Contemplating a Mac Pro. Over kill?

Not really. I mean, Mac Pros are great in the sense that they are the most upgradeable Mac ever. However, that doesn't justify to some their hefty price tag.

For gaming, I wouldn't go with something that expensive (unless its a DIY project).

 

Not over kill, but over priced for what you'll use it for. The new iMac is a better value or just wait a few months to see what the new Mac Pro has to offer. It might be a better value for the price.....one can dream anyway.

 

I would agree, the new imacs bring so much to the table to fit almost anyone. 2 cores,4cores 16gb memory 1 terabyte drive,4670 or 4850 GPU's ? what more does one really need?..... other then a blue ray drive ahem ..ahem....or a uploading hd dvd player it really has everything including the coolest mouse made. I am loving this scrolling like never before.

 

If you want it, I don't see why not. I have the older 2.8 8 core and I don't put it through much. Ripping DVD's, Aperture, some beginner video editing, gaming, plus the stuff everyone else does.

But I bought it so I could hang onto it for years to come. I like that I can upgrade the video card, cpus and hard drives. Having a drive just for bootcamp is nice as well. I need a lot of space. Also I already had the HD's and monitors.

Get a refurbished to save some cash. 2.66 quads are2149. Quad core imacs are that price as well, I would rather have the mac pro.

 

Yeah the iMac might fit your needs now, but the Mac Pro can fit your needs later. If you can get it, why not?

 

Facing the same dilemma a couple years ago, I went with a refurbed 2x2.66 MP.

No regrets.

 

I think IF you were a gamer who also used their computer to earn a living, then buying a MacPro might be a more viable possibility.

However, as a home user it might be money wasted, even if there's expansion options... For the price of a MacPro and display, you could probably buy two base iMacs - now consider buying one now and then selling it as used, putting the money towards a newer model at a later date - it'll probably be cheaper, see what I mean?

edit//

There's also a good chance the graphic cards produced two years from now won't be backwardly compatible...
Just like the 2008 MacPro cards didn't work in the older 2006 MacPro. Yes, both use the same interface but the firmware is different.

 

this.

the mac looks very upgradeable now, so it may look good to hang onto for a few years longer than, say, an imac. but mac has a way of making 2-3 year old harder obsolete and decidedly un-upgradeable. I bought a Mac Pro 2.5 years ago and it is pretty much a given that I won't be able to install the next version of OSX, same as the many people who can't run Leopard on their PPC machines.

 

Overkill on the price but not so much the hardware.

I recommend the base iMac. The hardware upgrade bug is so much easier to sate on you and your wallet on a desktop you build.

 

What type of display is your 24"?

Apple does not give an option for matte display on the iMac.
Some people, such as myself, can't use a glossy/glass coated screen no matter how good other people think it is.

A Mac Pro gives you the flexibility to keep using your current monitor if you like that one.

 

This. That said, the software isn't even close to catching up with my 2008 Mac Pro. I fully expect it to last until 2016, when software routinely uses more than 10 GB of RAM, 8 cores, and GPGPU.

 

If you're considering the quad core iMac ($2000), I would absolutely move up to the Mac Pro. Why?

• You can currently get a refurb 2.66 quad for only $150 more (assuming you already have a good monitor)
• You have your choice of monitor. Personally, I can't stand the glossy look, particularly for color correcting photos.
• MPs are much more expandable, and you don't have to have 3 or 4 external USB drives cluttering up your desk.
• Same for memory - depending which one you get, you can usually put at least 16-32 gigs of RAM into it - great future proofing there.

You can also find some good deals on eBay for the same price or a little less on a better machine used than you can buy new.

I'm a home user, not using my computer professionally, and I bought it brand new (I did have a slight discount), and I love it - yes, it's more than I need, but it's also gonna last me for YEARS to come, and when it's time to sell...well, I'll still get some decent money out of it on a new machine

 

The 2008 quad is probably the hottest base model MP Apple ever build in terms of value, upgrading and future proofing. It had a great price to start with. It has EFI64 and will run Kernel64. It is capable of booting ODDs from both SATA and IDE. No other MP has that. It provides 6 full speed SATA ports for HDDs and SSDs. It has an empty LGA771 socket for octad upgrade. It retains the flexible PCIe bus of the 5000 chip set. It has separate HDD headers instead of headers soldered to the logic board, so the headers can be hooked up with a RAID card. It has decent cable ducts and a big bulk head hole for custom cable trees. So far all grafic cards for the 2009 are running in the 2008 as well.

The Nehalem has just CPU/memory bandwidth as the only advantage. Few people actually need that and your profile would not require it.

 

I would also recommend the 2008 model. Best bang for the buck.

If you have to get the 2009 model, I'd suggest the quad core since the 8-core is a bit of overkill. I suggest this because it sounds like the MacBook Pro is working out apart from the fact that you mostly use it as a desktop, so the extra price from the 8-core is not really justifiable.

I am actually looking back to when I bought my machine and wondering why I spent the extra money when all I wanted was more RAM.