Old vs. New Mac Pro Question (RTAS processing)

[digidub]

Hey all, I'm in the market for a new Mac Pro, and a question about track counts, plug-in counts, etc. Basically I'm maxing out my computer in terms of RTAS processing.

I have a 3 GHz Dual Core Xeon 5160 processor Mac Pro (the upgraded version of the original 2.66 Mac Pro).

I'm thinking of getting the Nehalem 2.26GHz 8-Core.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but despite the lower GHz speed, would the Nehalem be a significant upgrade? I don't want to lose too much in terms of track counts...

[John H]

If you allocated 7 out of 8 cores and you currently use 3 out of 4 cores, you'd have far more CPU power available for plugins.

I know Geekbench isn't any real indication but bearing in mind the 2.26Ghz system also has faster memory throughput as well, it's not like the trade off older systems had where more cores = less bandwidth, everything is faster from the start.

Geekbench Score: 11803
(8 core 2.26Ghz, 1066Mhz RAM)

Geekbench Score: 5384
(4 core 3Ghz, 667Mhz RAM)

[guitarhead]

I am looking at that same machine the octo 2.26 vs the quad 2.93. the quad has a better graphics card and they both come with 1tb HD and 6 gigs of ram.I have been trying to find info to help me with my decision.

The slower cpu or the faster quad.
the quad is $2,049 and the octo is $2349

any advice

[rosemeister]

I would go with the Octo as it may be more future proof with software upgrades utilizing all cores efficiently.