Which cMP 4,1 to keep? Dual or single processor.

[drfreud]

I have two 4,1 Mac Pros, both have had the firmware upated to 5,1.


I installed windows in bootcamp on the cMPs and the MBP and I still had some driver problems I could not figure out, so I gave up and bought a dell precision T3500; It uses the same x58 processors that are very cheap right now but still powerful enough for everything, this will be my work rig. So that will be used for movies, text editing and browsing, therefore, it will be used with the least power demanding components: Xeon L5630 (40w TDP), Quadro K420 (40w TDP)... I mean, for dual monitors to watch a movie and OCR tasks, that's plenty. That rig was 200usd complete and power consumption is low and I'll have a solid reliable machine than can last a couple of extra years in those "demanding" conditions, yes I could have bought something new but what about the fun of getting the cheap spares from all over the world and put them together.





Now I, for sure, have more computers than I need, and I'm going to sell one of the mac pros, I will only use the mac pro for video and photo editing, perhaps some gaming...


I have a rx480 card, some ecc 8gb dd3 dims that filled all the lanes for triple channel use, pcie ssd cards for the system, pcie card to add USB 3.0 charging ports and I only need to upgrade the processors, I guess, given that now the price difference between x5675 and x5680 processors is only 20 dollars per unit, I'll most probably get 3x3.33ghz processors for both computers, I still find the 3.46ghz expensive for only a 4% cpu gain.


I could get more cash back from the dual processor cMP; but...


Would I miss the dual processor mac or I'd be well served with single processor?



Programs to be used:


Photoshop

Lightroom

Premiere

After Effects

Audition

Final cut.



Your opinions will be highly appreciated.

 

[h9826790]

I have two 4,1 Mac Pros, both have had the firmware upated to 5,1.


I installed windows in bootcamp on the cMPs and the MBP and I still had some driver problems I could not figure out, so I gave up and bought a dell precision T3500; It uses the same x58 processors that are very cheap right now but still powerful enough for everything, this will be my work rig. So that will be used for movies, text editing and browsing, therefore, it will be used with the least power demanding components: Xeon L5630 (40w TDP), Quadro K420 (40w TDP)... I mean, for dual monitors to watch a movie and OCR tasks, that's plenty. That rig was 200usd complete and power consumption is low and I'll have a solid reliable machine than can last a couple of extra years in those "demanding" conditions, yes I could have bought something new but what about the fun of getting the cheap spares from all over the world and put them together.





Now I, for sure, have more computers than I need, and I'm going to sell one of the mac pros, I will only use the mac pro for video and photo editing, perhaps some gaming...


I have a rx480 card, some ecc 8gb dd3 dims that filled all the lanes for triple channel use, pcie ssd cards for the system, pcie card to add USB 3.0 charging ports and I only need to upgrade the processors, I guess, given that now the price difference between x5675 and x5680 processors is only 20 dollars per unit, I'll most probably get 3x3.33ghz processors for both computers, I still find the 3.46ghz expensive for only a 4% cpu gain.


I could get more cash back from the dual processor cMP; but...


Would I miss the dual processor mac or I'd be well served with single processor?



Programs to be used:


Photoshop

Lightroom

Premiere

After Effects

Audition

Final cut.



Your opinions will be highly appreciated.

For video editing and encoding, I prefer to keep the dual processor cMP. This is one of those rare occations that can really utilise all cores. However, the CPU upgrade may be a bit painful. And I won’t sell the single processor one until I successfully upgraded the dual processor cMP. Just in case if I damage the socket, I can keep the single processor tray, and sell the other one as parts (or even keep it as my own spare parts).