Are Mac Pros overkill for home use

WatchTower · 8 Jun 2011 at 11:16

I'm not going to buy a Mac Pro not yet anyway lol. My MBP killed me money was lol but if I upgrade every couple of years an entry level Mac Pro would become affordable if I get over a grand for my MBP when I sell it in the future making a new Mac Pro only about £800.

I like to game and create hd videos for Youtube and wonder if Mac Pro's would be overkill for my needs. I thought a Mac Pro would be great if I hadd Mac OS and Windows in bootcamp for games.

One thing do Apple ever refresh Mac Pros? As I'm sure they haven't for like three years now. lol

Spit · 8 Jun 2011 at 11:19

I dont think so. If I had the money I would have a top MacPro with 3x27" ACD's anyday in my study.

WatchTower · 8 Jun 2011 at 11:23

Spit said:
I dont think so. If I had the money I would have a top MacPro with 3x27" ACD's anyday in my study.

I know they look beautiful and would look great in any home.

Zeebedy · 8 Jun 2011 at 11:32

The main reason I'm considering one is the ability for multiple monitors..

RTJ

Tunney · 8 Jun 2011 at 12:13

The top end 27" iMac is much better value than the entry level MacPro, in my opinion, and supports multiple monitors via ThunderBolt.

ps3ud0 · 8 Jun 2011 at 12:52

Depends if you get it before an OS release and moan that you cant afford the upgrade

.

In all seriousness, if you need to ask, then you dont really need it...

ps3ud0 :cool:

Irish_Tom · 8 Jun 2011 at 13:07

It depends really.

Money no object, I'd get a Mac Pro.

In the real world, if I needed a desktop, I'd get a 27" iMac.

Feek · 8 Jun 2011 at 13:43

WatchTower said:
One thing do Apple ever refresh Mac Pros? As I'm sure they haven't for like three years now. lol

You're not looking very hard, they get refreshed regularly but externally they're identical.

I got my Mac Pro at an absolute steal of a price when it was just six months old, I've had it for nearly three years old now but I have no reason whatsoever to replace it, it's still a powerhouse and copes with everything I can throw at it with ease. The expansion capabilities make it the perfect Mac.

Combat Fighter · 8 Jun 2011 at 14:18

Indeed my 27" iMac is a lovely machine.

theheyes · 8 Jun 2011 at 20:54

Sounds like a classic case of Mac fever to be honest. The Mac Pro is a niche machine, it's designed (and priced) for people/companies who make money off what they do on it. They will have an established workflow and/or significant investment in software and training to justify the price.

If you just plan to tinker with YouTube videos and play games on a Mac Pro, buy an iMac at half the price which will by and large match it or a PC at a third of the price which will wipe the floor with it. And on top of that you'll probably be able to afford to keep your MacBook Pro, too.

wakayoda · 8 Jun 2011 at 21:46

Exactly what he said ^

WatchTower · 8 Jun 2011 at 22:56

Entry level Mac pros seem to be the same price as a high end MBP. Thats less than £1800 if I could find someone that could get me HE discount. I do have Mac fever though your right. hehe

Fr0dders · 8 Jun 2011 at 23:30

WatchTower said:
One thing do Apple ever refresh Mac Pros? As I'm sure they haven't for like three years now. lol

Did the whole thunderbolt / sandybridge thing pass you by ? lol

As already said they just haven't changed the design in a while. Doubt they need to either, the current unibody aluminium macbook pros are gorgeous.

Xenoxide · 8 Jun 2011 at 23:45

MrLOL said:
Did the whole thunderbolt / sandybridge thing pass you by ? lol

The Mac Pro's don't have Thunderbolt... they also have Nehalem or Westbridge cores, not Sandybridge.

I think you're maybe thinking of the iMac's or MacBook Pro's...

Fr0dders · 9 Jun 2011 at 01:45

i read the title as macbook pro.

Oops ! hence my reference the macbook unibody design

nav... · 9 Jun 2011 at 02:48

rip-the-jacker said:
The main reason I'm considering one is the ability for multiple monitors..

RTJ

You probably know already, but if you don't:

All recent Mac Mini's can do dual monitors natively.

All intel iMacs have been able to drive an external monitor as well as it's own.

Latest 27's can drive two external monitors for a three screen setup.

Disco Boy · 9 Jun 2011 at 09:39

It's only overkill if you don't need the power.

How much of "home use" could be done on something with an atom chip? Quite a lot.

If you want to game then a max pro is the wrong machine to buy, a gaming pc will be cheaper and wipe the floor with it.

LordSplodge · 9 Jun 2011 at 11:01

Panzerbjorn said:
It depends really.

Money no object, I'd get a Mac Pro.

In the real world, if I needed a desktop, I'd get a 27" iMac.

I've got a 27" iMac. It is a thing of beauty but for serious work in Motion/Final Cut it starts to hit a wall. Alas at this moment in time I cannot justify a Mac Pro.

I'm still hoping to own one in the near future. Using the 8-Core monster at work only makes me want one more...

I think they are overkill for most home users but hey if you have the money why not?

ntemples1 · 9 Jun 2011 at 11:08

Feek said:
You're not looking very hard, they get refreshed regularly but externally they're identical.

I got my Mac Pro at an absolute steal of a price when it was just six months old, I've had it for nearly three years old now but I have no reason whatsoever to replace it, it's still a powerhouse and copes with everything I can throw at it with ease. The expansion capabilities make it the perfect Mac.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but, I am actually looking into this, I can get an 8 core 2009 Mac Pro at a good price (the same as my 2011 MBP) I am worried that It will be slower than the MBP though? it hax 2 x 2.26 Xeon Nehalem processors, my Macbook Pro has i7 2.2 sandy bridge. Which will be faster?

I am using it for recording/sound production with Pro Tools 9.

The Macbook pro is good, but the fans kick in sometimes which can be annoying when trying to mix/record.

bigredshark · 9 Jun 2011 at 11:08

If you have to ask it is.

It's a fantastic machine but it's value is in it's higher end configurations with 12 cores and 16GB of RAM rather than the entry level. Currently the base Mac Pro gets a sound beating from the top end iMac, which is similar money so it's virtually impossible to recommend unless you need some in particular it provides (massive internal storage - but with FW800 or soon, thunderbolt, options that's less useful or possible lots of RAM or an internal card slot). If you needed those features you'd know...

Basically, I'd say the choice for a top end Mac is very simple - do you need portability, if you don't the iMac is the answer, if you do then the quad core Macbook Pro's are, you just need to pick a screen size.

However this is prefaced by the idea that, if you want to play games, you've chosen the wrong platform.