How long would a Mac Pro last?

[RobMSantos]

Based on the usage you describe, I don't think you'll really use all the resources of your rig for awhile. I do a bit heavier graphics and film work and my 2006 Mac Pro is still running amazingly well.

I personally try to make my hardware last 3 to 4 years, and I stagger my upgrades among a laptop and desktop. I just got a MacBook Pro so in a year or so, I'll replace the Mac Pro, then a year or so after that I'll replace this MacBook Pro if my usage habits stay the same. That way I feel I'm getting the most out of my per-purchase hardware investment while still giving me the flexibility of accessing newer resources more often.

 

[dwd3885]

Based on the usage you describe, I don't think you'll really use all the resources of your rig for awhile. I do a bit heavier graphics and film work and my 2006 Mac Pro is still running amazingly well.

I personally try to make my hardware last 3 to 4 years, and I stagger my upgrades among a laptop and desktop. I just got a MacBook Pro so in a year or so, I'll replace the Mac Pro, then a year or so after that I'll replace this MacBook Pro if my usage habits stay the same. That way I feel I'm getting the most out of my per-purchase hardware investment while still giving me the flexibility of accessing newer resources more often.

That's a good way of doing it.

Now, I think I'm going to wait for the new iMac, just to see if it's quad. The price of the Mac Pro puts me off, over $2000 is a ton to spend for me, an iMac might be more reasonable. I just would want the iMac to last at least 3 years for me also though.

 

[mmulin]

That's a good way of doing it.

Now, I think I'm going to wait for the new iMac, just to see if it's quad. The price of the Mac Pro puts me off, over $2000 is a ton to spend for me, an iMac might be more reasonable. I just would want the iMac to last at least 3 years for me also though.

..and you always can use your dell monitor as 2nd monitor on the imac. that said, i am also still running an '06 mp, 12gb ram, and a ati 4870hd, doing all the rough video editing at home for commercial productions. no thoughts of replacing it in the next two years or so.

 

[eelpout]

my 4+ year old dual 2 GHz G5 PowerMac is still going strong without an issue (unlike my wife's 18 month old iMac which just recently blew it's hard drive). And if it wasn't for the fact that PowerPC app support wasn't increasingly becoming an issue, I'd keep it. Instead I see an Intel box in my future soon.

 

[TheStrudel]

More recent Mac Pros (the 2006 turned out to be a little unfortunate for most people) are ahead of the software by a few years. Smart upgrading will let a current machine stay good for up to 8 years, I think. When you consider that recent OS upgrades have made the same hardware faster, and that the multicore nature of the machines and their GPUs has yet to be tapped by software - but such work is underway - we're looking at a long tail.

It's impossible to tell, of course, but it should last a very long time for what you're doing. Aftermarket upgrades will extend it. At least 3, but 5 years is a good guess.

 

[tekboi]

Well, my Power Mac G4 has lasted me all the way up to this point. (I bought it in 2002)


So I would like to think that Mac Pro's have a pretty good lifespan. Although I must say that I am discouraged lately. I have not been hearing many good things about apple and the future of mac pro.

Plus, windows 7 is really looking like it's going to be a promising OS. So, I'll just have to see.

 

[RobMSantos]

What exactly are you discouraged by?

I have the original 2006 Mac Pro. On the Mac-end of things it has Snow Leopard and runs it great. I also have the RTM of Windows 7 Ultimate from my MSDN license. On the gaming-side of things, I have an ATI Radeon HD 4870 which is offered on the newest Mac Pros and it works in both OS's.

There are a few hoops every now and then as to getting the newest hardware to run on it, but as of today, my Mac Pro is really holding its own.

 

[nanofrog]

My '06 Mac Pro is 3 years and still ticking. It runs a little warmer than id like, but i keep my fans ticking over at 900rpm and the DVD drive started clicking intermittently. Other than that its as good as gold.

It still handles 150cm squared 400 dpi photoshop docs (little bit slow, but i blame that on CS4) but i only have a paltry 3 gig of RAM in it at the moment, so it's probably paging like hell.

Im in a dilemma, wondering if i should upgrade the RAM and GPU, (maybe a BR drive when we finally get playback) which should keep it fresh for another year or two. My dad expects to get it as a hand-me-down, so i have no chance of selling it at the end of its life!

That machine only uses EFI32, and that's already limiting graphics card choices. Currently, the HD4870 would work in that one, but not the newest nVidia cards. 🙁

It's also going to be a problem in the near future with upgrading OS X, when it finally goes full 64 bit (true K64; 64 bit Kernel only versions).

Just so you're aware of it. 😉 So long as you or your dad can live with this, you'll be able to keep the system for awhile yet.

 

[emt377]

It still handles 150cm squared 400 dpi photoshop docs (little bit slow, but i blame that on CS4) but i only have a paltry 3 gig of RAM in it at the moment, so it's probably paging like hell.

How long would it take you to do a smart sharpen of that file? Or a 0.2 degree rotation and crop? Or a perspective crop? Or a profile conversion? The difference between the machine you have and a current well configured Mac Pro is minutes vs seconds. What if you try to read your email or do something else while waiting for an action with a long string of operations like this run? So not only will it take forever, your machine is totally consumed by it...

 

[iZac]

How long would it take you to do a smart sharpen of that file? Or a 0.2 degree rotation and crop? Or a perspective crop? Or a profile conversion? The difference between the machine you have and a current well configured Mac Pro is minutes vs seconds. What if you try to read your email or do something else while waiting for an action with a long string of operations like this run? So not only will it take forever, your machine is totally consumed by it...

"little bit slow" is obviously subjective. 😛 I feel it still holds its own for the time being, and its not every day i use it for such big files. Its only a home machine so I try to keep work in work.

Yeah, nanofrog, its unfortunate that its GPU choices are limited, but ill find a good solution. By comparison, my dad is still happy running Tiger on my old G4 mac mini, with an old version of Adobe CS. My Pro would be like greased lightning for him!

 

[sushi]

Computer wise, Apple hardware is fairly well constructed and should last a long time. For example, my PowerMac 933 still runs fine after 7 years.

As for being able to do what you want, that is a bit subjective. For example, my PowerMac system will not run Snow Leopard for example. Nor will it run Windows via VMWare Fusion or Parallels. However, if it still does what I need, then it still is a viable computer after 7 years. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Bucko]

Your probably talking about the new MacPros but my G4 400mhz, System 9.2.2 I bought new in January 2000 is still working like a charm. 2 HDs the main one and a WD internal 120GB which I had for about 7 years still work fine (knock on wood) I use Norton Disk Doctor about 2c a month to see if any problems exist.

 

[macgeek18]

Get a Mac Pro,don't get a Power Mac with Power PC,Though I love my Power Mac G4 to death it does have it's limits,like can't get Snow leapard on it,(I'm so bummed over that)😡And little things like netflix,I have it and it tells me I need an Intel processor to run,makes me pretty mad.But Still I have OSX 10.5.8 and iLife08 and iWork09 and microsoft word,Powerpoint,Excel,😎 and tons of other things that run so fast on my 867Mhz Power PC G4.Get Intel and it's last you forever!