Looking to buy a Mac Pro off friend for Photo Editing...Specs look ok?

[Djbewise]

Mac Pro 2 X 2.66 GHz Dual Core Intel Xeon machine.
10GB RAM 667MHz DDR2 Fully-buffered DIMM ECC.
-2TB Hard Disk Space (4 x Maxtor MaXLine Pro 500 7H500F0 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives)
-2 - Nvidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB single-link DVI/Dual-link DVI Video Cards.
16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVDRW/CD-RW


trying to start doing some professional (RAW) editing with CS4 on a somewhat limited budget, so was wondering if this is the mac for me or if i should wait for the new iMacs with quad-core

 

[Tallest Skil]

Don't bother with that second GPU unless you have three monitors (or are planning on three).

Other than that, it seems like a fine workstation.

 

[Horst]

Looks like a very decent setup for CS4.

Maybe dump the drives in an external enclosure(s) for storage and get some internal WD 640GB drives, sell the second GPU.
Configured as described here , she should fly.

iMacs are likely to remain glossy, not too good for photo editing, imho.

 

[jrlcopy]

Mac Pro 2 X 2.66 GHz Dual Core Intel Xeon machine.
10GB RAM 667MHz DDR2 Fully-buffered DIMM ECC.
-2TB Hard Disk Space (4 x Maxtor MaXLine Pro 500 7H500F0 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives)
-2 - Nvidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB single-link DVI/Dual-link DVI Video Cards.
16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVDRW/CD-RW


trying to start doing some professional (RAW) editing with CS4 on a somewhat limited budget, so was wondering if this is the mac for me or if i should wait for the new iMacs with quad-core

I don't know how large your image files tend to be, but I'd cut back on the ram, closer to 6/8gb is plenty, Run far away from the Maxtor Hard Drives (personal experience from loosing 4 of that brand), Up the geforce to the 8800 (cs4/cs3 does take advantage of the gpu processing, so better the video card the better).

 

[edesignuk]

but I'd cut back on the ram, closer to 6/8gb is plenty

Why would you tell someone to reduce their RAM?

 

[opeter]

Up the geforce to the 8800 (cs4/cs3 does take advantage of the gpu processing, so better the video card the better).

Adobe CS3 apps does take the advanteage of the GPU? Since when? Yes, maybe Photoshop CS3 in the Extended version, but only if you are working with 3D objects.

 

[teohyc]

thats more than powerful to handle huge photos.
just remember to allocate harddisk for backup and scratch disk

 

[eXan]

Mac Pro 2 X 2.66 GHz Dual Core Intel Xeon machine.
10GB RAM 667MHz DDR2 Fully-buffered DIMM ECC.
-2TB Hard Disk Space (4 x Maxtor MaXLine Pro 500 7H500F0 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives)
-2 - Nvidia GeForce 7300GT 256MB single-link DVI/Dual-link DVI Video Cards.
16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVDRW/CD-RW


trying to start doing some professional (RAW) editing with CS4 on a somewhat limited budget, so was wondering if this is the mac for me or if i should wait for the new iMacs with quad-core

This Mac Pro will destroy any iMac, even if the new models get quads. This Mac Pro has 4 xeon cores running at 2.66 GHz each with a very fast bus and more cache, not to mention the 10 GB RAM (new iMac will most likely be limited to 8 GB, which is very expensive to get 2x 4 GB sticks) and having 4 internal HDs is awesome because it decreases clutter on desktop and doesnt require separate power for each.

The second video card is used only to drive additional displays (2 per card) so unless you have 3 and more its useless.

 

[jrlcopy]

Adobe CS3 apps does take the advanteage of the GPU? Since when? Yes, maybe Photoshop CS3 in the Extended version, but only if you are working with 3D objects.

You're right, well the video apps take advantage of it, I had thought cs3 photoshop did as well, my mistake. CS4 does though, but CS4 actually runs better on a PC than a mac, since CS4 on PC has a x64 version and it is only x32 on a mac.

 

[A Pittarelli]

i would say that youre solid with that new mac pro. i mean really, photoshop isnt really that complicated

 

[Djbewise]

thanks for all the feedback much appreciated!!

 

[NoNameBrand]

Why are you using CS4 for RAW processing? Lightroom or Aperture is a far nicer workflow.

Either way, that computer should do very well.

 

[Horst]

i would say that youre solid with that new mac pro. i mean really, photoshop isnt really that complicated

It depends; as the OP is going to do RAW processing, fast, seperate scratch and data drives can make quite a difference.