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-   -   At long last The New Mac Pro "Available to purchase" (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=568105)

KevWind 01-02-2020 10:48 AM

At long last The New Mac Pro "Available to purchase"
 
Rather than reboot the thread I started in June, I thought I would post a new one.
Understanding that for probably a majority of AGF users both the performance and price are higher than required to get the job done.

That said I thought some of info coming out now about actual hands on usage and bench testing is pretty interesting (verses speculation and rant about price comapred to PC )

Here is one bench test video





And this one comparing similar spec'ed PC workstation configurations and Price
That pretty much refutes the proto "Apple Rip Off" ranting

jim1960 01-02-2020 12:02 PM

It's appears to be quite a machine with some potential bang-for-the-buck depending on your setup. I'd always been very happy with my Mac Pros and, while my current iMac is serving me well, I do miss the ability to easily configure and upgrade the computer to meet my current needs. With the iMac, you have to guess a bit at what you'll need years from now and accept that you'll likely be adding peripherals to meet future needs.

If I were buying one of the new Mac Pros, I'd likely spec it out this way:
3.2GHz 16‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
96GB (6x16GB) of DDR4 ECC memory
Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
1TB SSD storage

I can't imagine ever needing more than that for audio. For that configuration, I'd be looking at $9399 ...with the tax, about $10,200.
That's a butt-load of ducets. But for those ducets, I suspect I'd be pretty well set for at least a decade. I'd want some friend financing to do this. If they offered 48 months no interest, it would be around $213 a month. At 36 months, it would be about $283. At those numbers, it's doable and I'd be tempted. I can also shave the price a bit by buying the ram from a third party.

I think I'm at least 5 years away from even starting to think about this so my wallet can breathe easy for now.

KevWind 01-02-2020 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960 (Post 6254556)
It's appears to be quite a machine with some potential bang-for-the-buck depending on your setup. I'd always been very happy with my Mac Pros and, while my current iMac is serving me well, I do miss the ability to easily configure and upgrade the computer to meet my current needs. With the iMac, you have to guess a bit at what you'll need years from now and accept that you'll likely be adding peripherals to meet future needs.

If I were buying one of the new Mac Pros, I'd likely spec it out this way:
3.2GHz 16‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
96GB (6x16GB) of DDR4 ECC memory
Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
1TB SSD storage

I can't imagine ever needing more than that for audio. For that configuration, I'd be looking at $9399 ...with the tax, about $10,200.
That's a butt-load of ducets. But for those ducets, I suspect I'd be pretty well set for at least a decade. I'd want some friend financing to do this. If they offered 48 months no interest, it would be around $213 a month. At 36 months, it would be about $283. At those numbers, it's doable and I'd be tempted. I can also shave the price a bit by buying the ram from a third party.

I think I'm at least 5 years away from even starting to think about this so my wallet can breathe easy for now.

Interesting,
If I had not recently upgraded my Mid 2010 Mac Pro 6 core with a 500 GB PCIe SSD boot drive and two double speed PCIe 16 lane 1 TB SSD storage drives and a new Radeon 580 Sapphire Pulse 8 GB . And like you I am hoping for possibly another 3-5 years

I would probably take a serious look at a similar spec'ed build but wait until the new Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory card is available. Price TBD but should be between the 580X and the Pro Vega II

I think I would opt for :
12 Core (which is also spec'ed at) 3.3Ghz and 4,4 turbo boost
48 GB RAM Because I am guessing that would be great for my use
1 TB SSD
Hopefully the savings over the 16 core and 96 GB ram would offset some or most the new Graphics card cost.

then I would be looking at probably 2 more 3 rd party 1 TB SSD drives
So I am guessing it would be $8k-9.5 k price range

jim1960 01-02-2020 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind (Post 6254895)
I would probably take a serious look at a similar spec'ed build but wait until the new Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory card is available. Price TBD but should be between the 580X and the Pro Vega II

Are you doing video work? I do none and have no intention of moving in that direction. I'm strictly audio and Photoshop but the latter I do on my PC (I built my new one with PS in mind). I'm about to upgrade my PC monitor to a BenQ SW271. That's the last piece I need to have a serious Photoshop workspace.

KevWind 01-03-2020 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960 (Post 6254954)
Are you doing video work? I do none and have no intention of moving in that direction. I'm strictly audio and Photoshop but the latter I do on my PC (I built my new one with PS in mind). I'm about to upgrade my PC monitor to a BenQ SW271. That's the last piece I need to have a serious Photoshop workspace.

Yes I do some Music Video type stuff in Final Cut Pro X, and even with the new Radeon Card , render times while noticeably better than the old stock Apple card. Can still be fairly long (depending on the complexity ) Fortunately it is just personal use not commercial, so time is not a real big deal


This is my current configuration
System :
Avid HD Omni I/O Interface ...Mid 2010 Mac Pro/ processor- 3.33 6-core Intel Xeon "Westmere" w/ RAM Memory- 24 GB, Radeon Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI Graphics Card..... OS- Mojave 10.14.6, and PTHDN 2019.6 on on primary boot drive (SSD PCIe 512 GB Samsung SM951) FCPX files storage on Samsung 970 EVO 1TB and PT sessions storage on 2nd Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB -- both in a dual drive Crest I/O PCIE controller adaptor card

jim1960 01-03-2020 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind (Post 6255299)
Yes I do some Music Video type stuff in Final Cut Pro X, and even with the new Radeon Card , render times while noticeably better than the stock Apple card. Can still be fairly long (depending on the complexity ) Fortunately it is just personal use not commercial, so time is not a real big deal


This is my current configuration
System :
Avid HD Omni I/O Interface ...Mid 2010 Mac Pro/ processor- 3.33 6-core Intel Xeon "Westmere" w/ RAM Memory- 24 GB, Radeon Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI Graphics Card..... OS- Mojave 10.14.6, and PTHDN 2019.6 on on primary boot drive (SSD PCIe 512 GB Samsung SM951) FCPX files storage on Samsung 970 EVO 1TB and PT sessions storage on 2nd Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB -- both in a dual drive Crest I/O PCIE controller adaptor card

A friend of mine has a similar setup to yours. I think you spec out better on your main computer but he's also running a couple of Mac Minis that are tied in somehow (I think they carry the load on vst instruments). He used to do all the music for John (I'm a charlatan pretending to talk to dead people) Edward's television shows but when it was cancelled a few years back, he decided he'd rather be doing more audio production. I'm guessing his work is still about 30% video though, and when he scores a full length movie, he does complain about the rendering time. I think there have been times when a successful render has taken him 10+ hours. Sometimes longer if the computer bugs on him and he has to start it over again.

He could really use the new Mac Pro but he's terrible with money. He is, however, good at bringing dead computers back to life. His current computer is my old 2008 cheesegrater. He had to replace a bunch of components to get it running, including the things that the ram sits in (not sure what those are called).

I figure I only have one more serious Mac purchase left. I'm 59 now and I expect my current computer will take me into my mid-60s. If at that point I invest in a Mac Pro, I expect it would take me well into my 70s and maybe even 80. Not sure I'd be needing another after that.

Doug Young 01-03-2020 12:55 PM

My trash can Mac Pro has been dying slowly for about a year with an ailment no one seems to be able to quite diagnose, so I've been waiting for this. Definitely pricey, but so was the trash can. The new Mac seems like it will last for a long time, being easy to upgrade almost every part, hopefully making it a better investment. I'm sitting here waiting for the UPS truck as we speak. My config is:

3.2GHz 16‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
96GB (4x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory (I got 32 from apple, ordered 64 more much cheaper from Amazon)
Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory
1TB SSD storage
8TB Promise Pegasus SATA drive - has support for another drive, I may add an SSD later.

We'll see if the graphics card is enough for me - I suspect it will all be much better than what I'm currently working with, and can always upgrade later if needed.

Most of my current data is on external thunderbolt drives, so the migration should be fairly easy. I'll stick with my current LG ultra-wide display. There's been some ambiguity about compatibility of various software I use with Catalina - UAD, iZotope, etc, but reports seem to indicate that everything is ok at this point.

I was going to wait a bit longer for the dust to settle, but noticed that Apple was offering 6% cashback on Apple purchases with their card thru the end of the year (?) and that's a decent rebate on a purchase like this, so I went ahead and ordered last week.

jim1960 01-03-2020 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young (Post 6255499)
My trash can Mac Pro has been dying slowly for about a year with an ailment no one seems to be able to quite diagnose, so I've been waiting for this. Definitely pricey, but so was the trash can. The new Mac seems like it will last for a long time, being easy to upgrade almost every part, hopefully making it a better investment. I'm sitting here waiting for the UPS truck as we speak. My config is:

3.2GHz 16‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
96GB (4x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory (I got 32 from apple, ordered 64 more much cheaper from Amazon)
Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory
1TB SSD storage
8TB Promise Pegasus SATA drive - has support for another drive, I may add an SSD later.

We'll see if the graphics card is enough for me - I suspect it will all be much better than what I'm currently working with, and can always upgrade later if needed.

Most of my current data is on external thunderbolt drives, so the migration should be fairly easy. I'll stick with my current LG ultra-wide display. There's been some ambiguity about compatibility of various software I use with Catalina - UAD, iZotope, etc, but reports seem to indicate that everything is ok at this point.

I was going to wait a bit longer for the dust to settle, but noticed that Apple was offering 6% cashback on Apple purchases with their card thru the end of the year (?) and that's a decent rebate on a purchase like this, so I went ahead and ordered last week.

I wish I could lie and say I'm not even a little jealous.
Very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the machine once you're up and running.

KevWind 01-03-2020 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young (Post 6255499)
My trash can Mac Pro has been dying slowly for about a year with an ailment no one seems to be able to quite diagnose, so I've been waiting for this. Definitely pricey, but so was the trash can. The new Mac seems like it will last for a long time, being easy to upgrade almost every part, hopefully making it a better investment. I'm sitting here waiting for the UPS truck as we speak. My config is:

3.2GHz 16‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
96GB (4x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory (I got 32 from apple, ordered 64 more much cheaper from Amazon)
Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory
1TB SSD storage
8TB Promise Pegasus SATA drive - has support for another drive, I may add an SSD later.

We'll see if the graphics card is enough for me - I suspect it will all be much better than what I'm currently working with, and can always upgrade later if needed.

Most of my current data is on external thunderbolt drives, so the migration should be fairly easy. I'll stick with my current LG ultra-wide display. There's been some ambiguity about compatibility of various software I use with Catalina - UAD, iZotope, etc, but reports seem to indicate that everything is ok at this point.

I was going to wait a bit longer for the dust to settle, but noticed that Apple was offering 6% cashback on Apple purchases with their card thru the end of the year (?) and that's a decent rebate on a purchase like this, so I went ahead and ordered last week.

Quite the machine I am thinking that Pro Vega II 32 will be outstanding based on some of the reviews , especially compared to your old trashcan
And as you say you can upgrade and even throw in another Pro Vega II 32

Here is a video from the same group about editing in FCPX the only disappointing result was as the reviewer noted a problem with FCP exporting a specific Codec, but indicated it was a problem with FCP

He is running the Afterburner card also but as I understand it that only kicks in on Pro Rez Raw 4k and 8K footage and towards the end he takes out the After Burner card and runs the Pro Rez 4 with no issues but exports slower.

jim1960 01-04-2020 02:38 PM

You'd think the guy would at least share a few pictures of his new beast.

Doug Young 01-04-2020 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960 (Post 6256301)
You'd think the guy would at least share a few pictures of his new beast.

The beast is being camera-shy... It was to be delivered Thursday, but the day came and went, and UPS changed the status at midnight to Friday early afternoon. Friday, the truck pulled up, and then drove away without bringing anything in. At midnight, they changed the status to Monday delivery. I called today, and they say it's at the local facility, and will be delivered Monday. I told them I had no reason to believe them at this point, so they offered to let me come pick it up (Monday).

I actually had this happen once before with a delivery, and when I got there to pick it up, they said "oops, we loaded it on the truck and it's already out for delivery". Anyway, at this point, the 2 day air delivery is running 6 days, and I'm not really sure where it is, and not entirely sure they know. Not impressed with UPS at the moment :-)

KevWind 01-04-2020 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young (Post 6256368)
The beast is being camera-shy... It was to be delivered Thursday, but the day came and went, and UPS changed the status at midnight to Friday early afternoon. Friday, the truck pulled up, and then drove away without bringing anything in. At midnight, they changed the status to Monday delivery. I called today, and they say it's at the local facility, and will be delivered Monday. I told them I had no reason to believe them at this point, so they offered to let me come pick it up (Monday).

I actually had this happen once before with a delivery, and when I got there to pick it up, they said "oops, we loaded it on the truck and it's already out for delivery". Anyway, at this point, the 2 day air delivery is running 6 days, and I'm not really sure where it is, and not entirely sure they know. Not impressed with UPS at the moment :-)

That is frustrating. The only bright spot is according the unboxing reviews, the thing is packaged extremely well ( where ever it is :rolleyes:)

We have had a few similar issues with UPS also. In fact because UPS will not spring for 4 wheel drive delivery vehicles ( In the Rocky mountains for cryin' out loud) , In the winter time , because we live on top of a ridge , we have to get delivery to a physical roadside box at the highway (which I just made a new one out of const. leftovers) placed out at the end of our driveway about 3/4 mi. from the house. Which will hold that Apple box very nicely ( I better run down and look just in case :eek:)

Sorry Jim I know these are not the photos you were hoping for ......
https://i.imgur.com/KhQBn1e.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MVTfAdb.jpg

Doug Young 01-04-2020 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind (Post 6256405)
That is frustrating. The only bright spot is according the unboxing reviews, the thing is packaged extremely well ( where ever it is :rolleyes:)

According to the tracking, the box weighs 83 lbs! My theory is the driver stopped, looked at the box, and went uh, no, I'm not lugging that thing to the front porch... and skipped over me.

jim1960 01-04-2020 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind (Post 6256405)
In the winter time , because we live on top of a ridge , we have to get delivery to a physical roadside box at the highway (which I just made a new one out of const. leftovers) placed out at the end of our driveway about 3/4 mi. from the house.

That looks like a real PITA. Being that rural would not be a good fit for this boy from Brooklyn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young (Post 6256413)
According to the tracking, the box weighs 83 lbs! My theory is the driver stopped, looked at the box, and went uh, no, I'm not lugging that thing to the front porch... and skipped over me.

Sorry about the delay, Doug. I hope you get a more energetic delivery person on Monday.

KevWind 01-04-2020 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960 (Post 6256429)
That looks like a real PITA. Being that rural would not be a good fit for this boy from Brooklyn.
.

Well there are compromises and benefits to any location. (notice no lock)
And Nobody can hear me if I crank my 50 watt Supro up (when my wife is gone :D)


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