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What to buy - Octo 2.66 or 2.93?

W

Wheetman

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 9, 2007
74
2
I need (want;)) to buy a Mac Pro within the next 24hrs to beat my end of financial year deadline, but I'm still undecided between an octo 2.66ghz or the 2.93ghz.

This will be my first Mac and I want to get it right. I imagine that it will be many years before I will be able to afford to upgrade.

Below are a few of the apps I will be using

FCS working on HD footage
Adobe CS4
Lightroom
Photodex Producer via Parallels
Logic Studio
Reason 4
Mixmeister Fusion & Video via Parallels

I don't have time for gaming, so that is not an issue.

Currently I have a Pentium 4 3.20GHz PC with 3 Gig of Ram, which sticks two fingers up at me every time I try do do anything creative - hence the switch to Mac.

I've looked at the benchmarks and read the other posts and considered the question "Do you really need it?" The answer to which is, "I don't know."

At the moment, I can afford the 2.93, but equally could use the difference in the hike between the two processor's price to buy other things. If 2.93Ghz is considered too meaty for my needs, then what do guys who buy such a beast do with theirs?

I really would appreciate some constructive advice on this one before I hesitate in pulling the trigger on either model and miss the deadline altogether.
 
I opted for the 2.66 octo because I generally like to get the middle option because I don't upgrade every hardware cycle and I generally find the top of the line is too expensive for what you get in return. This year even the middle 2.66 was significantly more expensive but after seeing the benchmarks it seems to be a great choice for a user with either large rendering tasks, heavy multitasking and vm needs. On the other hand, if the extra 10% in rendering time will make you more than $1400 then go for the 2.93.
 
Rerun77 said:
I opted for the 2.66 octo because I generally like to get the middle option because I don't upgrade every hardware cycle and I generally find the top of the line is too expensive for what you get in return. This year even the middle 2.66 was significantly more expensive but after seeing the benchmarks it seems to be a great choice for a user with either large rendering tasks, heavy multitasking and vm needs. On the other hand, if the extra 10% in rendering time will make you more than $1400 then go for the 2.93.
Click to expand...

Good decision. If I had your $$$ I would buy the 2.66 Octo and a pair of Intel SSD drives to run your OS/Apps from in RAID0. That's $1K better spent than anything else you could do with that money. Spend the rest on a good display or two and/or a great audio setup (if you don't have one already) and enjoy! :D
 
Woke up this morning to be greeted by your advices, which are appreciated. I'm not sure about fitting SSD at the present time as I have read that they have a limited write cycle and the cost is still very high. The 266Ghz option is drawing me as I write this, as nothing I would be working on would be time critical, although 10% saved here and there can soon build up to be a appreciable saving. Decisions........decisions. I shall ponder it over breakfast.
 
Wheetman said:
Woke up this morning to be greeted by your advices, which are appreciated. I'm not sure about fitting SSD at the present time as I have read that they have a limited write cycle and the cost is still very high. The 266Ghz option is drawing me as I write this, as nothing I would be working on would be time critical, although 10% saved here and there can soon build up to be a appreciable saving. Decisions........decisions. I shall ponder it over breakfast.
Click to expand...

You should get yourself at least one SSD if you have money to play with... they cost a fraction of the jump from 2.66 to 2.93 and will change your life! :eek::D
 
VirtualRain said:
You should get yourself at least one SSD if you have money to play with... they cost a fraction of the jump from 2.66 to 2.93 and will change your life! :eek::D
Click to expand...

I second that. You will "feel" the difference much more in daily life than 15% more processor speed.

Apart from the Intel SSDs, you might want to look at the new OCZ Vertex series, the first true competitor for the Intel.
 
Nautigar said:
I second that. You will "feel" the difference much more in daily life that 15% more processor speed.

Apart from the Intel SSDs, you might want to look at the new OCZ Vertex series, the first true competitor for the Intel.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input. I'm almost decided on the 2.66Ghz and will buy the basic model today to give me time to research the SSD options.
 
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