Mac Pro 2008 + GTX 680 or buy an iMac

[Matterall373]

MP 2.8 (octo)
16GB
2 SSD's
GTX 285 (mac edition)

Replace the GPU with a 680 (mac edition) or selling it off and buying a 27" iMac.

iMacs are the prosumer computers now and this MP2008 is ancient (but still really powerful.) "New" feels good but when the shine wears off will I miss the 8 cores, fast FPS on games, etc?

I cannot decide, any advice?

 

[MSlaw]

Get the iMac if you are worried about game performance. And anything else for that matter.

Way better single core performance (better than the new Mac pro with 12 cores as a matter of fact:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7603/mac-pro-review-late-2013/7

Faster ram (2x clock speed) and cheaper to upgrade. It uses ECC ddr2 so 16 gigs will run you at least $500.

I could go on, but unless you are getting it for a few hundred dollars it's not worth the money. Get the iMac.

 

[Matterall373]

Get the iMac if you are worried about game performance. And anything else for that matter.

Way better single core performance (better than the new Mac pro with 12 cores as a matter of fact:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7603/mac-pro-review-late-2013/7

Faster ram (2x clock speed) and cheaper to upgrade. It uses ECC ddr2 so 16 gigs will run you at least $500.

I could go on, but unless you are getting it for a few hundred dollars it's not worth the money. Get the iMac.

thanks for the good insight.

 

[jpine]

I have a 30" ACD so I went with upgrading my 2008 MP (8 cores) and I'm happy I did so. I picked up a GTX 570 from macvidcards and doubled my RAM to 16GB. If you're using PhotoShop or some of the CUDA intensive Pro apps, the 570 and 580 will work better than the 680.

As to the price of RAM for the MP 3,1, the price has really come down. I picked up 8gigs for less than $100.00 USD.

 

[ActionableMango]

If you choose the MP route you should really try to get at least a 2009. With a simple firmware update, a 2009 becomes just as capable as a 2012. The optical bays will be SATA instead of IDE. The RAM is common and inexpensive. After the firmware update you can upgrade the CPU with Westmeres up to 3.46GHz Hexacores. Also the chassis changed in 2009, so some physical accessories, such as this, are only available for 2009 and newer models.

I have a 2010 Mac Pro and dropped in a W3580 3.33Ghz CPU last year for $120. Combined with an eVGA GTX 680, it plays BF4 on ultra settings just fine.

I would pick an iMac over a 2008 MP, but I'd pick a 2009 or newer MP over the iMac. Even with a CPU disadvantage, it'll do better than the iMac because most games are GPU bottlenecked and you'll never be able to upgrade the mobile GPU in the iMac.

Keep in mind with an iMac you'll also be locked into a glossy reflective screen with few input options and no ergonomic adjustments other than tilt.