Which Mac Pro is better?

[alexreich]

Hey guys, I'm getting a job this summer, and making a point to save up for a Mac Pro. My question is, is there a 2011 Mac Pro out yet? If not, should I wait, or should I buy a 2009-2010 model? What is the performance difference in a 2009 Mac Pro and a 2010 Mac Pro?

Btw, my budget is $3,000.

Thanks for any help you guys are awesome!

-Alex

 

[dreamersofeden]

Hey guys, I'm getting a job this summer, and making a point to save up for a Mac Pro. My question is, is there a 2011 Mac Pro out yet? If not, should I wait, or should I buy a 2009-2010 model? What is the performance difference in a 2009 Mac Pro and a 2010 Mac Pro?

Btw, my budget is $3,000.

Thanks for any help you guys are awesome!

-Alex

There are a lot of rumors on the net saying that probably on august Apple is going to release a redesigned Mac Pro (like the XServe, in a rack caddy, thats what the rumors say)... so in my opinion you should wait until then.

 

[chrismacguy]

There are a lot of rumors on the net saying that probably on august Apple is going to release a redesigned Mac Pro (like the XServe, in a rack caddy, thats what the rumors say)... so in my opinion you should wait until then.

And those are all not going to come true as the appropriate CPUs ARE NOT going to be available before Q4 2011. Your looking at Early 2012 for a redesign at the earliest (Apple never redesigns without some form of specification upgrade, which isn't possible until Q4 as the appropriate Sandy Bridge CPUs for Dual CPU configurations do not ship until then.

 

[RoelJuun]

I think the moderators should make a sticky about the Mac Pro's not being updated (for almost 100% sure) until Q4 due to the lack of Sandy Bridge Xeon cpu's. This questions pops up almost every day.

 

[sbb155]

I dont see why an upgrade is out of the question. There are processors that could be included - 3.2 hex for example.
The idea that the naysayers know anything more than those who think there will be an upgrade is a fallacy.
MR says dont buy, updates soon. It's going to happen sometime this summer. Sandy bridge is not the only option.

 

[philipma1957]

Hey guys, I'm getting a job this summer, and making a point to save up for a Mac Pro. My question is, is there a 2011 Mac Pro out yet? If not, should I wait, or should I buy a 2009-2010 model? What is the performance difference in a 2009 Mac Pro and a 2010 Mac Pro?

Btw, my budget is $3,000.

Thanks for any help you guys are awesome!

-Alex

okay plan one

1) buy a 2010 quad 2.8 can be found for 2100 usd.
2) follow the hex 3..2 update thread cost 400 after you sell the 2.8 oem cpu on ebay. your total cost is 2500 for a hex 3.2.
3) add 16gb ram for about 200
4) add a nice ssd for 300
you have a killer machine for 3k

okay plan two wait for the upgrade and save beyond the 3k boring but may be good.


plan three

1) buy a 2009 quad can be found for 1800.
2) do the efi hack
3) now upgrade it to the 3.2 hex
4) follow the steps in plan one


any of these ideas could be good.


I did plan one and I wrote the hex 3.2 upgrade thread.


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1122551/

Since you need to save the money first think plan one or two. Read the site's threads and wait till you have the coin.

 

[aramosc]

why are you getting a Mac Pro? Look on craigslist for good deals.. I found a 2008 mac pro with great specs for $950 granted that is a once in a lifetime deal but you could find something close and invest in a nice monitor, good set of speakers and or an SSD

 

[derbothaus]

Yes. They "could" update the form factor and clock bump the westmere's. Then upgrade again when SB chips are out. But they probably won't. Although they do this with the portables. New design > same chip w/ 133MHz extra > see who bites > then a real upgrade

 

[alexreich]

Whoah, many responses.

First off I'm sorry for posting, apparently this is a common post and it's annoying to the normals?

Anyway, the reason I'm asking, is because a want a Mac that runs damn FAST, gets everything done, with a minimal wait for tasks to be performed. I MAINLY want a Mac that can run all new releases of the Mac OS for at least 5-7 years. That way I won't have to buy a new Mac until either my hardware is too aged, or a receive a bad user experience on a new OS (assuming Apple stays with Intel). You know what I mean? I don't want to have to buy a new computer/update hardware every couple years for a new OS!

If anyone is wondering what exactly I'm using the computer for, these are my daily apps that are running at ALL times (on two monitors):

Finder (duh)
Safari
iTunes (always playing in the background, unless editing footage)
Mail
Twitter for Mac
Pages
Todolicious

These are running quite often as well, but often run quite sluggishly while the above applications are running:
iMovie (editing videos for school all the time)
Handbrake (backing up my movies to watch on my AppleTV)
GarageBand (making recordings with my band)
iPhoto (importing pictures from my iPhone 4 and iPad)



What Mac is necessary to run all the tasks above at once with NO lag?

 

[dreamersofeden]

First off I'm sorry for posting, apparently this is a common post and it's annoying to the normals?

Anyway, the reason I'm asking, is because a want a Mac that runs damn FAST, gets everything done, with a minimal wait for tasks to be performed. I MAINLY want a Mac that can run all new releases of the Mac OS for at least 5-7 years. That way I won't have to buy a new Mac until either my hardware is too aged, or a receive a bad user experience on a new OS (assuming Apple stays with Intel). You know what I mean? I don't want to have to buy a new computer/update hardware every couple years for a new OS!

If anyone is wondering what exactly I'm using the computer for, these are my daily apps that are running at ALL times (on two monitors):

Finder (duh)
Safari
iTunes (always playing in the background, unless editing footage)
Mail
Twitter for Mac
Pages
Todolicious

These are running quite often as well, but often run quite sluggishly while the above applications are running:
iMovie (editing videos for school all the time)
Handbrake (backing up my movies to watch on my AppleTV)
GarageBand (making recordings with my band)
iPhoto (importing pictures from my iPhone 4 and iPad)



What Mac is necessary to run all the tasks above at once with NO lag?

Any new iMac or MacBook Pro can do the job, you don't necessary need a Mac Pro.

 

[chrismacguy]

Yes. They "could" update the form factor and clock bump the westmere's. Then upgrade again when SB chips are out. But they probably won't. Although they do this with the portables. New design > same chip w/ 133MHz extra > see who bites > then a real upgrade

While they *could* Apple never has done it for the Pro Towers. They tend to go the other way ie New Chip first, Then they bother about the design (This is how its been since the G4 days).

Also OP, any current iMac / MacBook Pro/ Mac Pro will do that just fine. (My First-Gen Intel iMac Just about meets the 5-year requirement as it was bought January 06 and is still current in May 11, just. So I think the only generation of Macs that haven't met this 5-7 year thing have been the very last year of PowerPC Macs)

 

[Transporteur]

While they *could* Apple never has done it for the Pro Towers.

They did in 2009.

 

[chrismacguy]

They did in 2009.

No they didn't. The Mac Pro wasn't redesigned (Outside this is) when they replaced the inside and then replaced with a whole new design for the new chip in 2009. I was talking about the way the Digital Audio got the new chips and inside first, with the Graphite case style, and then they redid the case as the Quicksilver. They have always put the new chips/interior design into the current casing first, then changed the casing with the next spec-upgrade. They don't keep the same chips and redesign the outside, and then replace the insides (In 2009 they jumped to Nehalem and changed the inside, they didn't replace the outside at all in terms of major design), they put in a decent spec bump before bothering with the casing. Otherwise we would have had MDD FW800 G4s in the G5s case.

 

[Transporteur]

No they didn't. The Mac Pro wasn't redesigned (Outside this is) when they replaced the inside and then replaced with a whole new design for the new chip in 2009.

You're right. I thought you were talking about a speed bump of the same version in between usual update cycles, which happened once in 2009 when they offered new CPUs.

To add to your discussion;
A new case design with old internals is highly unlikely as development costs for would be way to high. Completely new internals (which is going to be the case with SB) requires a case re-design (internally), which would mean Apple has do to the internal design again. Not cost efficient, hence won't happen.