[Jailak]

Now, I have been looking at purchasing a mac pro for a while now, to tell you the truth, ever since it was previewed at the wwdc.

My uses for it will be Full HD video editing and exporting for long videos (say anywhere from half an hour of footage to 2 hours or even more) (i'll be purchasing final cut pro with the system. I have already used the program for some time now and have loved it so will continue use), I would also love to be able to encode 1080p footage live without having it have any effect on my computing performance.

I also love to play games and would not like to give that up just because i got myself a mac, so i will install windows 7 with bootcamp and install all my games on that. And if i feel up to it and the computer can do what i mentioned above I might even stream my gameplay to twitch or something.

Anyway, the point is, I already know the computer will be able to handle those things but what i really want help with is deciding which configuration will be good enough to keep the computer as top of the line for as long as possible so I dont have to fork out so much money on a computer for at least 5 years.

I want to know if it is worth getting the hex core, I probably won't get the eight or twelve core as that gets a bit out of my price range but is it worth the extra money to get the extra two cores with slightly slower core speed? do you think quad core will be outdated in a few years with the way technology is updating.

Now I was going to get the 16GB of RAM, because I know I can buy replacement RAM from third party manufacturers when I need to upgrade.

So one upgrade that I will definitely need is the terabyte of storage, which is a bit pricey but necessary for the number of video renders on the mac OS and the number of Games I will have installed on the Windows OS, as far as I know there are no third party mac pro storage manufacturers so I will need to buy the storage i need when I buy the system.

One major thing i need help with is which graphics cards should I get. Will the D300's still work well enough to be able to encode 1080p footage fast. And will they be enough to max out the graphics settings for high intensity games. I would like to be able to handle the best new games coming out for a few years on max graphics. Is it worth putting the extra money in for the d500's for the assurance that I can handle anything?

So what I'm thinking right now is the quad core, with 16GB of ram and the D300's as well as the terabyte of pci-e flash. (with final cut pro thrown in there as well). Do you think that is enough to last a few years without having to upgrade?

[Just_Me_D]

Personally, I think the specs you mentioned will be sufficient and should indeed last a few years without needing to upgrade...

[Jailak]

well, it sounds good to me. That'll probably be what i get. just as soon as i have enough money.

[jnportfolio]

I would say, try getting a D500 at least. Keep everything (RAM, CPU, etc) and upgrade that later. It's really the GPUs that are still a mystery when it comes to future upgrades. Read my review here:

Late 2013 Mac Pro – Apple’s Cylindrical Beauty | • jnportfolio •