Anybody have any opinions on where the sweet spot is in the new Mac Pro lineup in terms of best bang for the buck?

I"ve got a 2x2.8 quad core (early 2008) that I am looking to upgrade from. I'm either considering the single 3.33 6 core or the 2x2.4 quad core. I'm also looking to go with the 5870 in either config...

I don't do any really heavy processing work other than occasional iMove editing and processing video through VisualHub/Video Monkey.

the 2008 mac pro is still a very good machine. why not just buy the 5870 card and install it in there?

IMO the machines you're looking at won't be THAT much of an upgrade (unless your software specifically is geared to multi-core performance)

the six-core base model is pretty enticing if you prefer a new machine over used. thats what ill be looking at after we move. but there is a lot of value in the older 8 and even 4 core models. they still all smoke most other macs and can take heaps of ram, hard drives and pci-express cards.

A few comments:

1) As an owner and regular user of a 2008 8-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro, I have to wonder if you will even see a performance difference for the tasks you use the Mac for. You already have a really powerful machine. I use mine for serious photo work to prep photos for printing at large sizes. With 10GB RAM and a fast SATA RAID, I hardly ever reach the limits of the computer using Aperture and Photoshop CS5. Maybe more RAM and a few fast hard drives in RAID would be a better upgrade than changing the machine.

2) If you do consider an upgrade, I think the 6-core 3.33 GHz is better than the 8-core 2.4 GHz. Many applications can't use extra cores well, but all applications will benefit from clock speed. The 6-core has 39% faster clock speed and only 25% less cores, which should translate to faster overall performance any way you look at it.

3)Does anyone know if the new ATI cards will work in a 2008 Mac Pro? Apple doesn't say they're supported, but technically, I don't see any reason for them not to be. I may consider upgrading the video, and that would allow me to completely get rid of the PC I have for gaming.

Luc

A few comments:

3)Does anyone know if the new ATI cards will work in a 2008 Mac Pro? Apple doesn't say they're supported, but technically, I don't see any reason for them not to be. I may consider upgrading the video, and that would allow me to completely get rid of the PC I have for gaming.

Luc


Barefeats says the cards are compatible with older model Mac Pros.
12 Core Mac Pro coming in August 2010 (http://www.barefeats.com/nehal17.html)

You could wait till they do they're performance tests with them in older Mac Pros, but I trust Barefeats.