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Good time to buy a MacPro?

H

houser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2006
523
819
Hello all,

I searched this subject extensively and did not find anything useful, which is odd, as I realise this must be one of the most commonly and dullest questions to answer...;-)

Anyway, I have not bought a new Mac in years and was wondering if the
Current crop of macPro 8-core top of the line Computers is a good buy _today_?

New 16-core around the corner? Anything else I should look at?

Grateful for any hints and rumours that helps in such a decision.

best
jtm
 
They were updated fairly recently. (got one of those myself and I love it!)

The thing about the mac pros is that they're a bit more resilient in these terms because they are fantastic as is and easily upgradable.

At the moment it seems apple are working on smaller devices a bit more and a hunch tells me it may be a while before the mac pros are updated again. If you need it now, I imagine it's a pretty safe bet.
 
Thanx,
you are very kind to take the time, really appreciate it
I love straight simple answers, so rare these days.. ,9

thanx again
jtm
 
Search for the many threads here regarding Intel's Nehalem architecture. Will probably roll out in Mac Pros in 1Q 2009. If you aren't in any rush, this will be pretty radical. That said, the current lineup of Mac Pros are just dandy.
 
I waited years to get a Mac Pro, waiting for the spec to reach a level I was happy with to finally make the switch from PCs. The 2008 model ticked all the boxes for me, which were:-

1. Dual fast 64 bit processors
2. Up to 32GB of RAM
3. Space for 4TB of storage in the case
4. Nvidia graphics at last!
5. Dual bootable with Windows

The spec is awesome now and makes a much more attractive proposition than a similarly specced PC. I don't think you would have any regrets getting one and you would get a good few years out of it - it will be a long time before this spec starts to feel slow!

There will probably be a faster model out some time next year, but it's like buying a new car - sooner or later you have to draw the line and say 'This one is good enough for me right now' :)
 
Virtuoso said:
1. Dual fast 64 bit processors
2. Up to 32GB of RAM
3. Space for 4TB of storage in the case
4. Nvidia graphics at last!
5. Dual bootable with Windows
Click to expand...
Actually, the last Mac Pro does all five of those, as well. ;)
 
It's not a good time until next year because there will be a new socket.
 
Is it ever a good time? There is always something better round the corner & lets face it is anybody really unhappy with what they are using now?

I would say if you feel tempted go for it, cos if you wait till 'the next best thing' you will wait again till it is upgraded!
:D
 
Mackilroy said:
Actually, the last Mac Pro does all five of those, as well. ;)
Click to expand...
From memory the 2007 model at the time had up to 16GB of 667MHz RAM (now 32GB of 800MHz RAM), the non-Quadra Nvidia option was a 256MB 7300 which is right at the bottom of their range - the current 512MB 8800GT is a much faster card, and only 750GB drives were offered giving a maximum of 3TB (now 4TB). There was quite a price premium for the 8 core model too - now all models are 8 core (unless you CTO a single processor). Also Bootcamp was still an early beta. That makes four significant improvements over the 2007 spec.
 
16 core? God, man. Even if that was just around the corner, would you need it? You might need it if you do the following things all at once:
-Run Photoshop
-Run Final Cut Studio (every app in the package)
-Run Vista in VMware
-Run Vista in Parallels
-Run Crysis in both VMware and Parallels with full graphics
-Run an application intended to solve the P=NP problem
-Run an application intended to solve CP Violation
-Run Photoshop CS2 through Rosetta

Otherwise, I believe you'd be ready to go even with 4 cores.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Those restrictions were not hardware based. They were based on the fact that there weren't 4GB RAM sticks, 1TB HDDs, or a finished Boot Camp yet.
Click to expand...
The thread is about whether it's a good time to buy. :rolleyes: For me, 2007 wasn't a good time to buy for the above reasons. That's all.
 
16 cores will be overkill for years.
Even top spec apps not always offer support for 4 let alone 8. To find a app that will use all 16 cores will take several years. Hell even now it's not easy to get one operating full 8 cores.
Just look at the memory. So what you can have 32GB. Apps use max 4GB and it will take a little while till you see usable 8GB in apps.

Quad core is a superb machine, 8 is a monster with ********s of unused power and 16 is like Star Wars.

Technology is just one part of computer systems. If software doesn't follow up (and as for now it does but veeeeeeery slowly) then is all just a waste of $$.

That's how I see it and that's why I bought quad core. In a year/two I will dump two 3.2 into it and MAYBE I will have some use of that apart from Cinema 4D (I work with it a lot) that as of now uses all 8 cores.
 
houser said:
Anyway, I have not bought a new Mac in years and was wondering if the current crop of macPro 8-core top of the line Computers is a good buy today?

New 16-core around the corner? Anything else I should look at?
Click to expand...

Nothing new on the CPU or systemboard side will be coming until Intel releases the workstation Nehalem-class CPUs in Q4, though they will likely not roll out in the Pro until Mac World 2009 or thereabouts.

Future video card and HDD upgrades will work with the current model, so no worries there.

I'm waiting for Nehalem, but only because I don't need a Mac Pro - I just want one. :)

If I needed one, I'd buy it today with no hesitation or regret.
 
D4F said:
Quad core is a superb machine, 8 is a monster with ********s of unused power and 16 is like Star Wars.
Click to expand...

Great analogy D4F! :D

The current Mac Pros are great machines (I love mine!) and will last you for years to come. New Mac Pros are not due for about another year, so now is a good time to buy. :)
 
Virtuoso said:
The thread is about whether it's a good time to buy. :rolleyes: For me, 2007 wasn't a good time to buy for the above reasons. That's all.
Click to expand...

But still, a couple bits of information you gave was wrong, and it should be properly noted so someone doesn't read the thread and assume that's correct.
 
andy.barron said:
Is it ever a good time? There is always something better round the corner & lets face it is anybody really unhappy with what they are using now?

I would say if you feel tempted go for it, cos if you wait till 'the next best thing' you will wait again till it is upgraded!
Click to expand...

I think we all know that, I think it's silly to say that. There are varying degrees of "good time to buy" based on how soon the next update comes and how urgent your needs are. The best time to buy is right after an update.

If you understand what's behind what Apple updates and when, then you can usually get a rough idea of whether an update is imminent. The more imminent the update, the better it is to hold off. But really, I think now is a fine time to buy a Mac Pro if you need one, unless you're willing to wait as much as 9 months, which is quite a long time. But really, if you're within a month of MacWorld or WWDC, then it's often worth the wait because usually a few products are updated at each event like that.
 
another thing took keep in mind is that although Nehalem is expected to be great we still dont know how it will perform, cost, compare to Harpertown and being a completely new arquitecture the next macpro will be the guinea pig so like anything new and unknow...
(harpertown is built on the same architecture as 2006 chips only a "perfected" or "embellished" version)
 
I got the early 2008 Mac Pro 2.8 octo, and it's just a rip-roaring monster :)

It's honestly way more power than I actually need, but it's my first Mac, and aside from wanting the upgradeable drive bays, I wanted to celebrate getting away from windows, finally ;)

This system will easily last me the next 4+ years, and when it's time to sell, should still have very good resale :)

-Bryan
 
Good time to buy?

After you've received your share of the loot after the "job"!:D

Seriously, when doing the deed, be sure to get all the bells and whistles you think you might need and the very fastest processor. You will probably have this computer for some time so getting the fastest processor(s) you can afford when buying will help you get the most out of it.
 
D4F said:
16 cores will be overkill for years.
Even top spec apps not always offer support for 4 let alone 8. To find a app that will use all 16 cores will take several years. Hell even now it's not easy to get one operating full 8 cores.
Just look at the memory. So what you can have 32GB. Apps use max 4GB and it will take a little while till you see usable 8GB in apps.

Quad core is a superb machine, 8 is a monster with ********s of unused power and 16 is like Star Wars.

Technology is just one part of computer systems. If software doesn't follow up (and as for now it does but veeeeeeery slowly) then is all just a waste of $$.

That's how I see it and that's why I bought quad core. In a year/two I will dump two 3.2 into it and MAYBE I will have some use of that apart from Cinema 4D (I work with it a lot) that as of now uses all 8 cores.
Click to expand...

Just a correction here: there are apps that can address more than 4GB of RAM. I'm using Matlab in Vista and it will use however much isabailable when doing large calculations. I've got 8GB right now and routinely need to use the pagefile so I'd like to upgrade to more. More cores the better too, obviously.
 
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