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What do you use your Mac Pro for?

What do you use your Mac Pro for?

  • work use that NEEDS the extra power

    Votes: 32 40.5%

  • work but probably doesnt need the power

    Votes: 7 8.9%

  • the occasional use of professional software

    Votes: 21 26.6%

  • family computer

    Votes: 7 8.9%

  • i just bought it because i had the money and i thought it looked pretty

    Votes: 12 15.2%
  • Total voters
    79
W

wako

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 6, 2005
1,404
1
So my family has been thinking of getting a new computer and maybe a Mac Pro. Which got me thinking. Why the hell would we get a Mac Pro? Xeon Processor to screw around on YouTube? Unnecessary cant even describe it. Nobody in my family does professional work that requires THAT much horsepower in a computer. Last time I checked, Excel ran fine on a C2D.


So Im just wondering, what do you guys use your Mac Pros for? If its not for professional reasons, I ask, why?
 
The other Apple computers (and non-apple ones) have become so powerful that only people who do heavy multitasking/video editing/design/graphics/etc need Mac Pros. For your house and youtube use, you really don't need a mac pro. Even if the budget is unlimited, I'd still buy a maxed out 24" iMac before a Mac Pro.
 
yeah, i definitely understand what you are saying, Im just wondering the people that do have the systems what they use it for. I do know some people that just bought it because they had the money to splurge and it ends up just youtubing all day. So it just got me thinking
 
It's possible, but I'd bet that most people buying a mac pro know exactly what they want (there are exceptions, of course).

The lowest end mac mini is even overkill if you will only be using youtube, hah.
 
Ripping DVDs and for the 4TB of storage for my music and videos purchased from iTunes.

Yes I could rip DVDs on my other Macs but they take too much time when I have allot of box sets I want on my computers. I could also keep adding 1TB drives onto my iMac but that would get cluttered after so long.
 
I plan on getting an 8 core Mac Pro for video compositing and editing, photo manipulation and vector graphics, and for creating occasional beats in logic studio... In other words, i'd be using it for motion graphics, digital illustration and photography, video editing, and music creation. :)
 
wako said:
So my family has been thinking of getting a new computer and maybe a Mac Pro. Which got me thinking. Why the hell would we get a Mac Pro? Xeon Processor to screw around on YouTube? Unnecessary cant even describe it. Nobody in my family does professional work that requires THAT much horsepower in a computer. Last time I checked, Excel ran fine on a C2D.


So Im just wondering, what do you guys use your Mac Pros for? If its not for professional reasons, I ask, why?
Click to expand...

If you want a 30" Cinema Display, then there is no other choice. For me, I wanted a 30" Cinema Display and a machine that I could put at least 4 gigs of RAM, 2 hard drives, and have dedicated graphics. Can't do that with a Mini or an iMac. So, even though this is the "family" computer and I use it for hobby stuff (photos, music, videos), the choice was clear: Mac Pro.
 
Mine isn't overkill

I use my Mac Pro for Heavy design work. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign. (Praise the Lord for CS3!!!) It is also my departments File Server, Time Machine Backup Location, Open Directory Master, yadda yadda yadda.

I am planning on going into animation and needed a high end computer for rendering and what not, so the Mac Pro was the perfect solution for me.

I love my Mac Pro!!!:apple:
 
I work for a small production company - we shoot and cut weddings, company promotion material (hotels, commercials). We offer HD services ~ I justified my Mac Pro purchase by saying it would help Final Cut deal with HDV (Despite it being a personal purchase :D)
 
The Macpro allows me to use my Eizo monitor, which I could not live without.

The ability to add a ton of RAM and up to 4TB of internal HD's is not too bad either.

I use my Macpro for photographic editing. If it wasn't for photography, then I would have been happy with an iMac.
 
kabunaru said:
You need a Mac Pro to run an Eizo monitor? :confused:
Click to expand...

The other options Apple have for running displays aren't exactly great. If it's a 30" Eizo then the only options are a Mac Pro or Macbook Pro. Both of those are really the only choices if the display is important, especially if you require multiple displays.
 
I contemplate buying the mac pro, even though I wouldnt use much of the processing power. Mainly due to having two monitors I would like to keep using and a couple of internal hd's as well. Also like the ability to upgrade the graphics card, as I see four cores being enough for my needs for a long time. would like to stay with OS X.

Do I need it. Nope. That's probably why I havent bought one. But if some cash comes my way, I would map it out financially. Like sell my current pc, mac mini and three powermac g4s and see what the final cost would be for a four core 8800 gt.

now you have me dreaming....
 
Use mine for CAD, occasional video editing/Photoshop/music editing, ripping DVDs, and playing games when I'm done with everything else.
 
POWER!!!!!

I use two maxed out MacPros (totally 1.21 gigawatts of power:cool:) and I still managed to spend 6 hour of today drinking tea. :) (perfect day)
But that better then waiting 3 weeks the top iMac would take.

I use mine for FCP, Motion and Color, but also some highly intense web browsing and email.
 
I use a 24 iMac at home, and only bought a Mac Pro when we had to edit 4 TV programs for Broadcast all shot in HDV and HD.
Theoretically I could have done it using the iMac, but it would take too long.
The Mac Pro is only used for professional stuff. I still edit some of my footage on the iMac. We even used it as a 2nd machine during the editing periode
 
I would say that a lot of people are buying Mac Pro's only because they need/want to customize it more than iMac's allow - not everybody likes the glossy LCD screen or maximum of 4GB of RAM that iMac's offers.

as some already posted, and will post in the future, you will come to conclusion that despite the fact that people don't need 8 core processors they still are buying Mac Pros only because of the RAM and screen choice...
 
TheNightPhoenix said:
POWER!!!!!

I use two maxed out MacPros (totally 1.21 gigawatts of power:cool:) and I still managed to spend 6 hour of today drinking tea. :) (perfect day)
But that better then waiting 3 weeks the top iMac would take.

I use mine for FCP, Motion and Color, but also some highly intense web browsing and email.
Click to expand...

2 MacPros?! insanity!


But I wouldnt mind setting up two macpros one as an ultimate file server/domain host (a 1st gen model or a single core new gen) and then have a 8core 2.8 as a main work horse.
 
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