Questions on Mac Pro

1. The 2.66 will not be a thing of the past, it is an AMAZING machine.
2. The difference is there, however If you are going to have one or two final cut preojects open the 2.66 should be enough for you.
3. Increasing the RAM will do miracles, 4 gig is a really nice target and you cna always easily add more.

 

The 2.66 will not be a thing of the past. I would up the ram to 4 gigs. You will see a HUGE difference in performance from your Macbook. Keep the 2.66.

 

1. Nope, the 2.66 is really the best value proposition at this point, the 2.0 doesn't save you enough but the 3.0 and octo don't give enough for their cost.

2. You'd notice the 3.0 quad very little, and the octo would have advantages, but really in everyday use the difference is not enough to make you much less productive. the 3.0 might be 12% faster on a good day, the octo could be 124% faster in theory but that's only when you have all 8 cores maxed, which is not very often. The octo is more likely to be held back by HDDs, ram etc, so unless you can buy it AND lots of ram, a fibrechannel etc, it's not likely to be a big upgrade. You already have the fantastic yet economical option, plus you can get a new one sooner.

3. Indeed, I suggest getting 2x2gb from OWC (as opposed to 4x1gb, the cost difference is negligible if it even exists, and it leaves you with 4 open slots for future upgrades). 1gb is nowhere near enough to run FCP or most other pro applications, but 5gb total will give you some nice speed.

You made the right choice, the 2.66 plus another 2-4gb ram is the best option for most power-hungry users without enormous budgets. Past the 2.66, the price per performance equation becomes much less impressive.

 

If you are going to be using Motion, I would definitely go with the x1900. Its not that much more expensive, and quite worth it!

EDIT:

Not to mention, directly from the Apple Website:

 

Go with the ATI X1900XT if you can afford it. Gives you more versatility and if you are runnung Motion you will need it.