Mac Pro 8core 2008 or 4core 2010?

2010 hands down

you can upgrade to 3.33 6-core later $US600

RAM is much better - 4x8GB or 3x16GB

Better PCIe bus 2.x and support, boot and fewest issues

native 64-bit kernel mode and improved firmware

In terms of processing power, Mhz for MHz, 4-core 2009 and later is almost exactly even with 8-core 2008 and older, due to architectural changes.

Don't overlook the effects of a "traffic jam" around too few disk drives. A Mac pro should have a separate Boot drive, and a source and a destination drive. This cuts down on waiting for the drive heads to move back and forth.

Barefeats new test GPU results:

Testing 2008 vs 2009 and 2010 with GTX 680, Apple 5870, and AMD 7950:

And that the 7950 seems to be stuck and not showing improvement so could be a number of things holding it back and doing same or as poorly as 5870.

3. The 2008 Mac Pro displayed a definite handicap compared to the 2009 and 2010 in the two DaVinci Resolves tests.

http://barefeats.com/gpu680v4.html

you can install Lion

I would look for Mac Pro 4,1 2009.

For me, I added 3 x SSDs. I put two on Sonnet Tempo (you can get the Pro but 2x $)

I then boot from SSD #1 in drive bay 0.

I put two 256GB SSD on Sonnet Tempo.

I don't use LR5 but I would put its catalogue on one SSD

I would host photo images and imports on WD 2TB in drive bay #3 (bay #2 has other user files and media)

US$ for following:

120GB SSD Samsung 840 for system $96

240GB of same $170

500GB $320

Sonnet Tempo $150 / Pro version is for RAID performance 900MB/sec $300

ATI 5770 $250

8 x 2GB of RAM if you have less than that, more is better, $30 2 x 2GB

That will with those SSDs run smoothly. Can't hurt to do 5355s as they are better and for $100.

http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/

Mac Pro 8GB Kit Komputerbay 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR2 667MHz ECC FB-DIMM (240 PIN)

http://www.amazon.com/Komputerbay-PC2-5300F-Buffered-FB-DIMM-Heatspreaders/dp/B0 05HIWD5U/

eBay (Europe)

http://viewitem.eim.ebay.dk/KOMPUTERBAY-8GB-2X4GB-MEMORY-for-APPLE-MAC-PRO-EARLY -2008-31-DDR2-800MHz/140962093586/item?transId=808969265004

A mini does not cut it for me. I could get along with an iMac but I'd wait for newer model at this point.

RAM $120

SSDs $400

Sonnet Tempo $150-300

5355 $100

ATI 5770 $250

That is about what a 2009 can be had for though I did it one item per month over 6 months

macrumors was comparing used mac prices in various countries and some good deals. Australia probably the hardest to find good price.

How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt

Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc

http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/how-to-make-a-bootable-osx-10-8-mountain-lio n-disc-or-drive-from-the-downloaded-mountain-lion-app/

How to clone your system:

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner

http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html