Sell MBP for Mac Pro?

[adamvk]

Well Currently I have an unibody Macbook Pro. I've started to notice it isn't as fast as I hoped it would be in regards to CAD performance. So I am looking at the possibility of selling my MBP and buying either a current generation Mac Pro, or a last generation Mac Pro. The problem is that I don't want to spend too much extra money on the Mac Pro. I figure I can sell my Macbook Pro for $1700 or so.

Would the graphics performance be a LOT better on the current generation Mac Pro?

What about the last Mac Pro w/ 2.6GHZ Xeon, 4GB of ram, and 8800GT?

Thanks.

Also if anyone has recommendations on where to buy a Mac Pro, let me know

My budget is only $2500, but that also would need to include monitor.

 

[Rhalliwell1]

remember you need to get a monitor with that too (if you dont already have one.) What about a 24" iMac with the ATI 4850?

 

[iBookG4user]

remember you need to get a monitor with that too (if you dont already have one.) What about a 24" iMac with the ATI 4850?

I don't think that the iMac would make a tremendous amount of difference in performance that it would be worth selling the MacBook Pro. The Mac Pro would be a much more appreciable difference and much more worth the hassle in getting IMO.

As to the OP, I would get the Mac Pro if you're not satisfied with the performance of the MacBook pro. I've seen the stock Octo 2.8GHz Mac Pros hovering around $2000-2100, so you could pick up one of those. Add 4GB of RAM for ~$100, a 23/24" monitor for ~$200 and a GeForce 8800GT for ~$200. Then you would have a very formidable machine that would be a lot faster than the MacBook Pro that it would be replacing.

 

[Rhalliwell1]

I don't think that the iMac would make a tremendous amount of difference in performance that it would be worth selling the MacBook Pro. The Mac Pro would be a much more appreciable difference and much more worth the hassle in getting IMO.

As to the OP, I would get the Mac Pro if you're not satisfied with the performance of the MacBook pro. I've seen the stock Octo 2.8GHz Mac Pros hovering around $2000-2100, so you could pick up one of those. Add 4GB of RAM for ~$100, a 23/24" monitor for ~$200 and a GeForce 8800GT for ~$200. Then you would have a very formidable machine that would be a lot faster than the MacBook Pro that it would be replacing.

He is after graphics performance. ATI Radeon 4850 is far better than an 8800 GT.

 

[jnc]

He is after graphics performance. ATI Radeon 4850 is far better than an 8800 GT.

The 4870 is compatible with last-gen Mac Pros... problem solved

 

[Rhalliwell1]

The 4870 is compatible with last-gen Mac Pros... problem solved

$200 over budget at least though!

 

[adamvk]

Well thanks guys for help so far.

I will admit, an iMac w/ 4850 is VERY tempting, considering I could get it with 8GB of ram, a large HDD, and it comes with a 24" display.

Or I could just keep my MBP...I'm so torn on what to do....