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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!

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.

westla wrote: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.

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.

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).

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

Luke: I'm your father!!