Hello to all:
I will be running Pro Tools V.8.0 on my mac-which apparently will either be a used 8-core 2.8 Harpertown machine (which I will upgrade to 16 or even 32 gig RAM), OR: a reconditioned 2.66 Nehalem quadcore machine, which as we all know, is limited (according to mac formalities ) to 8 Gig RAM.
I know many people say that with aftermarket chips (which I'll be using anyway-so as not to grossly OVERPAY!), we can cram in double the apple spec, and get 16 gig of DDR3 RAM in the new quadcore.
I plan to use BFD's latest version, a bit of soft synths, and plenty of compressors, eqs, F/X, and I'd like to Keep things flexible (in the MIDI realm) and not bounce to audio , so I know RAM is important....but the advantages of a newer quadcore vs the Harpertown 8 core can be blurred according to who you talk to...usually computer salespeople who don't know much about pro audio, and couldn't care less! They talk up what they have on hand to peddle... Only PT users are gonna' have real world answers.
My Question is:
Would you rather have a year-old 8-core Harpertown machine upgradeable to 32 GIG of DDR2 Ram, or the new 2.66 Nehalem machine, which may max out at 8 GIG of DDR3 (or even 16 GIG DDR3)?
Thanks so much.