To upgrade or not to upgrade?

[limegator]

I bought an iMac a year ago and would like to upgrade to a Mac Pro. My main use for the mac is for music production and basically all the plug-ins I use are CPU hungry. My question is, should I upgrade to a Mac Pro now or wait until the newer version of the Mac Pro comes out which is- who knows? But I am in need of upgrading quick because the iMac is definitely not cutting it and nor do I want to drop more dollars on purchasing more memory and such. Help me Mac users!

 

[termina3]

The general rule is if you need it now, don't wait. Simply put, unless they release an updated MP tomorrow (earliest hypothetical date is now sometime in late Sept. I think...), it's more economical to get one now and start taking in the time-cut benefits.

Also, the great thing about the Mac Pro is that you can easily upgrade everything but the processors (even they're not too difficult), and so if there's a major graphics update you can just DIY install an OEM card and install the new drivers.

In short, buy now, don't regret it.

 

[limegator]

Do you suggest Dual or Quad?

 

[Royale w/cheese]

They are all quad now, well dual- dual core , and dual quad core. (something like that) I would say get the best you can afford. If it is the base one, it will still probably be an helpful upgrade.

 

[astrostu]

On the first question, what was said before: Buy now if you NEED, wait if you can.

On the second question, how many simultaneous CPU-intensive tasks do you do? Are you doing more than, say, downloading files, watching a movie, encoding a movie, and doing something else? If you're doing more than that then you should consider 8 cores. Otherwise, 4 will probably be fine.

 

[limegator]

On the first question, what was said before: Buy now if you NEED, wait if you can.

On the second question, how many simultaneous CPU-intensive tasks do you do? Are you doing more than, say, downloading files, watching a movie, encoding a movie, and doing something else? If you're doing more than that then you should consider 8 cores. Otherwise, 4 will probably be fine.

I'll be running about 3-4 cpu intensive tasks simultaneously.

 

[astrostu]

I'll be running about 3-4 cpu intensive tasks simultaneously.

Then you need to decide if it's worth the extra money to you for the expandability that 8 cores will offer.

 

[Mr.Noisy]

A Quad core or 8 core ?? Tough call,
Can you afford the 8 core, will you be taking full advantage of the extra cores over the quad to warrant buying it??
or get a refurb Quad ? some good refurb prices out there.
How much extra RAM will you add?
How many Hard Drives will you be adding?

My personal choice was the 2.66 Quad with extra RAM & 3 extra Hard drives,

would i choose differently if i had to buy again.........no

Whichever root you take the Mac Pro is an excellent machine, i'm still grinning from ear to ear.