Buying a new Mac.

[propower]

Understood

On the mac desktop side its either a mini - imac or MP (old or new) - For a desktop class proc with pretty good heatsinking the 3.5GHz imac is a big step up from the mini and kind of the only choice if not going for a MP. If they would sell the guts of the imac in a nice quiet case with good heatsinking for $1500 I would be all over it ! Instead I get a really nice monitor for $1000 more - not the greatest deal ever but gets the job done...

[propower]

Understood

On the mac desktop side its either a mini - imac or MP (old or new) - For a desktop class proc with pretty good heatsinking the 3.5GHz imac is a big step up from the mini and kind of the only choice if not going for a MP. If they would sell the guts of the imac in a nice quiet case with good heatsinking for $1500 I would be all over it !

But if you are OK with just running Windows - building a killer PC is fun, cost effective and not at all difficult.

[Cowboy Bob]

Originally Posted by guitardom

To be fair, you would have quite a bit faster processor on the windows (or hackintosh) build. Another thought is that in 3-4 years when your computer is archaic in terms of computing power, your seperate monitor(s) would still be usable on your next computer. I am at 3 computer upgrades on my same monitors. Something to put into the cost factor.

Good points about the monitor and I can't disagree as I am using 5 year old IBM lower res monitors currently.

I am all for saving money, and switching platforms is not something I relish, I am used to windows, and before that MS DOS. But, I have priced the components, and a complete build (minus a couple of HDD's) but with a high res monitor, is going to cost more.

The main issue that I have run into; if I use the consensus of the forum with regard to chip set etc, and cpu, I have not been able to economically configure a system with thunderbolt ports. If I am missing something, I am glad to have someone point me in the right direction.

I've even looked at the off the shelf or built to order, purpose built audio pcs. Their specs don't meet the consensus of the forum even though they do have the thunderbolt connectivity and are being marketed and sold as compatible with Pro Tools. Thunderbolt connectivity is important for my future expansion plans into HDN.

I've been using Pro Tools since PTMP 7.0 and have NEVER had any PT issues related to hardware incompatibility and I don't really want to start now. That was my main reason for considering a platform switch.

I would be glad of any further information/advice.

[propower]

Unless you are heart set on lowest buffer recording the i7 Mini with a decent monitor is hard to beat in the bang for the buck category. The imac is only needed (IMO) if you need the CPU speed to keep buffers down at 32/64 44.1/96 for latency preference reasons - or - if your sessions are so dense that the CPU usage is like 50% and you don't want fan noise (though I can only vouch for the 27" in this respect) - or - you just like all in ones. PS-- if you NEED two TB ports then you need an imac today (although a mini refresh MAY change this)...

my 2 cents --

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by Cowboy Bob

Good points about the monitor and I can't disagree as I am using 5 year old IBM lower res monitors currently.

I am all for saving money, and switching platforms is not something I relish, I am used to windows, and before that MS DOS. But, I have priced the components, and a complete build (minus a couple of HDD's) but with a high res monitor, is going to cost more.

The main issue that I have run into; if I use the consensus of the forum with regard to chip set etc, and cpu, I have not been able to economically configure a system with thunderbolt ports. If I am missing something, I am glad to have someone point me in the right direction.

I've even looked at the off the shelf or built to order, purpose built audio pcs. Their specs don't meet the consensus of the forum even though they do have the thunderbolt connectivity and are being marketed and sold as compatible with Pro Tools. Thunderbolt connectivity is important for my future expansion plans into HDN.

I've been using Pro Tools since PTMP 7.0 and have NEVER had any PT issues related to hardware incompatibility and I don't really want to start now. That was my main reason for considering a platform switch.

I would be glad of any further information/advice.

A base model Imac with an i7 is 2200.00 Even Adding your own ram will set you back another 150$ or so There is a lot of wiggle room for options and components!

[jimlongo]

A refurbished mini with quad core i7 and 1TB fusion drive cost me under $1000
Always record to external.

Also you could look at mini server and have a internal audio drive.

Note: what you don't have with a mini is an optical drive if that matters to you.

[CME]

And just to throw this out there. I found a 2009 Mac Pro 2.66 quad on eBay for $500. I paid a little more than this but I've seen 24gb (3x8gb) of ram for around $200. And then I found a w3670 processor (6-core 3.2 ghz) for $250. So for about $1000 I have a 6-core 24gb Mac Pro with 4 internal drives. The drawbacks are no thunderbolt, sata 2 ports, and no USB 3.0. The latter two can be addressed with PCIe cards. But no way to get thunderbolt. Just food for thought.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by CME

And just to throw this out there. I found a 2009 Mac Pro 2.66 quad on eBay for $500. I paid a little more than this but I've seen 24gb (3x8gb) of ram for around $200. And then I found a w3670 processor (6-core 3.2 ghz) for $250. So for about $1000 I have a 6-core 24gb Mac Pro with 4 internal drives. The drawbacks are no thunderbolt, sata 2 ports, and no USB 3.0. The latter two can be addressed with PCIe cards. But no way to get thunderbolt. Just food for thought.

Although the 2009 Mac Pro has the shortcomings you mentioned, it is the best supported model you can think of. It can eat HD cards, HDX cards, HDN card, whatever... Always fully supported.

[jimlongo]

@CME That's a reasonable approach, especially if you need the pcie slots, but I would add that the i7 quadcore 2.6 outperforms a quadcore nehalem 2.66 by a factor of 1.5 in benchmark tests.

http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

I bought a used 2008 MacPro last year from a place called Mac of all Trades to run PT10 HD Native (to replace my HD3 TDM on a G5) for only around $700. It's a dual 2.66 that I added RAM to. I have had no problems with this machine. Unfortunately it won't run PT11 so I just got a dual 2.66 Nehalem machine from the same place for about $1300. They have more of this model and newer. It comes with a 90 day warranty and you can get Apple Care because they are an authorized reseller. I intend to sell the one I got last year as well as the G5 (if I can- there are some nutty Apple people out there so why not try?). At the very least this is a good stop-gap until I can get a newer machine and trade my old extra TDM HD core card towards a Thunderbolt Native or wait out a price drop on HDX.