL 1.5. I'm not exactly sure when and what path Apple will take with their video adapters after looking into this (and what version of Open GL Leopard will be sporting, for that matter).

Any more input on the Mac Pro that directly reflects my situation?

Honestly, I'm not trying to ask a rhetorical question. I just wanted to see what others would do in my situation.

Thanks for the input guys; looks like I'll be waiting for the big Mac Pro revision.

Damn it, I wish I had a time machine like in Back to the Future where I could go into the future and see the entire Apple road map for the next 100 years (like how Biff made millions off the sports almanac that looked 50 years into the future).