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$2999 for entry model: what do you think?

Phrygian said:
Build you own PC

save lots of money.
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I built 286'ss, 386's, 486's and AMD K6's. The money that is saved is miniscule, compared to the time required. And time is the only capital one has in life.

My computers are work computers, not hobby machines.
 
ssgbryan said:
I did it myself a few weeks ago. Looks like there is a Dell in my future.
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lol Dell.

I've got nothing against PC's, and am building another one now, but come on. Dell? Really? Just build one.

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And $2999 seems decent for the new MP. A little higher than I'd expect, but not terrible, if you ask me. I don't feel like it's so good that I'm compelled to upgrade, though.
 
The only people I see buying this are enthusiast, movie directors like Spielberg, singers like Madonna, personalities like Kanye and Kim and Steve Jobs wife.
 
ssgbryan said:
harry*333 said:
The six-core does not start at $3999.

According to http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/specs/ it does. It is down at the very bottom:

"6 Core starting at $3,999".

But I guess you know more than Apple.

The nMP is going to be a repeat of the cube - win every design award available and then go nowhere because the price/performance ratio is piss-poor.
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Actually the specs page says that you can upgrade the base 2999 model to a 6 core without upgrading the GPU or ram, thus it would surely be less than 3999
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Meh stop complaining, it's $4999 for the base model here in NZ. When you consider how close our exchange rate is, a direct conversion would make it $3500. Where does the other $1500 come from?
 
ssgbryan said:
peabo said:
What part of "Starting at $3,999" are you having trouble with?
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the base model that starts at 2999 is a quad core with 12 gb of memory and d300 GPUs. The 3999 model is a hex core with 16gb of memory and D500 GPUS. It says on the specs page that you can do a BTO upgrade of the CPU on the 2999 model to a hex core.

That model would be a hex core with 12 gb of memory and D300 gpus, which would cost less than the standard 6 core config that starts at 3999
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CWallace said:
Yes, I see they went with 3x4GB.

As to why they would use the configuration I suggested was that I imagine there is a performance penalty from only using three channels instead of four.
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Far more likely they went with 3x4GB to crack the $3,000 price point. There is zero increase in performance. It is simply just one less 4GB DIMM to buy and mark-up by 30-40% and stick in the system.

The "performance" driving this is sales ( folks balking at cracking the $3K limit even though it is just another dollar).

These new E5 v2 have 4 memory channels. What this is doing is actually under utilizing what paying for. Not a big speed difference for those who are poking around at 8-10GB anyway but for someone pushing on 12-16GB of already compressed data; it will make a difference.
 
Phrygian said:
And the real reason a person with your mindset and makes a post like that goes with apple is because you lack the basic knowledge build your own PC.
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Yes....and....:confused:

not everyone knows how or cares to build computers. I'd rather buy something I can afford and use it.
 
Umbongo said:
Hardly any one would notice anyway.
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More than a few are going to notice paying effectively $3K and only getting 12GB of RAM. The non utilization here is being "Scrooge McDuck" on component costs while keeping the system costs high. This thread is going to be highly indicative that will go noticed.
 
ssgbryan said:
harry*333 said:
The six-core does not start at $3999.
Click to expand...

According to http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/specs/ it does. It is down at the very bottom:

"6 Core starting at $3,999".

But I guess you know more than Apple.

The nMP is going to be a repeat of the cube - win every design award available and then go nowhere because the price/performance ratio is piss-poor.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, Apple seems to have an inconsistency with their advertisizing.

Also, apparently there's a built in speaker:cool:
 
Phrygian said:
That is not how pricing on computers works.
Computers depreciate in value. The old models become cheaper because they are older technology, the new model retains the same price. In the case of PC manufacturing, prices are actually dropping over time.

Car manufacturers don't add 1000 dollars for every new yearly model that gets released, and PC sellers don't do that with computers. Apple though...

Mac raises prices, because they know a small minority will buy it, not because that is what the price point demands.

The specs in this thing... equivalent specs could be used in a PC build for significantly cheaper.

Don't even get me started on 4 core xeons....

Again, this isn't a "PRO". Professional means, or used to mean, these are workstations mainly built for offices, schools etc. the nMP is an overprices fancy looking home computer "solution" for small business owners who just have to use OSX and don't have outside tech support, can't build a hack, or just have that excess of money. You really think major companies are going to shell out for this thing?
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Yes. They shell out for $800 Steelcase chairs. Tack "Enterprise" to the back of anything and it costs 4x more. So yes, businesses will buy them.

As for me. I'll continue chugging along on my 2008 Mac Pro for a while. I'll probably do the hexa-core upgrade at some point.
 
Tech it looks like you can configure the Quad core into a 12 core if you only want 12 GB of ram and the D300 GPU.

The 6 core only coming with a 256 SSD is kinda sad. Wish there was a 768 GB SSD option, looks like just 512 and 1 TB.
 
For those trying to figure out pricing of BTO configs, here are the prices of the CPUs they will be using:

4-core 3.7GHz Xeon E5-1620 v2: $294
6-core 3.5GHz Xeon E5-1650 v2: $583
8-core 3.0GHz Xeon E5-1680 v2: $1723
12-core 2.7GHz Xeon E5-2697 v2: $2614

The 12 core is the only anomaly as it's a dual processor CPU, not single like the others, so I guess there is a chance there is still an unannounced single processor 12 core model that they will be using instead of this.
 
The pricing is fine for what you get .

The complete joke is that there isn't a single GPU option.

Hackintosh for me then!
 
Some more unlisted specs for the CPUs:

The 8-core 3.0GHz model has turbo boost up to 3.9 GHz just like the 4 and 6 core models. The 12-core 2.7GHz model has turbo boost up to 3.5GHz
 
peabo said:
For those trying to figure out pricing of BTO configs, here are the prices of the CPUs they will be using:

4-core 3.7GHz Xeon E5-1620 v2: $294
6-core 3.5GHz Xeon E5-1650 v2: $583
8-core 3.0GHz Xeon E5-1680 v2: $1723
12-core 2.7GHz Xeon E5-2697 v2: $2614

The 12 core is the only anomaly as it's a dual processor CPU, not single like the others, so I guess there is a chance there is still an unannounced single processor 12 core model that they will be using instead of this.
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No, there is no 12-core E5-16** model. You can certainly use any E5-26** chip in a single configuration. That's what Apple is doing.
 
I understand the Apple tax and I think its usually worth the price of admission, especially for the MBP and MBA line. My problem is the cost break down of the parts on this thing for the base model, being very generous with pricing:

Quad: $300
2x D300 (low end 260 equivalent): $300
TB Motherboard: $250
12GB ECC RAM: $250
Case, cooling, PSU: $300
128GB SSD: $110
Total: ~$1510

Again, I totally understand the Apple mark up, but this is pretty out there at $2999 for the quad (again a $300 CPU.) I'm interested in the reviews for sure though.
 
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