Soo now that the MacPro is out... Which is best for me?

sgtpeper

Hey all -

I am a soon to be switcher. I do not need a laptop as I do not travel often. Which leaves me torn between the MacPro and iMac. Which would you guys get?



I mostly use the computer for surfing the web, chatting, some photoshop, and a lot of windows based games - so I would be running boot camp for games.



Also, if I got the iMac I'd get the 20" with the fastest processor. But if I got the MacPro I don't know which processor choice would even be right for me.



The help is appreciated.



Jeff

backtomac

Boy, you just unwittingly(?) ignited a firestorm of debate. IMO, the best machine for you would be the iMac. If Apple comes out with a Conroe iMac it's iMac all the way. Many feel that Apple just doesn't make a computer that's just right for you. I doubt that there will be a shortage of opinions on this topic.

sgtpeper

I agree there will be lots of opinions



I guess its true there is no real medium ground. I love hte iMac for it's form factor honestly. I want a computer I can keep awhile and with a few mild upgrades, will really keep from becoming obsolete too fast.... Shrug..



So, an iMac has 2 processors vs the MacPro which has 4? Just makin sure I have the facts sort of right...

zachpruckowski

The Mac Pro is not a gaming machine. There is no real Mac gaming machine. An iMac is nice - but wait for the Core 2 Duo version (announced in 4-6 weeks). that may have an 1800GTO or something.



The Mac Pro can go to Quad-2.0 and X1900XT for about $2550. That's the top mac gaming, and it'll be good for photoshop, even under Rosetta. but it's overkill for the whole chatting/surfing part of your life. The iMac would be like $1600.

backtomac

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtpeper


I agree there will be lots of opinions



I guess its true there is no real medium ground. I love hte iMac for it's form factor honestly. I want a computer I can keep awhile and with a few mild upgrades, will really keep from becoming obsolete too fast.... Shrug..



So, an iMac has 2 processors vs the MacPro which has 4? Just makin sure I have the facts sort of right...

Yes iMac has Core Duos (dual core processor) while Mac Pro has 2 Xeons that are dual core. The core duo is about to reach it's limit. It's max speed is 2.3 ghz. Core 2 chips can clock much higher. It is felt that the iMac will get core 2 some time this year. It's not clear if it will be the desktop core 2, Conroe, or the mobile core 2 cpu, Merom. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

zachpruckowski

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtpeper


I agree there will be lots of opinions



I guess its true there is no real medium ground. I love hte iMac for it's form factor honestly. I want a computer I can keep awhile and with a few mild upgrades, will really keep from becoming obsolete too fast.... Shrug..



So, an iMac has 2 processors vs the MacPro which has 4? Just makin sure I have the facts sort of right...

The iMac has one dual-core processor, and the Mac Pro has 2 dual-core processors. The mac pro's processors (both speeds) each individually beat an iMac's processors. When the iMac is updated, it'll have a faster processor than the slow Mac Pro (but slower than the fast one prolly), but it'll still only have 1 processor to the Mac Pro's two.



you are right that there is no medium ground. and iMacs allow only adding a bit of RAM as an upgrade. However, a lot of people see now a the time for a new Apple mid-range desktop. but people have been predicting that longer than they've predicted G5 powerbooks...

trendannoyer

what about a 17" imac and a console? xbox360 for HD gameing or wait on the ps3 or wii



BOOM etc.

benroethig

I'm going to say this again CONSOLE AND PC GAMING ARE NOT THE SAME. It's like putting sports in a single category. I'll say this thoug, if you came here to game, you came to the wrong platform. Apple makes computers for two types of peope: casual consumers and high end professionals. You could game with a Mac Pro, but it'd be a bit of overkll.

sgtpeper

Overkill is acceptable - underkill is not.

eriken

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtpeper


Overkill is acceptable - underkill is not.

may I quote you on that?

leonard

Mac Pro Dual Dual-Core 3.0 with Radeon X1900XT! It should run UT2007 really well considering UT2007 will support SMP finally.

vinea

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtpeper


Overkill is acceptable - underkill is not.

If this is your requirement and you have the budget then the Mac Pro is the way to go...



Vinea

burningwheel

my quicksilver died so i'm going to be getting the Mac Pro, my question is can i use my old hard drives in this?? i thought i saw a picture of the HD's in this machine and they looked different, plus drives can just be "plugged in" so to speak, in this new machine. i hope this makes sense and someone knows what i'm talking about \

leonard

NO you cannot use the HDs from your quicksilver in the Mac Pro. The Quicksilver uses paralell ATA drives and the Mac Pro uses SATA or serial ATA drives.

backtomac

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinea


If this is your requirement and you have the budget then the Mac Pro is the way to go...



Vinea

True. The gulf between iMac and Mac Pro is enormous now. Conroe in iMac would help.

placebo

I'm really thinking that with the Mac Pro being all-quad, all-Xeon, Apple IS DEFINITELY making a lower-end Mac Pro that uses Conroe and only has a single CPU. That's a perfect seperation:



Mac Pro is Xeon and has four cores, hot swappable bays, all of that fancy high-end stuff, while the Mac Prosumer is Conroe and has two cores and none of those bells and whistles.

benroethig

I want those bells and whistles minus the quad core xeons and expensive server board.

leonard

Quote:

Originally Posted by Placebo


I'm really thinking that with the Mac Pro being all-quad, all-Xeon, Apple IS DEFINITELY making a lower-end Mac Pro that uses Conroe and only has a single CPU. That's a perfect seperation:



Mac Pro is Xeon and has four cores, hot swappable bays, all of that fancy high-end stuff, while the Mac Prosumer is Conroe and has two cores and none of those bells and whistles.

Don't hold your breath...



Conroe is likely going into the iMac, and that's it.

cosmonut

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtpeper


I mostly use the computer for surfing the web, chatting, some photoshop, and a lot of windows based games - so I would be running boot camp for games.

It sounds like you want a Windows machine. If you're going to be gaming a lot and doing the rest a little bit, you'll not likely want to keep rebooting a computer.



Could you buy a Mac? Sure. We'd be cool with that and Apple would prefer you give them money. I'd say you should buy the 2.0Ghz Mac Pro with the rest standard -- or maybe an upgraded video card -- and be happy with that. If you never use the Mac OS then it's your loss, but the option to do so would be there.

sgtpeper

I really do like the mac OS more than a windows machine. Are the MacPros liquid cooled? For some reason I thought the G5s were liquid cooled.



It will be a few months before I purchase my next computer either way. I have grown to love macs tho - we bought my step-dad a 17" intel iMac. I have used it quite a few times when I am home and I really think it is a fantastic system.

burningwheel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard


NO you cannot use the HDs from your quicksilver in the Mac Pro. The Quicksilver uses paralell ATA drives and the Mac Pro uses SATA or serial ATA drives.

i figured as such. how can i wipe these HD's so that i can sell sell them??