Mac Pro Upgrade Questions

[DHKaplan]

I have a quad core 2009 Mac Pro that I want to upgrade to a new machine to be able to use the '09 for other purposes. I've already increased the memory to 16G and swapped out the boot drive to an SSD to give me a bit more life in the unit.


Main usage:
File server
Periodic Parallels usage
Periodic iMovie
iPhoto db currently over 1G
Perodic Audacity usage
Browsing, Numbers & Pages

Question 1) I've seen a reference that the new v3 chips rumored for a nMP refresh are only several percent greater in processing power than the current 2013 nMP chips. Anyone know anything about this? This would help me decide to wait for a refresh or not. Given my limited video editing I don't know how much the new graphic cards would affect me.

Question 2) Given my usage, would the extra cores of a 6 core 3.5G nMP give me that much more benefit over a cheaper 4 core 4.0G iMac 5K?

Question 3) Does 16G seem like enough memory. I usually have tons free unless I'm running Parallels.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[IowaLynn]

Buy a 2nd 2009 $829 Or, Apple Special 6-core would be cheaper. I don't think you have outgrown the 4,1

An SSD just for VMs $120
XP941 type SSD for system $300
Memory: 3 x 8GB instead on the 2nd system (and you can swap parts for testing or as needed)
Avoids the costs of Thunderbolt and having to use Mavericks or Yosemite if that matters.

Does not seem like a nMP 6,1 makes sense.