Quad-core 27in iMAC or 6-core MAC Pro
- Thread starter Babur72
- Start date
Paul.
Well-known member
If you want a tower Mac I would consider building a Hackintosh as the Mac Pros are quite poor value. The iMacs are pretty good value considering the calibre of the screen you are getting. I would keep an eye out on the refurb store for a 27" 3.4 i7. You should get a significant saving if one pops up, and they are great value.
I would usually advise looking at Geekbench to get a benchmark of performance, but the 2012 3.3 6 core Xeon doesn't seem to be on there. As your post has disappeared, I have no idea what you need the machine for so am limited what I can recommend.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
I would usually advise looking at Geekbench to get a benchmark of performance, but the 2012 3.3 6 core Xeon doesn't seem to be on there. As your post has disappeared, I have no idea what you need the machine for so am limited what I can recommend.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
Paul.
Well-known member
After some reading, it turns out it is listed on Geekbench. The W3680 Westmere processor in the 6 core Mac Pro is the same as the one in the Mid 2010 6 core Mac Pro, which scores 13739. The 27" iMac with a 3.4 i7 scores 11412, so the Mac Pro is about 20% faster.
This doesn't represent multi tasking performance however.
This doesn't represent multi tasking performance however.
Hi Paolo,
Thanks for the feedback chap.
My apologies. My post disappeared for some unexplicable reason i'll recap largely what my first post originally stated.
Being new to Apple iMAC's, MAC pros & the Apple Lion/Mountain Lion OS i'd appreciate those forum users with experience of them giving me their advice.
The desktop will primarily be intended for gaming, downloading & storing of hi-res audio files, net surfing, photo(Photoshop CS6/CS6 Extended) & video-editing(Adobe Pinnacle pro/Premiere pro/Premiere pro CS6).
I understand the new, slimmer retina-screen iMAC 27" has just been released. But the the new MAC pro isn't expected until the turn of the year. The new iMAC 27" sports a Firewire 800, 2 x USB 3 & 2 x Thunderbolt interfaces. Whereas the current MAC pro only has 2(?) Firewire 800 & 2 USB 3 ports. Even after contacting Apple's UK sales support help-line, i'm still uncertain whether the new MAC pro will be equipped with the broader bandwith & faster data transfer speeds of the newer Thunderbolt interface.
Although the iMAC 27" allows some degree of upgrading of RAM chipsets & a choice of rotary or solid-state hard-drives but, thanks to it's modular design, the MAC pro's 4 hard-drive bays can be installed with rotary, solid-state or a combination of both hard-drives - Although i'm not sure whether a desktop containing 2 different forms of hard-drive would hinder system efficiency. And can also allow upgrading of the graphics-card.
Any relevant advice will be much appreciated.
Regards & thanks.
BABUR.
Thanks for the feedback chap.
My apologies. My post disappeared for some unexplicable reason i'll recap largely what my first post originally stated.
Being new to Apple iMAC's, MAC pros & the Apple Lion/Mountain Lion OS i'd appreciate those forum users with experience of them giving me their advice.
The desktop will primarily be intended for gaming, downloading & storing of hi-res audio files, net surfing, photo(Photoshop CS6/CS6 Extended) & video-editing(Adobe Pinnacle pro/Premiere pro/Premiere pro CS6).
I understand the new, slimmer retina-screen iMAC 27" has just been released. But the the new MAC pro isn't expected until the turn of the year. The new iMAC 27" sports a Firewire 800, 2 x USB 3 & 2 x Thunderbolt interfaces. Whereas the current MAC pro only has 2(?) Firewire 800 & 2 USB 3 ports. Even after contacting Apple's UK sales support help-line, i'm still uncertain whether the new MAC pro will be equipped with the broader bandwith & faster data transfer speeds of the newer Thunderbolt interface.
Although the iMAC 27" allows some degree of upgrading of RAM chipsets & a choice of rotary or solid-state hard-drives but, thanks to it's modular design, the MAC pro's 4 hard-drive bays can be installed with rotary, solid-state or a combination of both hard-drives - Although i'm not sure whether a desktop containing 2 different forms of hard-drive would hinder system efficiency. And can also allow upgrading of the graphics-card.
Any relevant advice will be much appreciated.
Regards & thanks.
BABUR.
Paul.
Well-known member
If you were interested in gaming, the Mac Pro may be of use as the iMac is limited to laptop GPUs, the GPU may not be powerful enough to saturate that lovely high res display at the frame rates you require. The iMac is more than fast enough for for video editing, I know a number of people who use the iMac professionally for such work, in fact my 17" i7 Macbook Pro has proven quite spritely using Final Cut X with a Drobo disk array attached by Firewire 800.
I wouldn't get too hung up on storage, as Thunderbolt is more than fast enough for using external hard disks for transferring video files etc. As mentioned, I have used Firewire 800 for editing video in Final Cut X, this was a mixture of 1080p footage from a Canon 7D and a Canon 5D mk2 and noticed no lag. Obviously transferring video would be significantly faster with thunderbolt, but Firewire 800 is fast enough for editing. You can now buy Drobos with thunderbolt, as well as other manufacturers such as Lacie and Pegasus that make disk arrays fast enough that you wont notice they are external.
With regards to Thunderbolt on the Mac Pro, it will get it eventually. Apple support wont tell you anything however! Even if it didn't, Thunderbolt is just a PCI Extension bus with display port added on, as a result you can buy Thunderbolt PCI Express cards to add on the capabilities to existing Tower PCs such as the Mac Pro.
I wouldn't get too hung up on storage, as Thunderbolt is more than fast enough for using external hard disks for transferring video files etc. As mentioned, I have used Firewire 800 for editing video in Final Cut X, this was a mixture of 1080p footage from a Canon 7D and a Canon 5D mk2 and noticed no lag. Obviously transferring video would be significantly faster with thunderbolt, but Firewire 800 is fast enough for editing. You can now buy Drobos with thunderbolt, as well as other manufacturers such as Lacie and Pegasus that make disk arrays fast enough that you wont notice they are external.
With regards to Thunderbolt on the Mac Pro, it will get it eventually. Apple support wont tell you anything however! Even if it didn't, Thunderbolt is just a PCI Extension bus with display port added on, as a result you can buy Thunderbolt PCI Express cards to add on the capabilities to existing Tower PCs such as the Mac Pro.
Paul.
Well-known member
Babur72 said:
The latest iMac has what Apple calls "Fusion Drive", this is a combination of rotary and solid state drive not dissimilar to hybrid drives in PCs, but better. It works in a similar fashion to enterprise grade servers, with technology called auto tiering. It means that regularly used stuff will get copied to the SSD, and un important stuff will get copied to the rotary HD when processor cycles are low. This should speed things up nicely, getting the benefit of fast SSD drives and cheap rotary storage. I would assume the Mac Pro will get this eventually, but who knows when that tech will come out. Apple have made it pretty clear the workstation market is not a priority for them anymore.
I've never had a pro nor seen one in use, but upto now I've not found anything which my 3.4 i7 iMac doesn't take in its stride, including streaming music, video editing, multitrack audio mixing and photo editing.
As for gaming...to be honest if gaming was a priority for me just about the last computer/device I would have bought was a Mac. I know you can play games on a Mac, but it's really not the platform of choice.
As for gaming...to be honest if gaming was a priority for me just about the last computer/device I would have bought was a Mac. I know you can play games on a Mac, but it's really not the platform of choice.
Babur72 said:
Just to note the new iMacs don't have a retina display and i'm not 100% if you will be able to upgrade the ram after you have purchased the iMac
You can with the 27" model, but not the 21.5". What you buy it with is technically what it's stuck with.landzw said:
landzw said:
Yeah, you may be right bud. I understand the retina displays will be restricted to the Macbooks for now. However, i've been told by someone named Kevin on the sales support help-line & a surprisingly knowledgeable chap at the Apple store in Regent St. that the newer 27in iMacs do allow one to customise both Hard-drive &/or RAM prior to purchase & have Apple upgrade them afterwards. Regards & thanks. BABUR.
Thats would be daft if you can only upgrade one and not the other, though it wouldn't supprise me being Apple
2011 yes, 2012 no. See here:simon3102000 said:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/21-5-inch-apple-imac-2012-cannot-be-upgraded
There's bound to be a way of doing it if you've got iron balls, no fear of obliterating your guarantee and a set of screwdrivers, but it lacks the 'official' method, ie dedicated memory slots, present on the 27" model.
Hi guys,
Just thought i'd return to this thread after spending hours drooling over the new Mac Pro.
Which will sport dual GPU's, PCI Express Flash storage & multiple Thunderbolt 2 interfaces.
Can't help feeling that it looks like an oversized Aluminium can with pretensions though.
Regards.
Babur.
Just thought i'd return to this thread after spending hours drooling over the new Mac Pro.
Which will sport dual GPU's, PCI Express Flash storage & multiple Thunderbolt 2 interfaces.
Can't help feeling that it looks like an oversized Aluminium can with pretensions though.
Regards.
Babur.
Paul.
Well-known member
Paul. said:Do it
Hi Paulo,
If i were to bite the bullet & 'do it' i may need to sell an eye or one of my Kidneys.
Judging by the views of a number of online tech commentators & journalists retail prices for an entry-level spec Mac pro are expected to start at around the £3,500 mark. Up to somewhere near £4,500 - £5,000 region, depending on level of componentry & configuration.
Regards.
Babur.
Paul. said:Do it
Hi Paulo,
If i were to bite the bullet & 'do it' i may need to sell an eye or one of my Kidneys.
Judging by the views of a number of online tech commentators & journalists retail prices for an entry-level spec Mac pro are expected to start at around the £3,500 mark. Up to somewhere near £4,500 - £5,000 region, depending on level of componentry & configuration.
Regards.
Babur.
Alantiggger
Well-known member
Quad-core is real nice depending on just How Many progs you will be running at the same time...
however if NOT running many at the same time... a right decent dual core may be the answer ?
Having a good few cores running at the same time is BEST when running many progs at same time... if NOT then dual core will suffice.
Windows 7 IS great.
however if NOT running many at the same time... a right decent dual core may be the answer ?
Having a good few cores running at the same time is BEST when running many progs at same time... if NOT then dual core will suffice.
Windows 7 IS great.
Not sure if you bought yet or not , but amazon are cheaper than the apple stores ( think they are spliting the VAT they don't pay with you ) , if you want to buy local , John Lewis where matching online deals last time I looked , not as cheap as amazon but you get local service .
The only one I remember off the top of my head is for a 13" pro , ( I know thats not what you want ) is Apple Solihull store £999 , John Lewis Solihull store £ 915 , amazon £835 and they where all the same model
Hope this helps
James
The only one I remember off the top of my head is for a 13" pro , ( I know thats not what you want ) is Apple Solihull store £999 , John Lewis Solihull store £ 915 , amazon £835 and they where all the same model
Hope this helps
James
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