Buying 1st MP... need some input

[FlyingChops]

Sorry if this has been beaten to death, but it is a big purchase and I am one of the ones who needs help.

I am upgrading from a 2009 MBP to a MP.

I will be doing a lot of HD video editing in iMovie, occasionally in FCP.

But the majority of what I will be doing is photos. The thing that drives me crazy about my MBP is the lag rendering previews, applying masks in CS3, etc. I shoot in raw and on average, 8k photos a month. Even going through them to find my 'keepers' is sluggish.

Any thoughts? I am overwhelmed just looking at the options. I am sick of the beach ball.

I was considering a 6-core 2010 MP and 16 or 24GB OWC, but maybe this is overkill. Any help or thoughts are appreciated!

ETA- I will be upgrading to CS5, and I also use LR3 a ton.

 

[Hellhammer]

Is photos work related, i.e. do you make your living with your computer? If so, the 6-core is a decent deal but if it's just a hobby, then I would save some $ and go with base Mac Pro

 

[FlyingChops]

Is photos work related, i.e. do you make your living with your computer? If so, the 6-core is a decent deal but if it's just a hobby, then I would save some $ and go with base Mac Pro

Trying to make a living... just getting started, but moving forward, I would like to profit from it more. I am past the point of photography as a hobby.

 

[Hellhammer]

Trying to make a living... just getting started, but moving forward, I would like to profit from it more. I am past the point of photography as a hobby.

Hmmm... I would still go with the base Mac Pro because even CS5 is poorly multithreaded. Of course if money is not a big issue, then get the 6-core. Also, you may be able to upgrade the quad to the 6-core later on from aftermarket, it's actually cheaper.

 

[FlyingChops]

Since you think I'd be able to get away with basically an entry-level MP, should I be considering an i7 iMac?

I am not sure if it matters, but I am using a 30" Dell display, and would be adding an Apple 27" if going with a MP, but if I went with an i7 iMac I wouldn't be buying another display. So my $ savings would be significant.

 

[aaaaaaron]

I'd get the 3.2 quad, save the money, upgrade the RAM, and then update the processor in a year or two.

 

[jav6454]

Hmmm... I would still go with the base Mac Pro because even CS5 is poorly multithreaded. Of course if money is not a big issue, then get the 6-core. Also, you may be able to upgrade the quad to the 6-core later on from aftermarket, it's actually cheaper.

I also suggets this. Also, if you would like a lag free environment then consider an aftermarket SSD as a boot drive. That way you have fast OS X boots and essential app openings.

 

[aaaaaaron]

and skip on the apple display, you wont want that glossy screen when working on your photos.

well, at least i wouldn't

 

[drml]

Since you think I'd be able to get away with basically an entry-level MP, should I be considering an i7 iMac?

I am not sure if it matters, but I am using a 30" Dell display, and would be adding an Apple 27" if going with a MP, but if I went with an i7 iMac I wouldn't be buying another display. So my $ savings would be significant.

Check out the performance comparisons of the 2.93 i7 iMac on Barefeats and Digilloyd. It is a very competent machine for photography, especially if you run 8-16GB of ram. You can even get ESATA from OWC for extra storage.

I selected the 6-core Mac Pro in order to get the 5870 video card and the other expandability benefits (4 drives, etc.)

Good luck!

 

[FlyingChops]

Thanks for the feedback so far, I really appreciate it.

 

[CountlovE]

Thanks for the feedback so far, I really appreciate it.

Watch out with the iMacs. The display has a ton of issues, and its not just the yellow screen problems anymore. I had 2 brand new shipped from apple 27inch top of the line iMacs with SSD show up with huge light bleed from the bottom corners.

I then thought I would spend a little extra and buy a kick ass PC, and run Hackintosh. Wow... The problems people have to go to in order to use OSX, it could take months to get a Hackintosh machine running. And if Apple releases new updates most of the hacked versions of OSX need to be hacked all over again so it's not really worth that either.

I am waiting for Apple to refund me on the iMac so I can get a 6 core 3.3. There are way better displays out there and you don't want to be stuck with a display that has serious design flaws with the 27inch iMac. If they ever have to remove the screen to replace a hard drive it degrades the display.

 

[FlyingChops]

Ended up with a quad core 3.2... Upgrading to 16G ram and diff HDDs once it arrives.

Thanks again everyone. The expandability and potential of the Pro just appealed to us much more than the i7 iMacs. The display likely would have been an issue too.