That's what she said!
Sorry, too much Steve Carrell and Office on the brain. I couldn't resist. And cmon, someone else out there was thinking the same thing.
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iMac vs MacPro : advices and rendering issues
- Thread starter wahit
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That's what she said!
Sorry, too much Steve Carrell and Office on the brain. I couldn't resist. And cmon, someone else out there was thinking the same thing.
Forget about the iMac, even if you bought 2 its still half the cores of a Mac Pro.
If the iMac goes quad core with support for upto 8gb of RAM with the next revision due in November, then you could probably get away with it, but I would still strongly suggest getting a Mac Pro, and preferably waiting until January for the next revision of the Mac Pro rumoured to be significantly faster.
You could step down to the quad core Mac Pro, buy a 4gb RAM kit to install yourself totalling in 6gb, and buy a decent monitor such as a cinema display for under 3000 Euros. That would be an awesome set up, and would last a long while with all the possible upgrade options.
If the iMac goes quad core with support for upto 8gb of RAM with the next revision due in November, then you could probably get away with it, but I would still strongly suggest getting a Mac Pro, and preferably waiting until January for the next revision of the Mac Pro rumoured to be significantly faster.
You could step down to the quad core Mac Pro, buy a 4gb RAM kit to install yourself totalling in 6gb, and buy a decent monitor such as a cinema display for under 3000 Euros. That would be an awesome set up, and would last a long while with all the possible upgrade options.
Thanks guys... now I'm more into the MacPro again.
I guess I'm going to buy the 2x 2.8Ghz QuadCore version, with 2GB RAM and later add some extra RAM, but not from Apple!
Now I need some extra information:
1) the graphic card! What kind of graphic card can I use with the MacPro? On the Apple Store I can choose between ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256M, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB and NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB. Can I add any other graphic card from the market, or my choices are just between these 3 models?
2) the display! Even though the Apple Cinema display is awesome, is way too expensive for my price range right now, so I need to buy a different display for the MacPro. I don't really want to buy one over 450-550 euros.
Can you please check out this website and tell me a good replacement for the Apple Cinema display? I need a display that is at least 24" ...
Thank you very much!! I really appreciate your help!
I guess I'm going to buy the 2x 2.8Ghz QuadCore version, with 2GB RAM and later add some extra RAM, but not from Apple!
Now I need some extra information:
1) the graphic card! What kind of graphic card can I use with the MacPro? On the Apple Store I can choose between ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256M, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB and NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB. Can I add any other graphic card from the market, or my choices are just between these 3 models?
2) the display! Even though the Apple Cinema display is awesome, is way too expensive for my price range right now, so I need to buy a different display for the MacPro. I don't really want to buy one over 450-550 euros.
Can you please check out this website and tell me a good replacement for the Apple Cinema display? I need a display that is at least 24" ...
Thank you very much!! I really appreciate your help!
The other option is the Radeon 3870HD, but you would probably need to order it from the US as it needs to be the Mac version. I'd go with the 8800GT as it will offer you the best performance for the price.
I'd reccomend you look at the Dell 2408WFP. You should be able to find it for around 550 euros if you search around. While the 24" displays you linked too are all decent displays they are using TN panels which may not be ideal for your work. TN displays tend to have poor viewing angles meaning you need to sit directly infront of the screen and have poor colour accuracy, brightness and contrast ratios. They are fine for general use, playing video games, watching movies, but in my opinion where content creation is concerned, especially in a workplace you want something better.
If you decide you would rather save some money and get a TN panel the Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM gets good reviews.
I just bought a Mac Pro, my gf had the Imac....
Two different beasts, and IMOH the Mac Pro is worth *much* more than the few 100 euros difference.
I added 8gb of ram (128 euros inc tax per 4gb here in the NL)
http://www.interngeheugen.com/prodmem.odb?artcod=16368
I had a few 'old' 320 Gb hard disks I had not used since I sold my PC, and now I could put them in the Mac pro and use them as scratch disks for Photoshop and so on. It's built to allow you to expand, or make mistakes and fix them if you have the wrong video card for instance...
Two different beasts, and IMOH the Mac Pro is worth *much* more than the few 100 euros difference.
I added 8gb of ram (128 euros inc tax per 4gb here in the NL)
http://www.interngeheugen.com/prodmem.odb?artcod=16368
I had a few 'old' 320 Gb hard disks I had not used since I sold my PC, and now I could put them in the Mac pro and use them as scratch disks for Photoshop and so on. It's built to allow you to expand, or make mistakes and fix them if you have the wrong video card for instance...
Forget the iMac. Its a consumer machine. What you need is a pro-class machine designed specifically for such heavy tasks as 3D.
DEFINITELY get the 8 core version - only slightly more expensive, but will nearly cut your rendering times in half, saving considerable amount of time (and money). Getting 4 core and adding another CPU later is soo not worth it and has an insane price.
I recommend getting the stock config, probably only adding the GeForce 8800. Get RAM from 3rd party, as well as additional HDs. The CPU is probably the most important thing in 3D, so by all means get 8 core!
I know some people working with 3D who had a similar dilemma - high-end iMac or Mac Pro? A guy bought the iMac thinking it would be just fine, but sold it 3 days after and bought an 8 core Mac Pro - working on the iMac was like trying to play Crysis on iPod touch he says...
DEFINITELY get the 8 core version - only slightly more expensive, but will nearly cut your rendering times in half, saving considerable amount of time (and money). Getting 4 core and adding another CPU later is soo not worth it and has an insane price.
I recommend getting the stock config, probably only adding the GeForce 8800. Get RAM from 3rd party, as well as additional HDs. The CPU is probably the most important thing in 3D, so by all means get 8 core!
I know some people working with 3D who had a similar dilemma - high-end iMac or Mac Pro? A guy bought the iMac thinking it would be just fine, but sold it 3 days after and bought an 8 core Mac Pro - working on the iMac was like trying to play Crysis on iPod touch he says...
Ok... my decision is final now - i guess!
I'm going to order this:
Apple MacPro with 2x 2.8Ghz QuadCore ; 2GB RAM ; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
+
Apple Cinema Display 23"
All together will cost me 3500 euros. Will this be a good purchase for my needs? Or do you think I should get another cheaper/best display?
I'm going to order this:
Apple MacPro with 2x 2.8Ghz QuadCore ; 2GB RAM ; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
+
Apple Cinema Display 23"
All together will cost me 3500 euros. Will this be a good purchase for my needs? Or do you think I should get another cheaper/best display?
Looks good.Ok... my decision is final now - i guess!
I'm going to order this:
Apple MacPro with 2x 2.8Ghz QuadCore ; 2GB RAM ; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
+
Apple Cinema Display 23"
All together will cost me 3500 euros. Will this be a good purchase for my needs? Or do you think I should get another cheaper/best display?
I promise you: after you've used that ACD for a while you will NOT be able to work efficiently on any other display
You will almost certainly want 4GB or RAM in the Mac Pro. You don't have to buy it from Apple.
Oh yes.... I'm going to order 8GB RAM extra, but not from Apple, totaling 10GB of RAM.
eXan, I sure hope so! hehehe