New iMac or Used Mac Pro

[westla]

I was not really considering a used unit, but many of you have said you were happy with used units. With that said, as a hypothetical - which system would you choose?

New iMac with 2.9GHz quad-core i5

New iMac with 3.4Ghz quad-core i7

Used Mac Pro 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) quad-core Xeon

Obviously a big advantage of the new iMac, is the warranty and Apple Care.

What would you say? Is the processor in the Mac Pro as fast as the iMacs?

Thanks!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

If you go with a used mac pro be sure it is at least a 3,1 machine (2008) or better or you won't be able to run Mountain Lion and newer software. You'll also have more expandability with a mac pro for at least the next few years. PCI is on it's way out but there's still a lot of life in the old girl yet and for what we music types do, that's gonna be good for a long time to come, IMO.

[HCMarkus]

Is the processor in the Mac Pro as fast as the iMacs?

No, but you can drop a 3.33 Hex Xeon in that Mac Pro (2009 4,1), and that IS faster.

It's what I did.

[mikehalloran]

If a Mac Pro, follow the excellent advice that you've been given in the last two posts.

If an iMac, you want the 2012 i7 with usb 3 and Thunderbolt. The speed difference over the i5 is much greater on some DP tasks than you think. In the real world, many tasks are much faster while others (disk I/O) there is no difference - they average to a 30% increase which is why this spec is published. The i7 handles FPP separately. It also has more VRAM. Opening a large project, BTW, is the first place you notice the difference between the i5 and i7 - it's not 30% either, many times that.

So, of the two...

I went with a 2010 iMac for price knowing that a Mac Pro would give much better performance. I haven't needed the horsepower of the larger machine but still wish that I had been able to afford it at the time.

I was on a G5 at the time and not upgrading wasn't an option due to my handicap and day job. Knowing what I know, I made the right choice but, had I the money, I would have gone Pro.

If you are using lots of VIs, go Pro. I make light use of VIs still and my iMac absolutely kicks butt on DP.

When DP 8 came out, I thought uh oh... here's where the iMac bites me, right? Wrong. DP 8 uses fewer resources and does it more efficiently in 64bit mode than 7.24.

[bayswater]

I went with an iMac i7 because it was a lot cheaper than a Pro and large monitor, and I didn't need the processing power (at the time) of the Pro. In retrospect, I should have either got the MP, or waited for an iMac with TB. At this point, I think the choice is a fast iMac i7, and build around TB, or wait to see what the new MP brings. When my iMac is ready to retire, I'll take a close look at a custom PC (just for DP).

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Ah yes. The new MP. That should be fun.

Luke: I'm your father!!