What is better a imac or a mac pro

which computer is better a imac or a mac pro?

With Mac Pros you can add fiberoptic PCIe Cards. With iMacs you have to settle for Thunderbolt, which isn't bad, but not quite as fast. With Mac Pros you can have four built-in SATA drives.
With iMacs you are stuck with one, and based on the latest info from http://www.macsales.com/ the internal iMac hard drive is not removable! So if it dies, you are left with external drives and the built-in optical as your only choice. With Mac Pros, you can expand your RAM more.
With Mac Pros the processor is frequently more powerful if your software desires it, and your graphics processor can be too if you desire it. If you don't think you'll need it, after examing the machines at the Apple Store, the iMac is a great machine.

Similar Messages

Nvidia CUDA for 27" iMac and the Mac Pro

I want to use Adobe Premier CS5.5 and it's Mercury Playback engine. What Nvidia CUDA-enabled card should I get for the 27" iMac and the Mac Pro to use this feature in Premier CS5?

No. Open the App Store on one computer running Snow Leopard. Purchase and download Lion. On the other computer open the App Store, log on using the same Apple ID, re-download Lion at no extra charge.
Alternatively, see Burning A Lion Boot Disc

Meglio il imac o il mac pro?

Salve a tutti,
Sono un utente appena registrato che sto valutando il passaggio da un winzozz ad un mac pro, ho controllato sul store di mac, ed mi sono scontrato con due opzioni, il nuovo imac ed il mac pro, il primo è un intel i5 che può essere personalizzato ad un i7 con della memoria fino a 32 gb, 3 tb disco rigido ed una scheda grafica nivada gxt 680 da 2 gb.
Il mac pro invece, con la mia personalizzazione ha un processore intel Xeon 6 da 3.33 ghz, 16 gb di memoria, un disco rigido da 1 tb ed un altro da 2 tb. una scheda grafica ati 5870, schermo 27.
secondo voi scusandomi della mia ignoranza, quale dei due è meglio?
Io non ho mai toccato in vita mia un mac, non so veramente se vale la pena o meno, so solo che mi sono rotto da winzozz che sempre si blocca, lavora da solo non so a cosa, sempre mille virus, poi non parlo dei buchi che sembra un Emmental svizzero, non riesco ad configurare le mie stampanti perche il driver non è disponibile per winzozz 7, non lo faranno più, stampante che costa 1500 euro oggi anche se vecchia, , il mio lavoro sul pc? di solito non faccio altro che scaricare le mie foto fatte da me con una Nikon d700 da 30 mb l'una, lavoro con Photoshop ed programmi di adobe.
Per questo chiedo il vostro consiglio visto che il mac ha costi notevoli, a cosa vado in contro?

Whoa there, sparky !!!
Is there something you aren't mentioning?
Since there has never been a Mac Pro 4850 and you have mentioned this number twice I would like to ask...what aren't you telling us?
Did this computer work fine until one day it quit? Or did you buy/inherit/find it broken or in an unknown state?
Any GPU used in a Mac Pro needs to have EFI on it to do this basic debugging stuff. While PC WIndows BIOS cards can be used if the system is A-OK and gets to desktop, it is basically impossible to use them on a system with issues.
So, if the 4870 has a DVI and a MDP port it is real Apple one and SHOULD work.
If that card died and you have tried replacing it with a WIndows/PC 4850, then you have broken the scientific rule about only changing one thing.
Ideally you would have another Mac Pro to test your GPU in and another KNOWN GOOD GPU to test in your Mac Pro. The EFI thing greatly complicates things, unfortunately. Even a "Mac Pro" video card won't necessarily work if it is for "the other" series of Mac Pro. Ther have been in effect, 2 different Mac Pros as far as video cards go. EFI32 and EFI64. ATI/AMD cards have been largely unaffected by this but Nvidia cards MUST be for right series.

Just transferred data to iMac from working Mac Pro that is using Parallels and Windows 7 and the Biblesoft 5 and it will not open on the iMac the only change is the my new iPhone number is OS. Any ideas?

Just transferred data to iMac from working Mac Pro that is using Parallels and Windows 7 and the Biblesoft 5 and it will not open on the iMac the only change is the new Maverick OS from the macpro Lion OS. Any ideas?
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant do not restore MS Windows, it only does the OS X partition. All of your Windows stuff must be backed up and restore using a MS Windows application. If no one on this forum is able to answer your question then I'd repost it on a Parallels forum to see how other Windows users approach this.

I would like to know what happen with my battery, if my Mac Pro Notebook is connect to the electrical power all the day. what should I have to do, connecting or disconnect

I would like to know what happen with my battery, if my Mac Pro Notebook is connect to the electrical power all the day. what should I have to do, connecting or disconnect

hi

I have an iMac and a Mac Pro, the latter is used when I travel. Do I have to buy TWO Lion OS? THEY BOTH HAVE SNOW LEOPARD 15.6. Thanks

I have both an iMac and a Mac Pro using Snow Leopart 15.6 as an OS. Do Ihave to buy TWO Lion OS to upgrade my OS'?

No. Open the App Store on one computer running Snow Leopard. Purchase and download Lion. On the other computer open the App Store, log on using the same Apple ID, re-download Lion at no extra charge.
Alternatively, see Burning A Lion Boot Disc

IMac 27" or Mac Pro Quad-Core?

Hello all,
I understand that this topic has been covered before although I am still unsure and I am looking for some help please!
I am currently looking into purchasing a new computer to complete my architectural post-graduate degree. I currently use a PC, which I have done so for many years and initially I was thinking about buying a customisable Dell XPS sticking to using PC’s. Having recently been sent an email from Apple regarding student discounts offered on the Mac range I thought I'd look into getting an Apple having heard nothing but praise and also that it can also run Windows XP (via ‘Bootcamp’). This would mean I would effectively get 2 “computers” for the price of one, however, after hours of research, scrolling through web pages I am torn between the Mac Pro Quad-Core and the iMac 27” (Intel i7) !
I mainly use Microstation V8/AutoCAD, Maxwell Render, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign, SketchUp, etc, and require a computer which can run programs quickly and efficiently, including some rendering. I will be switching between both operating systems, but will heavily use Windows to run most of my software.
I was first hooked onto the iMac due to its sheer simplicity, elegance and also the specification (Intel i7) which was on par with the Dell I was considering. Although reading deeper on various forums, articles, I found that the Mac Pro Quad-Core might be a better alternative for future proofing (IE. Upgradable hardware) but it costs a little bit more than the iMac plus no monitor included. I feel that the iMac will suffice for what I need but I am not sure how about its longevity. I will be using the computer intensely for the next year, however, after I graduate I will see the computer being used casually.
Another question is, if I were to use Bootcamp how would I share drivers (printers and scanners) between both Windows & Mac OSX? Also, when running Windows OS, would I need to install anti-virus software just like a PC?
I am wondering if anybody could shed some light, assistance, experience and guidance to help me with my purchase please.
Many thanks in advance!

I would say a lot of it depends on just how extensively you expect to be using it after you graduate. Either system should carry you through a single year easily, but the Mac Pro obviously has the expandability advantage that will help extend the tail of its useful life.
IMO, a reasonable expectation for an iMac is 2-3 years, while a Mac Pro is 3-4 for the quad core, 4-5 for the 2x4-core, and if you're buying one of those 12-core systems, odds are you're doing some serious number crunching and you'll be replacing the thing pretty quickly.
So, if you think there's a better than 50% chance of needing to keep this computer for a longer than 2-3 years, go for the Mac Pro, otherwise you can get the iMac now and see where life has taken you in 2-3 years.
As for bootcamp... Think of it like dual booting on a PC. Bootcamp does NOT allow you to run both operating systems at the same time, it's one or the other. Think of it like a time share. Programs like VMWare and Parallels let you run Windows in a virtual machine, but odds are you won't want the performance hit the emulation brings with it. So, there's no need to share drivers, because you'll need to install drivers for all hardware on both operating systems. You'll just need to make sure that any hardware you buy will work with both Mac OS X and Windows. When you're running Windows, it's no different from as if you had bought the Dell you were contemplating. Everything you would have done on the Dell as far as security software, you should do on the Mac with bootcamp. Mac OS X doesn't necessarily need AV software (yet), but Windows absolutely does.

What do all the parts of a Mac Pro really mean?

Hello,
     So right now I have a MacBook Pro, 13", 2 years old, 4GB ram, 160 GD hard drive, etc etc. I've got a wireless mouse, keyboard, and 27" LED Cinema Display, and I do graphic design work (as a job), and use my computer avidly. I'm the person who has 9 tabs open with 6 applications running. I also do a bit of gaming now and then, and love to fill up hard drives with my thousands of photos.
     So I want to upgrade to a Mac Pro in the future. However, my question is what should I get? With all this quad core, 8 core, 12 core, what will I really notice a difference in? Graphics card, what would really be beneficial - 1, 2, higher grade/normal grade? Whats a RAID card and a Solid-State drive? Would it be better to have multiple smaller hard drives or one big one?
     I mean realistically, what would help? Any good links for information?
Thanks
Ben

Okay, you may be happier then with Mac Pro. too often and it seems like a waste of my time if it is "pro-consumer" coming with questions, and often not well versed or not having researched the options and pros and cons.
Not everyone works with 1-2GB images and needs 32GB RAM and 6-cores though.
wish I could look in crystal ball and see 4th quarter Mac Pro with an LGA2011 socket processors from Intel - the next tic-toc after Nehalem/Westmere we have now. That may not happen for 6-9 months.
SSDs are great, but an SATA3 doesn't benefit and can actually run slow on SATA2 bus.
The DIY processor upgrade - 2.93GHz 8-core? not worth it. the 2.8 for $2100
Apple Special Mac Pro
Intel Xeon W3670 3.20GHz Hexacore Buy.com
W3670 Upgrade MacRumors
- includes photos
With PC, it is of course no trouble to build and run @ 4.2GHz and get more out of your investment.
A nice setup: 4 x 8GB RAM plus 3.33 6-core along with 2x SSD and 4 x 2TB drives
MacPerformanceGuide can take a couple days to digest and look at all the articles on various mac configurations.
A 2011 MacBook Pro shows it is competitive now.
So long as there is enough memory for Photoshop CS5 to use, the new 2011 MacBook Pro quad-core offers outstanding performance approaching that of the Mac Pro.
Results With Photoshop CS5
To understand CS5 on a Mac Pro you really want to study this section:
Strange but True: Photoshop CS5 Performance
More cores, more RAM, not always more performance
some want a laptop to take to clients and dont' want 60 lbs. An iMac top of the line can definitely do a lot more now.
ANALYSIS of the 2011 iMac
SHOOTOUT: Four 2011 iMacs

Who is the quietest : iMac Aluminum, MBP, Mac Pro

I will shortly upgrade / refresh. In the process I hope to rid myself of an extremely annoying aspect of my iMac G5 1.8ghz, Rev A: fan noise.
So I have a quite expensive and professional grade preamp (Great River NV) and Mic (AKG 414) - and what of it. Every time I go to record a vocal or acoutsic guitar track I am witness to the accurate capturing of a fan's whirling. Wow. Of couse running audio is processor intensive- so it heats up and bingo. I want it no more.
Which way to go for silence (or close to it).
* I have heard the MBP are quiet, but concerned as I have had laptops whirl away before.
* I have also heard the new iMac Aluminums are quiet - but under what kind of load ? Will the increased horsepower eliminate this as they won't be gasping for breath as my g5 is now ?
* Mac Pro - not sure can someone comment. I sppose I could always doa long monitor cable run - and perhaps they are better cooled.
I'd love any feedback as right now the machine I have is not at all a serious audio recording device.
Thx up front

I was on the verge of buying an isolation cab for my old Dual G4, but now that I have my 2.66 MacPro, it's the quietest thing in the room. Suddenly I noticed how the little fans in the Motu HD192 interfaces are whirring away quietly... But the Mac is never an issue. I haven't even bothered to move it even a few feet away since it's practically silent (except for hard drive access noises - which rarely interfere with recording in my experience). The only real noise-maker on a MacPro is the DVD drive, but don't stick a disk in it while you're recording - problem solved.
So while I can't compare to any other recent mac models, I can say that in my studio (with nice mics and mic pres from API/Chandler/UA etc) the Mac is no longer an issue where noise is concerned.
And the fact that the CPU kicks the tar out of my old G4 is kinda' nice too.

Windows 7 beta, 64-bit, on a Mac Pro

I'm about to attempt this, so I thought I'd gather together some tips on it. Found this thread re MacBook Pros:
http://ourcoffeestops.com/2009/01/guide-windows-7-x64-build-7000-on-a-macbook-pr o/
Has anybody else tried this on a Mac Pro with any success?
I've got a GEForce 8800 GT, early-2008 Mac Pro with 2 x Quad core. Any advice?
Thanks

If you had installed Vista, they you probably know most all the how and why, and just need tips on what is new and different.
Main new item to be aware of:
Older driver updates and installers (like Apple Boot Camp) have to run in a new "Vista Compatibile Mode" property setting. It may not run, or run and not really be successful.
You will need to reinstall or install RealTek audio driver yourself.
Pull your drives and leave one raw drive in there, formatted as Master Boot Record and FAT (MSDOS) and boot from the Windows 7 DVD you burned earlier in Disk Utility.
If someone has a Mac Pro from pre-2008, it has a different EFI32 firmware, not UEFI 2.x (EFI64) and may see an EFI boot menu when first boot from Windows 7 DVD (or Vista SP1 or later) when using 64-bit (Microsoft added some support for EFI in 64-bit versions post Vista SP1).
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2731677&SiteID=1
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-467704.html
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-installation-instructions.aspx
Message was edited by: The hatter

New Mac Mini, iMac, or old Mac Pro for Pro Tools?

I asked this in another thread, but just want to get more input from older Mac Pro users from different years (2008-2010..)
I need to upgrade my Mac and am wondering what experiences everyone has had with different options for running Pro Tools and other professional audio applications.
The FW800 port on my iMac recently broke, and rather than spend a lot on getting it fixed I've decided to just sell it to someone who doesn't need firewire and upgrade.
I'm trying to decide between a newer iMac (3.1 or 3.4 GHz) with thunderbolt and USB 3 (but no FW), a new Mac Mini, also with thunderbolt and USB 3, or a somewhat older Mac Pro (2008-2010) with at least a 2.8GHz processor. Any thoughts from those of you who have used any of these, or who know more about computers in general than I do? Thanks.
Another option a friend recommended was looking for a 2011 iMac as they have both Firewire and Thunderbolt, since my audio interface runs via FW.
Thanks!

Might want to ask this on a ProTools forum as well.
fwiw I have a 4 core MacMini Server w 8GB RAM and a 2008 MacPro 8 core w 16GB.
The Mini is used as a general file and A/V server when not specificially tasked with Final Cut Suite efforts.
Unless I have serious Compressor processes running (e.g. converting h.264 to an editable format) that draws on the full cores, the mini can do a good job keeping up with the MacPro.
What the mini won't do is take 3rd party cards or drive multiple large monitors but for digital audio it ought to be fine with thunderbolt drives.
Good luck.
x

Have new iMac. My Mac Pro went down in a fire...

I had a house fire and my Mac Pro went down. I have all 4 hard drives with Snow Leopard on one of them from the computer. I bought an iMac as a temp stepping stone before I get another Mac Pro. In the meantime all I really need from the Snow Leopard hard drive to import into Mavericks is the address book. Can anyone tell me how to do that? I may need to get Mac Mail also but that is not quite as important really. If I used migration assistant could I get ONLY those 2 things? Its kind of nice I have a clean Mac for a change and don't want to muddy it up too much. Would kind of like all my settings from Dreamweaver but don't think I can get that since I believe I would have had to export them first.
Any help would be appreciated.

Migration Assistant basically has 2 main options…
Import users
Import Applications
The second one will copy all the applications & supporting data - not what you want since it will add a lot of old applications & their background jobs - old gunk for your new Mac
The first option will allow you to just get the user data, and you can select which account's you would like.
There is one thing to consider - make sure you don't have an existing user account on the Mac that has the same shortname as one you want to import (the 'shortname' is what the home folder is called). That way you get user with your old data separate from the current user. You can also delete the user if it appears to slow things up (users files shouldn't break the entire OS).
From there you can open Contacts (was Address book), export the data as an 'archive' from the file menu. Save that into /Users/Shared and then open it inside your other user account. You will have the data without all the other gunk in your account. Calendars (was iCal) also has an export option.
You can also look at Mail's settings, Keychain Access (your passwords), Dreamweaver etc in this migrated user account and decide on what you need to export or make note of. Obviously you will need to get Dreamweaver installed since you are not migrating applications.
For what it is worth I would make a full system backup before beginning, you shouldn't need it, but it's best to be cautious with tools that can move masses of data into your lovely clean operating system.
Post back if you think of other things you need to grab.

New iMac 24" or Mac Pro for Aperure

Hi All,
I only can get stock computers in COMPUSA or authorized resellers in PR.
Which one do you recommend for Aperture, the new iMac 24" or the Mac Pro? It looks they both use the same video card...

Sadly I have just asked Apple to take back my mac book pro 17" 2.16 because aperture was just to slow and it became annoying, after any adjustments to a photo the loupe tool would jump and jerk across the screen or the patch tool would do the same after around 3-4 patched dust marks, I came across to a mac purely for aperture, which incidently I think aperture is a great tool, if it would only run faster. If the MBP 17" 100gb 7200rpm HD 2 gb Ram and Radion X1600 with 256 mb memory has problems running this software what hardware setup was this programme actually built for.
I will have to stay with my steam driven dell pc until I can make my mind up what to do, I must admit I am impressed by the mac itself and I found the service from apple outstanding, this laptop is my second machine in 3 weeks, first one had a warped top apple took it back and sent another one immediately, having also explained my problem and dissatisfaction with the second they have taken it back with full refund without any hassle whatsoever.
Dave Hall

Mac benchmarks: iMacs vs older Mac Pro towers

I've been having a great discussion in a PPro Facebook group regarding new editing systems; I have a limited budget for 3 new Macs in our company and I feel confident about purchasing a new Mac Pro (for PPro, AE, color correction and finishing work) and 2 iMacs with Thunderbolt RAIDs (just for editing with PPro).
I'm curious though: when I look at the Geekbench scores for the latest Mac models there are older Mac Pros (2009 - 2013) that seem to outperform the newest iMacs in 64-bit multicore performance. The single core performance has the iMacs coming out on top (I'm only looking at the 27" retina, not the new 5K model). So which score is more indicative of performance while editing with Premiere Pro? I've heard from editors who say their new iMacs run circles around the older towers they replaced so I'm inclined to believe that a new iMac would feel faster than even the last silver Mac Pro tower (2012); but a 12-core beast with a beefy GPU has got to be a serious contender when it comes to intense multiprocessing tasks.
I know that there a lot of factors that determine overall "speed" (GPU, RAM, storage speed) so it won't always be an easy 1:1 comparison with these models. I just want to make sure I'm investing in the right hardware and very curious as to how these benchmarks translate into real world Premiere Pro performance.
TIA,
JVK

jvknowles wrote:
I'm inclined to believe that a new iMac would feel faster than even the last silver Mac Pro tower (2012); but a 12-core beast with a beefy GPU has got to be a serious contender when it comes to intense multiprocessing tasks.
There's a lot involved in this comparison, such as:
CPU core count and speed
GPU capacity
Storage speed
The old Mac Pros are excellent rigs, but limited to SATA2 storage speeds, and their Xeons don't have Intel's AVX available, which will speed things up a bit. One advantage they do have is an open catalog of AMD or nVidia GPUs, assuming you can get them powered by the internal connectors. The new Pros are AMD-only, though the advantage is that they have 2 GPUs versus 1.
Comparatively, the new iMac with its desktop Core i7 processor will be able to push faster GHz, and it also has Intel's QuickSync tech available (hardware h.264 encoding). So if you're doing a lot of output with h.264, you'll see a bit of a kick in the *** with those. The limitations? The GPUs aren't as capable as the ones in the nMP now. And you only have access to a single GPU, where the new Pro has 2. But, if you're not doing any work that can be off-loaded to the GPUs, it won't matter.
As Eric mentions: AE is all CPU, all the time. It wants cores and GHz. It'll make your machine cry, regardless of what it is.

What are your opinion on the new mac pro

I feel while radical its too limiting thereby loosing fuctionality. But I also knw how the iSheeps would follow their iSheperd blindly. There making this kind of thunderbolt for everything the norm. I also know that the PC companies brought this on themselves they failed to innovate followed intel and nvidia to blindly with there xeons and quadro. The 3 major pc makers market professional workstations that you would probaly sell ur kidney to get one we have the z820 while very powerful its just 2 xpensive. Let's take for example the imac is the best bang for d buck most beautiful all in one if hp had used say a normal 3770k and a gtx 680m 4gb dat would have brought the price of the z1 down drastically. Let's say d average joe wants to be an editor, compositor, colorist. if u goole pc workstations hp z820 and dell T7600 would pop up but they are dam so xpensive hp consumer PCs are garbage. If there is onething apple knows the average pro does not want to be bothered with specs. I think the pc industry brought this on themselves. Wat of the smaller custom builder they focused so much on gaming big megatron design like cases with all the talk of FPS is every thing. My only prayer is that asus, msi gigabyte should stand up aganist apple and start releasing sexier designs, unless I fear even adobe is not safe cos most editors would gradually drfit back to FCPX sad wen inferior products triumphs a superior one. Pls drop ur thoughts also ur opnions as editors in your location the general trend. I hate to be locked in a garden where I am told this is what I need. I love choices.

The 2 biggest problems with the new Mac Pro are the complete reliance on Thunderbolt for expansion and the Proprietary GPU modules. What happens when those Fire Pro cards are EOL and new GPU's are available. Will Apple go to any of the GPU manufacturers and get newer modules manufactured. Considering the applications that are moving to GPU processing, that was really a very bad idea simply because of the Minimum order quantity Apple will have to make to run another module. Apple will not be able to pull from the general video card supply which means they will be solely responsible for any production numbers required to manufacture to begin with. I personally expect this to be a major limitation as time goes on.
The complete reliance on Thunderbolt for expansion really was bad idea and not ready for prime time. TB2 has the total bandwidth of a PCI-E Gen 2 5x. That is the entire pipe available to pump any video output data, high performance storage, I/O devices, and any number of devices available as time goes on especially video cards. Those trying to GPU process through that pipe are going to find that latency is way to much a problem to get that done. If Lightpeak was out and had the bandwidth of PCi-E Gen 2 or Gen 3 16X then I would say great. There is just to small a pipe and to much device moderation at the TB controller to do this now. The major problem that will develop from this later is when Lightpeak is out for the PC and devices start moving there. Where will Apple be with the Mac Pro when it's entire expansion is legacy in 1 to 2 years. As a final note Thunderbolt 2 is just Thunderbolt 1 with 1 bidirectional channel in stead of 2 unidirectional. This is not a major improvement over the original.
The final consideration though not a major problem yet is the limit to 6 Core Xeons. This is likely due to the heat the 8 Core Xeons generate combined with a centralized cooling design. One of the major reasons to get a Dual Xeon is the 8 Core CPU options. Without that then there really is far less reason to get a Dual Xeon over a single 6 core and eventually 8 core workstation. This is a sacrifice that will reveal more later than now.
Considering the Mac Pro is meant to be the flagship platform for Apple's Pro market, there are really way to many limitations on this one to compete with the PC equivalents. There is only so much OSX will add to any system.
Eric
ADK

What is better a imac or a mac pro

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for