jimtron wrote:

 

I've got an older Mac Pro (1,1 ) with 9GB of memory. I'm using LR 4 with a very large catalog (over 419,000 images. Things are often slow, and I could use some hardware upgrade recommendations (I have followed suggestions on how to speed things up with preference settings, where you store your catalog, etc) to speed up LR performance.

 

1. IIRC the MP line hasn't been upgraded in a long time. I'd prefer not to buy a new machine, but it's not totally out of the question.
2. SSD. So far I'm not using them at all, I'm using internal hard drives and FW800 external drives in a dock. But I've heard this could improve my LR performance significantly. There's no way I could replace my multiple 3TB SATA drives with SSDs, but I'm thinking about using an SSD for my current, working photos, and then when the assignment is turned in, transfer them to SATA drives. I'm looking into internal SSD options now from OtherWorldComputing.
3. CPU upgrade.  I don't know too much about this, but found some threads about it. I don't know how much this would help with LR.
4. Buy new Macbook Pro. I don't have a laptop, and a new MBP would have better specs (in at least some ways) than my MP. I could use a laptop anyway. I don't know if a new MBP will work with my 24" NEC display though, and of course I wouldn't have the 4 internal hard drive bays. But if it works with my NEC display and would be much faster than the MP, I would consider it.

 

 

If anyone has thoughts on the above, or other suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.

I also own a MacPro 1,1 with 9GB of memory, a 128 GB SSD and 2x1TB internal drives.  When I purchased a Nikon D800 I started looking for a faster computer.

1.  I would not purchase a MacPro right now.  I had the latest MacPro, 6-core, 3.33 GHz model with 16 GB of RAM for about 3 days.  That combination only gave me a factor of 2 improvement so I returned everything to Apple and the memory vendor.  Wait for the next release if you can.

2.  An SSD will help a bit, but it's no substitute for faster CPUs.

3.  After considering this option I decided against it:  too many things could go wrong and the gains wouldn't be that much.

4.  I owned a MacBook Air (MBA) which was used while traveling.  Since it also needed an upgrade I purchased a 15 inch MacBook Pro ("retina") and sold the MBA.  That laptop is a factor of 2 faster than my MacPro.  If I choose to do so I can drive the Apple Cinema Display from the MacBook Pro (I've done that) and access all it's disks.  Eventually, I'll replace the MacPro and give the present one to a local organization.

The bad news about the MacBook Pro is that there are not yet many applications that make use of the 2880 x 1800 display:  Lightroom, for instance.  Despite that the display is very nice.  The Apple store may have the appropriate adapter to allow you to drive your NEC display. 

jimtron wrote:

 

Thanks for the reply Bob. I'm intrigued about the idea of getting a new MBP to replace my MP (I need a laptop anyway, and it sounds like the new MBP would be at least twice as fast as my current Mac). Anyone know if:

 

1. Color mangement and calibration would work properly with the MBP and my NEC 2490WUXi (I have a Spectraview puck and software)?
2. I've got 2 printers and 2 scanners, and a couple hard drive docks. Would the MBP work with FW and USB hubs? I use an internal Blu-Ray burner for off site backups, I guess I could get an ext enclosure for that...

 

Also, Bob did you use benchmark software to compare speeds?

1.  I have no idea.

2.  The MacBook Pro (retina) does not have firewire.  You would need to purchase (~$30US) a thunderbolt to firewire 800 adapter.  I don't know why a hub would not work but have no personal experience.

The only benchmark I paid any attention to was the time required to render 50, Nikon D800 NEF files (about 35 MB each).  The MacBook Pro was faster by a factor of 2.