new iMac vs Mac Pro

[Luis Ortega]

I have gotten tired of waiting for the Mac Pro to get updated and was interested to know how well the new iMac with a 2.8 core 2 duo extreme and a 1Tb hard drive and 4 Gigs ram would handle working primarily in FCP Studio 2 and the Adobe CS3 Master Collection software.
I would naturally add external firewire hardrives for video editing,
I would also enjoy running some Windows games on a nice 24 inch screen.
My main concern is the 256 mb video card offered. How will this limit performance on a 24 inch screen?
Is this new iMac a viable alternative to running the software mentioned above in as reliable and stable a way as a Mac Pro?
Will the 4 gig maximum ram on the iMac be a noticeable limit on the speed or performance of the iMac for video editing?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[bocomo]

i was tired of waiting for the mac pro update in april! when the octo cores were announced, i laughed and bought a 4 core mac pro. the main reason for this was the upgradable nature of the mac pro. i don't use video editing, but i am a heavy photoshop user (files between 500MB and 1.5GB). the huge amount of ram you can put in this thing can't be beat. i say, grab a mac pro and forget about updates - just enjoy it

hope that helps

 

[66217]

I would say it is a capable computer to handle what you need. But as bocomo said, the Mac Pro would always be much better.

If you are a lot into editing, maybe a Mac Pro would be a good investment.

...but i am a heavy photoshop user (files between 500MB and 1.5GB)...

Just curious, what kind of files are so big?

 

[Willis]

I personally think the only reason MacPros havent seen an update is that... its still a great machine. Ok, the graphics need new options and ram prices cut (also increased from 1Gb standard), but other than that, its a perfectly excellent machine.

I do light-medium video work and 2Gb is workable and will be upgrading to 4+ soon

If you're gonna use Motion and such others, I would get a Mac Pro with a uprated graphics card. Get 3rd Party Ram too, much cheaper so allowing for a more affordable machine.

 

[bocomo]

Just curious, what kind of files are so big?

i'm an artist and you know we're always up to something...

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