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Mac Pro Quad 2.0GHz a good deal? (Or new mini?)

H

hector

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 18, 2006
208
8
Cheltenham, UK
Hi guys

I have been looking at the new mac minis (self upgrading the HDD and RAM), but for not too much more it looks like I could get a 12-18 month old mac pro.
Is it worth getting the older machine with better specs or will the new mini actually be more capable?

I will use it for photography (lightroom, PSE6, iphoto) word processing (MS Office 08) and obviously email/safari.
I have done quite a bit of searching around but can't seem to find much info on this topic, plenty about G5 powermacs vs mini but nothing on the dual xeon dual core 2.0ghz pros.

Any info/advice much appreciated
Thanks
 
I should add that I need to make a decision quickly as I have the option of buying the pro now... so need to work out if it is worth stumping up the extra or just going for the mini.
Thanks
 
The 2006/2007 2.0GHz quad Mac Pro is upgradable all the way up to 3.2GHz 8-core. To get it up to 2.66 8-core is about $500 or $600 thru e-bay. Plus all the cards and drives and stuff you can put in it.

So if you're thinking of doing something like that then the MP is better. If you just want a fast computer right now get the mini.

For photography either machine is suitable.
 
Tesselator said:
The 2006/2007 2.0GHz quad Mac Pro is upgradable all the way up to 3.2GHz 8-core. To get it up to 2.66 8-core is about $500 or $600 thru e-bay. Plus all the cards and drives and stuff you can put in it.

So if you're thinking of doing something like that then the MP is better. If you just want a fast computer right now get the mini.

For photography either machine is suitable.
Click to expand...

What 3.2Ghz processor is compatible with the 2006&2007 Mac Pro?
 
No matter what you can upgrade the Mac Pro to, it is the better deal. The RAM upgradability alone is worth it, not to mention you have the ability to upgrade the graphics card to something else as well. CPU upgradability is a nice perk too.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I actually ended up getting beaten to it by someone else while I was 'umming and aahing'...
Here is the link to the auction

Looks like someone got a pretty decent deal here, there is one in completed listings with only 2gb RAM which went for nearly £1000, however I'm still not sure whether to think I missed out or whether a mini would be faster:confused:
 
why do you think a mini would be faster? the only thing that i could think of that may be faster is the RAM. and only marginally.
 
It does not make much sense to compare notebook technology (the Mac Mini) with a Workstation-class computer (the Mac Pro) - the machines are not only not in the same league, they are not even playing the same game.

You buy the Mac Pro when you care for maximum data throughput, raw and scalable processing power and vast memory.

You buy the Mac Mini when you want something small and quiet with low power consumption that's still capable of getting the job done.

Both are wonderful machines, but located on opposite poles.

And no, even the new Mini has the slightest chance of outperforming the 2 GHz Quad Core Mac Pro.
 
I was just going by what I had read.
There was a thread I found where a guy was asking a similar question about new minis and a powermac G5. I was shocked to read the advice given which was to forget the G5, the new mini would outperform it, especially given that the 2ghz pro was the first intel pro apple desktop (ie teething problems), and the G5 was the last in a long line of highly regarded PPC processors (and touted as being the fastest home computer ever at the time).

Elsewhere advice I have read is that the newer macs outperform older machines even if they were better specced as the OS and software is optimised for the newer hardware. ie the old mac pro (quad 2ghz, 4gb RAM) would not be as quick as the new mini (dual 2ghz, 4gb RAM)

So the advice is to keep looking for an intel mac pro?
 
I think would be more happy to own a new low-end computer then a old low-end computer.
 
My advice is you won't go wrong either way.

However, your decision should come down to two things:

1. If you foresee needing more than 4 gigs of ram. Get the mac pro.

2. If you need mini-display port to run one of the led cinema displays: get the mac mini.
 
zer0tails said:
My advice is you won't go wrong either way.

However, your decision should come down to two things:

1. If you foresee needing more than 4 gigs of ram. Get the mac pro.

2. If you need mini-display port to run one of the led cinema displays: get the mac mini.
Click to expand...

The mac mini as DDR3 compared to the old mac pro. It would need 8GB of old DDR to perform as a 4GB DDR3.
 
Pika said:
I think would be more happy to own a new low-end computer then a old low-end computer.
Click to expand...

so, you're calling a mac pro a low-end computer?

And, maybe you're confused. The mac pro classic uses 667MHz DDR2 RAM, not DDR RAM. 8GB DDR2 > 4GB DDR3. I've read that DDR3 RAM really doesn't perform much better than DDR2.
 
Pika said:
The mac mini as DDR3 compared to the old mac pro. It would need 8GB of old DDR to perform as a 4GB DDR3.
Click to expand...

pika, appreciate your participation in the forums. But you shouldn't be giving false information such as 8GB of DDR2 ram performs as a 4GB DDR3 ram. Instead of helping the OP, you cause more harm.

Sure DDR3 ram is faster but not significantly, but no way would the mac pro's 8GB of ram only be equivalent to 4GB. just wrong.
 
Pika said:
Then a PowerMac G3 is a high end computer?

Everyone agree that the new outperform the old.
Click to expand...

Pretty much everything you say is wrong.

A Quad mac pro would out perform just about any mac mini. If we're talking multi-threaded apps, then the Mac Pro would kill the mini.
 
I agree...

The year 2009 will bring improvements in application utilization of multiple CPU cores as well as 64-bit applications able to exploit larger amounts of memory. An investment in a 2-core Mac Mini limited to 2GB memory could prove frustrating for some.

But i would still feel bad for purchasing old tech.
 
Pika said:
An investment in a 2-core Mac Mini limited to 2GB memory could prove frustrating for some.

But i would still feel bad for purchasing old tech.
Click to expand...

Ram in the mac mini can go up to 4GB per Apple. 6GB is probably supported in a 1x4GB and 1x2GB set up.

Mac mini is newly released as well, not old tech, utilizing DDR3 memory.
 
Comparing a Mac Pro to a Mac Mini is like comparing a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 to a... well a Mini actually. ;)
 
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