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Recommendations on a new Mac Pro #1
Paul Toofan's picture
by Paul Toofan
October 28, 2012 - 4:47am

Im looking to buy a new Mac Pro and was looking for some recommendations on which machine would be best for Aperture use.

I have a 3 year old Mac that runs Aperture 3.0 slowly and I really would like to upgrade to a new fast machine. I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II in raw so my files are about 22 MB.

I was looking into a new Mac Pro but im not sure what would be the optimal machine.

Specifically i'd like to know what users recommend for a CPU, RAM, and Graphics card. I already have two NEC 24” monitors that i'll be using.

Thanks.

Bob Rockefeller's picture
by Bob Rockefeller
October 28, 2012 - 6:31am

Aperture demands high-end resources. And it will probably be a long wait for an updated Mac Pro.

I’d suggest a 6 core Mac Pro with the base RAM and the best video card. Then buy a big chunk of RAM from a third party - as much as you can afford with the money you have left.

Bob

Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com

stump4545's picture
by stump4545
October 29, 2012 - 1:44am

what about the new imac over the dated Mac Pro?

still go Mac Pro over quad core ivy bridge with ssd?

i dont need tons of storage bays.

whats best to run aperture 3 the best?

stump4545's picture
by stump4545
October 30, 2012 - 1:53am

new imac over dated mac pro?

anybody?

Butch Miller's picture
by Butch Miller
October 30, 2012 - 2:49am

“new imac over dated mac pro?”

I had always used towers as my main work station until about six years ago. I appreciated the flexibility that the tower form factor offers. But in late 2006 I purchased my first iMac … 24 inch Core2 Duo … with the plan to add a Mac Pro at a later date … I never got around to doing that …

I have over 12TB of RAW images and derivative files stored on external FW800 arrays … which I plan to move to Thunderbolt sometime soon … but I learned over time with the iMac, I wasn’t really missing anything in the areas of flexibility or customizations as what the iMac offered was what I used anyway …

All that explained … I am currently using an iMac 21.5” (Mid 2011) i5 quad core 2.5 Ghz, 12GB RAM and have no issues or feel I am missing out on performance … especially considering it cost me far less than half the price of the current base model Mac Pro … and that doesn’t include the cost of a quality monitor …

I have nothing against the Mac Pro … but when I look at my bottom line ( I have been a a full time pro shooter for over 36 years) I can’t see where I can warrant the investment of the Mac Pro when scrutinizing the purchase based upon a purely Return on Investment aspect. I can’t see where I would receive twice the benefit in time savings or efficiency that would offset the expenditure … YMMV due to specific specialized concerns where the hardware options can only be filled by a Mac Pro …

So comparing one of the new iMacs vs. an out dated Mac Pro … for me … the iMac the wiser investment … In fact I’m planning to add an iMac 27 inch in the spring of 2013 … but each user has to come to that decision based upon their own needs, desires and goals.

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