Dilemma - Should I return my new Mac Pro? 8 core vs 6 core

[dkrz]

I just bought a new 2.4GHz 8 core Mac Pro to replace my 2006 2.66 Quad that just died...

I bought it in a bit of a rush because I was working on a project in Pro Tools with a tight deadline. I just swapped in my old startup disk and media drives and was able to continue working without a hitch.

After doing a bit of research, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I would've been better off getting the single processor 3.33GHz 6 core machine. Professionally, I work mostly in audio and a bit of video.

After comparing prices, the 6 core equipped with the ATI 5870 card turns out to be only $100 dollars more. That is because my wife works for Apple and we would get a 25% discount on the sale.
Then I would just get 8 gigs of RAM from OWC or somewhere and would be good to go...

In the end, I guess what I'm asking is how much real world performance difference is there between those two models? Should I just hang on to my 8 core 2.4 or should I return it? What would you do?

Clock speed vs multi core seems to be a bit of a debate from the research I've done so far.

Thanks for any input!

[KMcK]

Generally speaking the 6-core is considered the better machine vs. the 8-core because right now Clock Speed > More Cores when it comes to Mac Pros (within the same chipset of course).

With the 8-core you do get more memory slots, so you can go up to 64gb vs. just 32gb on the 6-core, but that's probably not something that is going to matter much until the machines are a few years old and trying to keep up with future software version memory requirements.

[AxeDye]

You won't notice much of a difference unless you use 2x 6 core CPU. Sandy bridge Mac pros will be here soon I'd imagine and those are going to out perform without a doubt.

[KMcK]

http://barefeats.com/wst10c3.html

Notice that older 8-cores with higher clock speed beat out the current batch of 8-core 2.4ghz, and that the 6-core 3.33ghz is within a hair's breadth of the top of the line 2.93 12-core.

Obviously this is just one test of one application, but as most apps can't take full advantage of multiple cores, higher clock speed is generally still considered the king vs. machines with more cores but slower speeds.

[Dism]

There are so many numbers out there... but it really just comes down to whether or not the computer works for YOU.

Does your 8-core Mac Pro choke at all? Ever? Do you have problems with any of its processes that really makes you wish it was a little bit faster? Do you have any sessions that really push it to it's limits?

You can "hmm" and "huhhh" over the the benchmarks, but it really comes down your YOUR personal real world application. I think you'd be hard pressed to max out any modern Xeon, unless you a highly active film composer for huge scores, in which case you probably would have a slave or two to handle all of your VIs.

Does your Mac Pro suit YOUR needs, or are you just concerned that because there is a faster Mac out there, you might not be getting all the juice you could possibly be getting?

[KMcK]

Well said Dan, definitely good stuff to keep in mind.

[dkrz]

I guess I'll have a better idea after I spend a week with it. I have two weeks to return it. Hard decision... Thanks for the replies so far!