Mac Pro - 4 or 8 Cores

crazyswede · 14 Feb 2008 at 18:23

I am very close to switching to a Mac, very close....

I am going to, if I do

, aim for a Mac Pro to go alongside my 24" Dell Monitor. I will not be using it for video creating, but I will be using it for graphics, websites and photos (I am not a professional). I will also use it for writting my movie scripts (Software is already PC/Mac compatible) which needs 1/2 a core. From what I have read 8 cores is not really utilised that much and will not be probably for a long time. I would get it with the 8800GT of course.

So what I am thinking is, that I be better off going for a 4 core mac pro which will save me £350. With the money saved I can later buy crucial ram when it released.

I just want to know if I am making a mistake not getting 8 cores. It's a shame that they don't sell it with a 4 core at 3ghz or 3.2Ghz.

Slogan · 14 Feb 2008 at 18:31

It depends how long you plan on keeping it.

If it's a long term thing I would push you for the 8 cores, if it's something you plan to have for just the next 2-3 years then you may see more benefit in pocketing the £320 and upping the ram.

Personally (and I will be buying a Mac Pro next month), I will be going for 8 cores, just for that extra factor. I doubt I'll make much use of them but it would be nice to have the option to and you'll more than likely see a better return on the product in the future, should you decide to sell.

It's a tough one and comes down to a personal choice really - but I think either way you will be very, very happy. That much is assured.

p.s live up to your name and get 8 cores.

azteched · 14 Feb 2008 at 22:29

For what you describe, 8 cores isn't at all necessary IMO..
Your current C2D system sounds perfectly capable really.

theheyes · 14 Feb 2008 at 22:47

If you do a lot of rendering, video encoding etc then go for the 8 cores. Otherwise stick with 4.

Depends how much you value that £350. Neither option is going to be a "mistake"; a Quad core is fast enough on its own.

crazyswede · 15 Feb 2008 at 14:58

I am going to sell my pc to work so I will get money from that. The thing is that I can afford the £350... but then again I could put it towards the adobe web premium. I think I can survive on 4 cores, but 8 cores may be a good for future proofing as everything is moving towards more cores. I got about 4 weeks to think about it.

square_imp · 15 Feb 2008 at 15:56

go for the burn! (8 cores)

keogh · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:02

crazyswede, you have used OS X before right? Cos the transition from Windows to OS X can be quite daunting, and £1700+ is a lot of cash for a OS you might not get on with?

Edit - After posting that, I decided that it don;t matter too much I suppose, you could always use boot camp and use your Pro as a PC if you realyl didn;t get on with OS X.

crazyswede · 16 Feb 2008 at 10:32

keogh said:
crazyswede, you have used OS X before right? Cos the transition from Windows to OS X can be quite daunting, and £1700+ is a lot of cash for a OS you might not get on with?

Edit - After posting that, I decided that it don;t matter too much I suppose, you could always use boot camp and use your Pro as a PC if you realyl didn;t get on with OS X.

My parents first ever computer was a mac. It was a Apple LC with MacOS 6 or maybe 7 and I think that was about 15 years ago.

After that it was just Window PCs. My parents now have a iMAC 24" and I had a play with it and liked it. My little brother has always had macs. Anyway OS X can't be worse than Vista. I will install XP for games and other windows software.

I realise that it is a big step and a lot of money and I will therefore really think about it.