Is the 2.8ghz worth it?

I'm looking to get a mac mostly for video and music editing. I plan on running ProTools and Final Cut Pro, among other things. The tower mac (mac pro?) doesn't come with a monitor, and is otherwise just too expensive for me anyway, so I am looking at a 24" iMac. I can upgrade the ram myself for less money, and HD space isn't much of an issue because of external drives I already have, so the 2.8ghz package isn't worth it to me. They have the same video cards, so the only discernable difference is the processor. I can upgrade from the 2.4 to the 2.8; leaving everything else the same, but it costs 250$ to do so. Is the processor worth it? Or will the 2.4 be more than sufficiant?

Depends on what kind of projects you are looking at. If it's HD or a lot of 3D renderings and such then you will need to get the fastest machine you can buy, so yeah, 2.8Ghz will make a difference.

I don't see how the Mac Pro is too expensive if the 2.8GHz is $2300 and the Mac Pro is $2500. I picked up my Quad 2.66GHz for $2350 with tax because I bought it refurbished from the Apple website. It had 2GB RAM instead of the 1GB normally installed.
The 2.8GHz machine actually has a 2.6GHz processor that is over-clocked to 2.8GHz. My opinion, the extra money could be spent somewhere else. Save the $500 and buy 4GB RAM. 4GB vs. 1GB will be more significant that .4GHz.

Well, I'm a hardware enthusiast - my personal opinion is to buy the most processor you can afford.

My question would be, how long do you keep your computers?
If you're typically replacing them every 2 years or less, probably just get the 2.4 If you hang on to 'em 3-4 years or longer, would get the 2.8 if you can afford it.

In real differences, you'll maybe see a 10-12% maximum reduction in you encoding times with the 2.8.

bryphotoguy said:

I don't see how the Mac Pro is too expensive if the 2.8GHz is $2300 and the Mac Pro is $2500. I picked up my Quad 2.66GHz for $2350 with tax because I bought it refurbished from the Apple website. It had 2GB RAM instead of the 1GB normally installed.
The 2.8GHz machine actually has a 2.6GHz processor that is over-clocked to 2.8GHz. My opinion, the extra money could be spent somewhere else. Save the $500 and buy 4GB RAM. 4GB vs. 1GB will be more significant that .4GHz.

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The 2.4 is only 1800$. Upping to the 2.8 would put it at 2050$. And I can get a 2GB Kingston ram chip off newegg for 100$ (totalling 3GB with the original 1GB). Plus, the 2500$ of the mac pro doesn't include a monitor. For editing, I really need that big 1920x1200 screen, and buying something to satisfy that adds to the 2500$ considerably. So I'd be looking at around 3000$ or more total. That's just too much for me.

What do you own now?

The thing is the Mac Pro comes not with a monitor which would add another $400 at least to the cost of the Pro. I guess he has to choose what he wants himself. On one hand there is the Mac Pro with it's all powerful quad core and expandability and graphics, on the other hand there's the sleek iMac, all in one, (with a nifty remote I might add) but he has to compromise a little on speed.

buy what you can afford, there wont be a huge difference between the 2.4 and the 2.8 and in regards to a monitor for the mac pro you could buy an lcd or hd t.v for not too much. The mac pro is brilliant for expandibility and graphics but maybe you dont need that much power?

bryphotoguy said:

The Apple.com site lists the 2.8GHz iMac at $2299. You getting a deal somewhere else?
What do you own now?

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The 2.4 ghz imac is listed at 1799$ and you can get an optional upgrade for the processor to 2.8ghz for 250$.

In regards to the mac pro price, its just too much. I don't want to spend more than around 2000$ (which already is a lot in my eyes). Either way, the base model mac pro without a monitor is already 500$ more than what I'd like to spend.

Right now I am using an old off-brand XP-SP2 desktop; 2.3ghz single core/1gb ram/old video card, and a sony vaio laptop running vista; 1.8ghz dual core/2gb ram/decent video card. Vista is alright, but I've been running XP on that desktop for 4+ years, frequently leaving it run 24 hours a day for weeks and weeks at a time with no problems. I have no intentions of replacing either of them, and the mac would just be a suppliment.

I would get the 24" iMac. You can get 2-2GB sticks of RAM for around $100 if you look. I got 4 GB's of G-Skill in mine for $70 after the rebates. Are you a student or do you know anyone who is? That will get you another $100 off. Then your not too far from the 2.8GHz.

Is a 10% boost worth it? When you cannot change it later, the answer is yes.

cfusionpm said:

The 2.4 ghz imac is listed at 1799$ and you can get an optional upgrade for the processor to 2.8ghz for 250$.

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Yea, I saw that and changed my reply. I was thinking you could use your current monitor on a Mac Pro but you're only adding to your current setup.

I would think the 2.4GHz would work just fine. I don't see how .4GHz will be that much faster. It will shorten decoding times by a couple of minutes per hour of decoding time but that doesn't really seem worth it in my opinion.

Use the $250 for the RAM, another FW800 external or a faster external SuperDrive.

But, it's really all up to you.

bryphotoguy said:

I would think the 2.4GHz would work just fine. I don't see how .4GHz will be that much faster. It will shorten decoding times by a couple of minutes per hour of decoding time but that doesn't really seem worth it in my opinion.



But, it's really all up to you.

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Thats true. You will also need the extra cash for the pricey software you mentioned.

brian67 said:

Is a 10% boost worth it? When you cannot change it later, the answer is yes.

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That's pretty much what I was thinking; its really the only thing between the two that I can't later change.

brian67 said:

Are you a student or do you know anyone who is? That will get you another $100 off.

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I am currently a student at UCSD. Do I have to do anything special for these discounts?

brian67 said:

Thats true. You will also need the extra cash for the pricey software you mentioned.

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People... buy software?

In the Apple site store there is a link on the left that says Education Store. Click it and it will take you through a couple of steps to see if your school qualifies. You will then sign into their portal using your student ID and password that you use for school email and be able to shop with the discounts already taken off.

cfusionpm said:

People... buy software?

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That's sort of admitting you don't buy software so that means you get it by an illegal method? Not a smart thing to mention on a message board. You could get banned. Extreme methods could be taken and your IP could easily be tracked.

As for the processor, I am pretty sure older model Intel iMacs had a removable processor. I would assume the same for the Al iMacs.

Go to the Apple website and check to see if you get an educational discount. It might be like $100 to $150 off. And buy the software. What happens if Apple releases an update your current software doesn't work??

Technically, I admited nothing, and just made a generalized humorous statement.

I'll see what I can find for student discounts, though.