MacPro for work and play ?

[Galileo]

I'm looking to get a MacPro and while I think I'm on the right track I'm not certain and would appreciate any advice.

I need it for :

1/ Work - Windows based trading software (tradeStation,esignal) + Brokerage software + Browser open (occasionally skype as well) + dual monitors in use.

2/ Daily general computing - surfing the net, amateur photography, music, email, etc..

3/ Gaming.


I plan in using VMware or Parallels (not sure which one) while working, OS X for the daily stuff and Boot Camp while gaming.


I should be looking at a Quad-Core 2.93 and not the 8-Core one, right ?
I should get minimum Ram and upgrade with OWC, right ?
I should just stick with the 4870 for now, right ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Techhie]

The quad 2.93 should be more than enough computer for your needs, but if you are interested in future-proofing you will want to get the octad. Most software now in both Windows and OS X rely on single-core clock speeds, so the octad may be a bit slower until code is optimized. You may be interested to know that the quad core model only has 4 RAM slots, while the 8 core has 8. This makes upgrading the ram worlds cheaper.

As for the GPU, the Radeon will do fine for mostly anything you would run, but if you want to push some serious pixels you should consider going to the Nvidia GTX 285.