Mac Pro questions (to buy or not to buy)

[snapdragonx]

Hi guys,

I realise the iMac vs Mac Pro question gets thrown around daily, so I apologise for bring it up again. But there is a ridiculous amount of conflicting information online, and after literally hours of research I still haven't come to a definite conclusion about which computer to buy.

I am a full-time videographer/video editor, and basically I'm tossing up between a new Mac Pro (base model, maybe 6-core) or maxed-out 27" iMac, and I have a few specific questions that hopefully someone can answer....

1) For basic video editing (by basic I mean documentary type work, so not a lot of effects) do the GPUs really matter much, or is it mainly the CPU that does the work?

2) When doing lots of video rendering, would the Mac Pro's main benefit be its ability to run cooler for longer? The i7 iMac gets very hot which is worrying in terms of its life-span.

3) Will I notice the difference between 4-core and 6-core in general non-CPU intensive tasks, or is it only rendering that will show a difference?

4) Can someone please make my decision for me and tell me which computer to buy

Thanks in advance.. sorry if these have been asked before.

 

[phrehdd]

You seem to have pretty good questions there.

Perhaps you should investigate what your particular software requirements are about. Some can exploit the ATI GPU and some cannot. You may also want to look into a Mac Pro refurb that offers up some good options for customizing a machine to fit your needs - from 6-8 core machines with RAM, drive and GPU upgrades to match your software.

I think you would get more feedback here if you listed which software you intend to use.

 

[snapdragonx]

You seem to have pretty good questions there.

Perhaps you should investigate what your particular software requirements are about. Some can exploit the ATI GPU and some cannot. You may also want to look into a Mac Pro refurb that offers up some good options for customizing a machine to fit your needs - from 6-8 core machines with RAM, drive and GPU upgrades to match your software.

I think you would get more feedback here if you listed which software you intend to use.

Thanks for the info.

I'm looking at the new Mac Pro, I wouldn't have thought refurbs would be available yet?

As for software, I primarily use Avid Media Composer and Adobe After Effects. I've tried to find out if Avid takes advantage of the GPUs, but haven't found anything conclusive.

 

[phrehdd]

Thanks for the info.

I'm looking at the new Mac Pro, I wouldn't have thought refurbs would be available yet?

As for software, I primarily use Avid Media Composer and Adobe After Effects. I've tried to find out if Avid takes advantage of the GPUs, but haven't found anything conclusive.

It was my error not to say an older model refurb of the Mac Pro.

From what I recall, both AMC and After Effects can exploit the GPU line from NVidia and make little use of the ATI GPU. This is Open GL vs Open CL respectively. - This is why I mentioned the older Mac Pro line up as you can put in NVidia cards.