Deciding on a Mac Pro

Question

I am curious to know how anyone out there goes about making a final decision on a Mac Pro (or MacBook Pro) purchase. Not so much the ''want vs. need'' debate, because we all grapple with that. But directly dealing with the fact of buying a computer and then a few months or many months later, something new comes out and they add something better to the system you have.
I know if you think too much along those lines, you should never buy a computer because there will always be product refreshes and updates. And unless you buy a new computer every 6 months, you`ll never have the best, greatest thing.
I had a 2009 MacBook Pro and I had nothing but problems with it. Apple replaced the hdd many times over and 2x I sent it back for repairs. They ended up sending me a replacement, which I sold right away and waited a little bit until the 2010 Mac Pros came out. I bought a 6 Core, 3.33Mhz system, and once again have been having problems with it - slowness, sluggishness, etc. HDD replacements. Sent it in once 10 days ago for repairs and they removed one memory stick. Same problems still, so it went back to repairs today. Apple said they are going to replace the logic board and test more. But they also said if this system still acts the same, they will replace it.
So case in point, in thinking about this possible (or probable) replacement - should I hang in there with this same Mac Pro or should I go to the 2011 MacBook Pro? I am not a power user by any stretch of the imagination. I could just as easily get by with a bare bones MacBook or iMac. I wanted a computer that would be overkill for my needs. But I do often wonder/worry about my system each time there is a product refresh or change in features.
Just curious what other 2010 Mac Pro owners feel about this.

Answer 1

Hatter, obviously if you want to buy a complete PC, $2k will not fit. But a simple google search will reveal many "budget" gaming PC parts lists for you to assemble yourself for a far better value.
And my budget is $1200, not 2400.
$1200 Mac Pro
$800 CPU upgrade
$375 GPU upgrade
= $2375 (2400)
Here is one under $1200 that will beat your Mac Pro: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclock-benchmark,3276.html
Here is a $2000 build that will blow your Mac Pro out of the water: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-building-overclocking-buyers-guide,3277.h tml
And another, this one with a GTX 680: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/build_it_how_build_kick-***_ivy_bridge _gaming_pc_step_step
I appreciate your input, but I do NOT want another gaming pc.
Why is that? The Mac Pro is a professional/server computer, NOT a game computer. You're paying for  3 year old hardware, two of the most expensive bits (CPU and GPU) of it you will be throwing away!
Gaming PCs do not need server grade parts, so you're basically paying a huge premium for the case and you're still stuck with 3 year old technology.
So the 2009 single processor quad core with 8 threads will outperform the dual quad core/8 threads 2008 model?
Not even close. The 2009 model has 8 theoretical threads while the 2008 model has 8 physical threads. At best, you'll see 75% the performance of the 8 core.
The single CPU 2009 is a very poor value since you're stuck with one CPU. You're better off finding a low-spec dual CPU if you plan to chuck the old cpus.
What bugs and limitations? To what?
To a 3 year old computer running an unsupported GPU, which means you will never be able to run OSX unless you reinstall the old 5770 GPU  before you boot into the Mac side.
If you plan on never booting into OSX, you're throwing away half the computer's value. Which is why I suggested you build a PC.