iMac i7 or Mac Pro 8-Core?

[Teddyboy]

I plan on making the step from pc to mac, as I having many problems with my current pc... I've found two macs in almost the same price, so I need the opinions of all mac users of which one should I get for recording-mixing use.

The first one is a new iMac with i7 and 27' inches screen
2.93 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 (8MB L3 Cache)
4GB (2x 2GB SO-DIMM) 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM up to 16GB.
ATI Radeon HD 5750 με 1GB GDDR5
1TB HD Serial ATA, 7200 rpm.
Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive
4 x USB 2.0, 1 x Firewire 800Mbps, 1 x SDXC slot.

The second one is a used (but in really good condition) 8-Core Mac Pro with:
2 Quad-Core 3.2 Ghz (1600MHz, 64-bit dual independent frontside buses)
10 GB Ram (800MHz DDR2 up to 32 GB)
320 GB HD (7200 rpm)
ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512 mb DDR5 ram, dual DVI & S-Video out

I can get each one at 2500€. Which one would you choose and why?

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I would say Mac Pro and later on, if you need, upgrade the HD as well as the GFX card

 

[RichMinerva]

I would say Mac Pro and later on, if you need, upgrade the HD as well as the GFX card

+1

 

[BLUElightCory]

Mac Pro.

 

[greyskull]

I was looking down a similar path but with the MBP and i7 and for the money its gotta be used Mac Pro

 

[diafebus]

I Own the iMac i7 with 2,8Ghz processor… and yes the when you want more graphic capacity you are screwed…
for the processor and Ram it's ok, it runs like hell, by the way soon they will improve iMacs and Mac Pros with the new connector, if it's capable to support with adaptors more than 2 firewire 800 at once it will be amazing :3
So… if you decide to go for an iMac wait for the update, will be soon. If not Mac Pro seems better option, because it's upgradeable.

 

[bogchop]

Wait for the iMac refresh. Current generation macbook pro's (with sandy vagina chip cpu) school the living tits off of the current iMacs/Mac Pros.

 

[gabriel g.]

Just an info:
My january 2011 macpro quadcore 3,2 is faster then the 2009-early-2010 eight-cores.

The 27" i7 imacs from 2010/2011 are also faster as some of the 2009 eightcores.

You should realy check out the benchmarks flying around the internet.

I was in the same situation and bought the mac pro this year

 

[jipchen]

Just an info:
My january 2011 macpro quadcore 3,2 is faster then the 2009-early-2010 eight-cores.

The 27" i7 imacs from 2010/2011 are also faster as some of the 2009 eightcores.

You should realy check out the benchmarks flying around the internet.

I was in the same situation and bought the mac pro this year

This.
Older Eightcores get smoked by the new Quadcore Mac Pros and i7 iMacs. And the new sandybridge Macbook Pros are even faster than the new Quadcore Mac Pros.
I'd still choose a Mac Pro over an iMac because it has better cooling (no loss of power or stability even when it's working at its limits.. which is hard to reach anyway Plus you can have up to four intern harddisks and upgrade graphics and even processors (not through apple though).
Plus RAM is cheaper because you have more slots. Then you can use PCI-E cards if you like, most probably there will be "Thunderbolt" PCI-E cards soon, so you even get a new technology for interfaces. And last but not least, you can use a lot of screens and not just one (or need expensive and non-working third-party expansions for a second display).

Here's an interesting thread concerning multicore use of Logic and the performance of different Macs:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/371545-logic-pro-multicore-benchmarktest.html

 

[Teddyboy]

Thanks for the replies guys!!!

So, everyone seems to to go with the Mac Pro. To be honest, I'm tired of Windows and Blue Screens and Bios problems and all that stuff, so I need a machine that's working and will keep working greatly for the next 4 years. I'm surprised to know that the G5s are still working and can handle greatly big projects and that's the reason I'm thinking on going withe the mac side. Th cost though is much too big for me to handle, but if doing this will make me relax, then it deserves it.

Is there any other solution you can suggest? Maybe a company-ready pc, like Dell, with an i7 (basically a pc with the hardware of an imac) which will be at a lower cost (I guess..) ???

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

The G5s are still being used a lot mainly by Pro Tools HD guys, since they're taking advantage of the TDM format by using the DSP processing outside of the Mac. I'm not sure a G5 would be able to handle a big project with native plugins though

 

[kaomao]

If I remember correctly i7 is like an 8 core, every core is doubled virtually.
Basically if you have an app that is a multithread one, you got 8 threads running at the same time.

 

[AD Chaos]

To be honest, I'm tired of Windows and Blue Screens and Bios problems and all that stuff, so I need a machine that's working and will keep working greatly for the next 4 years.

Is there any other solution you can suggest? Maybe a company-ready pc, like Dell, with an i7 (basically a pc with the hardware of an imac) which will be at a lower cost (I guess..) ???

Sounds like what you need is to get better at PC

Learn to build your own, throw in a good registry cleaner and a light-weight antivirus (I use CleanMyPC 64x and Avira and the machine runs like a dream), activate Windows Defender if you haven't, learn to use tools like msconfig, regedit and the like, get all devices working properly, etc

Mac thrives on building more potent machines than PCs (with the same processors, nowadays).. but if you get good at putting together your PC, you can close that gap at a fraction of the cost

Very easy if you live in the US.. In Greece, though, dunno..

 

[gabriel g.]

If I remember correctly i7 is like an 8 core, every core is doubled virtually.
Basically if you have an app that is a multithread one, you got 8 threads running at the same time.

This

my new apple quads show 8 cpu-cores in logic.

 

[Astrikos]

Build a pc.Try this info from the duc forum http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=238426.Lots of success because they already tried these machines.

 

[arv_foh]

I'd get the mac pro because they have more expandability options than the iMac

 

[dani]

if you want to save money build a PC. any body can do it.

if you want all the niceness and stuff, and OS X, then get the mac pro. imacs can't be upgraded, and they're made of laptop components (i'd expect issues with heat and maybe even CPU frequency scaling, which can be crippling on laptops).

at the end of the day, a daw is a daw is a daw, no matter what platform you're on.

except the mac will *always* be quieter than a PC, which is important if you track vocals in the same room.

thanks,

 

[greyskull]

if you want to save money build a PC. any body can do it.

if you want all the niceness and stuff, and OS X, then get the mac pro. imacs can't be upgraded, and they're made of laptop components (i'd expect issues with heat and maybe even CPU frequency scaling, which can be crippling on laptops).

at the end of the day, a daw is a daw is a daw, no matter what platform you're on.

except the mac will *always* be quieter than a PC, which is important if you track vocals in the same room.

thanks,

Not quite so...
iMacs can have ram and hard disk's upgraded.... I've done it, sure it's a little fiddly , but not THAT bad!
and the iMacs hard drive is a 3.5 sata not 2.5

 

[dani]

true, you can add more memory.

however, mac pros can take 4 hard drives, a lot more ram, have 4 pcie slots, and they take normal xeon cpus - there are even companies that will upgrade your mac pro's cpu for you.

i didn't know about the 3.5 inch hard drives, although my main concern wasn't with the hard drives, but the logic board, CPU, and heat issues.

thanks,