Hello everyone, I had a few questions regarding macs... My mom is a graphic designer and uses the adobe creative suite and is looking to buy a new mac and actually there is a local guy who gets computers from apple and modifies them to be better and sells them for cheaper and I was wondering what kind of processor would be best for it whether i build her a hackintosh or whether he builds her a mac... So to start off she usually has 3-4 programs running simultaneously(photoshop, illustrator, in design and sometimes dreamweaver) so she is asking me what kind of processor would be optimal for that or necessary is doing something like the 3500$ version of the mac pro http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_pro that has two 4 core processors worth it or is it possible to use a core i7 with hyperthreading or would a 4 core be more than enough. She is willing to pay up to 2200-2500$ for the whole machine and he is offering a 2 processor computer for 2500$... Seeing as she is not doing video editing or encoding she does not need an amazing video card but what kind would you suggest because the mac pros only have a hd 5770... Thank you in advance... oh and does anyone know if they are planning to use sandy bridge or if they have used like i7 950s? thanks again
Do not underestimate the processing power required for vector graphics in illustrator and indesign. I'd recommend the dual-CPU Mac Pro, because they hold their value pretty well (800mhz dual-CPU PowerMac G4s still go for like $500...somehow) so you could sell it down then line or repurpose it as a very powerful home server of some kind.
Macs are almost always overpriced, but at this price range/class you're actually not gonna get much cheaper for a dual-CPU setup.
Skump said:
Do not underestimate the processing power required for vector graphics in illustrator and indesign. I'd recommend the dual-CPU Mac Pro, because they hold their value pretty well (800mhz dual-CPU PowerMac G4s still go for like $500...somehow) so you could sell it down then line or repurpose it as a very powerful home server of some kind.
Macs are almost always overpriced, but at this price range/class you're actually not gonna get much cheaper for a dual-CPU setup.
This.
Go with the dual CPU Mac Pro.
Any mac holds it's value really well over time if you ever need to sell it and upgrade later to a better mac pro.
It also depends on how much word she does and if she really needs 2 CPU's.
Seeing as these Mac Pro's are running on Nehalem/westmere architecture they surpass sandy bridge processors. If anything the Mac Pro will be upgraded to intel's future socket LGA 2011.
she has a macbook pro but she needs something stronger than that because being a graphic designer you cant really work on a laptop because its too slow and she also has a wacom... but does anyone know if dual cpu is even worth it for that kind of graphic arts or is 4 cores fine or is hyper threading do a lot more or what?
PathogenX said:
This.
Go with the dual CPU Mac Pro.
Any mac holds it's value really well over time if you ever need to sell it and upgrade later to a better mac pro.
It also depends on how much word she does and if she really needs 2 CPU's.
Seeing as these Mac Pro's are running on Nehalem/westmere architecture they surpass sandy bridge processors. If anything the Mac Pro will be upgraded to intel's future socket LGA 2011.
so you think the dual cpus is recommended for the graphic design she is doing even though she isnt video editing or encoding?
OlclWarrior said:
so you think the dual cpus is recommended for the graphic design she is doing even though she isnt video editing or encoding?
You said her macbook pro was not cutting it. It really depends though on how much power she really needs. The dual CPU will probably do her very good.
What I do not understand is how this guy is able to sell a $3500 computer for $2500. Make sure it is running current core i7 CPU's. It does not makes sense to me personally.
Your mom has two options and $2500. Buy a Single CPU Mac Pro from apple or get the dual CPU from this guy for the same price.
I personally am a little weary of this guys Mac Pro just make sure the specs are correct before dropping 2.5K
To address the Hackintosh route, it's really not worth it and you won't be able to get a dual cpu hackintosh. It's a pain to get it to set up, work properly, and it takes performance hits.
PathogenX said:
You said her macbook pro was not cutting it. It really depends though on how much power she really needs. The dual CPU will probably do her very good.
What I do not understand is how this guy is able to sell a $3500 computer for $2500. Make sure it is running current core i7 CPU's. It does not makes sense to me personally.
Your mom has two options and $2500. Buy a Single CPU Mac Pro from apple or get the dual CPU from this guy for the same price.
I personally am a little weary of this guys Mac Pro just make sure the specs are correct before dropping 2.5K
To address the Hackintosh route, it's really not worth it and you won't be able to get a dual cpu hackintosh. It's a pain to get it to set up, work properly, and it takes performance hits.
alright thanks for the great advice yeah my mom doesnt know computer stuff so she is going to get the specs for me to look at but these computers are like ones they use for demos and stuff so they have been used like once or twice so they are "used" but it doesnt affect performance or anything because they have been used for maybe a couple hours
but what kind of gpu is going to be best for that kind of work? because mac pros come with a hd 5770 and is that going to be sufficient?
The GPU is good for her. I wouldn't worry. Besides she only has $2.5K so it's not like she can get a better GPU regardless. If you were wondering you can't just go out and buy a GPU and expect it to work in a mac. Theres a lot of fucking with bios flashes and what not.
Macbook Pro. Hands down. Best laptop, ever made.
You need as much ram and cpu power.. Id say go with a slow dual cpu setup with as much ram as possible then the gpu wont effect her all that much since shes using photoshop and tools like that. GPU acceleration hasnt taken off all to much. The more ram she has the easier it will be for her to use all the programs at the same time without stopping.
Ferman said:
You need as much ram and cpu power.. Id say go with a slow dual cpu setup with as much ram as possible then the gpu wont effect her all that much since shes using photoshop and tools like that. GPU acceleration hasnt taken off all to much. The more ram she has the easier it will be for her to use all the programs at the same time without stopping.
its going to be Two 2.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” processors and do you think 12gbs of ram would be good or 8 or 6?
As much ram as she possibly can.
alrite sounds good
Ferman said:
the gpu wont effect her all that much since shes using photoshop and tools like that
except the memory. be looking at how much memory the card has and how fast the memory is
wooly4 said:
except the memory. be looking at how much memory the card has and how fast the memory is
mac pros come with a radeon hd 5770 and I think that should be good enough right?
OlclWarrior said:
mac pros come with a radeon hd 5770 and I think that should be good enough right?
i would imagine so, but i dont use indesign or illustrator
wooly4 said:
i would imagine so, but i dont use indesign or illustrator
well they take around the same amount of graphics power that photoshop does
she was planning on getting the 3500$ version of the mac pro but from some apple certified guy in town who gets them from apple when they are like 10 hours used and sells them cheaper so yeah
alrite thanks for the great advice :)