Should you upgrade your old Mac Pro ?

DAV's Tech Table by Dave Helmley

One common question I get at least once a week, from my Mac Pro customers is whether or not to upgrade their current Mac Pro or just bite the bullet and buy a New Mac Pro or a High-end iMac to run the latest versions of our Adobe Creative Cloud video/audio/imaging apps.

As in most cases, it really depends on what current gear you need to keep connected to your Mac Pro to insure your trusted workflow continues. I/O boards like Atto Fiber & SAS cards, AJA/BMD/Bluefish I/O cards and other PCI cards might be a compelling reason to upgrade your current Mac Pro. I?ve also seen custom Mac Pro racks and editing bays where the editing environment is actually created around the Mac Pro ? ie, custom metal or wood work to incase the Mac Pro.

MoneyGrab2To be up front , it?s not exactly cheap to upgrade your Mac Pro to current high performance specs but it?s also not out of reach. So , let me start with the upgrade price which will typically range from about $1,500.00 ? $1,800.00 depending on whether you decide add more RAM.

Keep mind that a high-end iMac with all those awesome options will run you over $3,500 and the New Mac Pro can easily top that (ie, I bought the 12 core D700 unit) . No question that both of these new Apple Desktops offer you a new warranty and of course Thunderbolt 2 (*note* you can not add Thunderbolt to an old Mac Pro as the Motherboard and Intel Chipset does not support it) but it also requires a change in most workflows. BUT ? In some cases, it might be time to consider a change in workflow, as new Thunderbolt 2 raids and eternal I/O SDI units from Matrox, AJA, BMD, and others offer some great advantages. read more...