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Upgrade to new Mac Pro base model?

petvas

petvas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,809
Munich, Germany
I own a first generation Mac Pro with two CPUs @2,66Ghz, 16GB RAM and an Nvidia 8800 graphic card. I have about 3000$ to spend on a new computer, so I am planning to upgrade to the latest Mac Pro 1CPU Nehalem model.

I am using my Mac Pro for a lot of things, like Internet browsing, email, video editing with Adobe Premiere for my home made films (nothing on the pro level), video streaming to my PS3, basic photo editing and other typical computing tasks. Nothing major here...
I like the expandability of the Mac Pro, so please don't tell me to get an iMac.

The question is, do you think that such an upgrade would be worth it? My main problem with my current Mac Pro is that it uses 32bit EFI and most probably it won't be able to run the next Mac OS X version. Thanks for your suggestions.
 
petvas said:
I am using my Mac Pro for a lot of things, like Internet browsing, email, video editing with Adobe Premiere for my home made films (nothing on the pro level), video streaming to my PS3, basic photo editing and other typical computing tasks. Nothing major here...
Click to expand...

a.) Does your current one handle these well?

petvas said:
My main problem with my current Mac Pro is that it uses 32bit EFI and most probably it won't be able to run the next Mac OS X version. Thanks for your suggestions.
Click to expand...

If a = yes, wait for Sandy Bridge and OS X 10.7
If a = no, upgrade will improve a bit, but is not going to blow your mind for the tasks you're performing.

Worrying about future software is hardly a reason to upgrade if you're not having problems doing what you need with your current computer.

Good luck! :)
 
There is not even a single bit of info about 10.7 so I wouldn't worry yet. We don't know when it's coming or what EFIs does it support. If your current Mac Pro is enough in terms of performance, I would keep it. Yes, the value will drop if 10.7 is 64-bit only but not dramatically, even PPC Macs still sell pretty well.
 
Performance is excellent. The only thing that could be better is the transcoding of mkv films to my PS3 using PS3 media server.
The 2,8GHz Nehalem should be about 50-75% faster than my current setup. I do not want to wait for the news to come out that 10.7 wont support 32bit EFIs, because If I do my system will lose value. It would be nice if we could know what Apple is planning to do...
 
petvas said:
I do not want to wait for the news to come out that 10.7 wont support 32bit EFIs, because If I do my system will lose value. It would be nice if we could know what Apple is planning to do...
Click to expand...

Knowing Apple, it's very unlikely that they will say a word about EFI compatibility. I guess the first info we will get is when first betas arrive and developers test it, meaning that not everyone will know does it support 2006 Mac Pro.

I wouldn't switch it just because there is possibility that it won't work.
 
If you are only gonna get a quad, maybe you should look into a 2009 quad refurb. It will save you some money and you could use that for RAM and HDs.
 
I just upgraded to the base 2.8 QC from the '06 dual proc, dual core. Very happy I did. Just playing around in Aperture w/ RAW files I can def. feel the difference. No more beach balls. I only have 3GB RAM right now b/c the 3rd party 8GB kit was defective :(. Should have the replacement by tomorrow but even w/ just 3GB it's purring a long -- I haven't bothered to torture it yet though.

FWIW my 32 bit Geekbench is 8896 or thereabout (don't remember the exact). My old 2.66 was in the low 5,000s.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
I just upgraded to the base 2.8 QC from the '06 dual proc, dual core. Very happy I did. Just playing around in Aperture w/ RAW files I can def. feel the difference. No more beach balls. I only have 3GB RAM right now b/c the 3rd party 8GB kit was defective :(. Should have the replacement by tomorrow but even w/ just 3GB it's purring a long -- I haven't bothered to torture it yet though.

FWIW my 32 bit Geekbench is 8896 or thereabout (don't remember the exact). My old 2.66 was in the low 5,000s.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post. If I get the new Mac Pro , then I will also order 16GB Kingston RAM (costs about 650€). I also think that almost double the processing power isn't that bad for an upgrade. Of course I wont see any big difference when surfing the Internet, but some extra power is always nice to have.
 
ByteOfApple said:
a.) Does your current one handle these well?



If a = yes, wait for Sandy Bridge and OS X 10.7
If a = no, upgrade will improve a bit, but is not going to blow your mind for the tasks you're performing.

Worrying about future software is hardly a reason to upgrade if you're not having problems doing what you need with your current computer.

Good luck! :)
Click to expand...
Will Sandy Bridge make so much difference?
 
petvas said:
I own a first generation Mac Pro with two CPUs @2,66Ghz, 16GB RAM and an Nvidia 8800 graphic card. I have about 3000$ to spend on a new computer, so I am planning to upgrade to the latest Mac Pro 1CPU Nehalem model.

I am using my Mac Pro for a lot of things, like Internet browsing, email, video editing with Adobe Premiere for my home made films (nothing on the pro level), video streaming to my PS3, basic photo editing and other typical computing tasks. Nothing major here...
I like the expandability of the Mac Pro, so please don't tell me to get an iMac.

The question is, do you think that such an upgrade would be worth it? My main problem with my current Mac Pro is that it uses 32bit EFI and most probably it won't be able to run the next Mac OS X version. Thanks for your suggestions.
Click to expand...


I have a similar config (16GB ram,2.66) but a 4870 Apple video card.

I would not upgrade unless you are truly CPU bound (all 4 maxed out when trying to do work etc..)

Otherwise Wait till you are CPU bound. Otherwise it is wasting money, and the Mac Pro to wait for is the Sandy Bridge models. The next OS X might only support that new tech, and any 2010 and below Mac Pro at that time will be cut out of support.

Wont it suck if you buy a 2010 and OS 10.8 no longer supports anything less than Sandy Bridge? The smart thing is to wait for a true Next Gen mac.
 
petvas said:
I don't think that Apple will cut support for 2010 Mac Pros so soon.
Click to expand...

They won't but I think if you're currently satisfied with your current machine there is no reason to upgrade. The new machine will be faster than your older one, but I think you might be better off waiting for the updated chipsets next year or consider the 3.2GHz Quad core at least.
 
petvas said:
According to Wikipedia the Sandy Bridge Processor will be an evolutionary step and nothing really revolutional:
Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)

Is there anything that the Wikipedia article doesn't mention that would make the new CPU the next big thing?
Click to expand...

Lower power, more instructions per clock, potentially higher clock ceiling (due to lower power req), new instructions (AVX), higher memory throughput, 6/8 core probably standard for Xeon, 6/8/12/16 core models. New base will probably be a Hex. Will be about as significant as going from Netburst to Core (i.e Pentium to Core Duo/Core 2 Duo).

If you can wait, wait. If you need something now, go ahead and buy. There's always going to be something better.

Here's an example scenario to help:
- Sell 2006 Mac Pro for $1000 today, get $3000 Mac Pro Quad base today
- Sell 2006 Mac Pro for $700 in 2011/2012, get $3000 Mac Pro Hex or Octo base in 2011/2012
Assuming you can survive without an upgrade, is that $300 which is "lost," worth getting more cores, a better graphics card, more RAM, etc?

Maybe it's not $300, but you can figure out the correct math for your actual situation.
 
hugodrax said:
Wont it suck if you buy a 2010 and OS 10.8 no longer supports anything less than Sandy Bridge? The smart thing is to wait for a true Next Gen mac.
Click to expand...

Think about what you are saying. If 10.8 only supports Sandy Bridge then it would only support Mac made the year the SB Macs ship (assume 2011) and going forward. Do you really believe Apple is going to in effect obsolete every Mac made in the last 5 years hence? There certainly is no history to back that up. (Of course we have no idea when 10.8 might ship since we have no idea when 10.7 might ship, so could be a moot point. Sandy Bridge might be too slow for 10.8 for all we know).

Even w/ the 68XXX to PPC, OS9 To OS X, & PPC to Intel transitions Apple was slow and deliberative. What makes you think they'd just take out the machete now and take a quick blow. Don't you think that would be quite self-destructive and alienating?
 
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