Will I gain anything coming from a 2008 Mac Pro?

[afrat]

I currently have:

2008 Mac Pro
2 x 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
16 GB 800 MHz DDR2 RAM
AMD Radeon HD 7950 3072 MB Graphics Card

I am on the fence about building a socket 1150 or 2011. This machine is only used for very heavy Lightroom and Photoshop work, so performance gains in those applications is the main priority. I am not sure if I should go all out and get a 6 core processor for heavy lifting in LR, or if the top end quad-core i7 would be plenty, even with the 32 GB RAM limitation. Am I wrong in assuming if I ever wanted to switch over to 2011-v3 when support is present I can just swap the mobo and processor? Would I be gaining much going from the dual Xeon's to a single Core i7?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[trs96]

I currently have:

2008 Mac Pro
2 x 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
16 GB 800 MHz DDR2 RAM
AMD Radeon HD 7950 3072 MB Graphics Card

I am on the fence about building a socket 1150 or 2011. This machine is only used for very heavy Lightroom and Photoshop work, so performance gains in those applications is the main priority. I am not sure if I should go all out and get a 6 core processor for heavy lifting in LR, or if the top end quad-core i7 would be plenty, even with the 32 GB RAM limitation. Am I wrong in assuming if I ever wanted to switch over to 2011-v3 when support is present I can just swap the mobo and processor? Would I be gaining much going from the dual Xeon's to a single Core i7?

Thanks for any advice!

When you move up to faster DDR3 or DDR 4ram and solid state drives you will get a big speed boost
compared your 2008 MP. The speed difference will be quite noticeable. A 6 core I7 extreme cpu
would also perform better than the two older Xeon's in most of what you do. (Dual Xeon's with more cores/threads handle heavy video rendering loads better) You would be best off just starting with the 2011 V3 build instead of a Haswell 1150 limited to only 4 cores 8 threads and DDR3 ram.

 

[afrat]

When you move up to faster DDR3 or DDR 4ram and solid state drives you will get a big speed boost
compared your 2008 MP. The speed difference will be quite noticeable. A 6 core I7 extreme cpu
would also perform better than the two older Xeon's in most of what you do. (Dual Xeon's with more cores/threads handle heavy video rendering loads better) You would be best off just starting with the 2011 V3 build instead of a Haswell 1150 limited to only 4 cores 8 threads and DDR3 ram.

Thanks for the reply! I figured a 2011-v3 was most future proof but was worried about the lack of current support. I'd need this machine integrated into my work flow as the main computer. From what I've read, there aren't any 100% builds yet with that socket right?

 

[trs96]

Thanks for the reply! I figured a 2011-v3 was most future proof but was worried about the lack of current support. I'd need this machine integrated into my work flow as the main computer. From what I've read, there aren't any 100% builds yet with that socket right?

A few have an X99 system up and running with a lot of workarounds applied. If this is your first
CustoMac and you're just learning this I would wait till there is a well organized User/Golden
build to follow. If you were to build now you could possibly run LR and PS in Windows 8.1 until
you're able to install OS X on your system. Otherwise try and keep your Mac Pro going a few
more months till there is support and a good guide to follow.

 

[afrat]

A few have an X99 system up and running with a lot of workarounds applied. If this is your first
CustoMac and you're just learning this I would wait till there is a well organized User/Golden
build to follow. If you were to build now you could possibly run LR and PS in Windows 8.1 until
you're able to install OS X on your system. Otherwise try and keep your Mac Pro going a few
more months till there is support and a good guide to follow.

Running Windows was an option I was considering too, seems like it might be the best bet. I appreciate the quick replies, thanks again!