That stands to reason as it's a newer chip and a faster clock speed. I know that the new 3.2GHz 8 Core will be faster than the old 3.0GHz 8 Core. However, I'm trying to find out if the new base model (8 Core 2.8 GHz) will be faster in practice than last year's 3.0GHz model, because of the increased bus speed etc. So new Harpertown 2.8GHz 8 Core is faster or slower than last year's 3.0GHz 8 Core? Now if Apple can release some new Cinema Displays or drop the price next week, I can put my order in! I don't mind waiting a little longer for non-realtime renders in FCS2 but being able to get smooth response from Motion 3 when creating graphics is important to me as it is hard to get a feel for your animations without smooth motion. Whichever I choose, I will be putting in at least an extra 4GB of RAM as soon as supply is steady and the prices come down a bit. If it's negligible I would save the money. Would I see a big difference when running one of the new 3GHz 8 Core Harpertowns (or indeed a 3.2GHz 8 Core) as opposed to a 2.8GHz 8 Core Mac Pro? If the difference going to be noticeable enough in everyday use to justify the extra cost I would go for it. I mostly use the HDV codec which is quite processor intensive.

My main concern is getting smooth real-time previews in Motion 3 and Final Cut Pro 6. I am now considering which of the new Mac Pros to buy. I put off buying last year's 8 core because of the hefty price premium.

Even with the slight reduction in clock speed, would the new 2.8GHz 8 Core machine still run faster than last year's 3GHz 8 Core machine (April 2007) when running Final Cut Studio 2 apps?Īssuming apart from the processor, the new machines benefit from faster bus speed and memory speed.

2x2.8 ghz 8 core mac pro