The new Mac Pro vs the new iMac?

[qveda]

What about external storage? if you get PCIe SSD on the iMac, or if you get a nMP, you'll probably want to buy external TB storage (hdd or PCIe SSD), and likely even backup hdd storage. That can be a significant investment.

I'm about to upgrade from my 2008 MP. Since I could use a monitor upgrade as well, I'm I am strongly leaning toward the new iMac with PCIe SSD. Then add external TB1 storage (OWC Helion, or Pegasus or Drobo).

 

[ender78]

What about external storage? if you get PCIe SSD on the iMac, or if you get a nMP, you'll probably want to buy external TB storage (hdd or PCIe SSD), and likely even backup hdd storage. That can be a significant investment.

I'm about to upgrade from my 2008 MP. Since I could use a monitor upgrade as well, I'm I am strongly leaning toward the new iMac with PCIe SSD. Then add external TB1 storage (OWC Helion, or Pegasus or Drobo).

I got by iMac with a 512GB SSD. It sits today about 1/2 full. Most of my media sits on a 4TB external drive enclosure. The heavy lifting that I do with my machine is in Lightroom and Photoshop. I plan on getting a 1TB external SSD in the future on which I will store my 400GB Aperture library which will eventually make its way into Lightroom.

 

[joema2]

What about external storage? if you get PCIe SSD on the iMac, or if you get a nMP, you'll probably want to buy external TB storage (hdd or PCIe SSD), and likely even backup hdd storage. That can be a significant investment...

Exactly right. For many of the higher-end tasks the nMP is targeted at, you need an external Thunderbolt RAID array -- something like the Promise Pegasus R4. That adds to the overall cost.

As you said, even *that* will require backup. You can't just hope that RAID will save you. So you need extra external backup for the extra external storage. That's more money.

So the big picture is not iMac vs nMP, but the total system cost of computer, monitor, external storage, and backup for all internal and external storage.

For a fixed dollar amount, this realistically means a max'd out iMac 27 with a Thunderbolt RAID array & Thunderbolt backup, vs a nMP with no external storage and backup.

Due to the higher cost of the nMP, if you're tempted to skimp on the external storage, you could easily end up with a slower overall system for I/O intensive tasks.

Given unlimited money of course you'd get a nMP with all the high-end storage and backup you want. However most people are working with a fixed budget and the total system cost is what counts, not just the computer cost.