What MacPro to choose

[joubex]

I have a question to owners of the new Nehalem 2009 macPro and the owners of hapertown 2008 MacPro:
I want to change my old 2 x 2 G Powermac G5 2005:
For the everyday life (compress videos, Lightroom, iMovie, etc) and with the perspective of snow leopard, I wonder which MacPro is the best Q/P ratio:
- new 2009 2.26 eight cores.
- new 2009 2.93 quad cores.
- old 2008 2.8 eight cores.

And what is the evolutive potential of these different machines ?
Thanks for help

joubex

 

[MCHR]

What I think is more critical is to identify what apps are single threaded and which are multi. I personally STILL don't know, though it seems like software development is way behind computer ability.

That said, I'm essentially in the same boat as you are,though I'm a hybridized 2D/3D user, not as much with video or animation.

The current Mac Pro lineup leaves many options unanswered, such as how apps may be developed, what advantages any upcoming OSX will enable, and how the user will take advantage of these.

My 2 cents is that if you're running apps that "hit" the processors, you're better off with a multi, regardless of the speed. Video, etc seems to fall into that category. Photoshop and 2D (for the moment) seems better suited to a single processor.

 

[joubex]

standard benmarks

thanks
It is difficult to transpose benchmarking to real life....
I am not a video editing geek, but I use lightroom and photoshop with big Raw data pictures, and my powermac G5 is real sluggish now...
But really difficult to choose.
And is there a big difference between DDR2 and DDR3 ram?: doesn't seem on the benchmarks I saw.
May be I have to wait for new users of the Nehalem: almost no word on the web about the quad core Nehalem.

Joubex

Leopard
Macbook pro 2.4 GHz Core2 Duo, 4Gb 667 DDR2 SDRAM
PowerMac G5 2 x 2 GHz early 2005, 3 Gb RAM

 

[jjahshik32]

I made up my mind. Originally I was going to get the 2.66GHz Octad but its $1400 more than the 2.26GHz Octad model.

I figured that if I were going to use this machine for 6 years or so then I'd get the 2.66GHz model but I chose to get the 2.26GHz since I upgrade every 3 years or so.

I just wanted to get something thats faster than what I have now (or even any of the current mbps) but I also wanted to get the new nehalem technology. Those 2 things pin pointed me towards the 2.26GHz nehalem Mac Pro, I know its on par with single thread or actually a little bit slower than the 2.8GHz previous gen but memory tests are 2x faster and I'm sure it cuts 40% latency in real life usages and not to mention the new QPI technology has to be somewhat better than the older architect.

 

[akm3]

I think almost everyone would be better off with the higher clocked quad-core at this point. So little software is multi-threaded, unless you are already using some major multi-threaded app frequently, you probably will do better with the Quad.

Yes, Snow Leopard will use 'more' cores, and more and more apps will take advantage of multi cores, but the higher clocked Quad's will still be no slouch in those applications.

In two years I'd probably give the reverse advice, but if I was buying now the Quad makes the most sense for the most people.

 

[MCHR]

Has anyone noticed there haven't even been Macworld reviews posted? I mean, Wtf? It's overdue for a wider slice of users to be reviewing these machines with respect to "how" they are used.

 

[joubex]

photoshop etc

Do you know if handbrake, iLife, lightroom and the last version of photoshop use the 8 core and multithreading?

Joubex

Leopard
Macbook pro 2.4 GHz Core2 Duo, 4Gb 667 DDR2 SDRAM
PowerMac G5 2 x 2 GHz early 2005, 3 Gb RAM

 

[Tallest Skil]

HandBrake uses eight cores, and a future update should take better advantage of Nehalem and what Snow Leopard can offer.

Adobe CS5 should be written for Snow Leopard, so we'll see some interesting things there.

iLife... not so much.

But Final Cut Studio 3 will be written for Snow Leopard, as will Logic Studio 2.

 

[joubex]

Thanks

Joubex

 

[superpalmtree]

I made up my mind. Originally I was going to get the 2.66GHz Octad but its $1400 more than the 2.26GHz Octad model.

I figured that if I were going to use this machine for 6 years or so then I'd get the 2.66GHz model but I chose to get the 2.26GHz since I upgrade every 3 years or so.

I just wanted to get something thats faster than what I have now (or even any of the current mbps) but I also wanted to get the new nehalem technology. Those 2 things pin pointed me towards the 2.26GHz nehalem Mac Pro, I know its on par with single thread or actually a little bit slower than the 2.8GHz previous gen but memory tests are 2x faster and I'm sure it cuts 40% latency in real life usages and not to mention the new QPI technology has to be somewhat better than the older architect.

Great Choice! I got my new 2.26 on Monday and it's a beauty! The inside is a work of art. I also have an ABS Canyon 695 case, (who some people state beats the Mac Pro in looks) and I would disagree. I was close to going with the Quad since this system is not being used for high end work, but decided to go with the 8 core for the extended capabilities.

 

[Ploki]

HandBrake uses eight cores, and a future update should take better advantage of Nehalem and what Snow Leopard can offer.

Adobe CS5 should be written for Snow Leopard, so we'll see some interesting things there.

iLife... not so much.

But Final Cut Studio 3 will be written for Snow Leopard, as will Logic Studio 2.

YaY! logic pro 9 happy

to the OP: get the octo, either 08 or 09, thats my opinion