Which Mac Pro; One 2.93 GHz Quad or Two 2.26 GHz Eight Core?

[Anonymous]

I am in need of a new Mac as my 5 year old G5 Power Mac is getting arthritic. I run ArchiCAD 12 most of the time, with a little Photoshop and Piranesi thrown in at the odd times.

I have read the previous discussion on the two options (One 2.93 Quad or Two 2.26 Eight Core) and feel the verdict is still out.

It seems that looking into the future is necessary, and the big question is whether or not ArchiCAD will be needing 8 cores to process the large 3D files for the buildings I design, and then render them quickly enough as we get more upgrades on the program. I don't want to need to purchase a new computer for another 5 years.

What opinions have people formed now that the new Xeon Nehalem Mac Pros have been out? Any advice and opinions are welcome!

I am considering one of the following:
Mac Pro One 2.93 GHz Quad Core 3 GB SDRAM (w/6 or 8 GB memory upgrade), GeForce GT 120 Video Card
Mac Pro Two 2.26 GHz Eight Core 6 GB SDRAM, 640 GB HD, GeForce GT 120 Video Card

I will be adding another GeForce Card, as I have 2 monitors.

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone,

What you have said is very helpful. I also heard from someone else that ArchiCAD 13 won't support my G5, so it seems the time is now to buy that new computer.

I had pretty much decided to purchase the 8 core 2.66 GHz, but the price is staggering! Not priced for the small practitioner!

As the price for the 8 core 2.26 GHz computers is only a little more than the quad 2.93, they seem about equal, but none of the tests I have read about seem to test the slower 2.26 processor. Only the faster 2.66 GHz seems to be a player.

That, combined with the fact that if AC13 doesn't support the G5, I will need to purchase more than one computer, has gotten me back to the cheaper solution, the quad 2.93 GHz.

Chazz has given me hope that at least for a little while, I won't feel that I gave up the potential of 8 core. I do have faith that Graphisoft will keep up with technology, as I have always been happy with the ArchiCAD upgrades.

I will no doubt be purchasing an 8 core in the next few years and not waiting the 5 years I had hoped for, but will at least be very happy in the shorter term. The Ars Technica review linked to by Thomas has shown that the full potential of the 8 cores is taken advantage of by only a few programs at present, and you have to tweak things a bit to make sure you are indeed using all the threads.

Thanks again.

[Thomas Holm]

Gail wrote:
The Ars Technica review linked to by Thomas has shown that the full potential of the 8 cores is taken advantage of by only a few programs at present, and you have to tweak things a bit to make sure you are indeed using all the threads.

Gail, you asked for a 5-year prognosis. I'm convinced that in that time, the number of cores will be much more important than it is today for users of high-end software like us. Our AC12 uses more than one core for several tasks already, and Artlantis saturates all of them.

As for the GHz issue, remember the difference btw 2.26 and 2.66 is just above 10%. Absolutely not worth the premium price, you won't notice it. The 2.26 is the sweet point, if possible equipped with 12 GB of memory.

For now, if you want a cheaper but still really fast alternative, I'd look for a refurbished 2.8 GHz 8-core MacPro of the previous generation. There may even be unused machines around still.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thomas,
Thanks for keeping up with this topic.

You have persuaded me. I think I will go for the 8 core 2.26 GHz as you are correct, the speed difference is 15%, and this will be negligible in the long run, especially coming from the G5.

I too believe that Graphisoft can't help but keep up with the technology and take advantage of as many cores as possible. This will keep me in the running for 5 years. I just hate to look over my shoulder and say " I coulda, shoulda ...", but in this case the price difference of $2000 for the faster machine will probably not pay off.

For my second seat, I will get the older computer as you suggested.

Thanks!

[Erika Epstein]

Check out the refurbished machines on apples website. They come with the same guarantee and can be 1/3 less in price!

[Anonymous]

Thanks; I didn't even know they had them!

[Anonymous]

Gail wrote:
I am in need of a new Mac as my 5 year old G5 Power Mac is getting arthritic. I run ArchiCAD 12 most of the time, with a little Photoshop and Piranesi thrown in at the odd times.

I have read the previous discussion on the two options (One 2.93 Quad or Two 2.26 Eight Core) and feel the verdict is still out.

It seems that looking into the future is necessary, and the big question is whether or not ArchiCAD will be needing 8 cores to process the large 3D files for the buildings I design, and then render them quickly enough as we get more upgrades on the program. I don't want to need to purchase a new computer for another 5 years.

What opinions have people formed now that the new Xeon Nehalem Mac Pros have been out? Any advice and opinions are welcome!

I am considering one of the following:
Mac Pro One 2.93 GHz Quad Core 3 GB SDRAM (w/6 or 8 GB memory upgrade), GeForce GT 120 Video Card
Mac Pro Two 2.26 GHz Eight Core 6 GB SDRAM, 640 GB HD, GeForce GT 120 Video Card

I will be adding another GeForce Card, as I have 2 monitors.

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

I ended up getting the (2) 2.26 8 core Mac Pro with the Radeon Video card. I am very happy, and ArchiCAD does render much more quickly with it.
I think I made the right choice! It is a balance between speed and cost.
I only needed the one video card, as its 2 ports work with two monitors.
A word of caution though, I bought a View Sonic VG2230wm monitor to go with it, and I still don't know what went wrong, but it seems that putting that on the main display port caused my mouse to jump all over. I put it on the mini display port and that works.
Good luck.
Gail