MP 1,1-5,1 Advice on buying a 5,1 Mac Pro in 2019

[mightyjabba]

I just bought a new 16" MacBook Pro, and was considering just using it as a desktop connected to monitors and other peripherals as I have done off and on in the past. But I think it's kind of a waste to buy a machine like this and essentially use none of its best features (portability, the nice big screen, the new keyboard, and even the TouchBar). Plus I am finding it a pain to connect and disconnect it from my desktop setup. All of this is to say that I feel I need a desktop machine as well. However, I have relatively limited funds after buying the MacBook Pro, and none of Apple's existing desktop offerings really appeal to me much. So I thought I would explore the possibility of using a 5,1 Mac Pro.

In terms of requirements, I want to be able to connect it to three displays (non-retina with HDMI and/or DisplayPort connections). I suppose this would require an additional video card? I'm fine with it being limited to Mojave for the foreseeable future -- in fact I sort of prefer it since my experience with Catalina hasn't been fantastic. I don't plan to do a lot of intensive tasks, aside from possibly doing some editing in FCP, but that's something I can do on my MBP if necessary. Basically I want a desktop that will allow me to add internal storage easily, and will always be there at my desktop (neither of which is true of my MBP). Is this still a good idea in 2019, and if so what should I look to pay for one? Anything in particular to look out for?

 

[goMac]

You’re probably better off hooking the MacBook Pro to whatever you want. Either directly or to an eGPU.

I get the whole internal storage and having something at your desk things. But you’re looking at a computer no longer supported by Apple, with no OS upgrades, and ancient hardware.

Your MacBook Pro is faster and far more capable than a 5,1 already. And it runs current software. Just get a docking station setup with whatever you need, and you’ll be good to go. Probably will fit better into your budget as well. Maybe docking is a pain but a slow 5,1 makes no sense when you have such a fast laptop.

 

[tsialex]

I just bought a new 16" MacBook Pro, and was considering just using it as a desktop connected to monitors and other peripherals as I have done off and on in the past. But I think it's kind of a waste to buy a machine like this and essentially use none of its best features (portability, the nice big screen, the new keyboard, and even the TouchBar). Plus I am finding it a pain to connect and disconnect it from my desktop setup. All of this is to say that I feel I need a desktop machine as well. However, I have relatively limited funds after buying the MacBook Pro, and none of Apple's existing desktop offerings really appeal to me much. So I thought I would explore the possibility of using a 5,1 Mac Pro.

In terms of requirements, I want to be able to connect it to three displays (non-retina with HDMI and/or DisplayPort connections). I suppose this would require an additional video card? I'm fine with it being limited to Mojave for the foreseeable future -- in fact I sort of prefer it since my experience with Catalina hasn't been fantastic. I don't plan to do a lot of intensive tasks, aside from possibly doing some editing in FCP, but that's something I can do on my MBP if necessary. Basically I want a desktop that will allow me to add internal storage easily, and will always be there at my desktop (neither of which is true of my MBP). Is this still a good idea in 2019, and if so what should I look to pay for one? Anything in particular to look out for?

I have a recent rMBP too and a even my MP5,1 being a lot slower single CPU wise, I use it more than my rMBP. I like having lot's of disks internally and letting it doing batch jobs, like video conversion or long compiles, for days without problems.

If you find a MP5,1 cheap enough locally, buy it. Upgrade the RAM, GPU and CPU over time and be happy with a very powerful Mojave workstation. A single CPU MP5,1 or MP4,1>5,1 with a X5680, 48GB of RAM and a RX 580 is a powerful FCPx workstation and you can get it for a little more than $500. Dual CPU trays will cost considerable more, but if you don't rush, it's a matter of searching for a bargain.

 

[defjam]

You may even want to consider a 4,1 which can upgraded to essentially a 5,1 equivalent. They tend to be lower cost and dual CPU 4,1 trays cost considerably less than the 5,1 trays (though dual CPU 4,1's can be had inexpensively, there was a local seller who was selling one for $350). The only thing I can think of to be mindful about the 4,1 is if you buy a dual CPU 4,1 and want to upgrade the CPUs later. Doing so is not as easy as the 5,1.

 

[jscipione]

The best bang for your buck is to get an upgraded single processor 5,1 and an RX 580 and enjoy the many disks, monitors, and devices you can hookup to your old yet still good Mac Pro.

 

[mightyjabba]

You’re probably better off hooking the MacBook Pro to whatever you want. Either directly or to an eGPU.

I get the whole internal storage and having something at your desk things. But you’re looking at a computer no longer supported by Apple, with no OS upgrades, and ancient hardware.

Your MacBook Pro is faster and far more capable than a 5,1 already. And it runs current software. Just get a docking station setup with whatever you need, and you’ll be good to go. Probably will fit better into your budget as well. Maybe docking is a pain but a slow 5,1 makes no sense when you have such a fast laptop.

This is all true, at least on some level. I didn't want to go into too much detail about this in the original post, but I did actually buy a Thunderbolt 3 hub in an attempt to make the whole docking process easier, and was met with a lot of instability (screens not turning on after sleep, or blinking on and off every second until I reboot, and so forth). I've seen a lot of posts on the MBP forum of people with similar problems with other docks. Ironically I've had more luck with plain USB-C hubs, but even they aren't perfect. I think most of this can be blamed on Catalina, but the bottom line is, using the 16" as a desktop is not a great experience in my opinion. But it is a great laptop when used on its own.

As for the hardware not being supported by Apple, I don't really care that much. After a few more years have passed and there are no more security updates for Safari or Mojave I will probably have to reexamine things, but maybe there will be something more attractive on the market at that point (low-end ARM Mac Pro?)