Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2 x 2.8 MP For £1349.13! Sound Purchase or buy 'Nehalem' alternative after WWDC?

xiovoix

xiovoix

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 2, 2009
100
0
Maybe Ned Ludd was Right?
I have the opportunity to purchase a brand new 08 Mac Pro. I have been waiting like many for the new 09 model but I am a little caught up with the new price tag also. There are 3 08 machines at my local stockist in Belfast for £1300 approximately. I am studying an MSc in educational multimedia and need the machine for Maya, Poser, CS3 MC, Pro tools, Reason etc. I currently own a uMBP 2.53 ghz but feel I need that little extra grunt under the bonnet.

Good deal, no go or wait for possible speed bumps? I'm aware of the cost/performance gains in the 09s and I may be buying old tech. But how long would the 2.8 octo stretch to in respect to keeping up with 64 bit computing when more apps embrace snow leopard etc?

Thanks in anticipation! I have had one left over until tomorrow in the shop. So you have until 5pm GMT to give me your opinion as I have to let the guy in the shop know yeah or ney!
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Sorry I can't really help you, but if you don't mind me asking, where in Belfast stocks Macs aside from the Apple Store? I live in Bangor, and aside from the obvious Currys etc have yet to find a good alternative. Thanks!
 
xiovoix said:
I have the opportunity to purchase a brand new 08 Mac Pro. I have been waiting like many for the new 09 model but I am a little caught up with the new price tag also. There are 3 08 machines at my local stockist in Belfast for £1300 approximately. I am studying an MSc in educational multimedia and need the machine for Maya, Poser, CS3 MC, Pro tools, Reason etc. I currently own a uMBP 2.53 ghz but feel I need that little extra grunt under the bonnet.

Good deal, no go or wait for possible speed bumps? I'm aware of the cost/performance gains in the 09s and I may be buying old tech. But how long would the 2.8 octo stretch to in respect to keeping up with 64 bit computing when more apps embrace snow leopard etc?
Click to expand...

Right, well the 2008 2.8 is a 64bit machine. Coming from a dual core 2.53 setup you'll basically be upping your processing power 4x with a 2008 2.8x8. I would suggest that if your current setup is acceptable to you for another year that you stick with it. If it is unacceptable, consider that the octad 2.8 2008 might last you another 2-3 years. Of course upgrades will help meet this target lifespan.

So if in 2-3 years you can realize a profit that offsets the cost of a octad 09 model then I would say buy with confidence. Pro systems are really all about what you're going to make out of them, if saving 30-40% on render times makes sense to you at +1,000 quid then go for the new systems. If not, grab a recently "old" system and make do for a year or so.
 
Go for the 2008 2.8!!!

Unless all you do is render for a living.

Better hurry though. Almost everyone thinks the same way. 2008 machines are in demand and go pretty fast. I watched 12 of them disappear from the Apple Japan site in a matter of hours.
 
Thank you Frimple! With my educational discount I priced the standard 2.26 octo at £2099. Throw into the mix 10 months 0% an iPod touch and usual addition of apple care. The price difference would be £748. Would the cost/performance difference be justified in this example or is the 2.26 an overpriced tomato?
 
Thanks Tesselstor! I read your lengthy posts on other threads about similar subjects. Why so in favour if the 2.8 08 machine and a little indulgence. What is the best way to get an airport card for the MP. As it is a configurable option from Apple. I have read there are some problems with reception fro
3rd party cards because of the casing. Thank you again!
 
Apple's website prices them at 1259.00 including educational discount.

http://store.apple.com/uk-edu

Another Belfast boy here btw. Belfast Metropolitan College is in the centre of townw so sometimes I dander down to the Apple Store at lunch and play with machines I can't afford lol.

You know you're a computer geek when you curse the sunshine for screen glare. Sitting at City Hall typing this reply on iBook G4.
 
I have yet another query?

Are the inards of the 08 and 09 machines that much different? I have Sony 40" z series and link it via a VGA mini display adapter from my MBP. Does the 08 MP have a VGA port?
 
What machine is that for Windy? I have a problem. I have £650 in vouchers I could use to pay part of the price in pcworld. So £700 for an 08 2.8 MP. Or buy from edu store and order raptor hard drives and extra ram from PCWB. Use the glare of your computer to your advantage. Stare at the reflection if beautiful girls that lounge about down there ;)
 
Frimple, I would be happy to continue with my current setup but I simply need two computers in the house as the missus uses my MBP and I'm devastated that when I bought this 2.53 in late November they bumped it a short time after and then I learnt that I'm stuck with 4gig ram as opposed to having the option of adding extra ram to 8gig like the respective 2.66 machine. I know I can ramp it to 6gig unofficially but that is also a bone of contention. This is why I am in the quandry of 08 vs 09 Mac Pro. Buy 09 now and find out in three weeks that after WWDC Apple have added something else to the Mac Pro.
 
xiovoix said:
What machine is that for Windy? I have a problem. I have £650 in vouchers I could use to pay part of the price in pcworld. So £700 for an 08 2.8 MP. Or buy from edu store and order raptor hard drives and extra ram from PCWB. Use the glare of your computer to your advantage. Stare at the reflection if beautiful girls that lounge about down there ;)
Click to expand...

http://store.apple.com/uk-edu/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MTE4NDY

The 15" one.

If you have vouchers that sounds insanely good. What else are you going to buy at PC World for that much? If you want PC parts the best place in Belfast is Mplex, in Smithfield Market or Dargan Road. There's one in Lisburn too near Bridge Street.

Oh and the pretty girls were out in force today, its tricky to stay focussed on macrumors with all that talent about.
 
windywoo said:
If you want PC parts the best place in Belfast is Mplex, in Smithfield Market or Dargan Road. There's one in Lisburn too near Bridge Street.
Click to expand...
I would look on Crucial for Mac Pro memory the machine takes non standard memory with massive heat sinks. Adding a hard disk is a breeze pull out the sled screw in the new drive and slot it back in again.
 
Already have a MBP windy! I would like a Mac Pro for more extensive computing needs. Though I'm tempted to sell my current 2.53 ghz machine and buy the 2.66 speed bump MBP and max out the ram. Although I hear there is some difficulties with ddr3 for Mac Pros from crucial!
 
xiovoix said:
Frimple, I would be happy to continue with my current setup but I simply need two computers in the house as the missus uses my MBP and I'm devastated that when I bought this 2.53 in late November they bumped it a short time after and then I learnt that I'm stuck with 4gig ram as opposed to having the option of adding extra ram to 8gig like the respective 2.66 machine. I know I can ramp it to 6gig unofficially but that is also a bone of contention. This is why I am in the quandry of 08 vs 09 Mac Pro. Buy 09 now and find out in three weeks that after WWDC Apple have added something else to the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Ahh, well there will always be a new feature added or something every 6 months so if you're always waiting to get it when it's "ripe" then you'll end up waiting forever (like me :D)!

Again I'd have to go back to what are you going to get out of it? The difference between the 08 and 09 model innards is significant enough to say that the guts (CPU and Memory) are not compatible with each other. The difference in performance that you'll see doing CPU intensive tasks will be in the neighborhood of 30-40%. It's important to realize that this doesn't translate directly to all tasks (you won't be reading your email or browsing ebay 40% faster on a 09 model :p).

In my opinion for occasional "power user" usage but just general computer patterns the 8x2.8 08 model will last you 3+ years. It's not the newest sexiest SKU, but it's no slouch. You really need to ask yourself what you'll honestly need to squeeze out of the system, and if you've lived this long on a MBP you'll love the octad 2.8 (plus DDR2 memory is dirt cheap right now :eek:)!
 
xiovoix said:
Thanks Tesselstor! I read your lengthy posts on other threads about similar subjects.
Click to expand...

<blush>


Why so in favour if the 2.8 08 machine and a little indulgence.
Click to expand...

I think that the new machines are too much money. What is upgraded in them comes at a cost. Meaning hyperthreading can be a deficit as well as an asset. :-/ The 2008 2.8 is going to pound the 2.26 octad (at £2099) at most things, and be about equal at a few things execution-speed-wise and for a lot less money: £1300 you said. The 2008 2.8 is MUCH more comparable to the 2009 2.66 and even a little faster than the '09 2.66 at some things! That's basically my rationale behind it.

And don't be silly enough to think it only has 2 or 3 years of life left in it. I've had my 2006 for 3 years now and it's not even starting to look long in the tooth yet. But I guess that depends a lot on what "long in the tooth" is to you. To me it's when machines with twice the spec are readily available and commonplace for roughly the same price. Currently the 2009 MPs are about the same spec but twice the price. Hehehe it's a dollar upgrade. LOL


What is the best way to get an airport card for the MP. As it is a configurable option from Apple. I have read there are some problems with reception fro 3rd party cards because of the casing. Thank you again!
Click to expand...

I dunno. I listened that these are directly orderable from the Apple Store. I don't use wireless so it's all greek to me. :)


Are the inards of the 08 and 09 machines that much different?
Click to expand...

Yes. In the 2009 models they've moved to a daughter board design for the CPU and RAM. This means that the 09 machines are NOT as easy to upgrade from 1 CPU to 2 CPU and etc. It also means that for the 1-CPU machine there are only 4 RAM slots. Additionally there are fewer SATA ports available in the '09 MP.


I have Sony 40" z series and link it via a VGA mini display adapter from my MBP. Does the 08 MP have a VGA port?
Click to expand...

Yes. AFAIK all 2008 machines either have a VGA port or come with a DVI->VGA adaptor.
 
If I was buying today, I'd get the 08 2.8 octo

It's $2250 here in the US, the 09 2.26 is $3300.

If the 2.66 was close to $3000, I'd be interested, but it's almost $5000 and even the refurb is $4000.

Also remember, you need ram, hard drives, maybe a video card upgrade with whichever solution you choose.

Ram and that decent 24" HP IPS monitor would be about $1000.
 
My plight continues!

Went into the store today to buy the machnie. Drivers license in hand and other documents for credit but I bottled it. Just a niggle in my brain told me to hold off. So I told the guy at the store to cool it and hold the machine until tomorrow. On retrospect I should have gone through with it. But as Trouter states I need more ram, hard drives etc to help the standard spec 2 x 2.8 08. Ah ffs think I may go back up this evening. Yeah I will. Any more comments before 8pm GMT would be appreciated!
:confused:
 
Thanks T! Guess I'll be joining you in your crusade to run down the NEW NEW 09 Mac Pro owners. Feels weird calling it a new 08! Suppose it's new to me hehe!
 
Get the '08 model. Even adding in 3rd party upgrades is still the cheapest way to go, and that machine is no slouch. :D

Now shut the logic portion of your brain off, and go get it, before they're gone. :p
 
Here in the US there are 2GB*8=16GB kits for $370US

I'd do that since the 08 ram is slightly custom with the heatsink spreader thingees...

you get 8 matched sticks this way as well and may never need more than the 16GB in that machine...
 
xiovoix said:
Thanks T! Guess I'll be joining you in your crusade to run down the NEW NEW 09 Mac Pro owners. Feels weird calling it a new 08! Suppose it's new to me hehe!
Click to expand...

Naw, don't "run it down". Just be honest and reasonably compare. :)

Oh, it's new! I mean assuming it's overstock. Just a few months ago that's all Apple offered. Later in a few years, you can get the 3.4 GHz CPUs for it and by then SSDs will probably be $150 for 256 GB so for VERY little you'll be back on top for yet another 2 or 3 years. ;)

For memory one brand is NOT better than another regardless of what the brand-worshipers tell you. Look at the specs and the price - that's it. You should be able to get 2x2 GB kits for $80 ~ $90. I recently did. It was "Transcend" that was the cheapest properly spec'd at that time (a few months ago). 16 GB is a VERY nice target amount!


.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back