Need a new old MacPro

[dix]

I need to dump my 2,1 3GHz 8-core MP in order catch up with the present (or at least the recent past). It'll be some time before I can get a new, new MP so I'm looking for a good deal on a last gen model.

Most of the good deals are for newer 8-core 2.8GHz machines. I'm wondering: will these be close to the same power as my old 8-core 3GHz machine? Is the fact that they're newer (and therefore possibly more efficiently implemented?) even out the fact that the GHz is lower? I can't find any bench marks out there that tell me anything useful. I definitely don't want a noticeably less powerful MacPro than what I have now.

Any further advice regarding which last gen MPs are good (2009 vs 2010 and beyond) is appreciated.

Thanks!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

The current issue of Macworld covers these issues. You might want to check that out.

[HCMarkus]

Read this thread and the ones I linked to as well:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 2&start=15

[dix]

The current issue of Macworld covers these issues. You might want to check that out.

Are there still magazines? …or new stands for that matter? I'll seek it them out. Thx!

Yes, I went through the threads you reference HC, but can't find anything that answers the Old 3Ghz vs New 2.8GHz question. I Mighta missed it. I'll reperuse. Thx!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

March 1014 issue starting on page 12 goes through the # of cores v. the speed of the processor v. the speed of the RAM and other architectural aspects. $1.99 here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macworl ... 31062?mt=8

Where processor and RAM speeds are equal, more cores are better as the distribute the load. But faster processors and faster RAM in a lower # of cores can be more efficient. At least if I understood what the article stated.

I like the 8 core machine as I tend to distribute fairly moderate demands on each core (my old G5 would crap out with what i throw at this machine now).

[HCMarkus]

The current issue of Macworld covers these issues. You might want to check that out.

Are there still magazines? …or new stands for that matter? I'll seek it them out. Thx!

Yes, I went through the threads you reference HC, but can't find anything that answers the Old 3Ghz vs New 2.8GHz question. I Mighta missed it. I'll reperuse. Thx!

Clue: The link to Geekbench.

[dix]

Ah. This link: http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks.

Thanks. I'd seen this before, but hadn't taken the time to make sense of it. Unless I'm reading it wrong. The answer to the question, Does Newer Equal Faster Regardless of GHz? is often yes. Looking at the benchmarks in the 64bit MultiCore section it appears my 2007 3GHz 8-core rates 11227 while an early 2009 2.27GHz 8-core rates 13870 (better).

My 3GHz 8-core (http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbenc ... %20bits:64

Early 2009 2.37GHz 8-core (http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbenc ... %20bits:64)

MLC, I don't see an article in the online MacWorld discussing this specifically. The article on the new MPs goes into it a bit. Is that what you're referring to? But hey, I dig this iVersion of MacWorld. For $1.99 a month I think I'll keep it. …if it was your intension in the first place to sell me a subscription it worked

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Yeah, I get a cut. Not!

I'll look over the issue again this evening and try to nail it down.

[HCMarkus]

Ah. This link: http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks.

Thanks. I'd seen this before, but hadn't taken the time to make sense of it. Unless I'm reading it wrong. The answer to the question, Does Newer Equal Faster Regardless of GHz? is often yes. Looking at the benchmarks in the 64bit MultiCore section it appears my 2007 3GHz 8-core rates 11227 while an early 2009 2.27GHz 8-core rates 13870 (better).

Eureka! My 4,1 (2009) > 5,1(EFI updated to 2010, CPU upgraded) Hex 3.33 scores 15500-16000.

Your Mac is no slouch. Do you need more processing power, or just looking for a more responsive experience? If you haven't tried SSDs yet, you might give 'em a go.

Here's a great site if you are a computer tinkerer... http://pindelski.org/Photography/2013/0 ... 009-part-i

Note that the 4,1 single CPU machines are dead simple to upgrade. The Dual CPU versions are more twiddly, as discussed by Mr. Pindelski in his excellent blog. I went with a single CPU quad 2.66 which is now the aforementioned 3.33 hex.

[dix]

No, I'm not looking for more responsiveness per se. My main motivation is to stay current and part of the modern world. I'm seeing entire OSs go by without ever being able to take advantage. It's getting harder to troubleshoot issues
being with such an old OS. I can imagine that some software will stop supporting SL all together.

I could get 3,1 or 4,1 MP for around $700 I think. I could still get a few bucks for mine, making the endeavor cost just a few hundred dollars if you don't count he hassle of moving to a new machine.

[HCMarkus]

I'd recommend a 4,1 not a 3,1. 3,1 will perform well, but RAM is more costly and the 4,1 is likely to be supported longer than the 3,1, and is upgradeable to a 5,1 and faster hex CPUs, too.

[dix]

Thanks HC. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for!

[HCMarkus]

A couple more thoughts:

You can probably just move your drives from the current MP to your "new" one, then upgrade the OS. Mavericks seems to be causing issues for some. I am very happy with Mountain Lion.

Minimum GPU for DP8 video seems to be ATI5770. 4,1's usually have a weaksauce GT120. Lots of GPU options because, starting with Lion, drivers started to be included for a number of NVidia cards.

Get an SSD or two if you can afford it for your boot and VI sample drives. If your HD bays are filled, you have room for one SSD or more in the optical bay. On 4,1 and 5,1 MPs the optical bay data ports are SATA.

[dix]

Awesome. I'll definitely hold out for a 4,1. It may be a bit longer before I can afford the switch so maybe Mavericks'll be smoothed out by then. Good to know about the possible extra bay config! ...I bet my GeForce 8800 GTS will work if DP8 complains about whatever card is in a new machine.

Again, all good useful info. Thanks again!

[dix]

You can probably just move your drives from the current MP to your "new" one, then upgrade the OS. Mavericks seems to be causing issues for some. I am very happy with Mountain Lion.

I'm planning on trying just this on the aforemetioned old new 4,1 Mac that finally arrives this week, but I'd rather not jump to the still wet, .0 version of Yosemite. Is there a way to upgrade to earlier versions of OSX? Google is not cooperating with my inquiry. …any other migration advice is also welcome Thx!