Apple store refurbs: 30 GB video @ $159, MacPro $2K

[incognegro]

The 30 gig refurb is in stock (someone was looking the other day).

Also, did Apple finally drop the price on the MacPro refurb?
My last screen shot showed it $200 higher.

Refurbished Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz Intel Xeon
Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors
1GB (2 x 512MB ) memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200 rpm hard drive
16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory

• Save 21% off the original price
Original price: $2,499.00
Your price: $1,999.00

Estimated Ship: 1-3 business days
Free Shipping

[incognegro]

Just saw this posted at XLR8yourMac.com:

Apple store Refurbs page has (previous model) 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro at $2499 - A reader sent a note that Apple's cut prices on their Refurbished (previous model) Mac Pros at the Apple store. I'm not sure how many they have but as of 10AM they still had a listing for 3GHz 8-core Mac Pro for $2499. (IIRC about a $1000 price drop off the refurb 8-cores I saw there at times before the 2008 model was intro'd.)

OK, looking at "old" vs "new" MacPros:

NEW:

* Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
* 2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
* 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x double-layer SuperDrive

Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

OLD:

Refurbished Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz Intel Xeon

* Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors
* 1GB (2 x 512MB ) memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory

$2,499.00
Ships: 1-3 business days
Free Shipping

Tough call. new has slower processors but faster RAM / bus speed, larger HD.
Which graphics card is better?
The old one likely has none of the "freezing" issues we've been reading about.

[papercup]

Hmmmm...got me looking.

I am still looking for good benchmarks on the new systems, especially comparing the two you listed.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

The Radeon is supposed to be the better of the two video cards. Bare Feats has some benchmarks.
http://www.barefeats.com/

The improvement to me is the new Mac Pro towers use 15% to 25% less power.

[incognegro]

Interesting, Filliam:

http://www.barefeats.com/harper4.html

CONCLUSION
The cores on the new Mac Pro obviously use less power than the cores on the previous model. Save energy and go green. Buy a 2008 Mac Pro!

http://www.barefeats.com/harper.html

ANALYSIS
Though the core frequency gain of the 3.2GHz "Harpertown" is only 6.7% compared to the 3.0GHz "Clovertown," the speed advantage in the tests ranged from 12% to 24%. That shows what a faster frontside bus and faster memory bus brings to the party.

Also, you might not be aware that the Harpertown has a larger L2 cache -- 6 MB versus 4 MB. Plus the North Bridge now has a 24 MB snoop filter which maintains an index of all cached data in each processor. This significantly reduces data traffic on the FSB, providing lower latencies and greater available bandwidth to handle requests between CPUs.

The NEW MacPro costs (by my math, please check it) only 12% more.

[ho'ard]

[quote incognegro]Just saw this posted at XLR8yourMac.com:

Apple store Refurbs page has (previous model) 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro at $2499 - A reader sent a note that Apple's cut prices on their Refurbished (previous model) Mac Pros at the Apple store. I'm not sure how many they have but as of 10AM they still had a listing for 3GHz 8-core Mac Pro for $2499. (IIRC about a $1000 price drop off the refurb 8-cores I saw there at times before the 2008 model was intro'd.)

OK, looking at "old" vs "new" MacPros:

NEW:

* Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
* 2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
* 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x double-layer SuperDrive

Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

OLD:

Refurbished Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz Intel Xeon

* Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors
* 1GB (2 x 512MB ) memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory

$2,499.00
Ships: 1-3 business days
Free Shipping

Tough call. new has slower processors but faster RAM / bus speed, larger HD.
Which graphics card is better?
The old one likely has none of the "freezing" issues we've been reading about.
Link?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

[quote h'][quote incognegro]Just saw this posted at XLR8yourMac.com:

Apple store Refurbs page has (previous model) 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro at $2499 - A reader sent a note that Apple's cut prices on their Refurbished (previous model) Mac Pros at the Apple store. I'm not sure how many they have but as of 10AM they still had a listing for 3GHz 8-core Mac Pro for $2499. (IIRC about a $1000 price drop off the refurb 8-cores I saw there at times before the 2008 model was intro'd.)

OK, looking at "old" vs "new" MacPros:

NEW:

* Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
* 2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
* 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x double-layer SuperDrive

Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

OLD:

Refurbished Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz Intel Xeon

* Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors
* 1GB (2 x 512MB ) memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
* 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
* 16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory

$2,499.00
Ships: 1-3 business days
Free Shipping

Tough call. new has slower processors but faster RAM / bus speed, larger HD.
Which graphics card is better?
The old one likely has none of the "freezing" issues we've been reading about.
Link?
Apple store Refurbs page has...

The 2.8 GHz dual quad Harpertown was out of stock when I just checked.

[incognegro]

Yep, now out of stock.

Aside from the freezing issues that have been reported, the new model for $300 more seems like a better deal. Double the RAM, bigger HD, faster bus, bigger cache, uses less power, is quieter, etc.

[Silencio]

I don't see the point of buying the old 2.66GHz quad for $1,999 when you can spend just $200 more and get the new 2.8GHz quad with the better ATI card:

http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Pr...ku=8252544

But yeah, the freezing issue gives me pause. Then again, I never let my desktop machine go to sleep...

[threeprong]

I went for the $2499 refurb octo-core 3.0Ghz.

Roughly $1000 less than a newer machine spec'ed similarly.

I don't think I have time to deal with system freezes.

3p