Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro?

S

sbb155

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 15, 2005
498
5
Can someone talk to me about mac pro? I mainly do video editing, but not professional. I am a pro-amateur in the final cut express area. I use a macbook, and I have been told that the mac book pro will not add much as far as editing speed, rendering speed, etc. since the video card is largely irrelevant and processing power is what is needed.

Does that leave me with the macpro as my only option? Are there any macpro vs. MBP data on video rendering, etc.? I am also looking for similar things with comparisons amongst pro models. Couldnt I get by with the bottom of the line model?

Portability is not important. I have PC laptops and a macbook.

Can someone tell me how fast the darn mac pro really is? And is the 30 incher the only way to display such an awesome machine?

SB
 
my mac pro totally kicked my zits to the curb!

why not get an imac? I can't see why any hobbyist would need a mac pro, unless they just want it.
 
A MacPro will knock the socks off rendering time, but not only because of the video card, but the processing power and future expansion... The price reflects that too. ;)

I'm super happy with the 'base' model of the MacPro and have it on a Dell 24" screen. I'd go for a 30", but I had to take out a second mortgage to get the Pro.

The more I think about it, a 24" iMac would have been a wise choice, but I wanted something with more future expandability, RAM and HDD mostly.

So to answer your question, the Pro is damn fast; I have the Quad 2.66, and it opens Photoshop CS3 in literally 3 seconds. I haven't bought FCE yet as I haven't done much video work, so I can't give you statistics on that. But I'd be happy to let you know about how fast things run.
 
duhhhhhh isnt the imac basically no faster than a mac book pro? Same processor basically, etc...

If I spend $2500 on a mac, what is the fastest I can buy.... a Mac Pro with 2gb ram OR a mac book pro with 4gb ram?

How much ram is needed in a mac pro to get the speed advantage?

I would use eduational discount.

I dont get how you guys would recc an imac when it is the same as a macbook pro.
 
u do realise that you don't get a screen with macpro?
that's why people are recommending the iMac 24" with all the trimmings

but if screen is irrelevant and u really want mac pro (which it seems you do) if u go for the quad 2.0Ghz you can get 4GB RAM for close to the price of the mbp you keep banging on about

for slightly less than the macpro tower there, u get iMac with 24", 2.33GhZ C2D, 3Gb RAM, 256MB VRAM, 250GB HDD

processor much slower yes, but u get a screen


your choice
 
>sbb155

Yes, the iMac, Mini, Macbooks are basically all the same architecture -- laptops. While the MacBook Pro has been updated to the latest chipset.

All are similar in speed if running similar CPUs, so even spending a lot of money on an iMac isn't going to net a significant gain over a MacBook Pro and an external Dell 24-30 screen.

---

The biggest boost for the Mac Pro besides the second CPU, is the max RAM of 32GB.

While 2GB for the Mac Pro might not be optimal compared to a MacBook/iMac with 4GB, the MacBook is maxed and will never get any faster -- the Mac Pro just needs more memory to get you over that VM Manager speed sapping hump.

About the only thing you'd really want to think about upgrading is the video card to the ATI during ordering, and let Apple credit you for the $200 low end card.

And save some bucks and get a Dell LCD instead.

---

If Apple offered an actual desktop chipset unit with 8-16GB of memory capacity, it would likely be the pro unit of choice.

But it's either a laptop or a workstation, and if you need RAM and HD space. There is sadly only one choice.
 
Mac Pro is a good machine and the best choice for video over MBP and iMac because you can upgrade the disks and optical drive.

Don't get fooled by "32gb of RAM" yet because FCP cannot take advantage of large quantities of ram yet, see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93844, so it cannot load the video clips to ram and work from there. Hopefully this will change when Leopard arrives. I really wanted to give a finger to apple because I read the note after I had bought and set up my Mac Pro & FCP. Again one of those little things that are not really mentioned clearly anywhere when you are looking the specs...

The disks are the bottleneck of the system, you might want to have 10k sata disk for scratch and bounce disk. Because projects cannot be loaded in to ram your hardrives will be doing a lot of work when you are editing so having fast disks is important if you want speed. The 4x 2.66 cores are more than enough, although I haven't had a chance to try editing & rendering proper HD stuff yet.

and oh, if you want a jog/shuttle, Shuttle Pro v2 sucks, it only emulates keystrokes on a keyborad so you can forget that smooth analog-style shuttling/jogging. I don't know any good alternative though :(

-Tomi
 
If I spend $2500 on a mac, what is the fastest I can buy.... a Mac Pro with 2gb ram OR a mac book pro with 4gb ram?
Click to expand...

A MacbookPro can't touch a Mac Pro. If 2500 is your budget, get the Mac Pro if you want the fastest 2500 can buy.

People are suggeseting the iMac because a Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro aren't "2 sides of the same coin"

If you're deciding between a Apple laptop, or desktop, its MacbookPro or iMac... a Mac Pro is soooo much more of a machine than a laptop, you can't really be deciding between the two with any parity.

It's like saying "Should I get a Corvette, or a McLaren F1". Corvettes are great, but no one chooses between a Corvette and a Mclaren. They choose between a corvette and a dodge charger.

If you have money and want a desktop, of course get a Mac Pro. But if you're wanting something similar to a MacbookPro, then the iMac is the competitor, not the Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro has no competition, other than itself.
 
is 3gb RAM good enough for the pro for minor video projects? (<45 minute videos) .

I don't need a screen, and the imac is no faster than a MBP, so I would choose MBP over imac...

Seems like the choice is MP>MBP=iMac>MB>MM

Is the dual 2ghz that much slower than the 2.66? would I be better with dual 2ghz and 5gbn ram vs. dual 2.66 and 3 gb ram?
 
sbb155 said:
Can someone talk to me about mac pro? I mainly do video editing, but not professional. I am a pro-amateur in the final cut express area.
Click to expand...

There you go... Mac Pro is for professionals, generally people who bill by the hour for their work. When you go pro, you'll need one. For now, an iMac is probably the much better value and will do what you need. The MBP is too much money for too little power - you're mainly paying for portability for that system.
 
sbb155 said:
Is the dual 2ghz that much slower than the 2.66? would I be better with dual 2ghz and 5gbn ram vs. dual 2.66 and 3 gb ram?
Click to expand...

Dude, don't spend your last penny trying to get into the cheapest Mac Pro you can afford. You're trading dollars for pennies here.

If you're basing your decision to buy the worlds most powerful desktop computer, and 200 bucks is making your decision, wait a few weeks and save some money! Mac Pro's really shouldn't be bought with your last dime.

If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it. Pick the machine you WANT, and they pay for it. I bought the base 2.66, and then instantly added about 1000 in upgrades. My business financed it. I didn't sit and think "I could save a 200 bucks by dropping the processors down..." no. I selected what I NEEDED, and I bought it. I am not even sure what it cost, because as long as it was somewhere between 3000-5000 dollars, I was going to be fine.
 
Sean Dempsey said:
Dude, don't spend your last penny trying to get into the cheapest Mac Pro you can afford. You're trading dollars for pennies here.

If you're basing your decision to buy the worlds most powerful desktop computer, and 200 bucks is making your decision, wait a few weeks and save some money! Mac Pro's really shouldn't be bought with your last dime.

If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it. Pick the machine you WANT, and they pay for it. I bought the base 2.66, and then instantly added about 1000 in upgrades. My business financed it. I didn't sit and think "I could save a 200 bucks by dropping the processors down..." no. I selected what I NEEDED, and I bought it. I am not even sure what it cost, because as long as it was somewhere between 3000-5000 dollars, I was going to be fine.
Click to expand...
good advice.

The Mac Pro is for people that need the best desktop available, regardless of money. If you're on a tight budget, then either get the iMac or MBP, or save some more to be able to get a good Mac Pro.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back