I currently have an original 2006 Mac Pro (dual 2.66GHz) which has served me well over the past 4+ years but I'm thinking that the time has come to look for a replacement.
Here are the replacement machines I've been looking at along with my thoughts...
2010 MacPro - 2.8GHz Quad
While I like the price point ($2500), I'm not sure how much of a performance boost I will get over my current machine. Also the processor architecture is the previous generation (Nehalem vs Westmere). Is that a legit concern?
2010 MacPro - 3.2GHz Quad
Once again, chip architecture and performance (to a lesser extent due to the higher clock speed) are concerns but $2,900 is doable from a financial standpoint.
2010 MacPro - 3.33GHz Hex
This is the one I really want but $3,700 is out of my price range.
2009 MacPro (Refurbished) - 2.93GHz Quad
This configuration drew some interest when I saw it in the refurbished section of the Apple Online Store mainly due to the $2,500 price tag.
The computer will be mainly used for graphics creation/editing (Photoshop) and web development (Dreamweaver) as well as for web surfing, e-mail, photo and music management and MS Office applications. I also run Parallels because there are a couple of applications that I need to run that are Windows-only.
So my question to the MacRumors' community is which of the above machines would you recommend or should I just stand pat with my 2006 MacPro and wait for the next refresh.
FWIW, I did consider an iMac but the 21" is a little underpowered IMO and the 27" will not fit on my desk.
Here are the replacement machines I've been looking at along with my thoughts...
2010 MacPro - 2.8GHz Quad
While I like the price point ($2500), I'm not sure how much of a performance boost I will get over my current machine. Also the processor architecture is the previous generation (Nehalem vs Westmere). Is that a legit concern?
2010 MacPro - 3.2GHz Quad
Once again, chip architecture and performance (to a lesser extent due to the higher clock speed) are concerns but $2,900 is doable from a financial standpoint.
2010 MacPro - 3.33GHz Hex
This is the one I really want but $3,700 is out of my price range.
2009 MacPro (Refurbished) - 2.93GHz Quad
This configuration drew some interest when I saw it in the refurbished section of the Apple Online Store mainly due to the $2,500 price tag.
The computer will be mainly used for graphics creation/editing (Photoshop) and web development (Dreamweaver) as well as for web surfing, e-mail, photo and music management and MS Office applications. I also run Parallels because there are a couple of applications that I need to run that are Windows-only.
So my question to the MacRumors' community is which of the above machines would you recommend or should I just stand pat with my 2006 MacPro and wait for the next refresh.
FWIW, I did consider an iMac but the 21" is a little underpowered IMO and the 27" will not fit on my desk.