Mac Pro Hex-Core Dilemma

[billb]

Ok, let me bounce this off y'all.
I now have the dough for a Mac
Pro 3.33 Ghz. Hex-Core Referb.
for $3,149.00 (USA). I've been
wanting one for a while now.
The problem seems to be, well,
extreme overkill.

My little old hacked up mini does
everything I want fast as hell, for
the most part. I mean, the Pro
would look great and I would kiss
it every night before I tucked it into
bed.............but........well.......it'd
be like buying a Ferrari to pick up
the mail and get groceries. Do I
still want one? Sure........but......a
2010 mini would far exceed my
mini now and its fine. Of course
Lion isn't on it yet, but......well.

I use to be a professional photographer
and I haven't upgraded my 35mm
cameras because I HATE that full
frame Pro digital cameras are
waaaaaaay to expensive. Well, were
way to expensive. The Nikon D700
is around $2,700.00 (USA) for the
body and I have half a dozen good
lenses for it already.

So, Mac Pro 3.33 GHz Hex-Core
or Mac mini 2.66 GHz Core-Duo
along with a Nikon D700 body.

What say y'all?
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[philiparcario]

buy a refurb 2010 quad 2.8 2100 then put this cpu inside it

http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-BX80613W3670-Xeon-QC-W3670-processor-/220800597967?pt=CPUs&hash=item3368bdbfcf#ht_1284wt_650

sell the 2.8 quad cpu for 200 and you get a hex 3.2 beast. wait for the link on my build


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1122551&highlight=

the 3.2 hex will cost you about 2600 with careful shopping the 3.33 refurb is 3200 the 3.2 is about 96 to 98 % as fast as the 3.33
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[billb]

Ok, Philips in favor of a Mac Pro.....processor Hack.

Philip, I'm probably not going to do much hacking.
Screwing up a mini is bad enough....but a Pro!!!!
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[philiparcario]

really easy mod, but that 2.8 2010 quad won't need the mod for more then a year or two.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[billb]

Whats going to happen in a year or so?


Also, if the Mac Pro's had Light Peak
that would sweeten the pot. The
mini could (would) be a stop gap.
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[philiparcario]

nothing much but the cpu mod would be half price and the warranty would be done. Having owned an esata hack 2.53 and 2.66 mac mini. A 2010 quad 2.8 and a 2010 hex 3.2 mod. they are less;

then fast/ faster/ fastest


Of course the stop gap idea may be good. Grab the camera now and make money with it.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[billb]

I know a LightPeak card will probably
be available but as usual I'm in no hurry
so waiting a little bit may give the Pro
time to catch up with the iMac as far as
LightPeak is concerned.

Does the new 27' Apple LED displays run
from LightPeak instead of MDP yet?
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[Smithcraft]

I know how you feel. I'd love to get a Pro, but I don't need it for anything other than Handbrake.

Otherwise, I think it's tough to say right now. In theory the mini should be getting a refresh. If it is, then it should be an i3 or mobile version of the i5. Either way, they should be a big increase in computing power over the Core 2 Duo used in the current mini.

However, who knows when those will come out?

I would also imagine that they would be 10.7 only. Then you would have to wait for Adobe to have Photoshop out for 10.7. That might be on release day, or months later.

If you get the Pro now, then you don't have to worry about whether you can run Photoshop today, or when ever. Plus if you want to upgrade the CPU in the Pro, it will cost you almost as much as a mini!

So, currently I'm neutral to either.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[billb]

Yah, I agree, a MAC Pro would fell good and cool and
all of my (two) friends would be envious (not really).

The thing is, at this point I do a little Gimp, a little
Elements but no Photo Shop. I'm for the most part
a photo hobbyist. My health is way to poor to even
begin to think of doing it professionally again. My
equipment is for the most part at the Pro or semi-pro
level. A pro level digital camera gives you a superior
sensor and firmware so you benefit from paying more
for a better camera. With the Mac Pro it won't give
me superior photos with Photo Shop in stead of a mini.
The mini will create the same quality photos as the
Pro, just slower. If I were a pro photographer then
the matter would be settled on what Mac. Faster
is better.

Getting a 2010 Referb. mini and waiting for LightPeak
to proliferate industry wide (or not) is probably a good
tact. I would also want an Apple 27' display that run's
from LightPeak as well. Getting a digital camera and
waiting for Apple to get its ducks in a row is looking
more attractive.
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[swordsandtequila]

Go for a mac pro refurb (or used) and get the camera you want. I'm currently looking for a used (2009) 2.66ghz nehalem quad core, mostly for crushing handbrake and the extra storage. I've researched the 2.8 dual quads (2008), but as I understand until more apps are capable of utilizing 8 core processing, the single processors seem to out-perform the dual proc. in many instances (bus speed plays a part also). Plenty powerful enough for half the price if you time it right. My two cents.
_________________
Mac Pro 4,1 12GB ram
Samsung SSD 120GB boot, Intel SSD 80GB scratch, 10TB internal ZFS
Sans Digital 6TB Raid5, 2TB Raid0
NT Guardian Maximus 1TB Raid1, 500GB Raid0
OWC external Superdrive
An iPod for every occasion
iPhone 3g

[billb]

Hi SST, I think you've misunderstood me.
I can swing the Mac Pro.....or......a mini
and a D700 Nikon.

Not a Mac Pro and a D700, thats almost $6,000.
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[swordsandtequila]

Sorry about that. I was thinking more like $1500 for a used mac pro (they're out there, just have to keep your eyes open). But that's still more than your stated budget. Good luck either way. Cheers.
_________________
Mac Pro 4,1 12GB ram
Samsung SSD 120GB boot, Intel SSD 80GB scratch, 10TB internal ZFS
Sans Digital 6TB Raid5, 2TB Raid0
NT Guardian Maximus 1TB Raid1, 500GB Raid0
OWC external Superdrive
An iPod for every occasion
iPhone 3g

[saul]

Going from a mini to a pro is just faster - evolution
Going from film to digital is a new way to photograph - revolution

A Mac Pro will save you some time and have an initial wow factor. A digital camera you will make time for and possibly change your life.

If you haven't done so already, go over to http://www.kenrockwell.com/ and peruse what he has written about digital photography.

[billb]

Yah, I've been reading Ken's site for a while now.
I tend not to agree with him that much but I value
his opinion. Many of my experiences have ben different
than his, hence the difference.

I also like Lloyd Chambers. I tend to agree with him more
often. BTW the D700 won't be my first Digital Camera
just the first compatible with my Nikon system. I was converting
to Digital in the 90's when Kodak would buy Nikon bodies
and put their CCD in the Nikon F3 body. I didn't have one
but I did (would) scan my slides into Photo Shop on my Mac
then manipulate them and output the altered image with
my Dye Sublimation Printer. I was waaaaaaay ahead of the
curve with Digital but behind the curve with Digital Cameras.

.
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC

[billb]

According to Glenn's super secret source,
Thunder Bolt and Sandy Bridge is coming
to both the Mac mini and the Mac Pro.

Looks like next month I'll be getting
a new Sandy Bridge, Thunder Bolt
Mac mini to hack up.

As well a a shiny new D700.
Cool!!!! Looks like dreams do
come true.
_________________
2011 Mac mini 2.7 GHz i7 with
16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD
MacBook AIR 11 Inch
Mac mini, Model 1.1, 2.33 GHz C2D Proc
20" iMac G4 PPC