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i slightly regret buying a Mac Pro.

I bought mine in august of 2006. I bought it more for expandability and the fact that it replaced a homebuilt PC and a Powermac G5. I didn't buy it for the the processing speed.

I used to do some video editing and a lot of web work. Now I'm just a student doing something completely different.

I've beat the crap out of this thing. It's currently got 11 hard drives plugged into it--mostly different sizes. I had a flashed X1900 for a while that I replaced with an 8800 (you know, for games).

It's got Windows 7 and 10.6 on it right now. It's got 2 video cards and 3 monitors (if you count the TV in the other room with a 50 foot HDMI cable hooked up). It's got 2 keyboards and 2 mice (again, one set in the other room). This thing runs my whole house.

Of course I couldn't do most of the things I do with a mac mini or imac. Or if I did, it'd be extremely expensive. Driving tons of monitors and hard drives without room for another video or drive controller would suck.

3 of my hard drives are just sitting on top of the computer in a small metal frame with a fan duct-taped in. The wires/cables are all directly off the Mac Pro PSU/mobo (apart from 1 of the SATA's coming off my El Cheapo Rocketraid card).


Even though there's the i7 (8, 9, 500? I don't know) and all those, these old Xeon Woodcrests are doing just fine. They run the latest games and run most movie editing software without a hiccup. I probably could've made do with less when I bought it, but I don't see myself buying a new computer for another couple of years at least.
 
Long time troglodyte, first time caller:

I have to say this... I think this guy just wants an excuse to brag about his ballsy computer. Do what you enjoy, and dedicate the rest of your spare cycles to SETI@home or Folding@home.
 
You'll lose more than a Mac Mini in resale value. Probably 70% of what you paid for it.
 
JBZieman said:
Long time troglodyte, first time caller:

I have to say this... I think this guy just wants an excuse to brag about his ballsy computer. Do what you enjoy, and dedicate the rest of your spare cycles to SETI@home or Folding@home.
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So you signed up to doubt another member's concerns? :rolleyes:
 
I don't use my Mac Pro for anything super complicated either.

Safari
iChat
Aperture
Photoshop
Logic
iTunes
Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2

I like my computer because I've had it since 2006 and it's still running great. In fact, now that it has Snow Leopard and I've upgraded the graphics to ATI 4870, it's running a lot better now than it did when I got it. You don't see that happen very often.

I've had laptops for years and you have to pretty much replace them every 2 years because they just get too slow. Either the apps start to need more RAM than you can physically put in the machine, or games need more GPU power and you can't do anything about it. With my Mac Pro, I don't feel the need to run out and buy a new machine every couple of years. I'm just glad I bought this and not a G5.

The main thing I like about my Mac Pro is gaming. I also record music for my band. www.myspace.com/flipyourlid (I didn't design the page, so don't make fun of it... I just recorded the music). I'm the drummer by the way. Be sure to check out Time, Hypochondriac and Damn Alarm.
 
smogsy said:
the other alternatives is to sell my Mac Pro & 30" screen (samsung 30STplus 30") & buy a 27inch Imac.

or
keep it for a very long time 3/4 years?, (i normally keep my computers for 5 months then move to a new one)

any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
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I though of the same thing, since I have not been using my Mac Pro that often anymore now that I graduated from school, Plus work gave me a computer as well.

But the 27-Inch iMac's have been plagued with problems, so I have been patiently waiting for the next refresh to buy one, esp when they get the Core i7 in them.

Only thing to find is external backup storage device,
 
World of Warcraft runs ok on max settings on this beast. however die to me having a 2560x1600 resolution screen the fps can drop to 30fps in dalaran. most of the time its 50fps+. but i don't game on my MP anymore i have a i7 3.6ghz 6GB ram 2x285GTX's Custom built gaming rig downstairs for that

if i wanted higher on my MP i would need a higher GRAM Graphics card, Defo

i think i will keep this computer due to losing money on it, however i would really love to learn something new to increase my own skills,

however i'm unsure what. i was thinking of learning programming however
im going to do that at work now as it would benefit my job if i did it for Windows.

So i need a hobby from home other than photography.
 
smogsy said:
World of Warcraft runs ok on max settings on this beast. however die to me having a 2560x1600 resolution screen the fps can drop to 30fps in dalaran. most of the time its 50fps+. but i don't game on my MP anymore i have a i7 3.6ghz 6GB ram 2x285GTX's Custom built gaming rig downstairs for that

if i wanted higher on my MP i would need a higher GRAM Graphics card, Defo

i think i will keep this computer due to losing money on it, however i would really love to learn something new to increase my own skills,

however i'm unsure what. i was thinking of learning programming however
im going to do that at work now as it would benefit my job if i did it for Windows.

So i need a hobby from home other than photography.
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If you want to learn something new you could always have a bash at installing OS X on your gaming PC downstairs. You learn a fair bit about the inner workings of OS X doing things like that.
 
You can buy an AppleTV and use your Mac Pro for video conversion. Handbrake is the soft I have which uses the most power out of my 8-cores Mac Pro.

More seriously, apart from brute power, which is rarely required, the real advantage IMO of the MacPro is expandability. I too had (and still have) a 2007 MacBook. It was ok in terms of power, but I was fed up having to update its internal drive every 6m and juggle with external disks for my photo and media library and updates. I bought a used MP with a 30" screen.
 
Agreed, the Mac Pro's benefits come with its expandability. However, the cost of it these days is insane and you get terrible value for money even compared to other workstation providers. A stack of external hard drives or a Drobo could often suffice.

Don't get me wrong, the Mac Pro is a work of art and a very powerful machine. I loved my 2006 Mac Pro for the three and a half years I had it and now I'm reusing the case for a Hackintosh since I loved it so much.
 
Once in a while I feel like the OP when I can do all my work/stuff on the 17" uMBP just fine.. Then I hook up the 17" to my 24" LED ACD and use it for half an hour, then I'd jump back to the 2.26GHz Mac Pro and instantly notice the huge overall difference.

I'm glad I got my Mac Pro. =)
 
Once you get a taste of that power, its hard to go to something slower. Get into video editing if you want to do something new. That or make a program for the iPod touch/iPhone or the new iPad. Start off with FCE but wait for the update for snow leopard. Supposed to be a total rewrite to support open cl. And when its not in use, crunch data to help find cures at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
 
i say keep the machine for sure! i'm sure you'll really enjoy it. when your not using it, you could run folding@home for the macrumors team. we'd love to have you!

also, you might give programming another try, or video editing
 
smogsy said:
i bought a Mac Pro 2009 model in september And i been thinking lately why did i buy it? i have the following specification:
2.26ghz - 12GB ram - 4870 - 1TB - 640GB

i currently use the following apps: (i use about 6GB of ram each day - however i don't see why with these apps?)
Safari
Itunes
Aperture 2
Adiumx
Socialite
Photoshop

i rarely use more than 120% of 8 cores. & i'm thinking why did i buy such a beast? when i moved to mac, i had a macbook (2007 model) & decided i need something beefier as the macbook couldn't multitask that good as it struggled on flash.

the idea when i got the Mac Pro was to start to program on OSX & use the power to compile, however i have moved away from that as i do not really enjoy it. i enjoy fiddling but not full on programming.

so what i'm going to ask is what sort of hobbies could i do to make use of the power i have? i currently enjoy photography but thats not very power hungry, maybe video? im looking for suggestions here.

the other alternatives is to sell my Mac Pro & 30" screen (samsung 30STplus 30") & buy a 27inch Imac.

or
keep it for a very long time 3/4 years?, (i normally keep my computers for 5 months then move to a new one)

any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Im willing to swap your 8 core mac pro for my 2 year old 1.8ghz mac mini. I will even pay the postage!
 
Problem is there is a huge gap between MacPro and Mini and all in ones dont cut it for many. Im still thinking I want a HDTV hooked up to something better then Mini but not a monster like the MacPro is about to become. A nice 32" HDTV hooked up to a decent GPU just doesnt exist in the Macworld. It does make for a tough choice if you want to be a Mac user.
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
I'd suggest selling the Mac Pro now before the model becomes outdated and loses loads of its value. Flash is notoriously badly coded and is awful on OSX. The new beta version improves things drastically but it is still embarrassingly badly coded which is why Apple refuses to put that buggy power hogging code on the iPhone and iPad.

For the kind of stuff that you do, I would suggest you do the following:

1. Sell the Mac Pro but keep the 30" display.
2. Get a Mac Mini, maybe even max it out to 2.66GHz.
3. Buy an external hard drive case, maybe a nice one that matches Mac Minis and stick a 1.5TB hard drive in there.
4. Buy a decent 256GB SSD (I'm currently using a Crucial 256GB M225 and it is superb).
5. Buy a mini display port to dual link DVI cable to connect the mini to your display.

You will end up with a machine that will likely be a lot faster for a lot of the stuff you do. If 256GB isn't enough for you then do what I do, store all of your media on the second drive whilst keeping the OS and Applications etc all on the SSD then use a partition on the SSD as a fast scratch area to put what you're working with at the moment in.

Photoshop loves SSD drives and, to be honest, the 2.66GHz Mac Mini can probably match the Mac Pro in single threaded and dual threaded tasks. This way you'll still have your lovely 30" screen too. You'll also save a chunk of cash. I really think you'll notice the SSD far more than you would the 8 cores.

You sound like you like getting new machines quite regularly so with this route you can always get a new Mac Mini when it gets updated and just plop the SSD into that. I really don't feel that the 8 core Mac Pro (or the 4 core for that matter) are remotely good buys right now for people other than those requiring specific programs that fully utilise 16+ threads. Not just for the hiked up prices but also because multithreading still hasn't taken off in all areas and by the time it does, the slow processor speeds of the 8 core models will likely show their age.

Selling your Mac Pro and going the Mini+SSD route will also likely free up enough money that you can factor in another one or two Mini purchases in the next two years as well as being able to spring for something fancy like an iPad. ;)
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Sounds like he would end up with a lot less for not a lot less. I would just keep it or get a portable mac and keep the external display. That way, even the glossy screen would not be a problem.

EDIT: about the glossy screen on the portable... of course, you can wait for the new ones with better processors or just buy the 17" one with antiglare. Or there might be 15" ones with antiglare, I haven't checked the most recent updates.
 
Gomff said:
Just keep it and be happy. Some people buy Ferrari's and spend most of their time stuck in traffic on the commute to and from work, rather than racing professionally....They still have the car of their dreams.

IMHO, if you sell it and get something more humble, you'll end up spending more money in the long term because you'll upgrade 2 or 3 times during the same length of time as your current machine lasts.
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I agree with this.
Sometimes it's just nice to get something that is the best. Just stick to your lovely Mac Pro, and enjoy it.
 
MacHamster68 said:
the mac pro makes a good gaming rig for starters if you install windows
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Well the Mac Pro is a work station, not a gaming rig, now it does make a pretty good rig, but you could honestly build or even buy a better rig for about half the price.

OP: Im not sure what you could do, but if you just want to have it looking cool just buy another monitor and run about 60 quicktime movies all at the same time.
 
ARF900 said:
Well the Mac Pro is a work station, not a gaming rig, now it does make a pretty good rig, but you could honestly build or even buy a better rig for about half the price.
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That's true....
But if you already own a Mac Pro, you won't need an extra gaming PC.
Just insert a 2nd HD, and install Windows. Far cheaper than getting a 2nd PC.
That's the way I use my Mac Pro.

A few years ago I had a "main" Mac, AND a gaming PC.... and that was more expensive.
 
I would keep it just for being able to upgrade the graphics card.

A 4 core model would have probably done you just fine, but what's done is done.
 
i took up video editing on saturday, the Mac Pro is now well worth it, editing 1080p footage and converting them is so quick. handbrake is amazing i had it using 100% on 6 cores. im having a lot of fun editing my gaming footage.:D
 
I am insanely jealous of you people with so much cash :eek: - I use Flash Pro CS4 and Final Cut Express and Soundtrack Pro on my 2008 MacBook (X3100) - believe me you have too much power (then again I am still editing all my Photos in Photoshop CS on a PowerMac G4/450 from 2000 :rolleyes:).

I wish I had a Mac Pro - much as I love my MacBook it does take forever to render and export.
 
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