Need comparison advice, dual vs quad mac pro

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I have a 2 x 2.66GHz dual core Intel xeon mac pro, 10.5.8. I work in InDesign, Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, basic Graphic design, web developer work.

My supervisor has a pretty old iMac. We do the same work. She wants to upgrade, but she suggested that I upgrade and she will get my computer after I get the new one. At this university, budget is not too high so I went to Apple and saw their new Quad Core Mac Pro for $2,999.00. I thought this price would be approved. Then I noticed that the processor is only a 2.26GHz.

My question, with the fear of sounding REALLY stupid, I didn't really want to buy a new computer with a slower processor than what I currently have, but will the quad core design make it faster than a 2.66GHz dual core?

To upgrade to a quad core 2.66GHz I'd have to add $1,400.00.

So is the 2.26GHz Quad core FASTER than a 2.66GHz Dual core?

Thanks
 
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Actually, the new one I'm looking at is the 8-core, not quad core, my mistake. It has two quad-core 2.26Ghz processors compared to the one I have now, 2 x 2.66Ghz dual-core.

I have since found out that it will indeed be faster, sort of common sense I guess.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 15"matt, 2.8GHz, 500GB, 4GB RAM
Out of interest, how much faster? Worth the extra money-faster?
 
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you'd probably get more performance boost out of a higher clock speed quad-core (i.e. the new nehalem xeons) than a slower 8-core. a single user is not going to easily hit all 8 cores. i have the 2x 2.66ghz dual-core mac pro (woodcrest xeons) and i hardly get past 20% cpu usage.

i was at the apple store a week ago, and the top-of-the-line mac pro is the clocked quad-core. 2nd best is the 8-core at a slower clock. it felt good that after almost 3 years, the slower quad-core is still 3rd best in the store :D
 

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