MP All Models Buy cheap 7,1 or Studio

[avro707]

I ended up purchasing my last one from a german seller, a used machine and pretty cheap.
But the german shops have their own antics. All are sold with only a power cord (and likely not the original cable). And the original packaging/box is not included. Perhaps to ship in cheap smaller boxes.

Could it be to make a profit selling the peripherals as well (if those are new)?

Definitely the original box is expensive to ship. My dual GPU machine was in a different box to original and did have original USA power cable (interestingly huge size compared to Australian ones) but no other peripherals. That said I was happy to get a brand new GPU with it.

 

[Regulus67]

Could it be to make a profit selling the peripherals as well (if those are new)?

Definitely the original box is expensive to ship. My dual GPU machine was in a different box to original and did have original USA power cable (interestingly huge size compared to Australian ones) but no other peripherals. That said I was happy to get a brand new GPU with it.

Could be they sell the peripherals, but I have never seen any on eBay from those stores.

Yes, the original box is huge, and surprisingly heavy. I got one with my first Mac Pro, purchased used in Sweden

 

[avro707]

It's actually not just one box, but two of them - there is the brown external box with its protective packing and then the fancy white box (also huge) inside that. Yes, very heavy.

When my first one was delivered new from Apple the DHL guy asked what was in it because it was so heavy.

It looks like Mac Studio is also packaged similarly.

 

[mattspace]

The french machines are expensive, and I do not understand why they always open the boxes? Would be more reasonable if they were brand new in unopened boxes. Or dropped the price.

Could be it's some IT policy that any gear purchased has to be opened, and physically inspected to make sure the config matches the paperwork.

 

[AndreeOnline]

Another lot is selling 7,1s (Macpassion, from France):

28c, 8TB SSD, 2x Pro Vega II Duo, 768GB RAM = 19.999 € ($ 20'798)

Jesus! I've offered my Mac Pro for 7495 CHF (around $8.300) Fix and briefly had it on a local bidding platform starting at 6500 CHF, with no takers. It's in my sig but:

12c, 8TB SSD, cage for HDDs, 2x W6800X Duos, 240GB RAM

Mid-term, I was all in on Apple Silicon (which kind of makes it long-term since I have to wait on Apple), but a recent DaVinci Resolve experience where my M3 Max struggled but my Mac Pro breezed through it is making me revise my plans slightly.

 

[mattspace]

Mid-term, I was all in on Apple Silicon (which kind of makes it long-term since I have to wait on Apple), but a recent DaVinci Resolve experience where my M3 Max struggled but my Mac Pro breezed through it is making me revise my plans slightly.

Kinda makes the poll on this thread all the funnier, given Studios are still on M2, and Apple has moved on to M4.

 

[avro707]

My two which are 28 core handle everything I can throw at them.

The local development environment of an application I use, it runs way faster on the Mac Pro than it does on the much newer MBPs of other developers. Even just the start up is half the time.

I have loads of other apps running at the same time and it doesn't bother either of them one bit.

For now I don't have any need to replace them. I doubt Apple will do anything like them again.

12c, 8TB SSD, cage for HDDs, 2x W6800X Duos, 240GB RAM

Are you on Sequoia with that one?

 

[AndreeOnline]

Are you on Sequoia with that one?

I know everyone has their own take, but I would never NOT be on the latest software.

So, yes: 15.3

 

[avro707]

I had crashes with Sequoia and the W6800X Duos (both my cards) so I steered clear of it on my other machine which is on Sonoma.

Your post gives me confidence. I might upgrade.

 

[AndreeOnline]

Ah, I see. No crashes here related to my current setup!

 

[hornedrum]

So, as the OP I just got an email notification saying this thread had been updated. Only 18 pages! Well done people.

I held out for the M4, and after much deliberation, went for the 16" MBP Max chip, 16 core with 64GB ram and 2TB drive.
I'd rather spend more and have a machine I can run for 10 years. This thing is an absolute BEAST.

I've literally chucked everything at it since I got it last week, and it doesn't break a sweat.
Pro Tools running at 16% on 32 buffer setting, when it used to max out my 6 core 5,1 and 8 core 13" MBP base model at higher buffers. Adding IK's Amplitube plugin takes it up around 1% per instance of it, which is crazy as 5 instances used to max out both my old machines, now I could get close to 100.
That's with lightroom importing 10k photos from old hard drives, and many other apps open too.

I never seemed to run out of ram on the M1 (16GB), not many swaps at all. But now I am using around 50GB on this, so Apple OS must really work with with ram. whatever is available.

If anyone needs any more stats for Pro Tools especially, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

I've owned Apples all the way back to a beige G3 266Mhz desktop and I think this M4 Max and the 5,1 are the 2 best machines I have ever owned.
5,1 will be for backup and run windows for my F1 sims!

I keep forgetting this thing is a mobile laptop and has this amount of power wherever I take it!
I got an education discount too, so it was a fair chunk off....

 

[flyproductions]

Would highly recommend buying a "cheap 7,1". But there is no such thing.

Not yet!

 

[Harry Haller]

So, as the OP I just got an email notification saying this thread had been updated. Only 18 pages! Well done people.

I held out for the M4, and after much deliberation, went for the 16" MBP Max chip, 16 core with 64GB ram and 2TB drive.
I'd rather spend more and have a machine I can run for 10 years. This thing is an absolute BEAST.

I've literally chucked everything at it since I got it last week, and it doesn't break a sweat.
Pro Tools running at 16% on 32 buffer setting, when it used to max out my 6 core 5,1 and 8 core 13" MBP base model at higher buffers. Adding IK's Amplitube plugin takes it up around 1% per instance of it, which is crazy as 5 instances used to max out both my old machines, now I could get close to 100.
That's with lightroom importing 10k photos from old hard drives, and many other apps open too.

I never seemed to run out of ram on the M1 (16GB), not many swaps at all. But now I am using around 50GB on this, so Apple OS must really work with with ram. whatever is available.

If anyone needs any more stats for Pro Tools especially, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

I've owned Apples all the way back to a beige G3 266Mhz desktop and I think this M4 Max and the 5,1 are the 2 best machines I have ever owned.
5,1 will be for backup and run windows for my F1 sims!

I keep forgetting this thing is a mobile laptop and has this amount of power wherever I take it!
I got an education discount too, so it was a fair chunk off....

Congrats.
That's what I'll do if nothing is announced about M4 Studios at WWDC.

 

[Tony Danger]

Would highly recommend buying a "cheap 7,1". But there is no such thing.

Not yet!

Yesterday you were calling it a $200 machine! 🤣

 

[Tony Danger]

I've owned Apples all the way back to a beige G3 266Mhz desktop and I think this M4 Max and the 5,1 are the 2 best machines I have ever owned.
5,1 will be for backup and run windows for my F1 sims

There’s 3 reasons I got a 7,1:

1. It’s my dream Apple computer. I love the design and always wanted one, just never could.
2. I need windows. I use the machine with MacOS as a secondary OS.
3. I managed to get it for an insane deal as it was assumed to be faulty, so I took a gamble.

Glad you’ve got a setup that works for you. It’s always great when these older machines (whether 4 years or 10) still get regular use.

 

[MarkC426]

Would highly recommend buying a "cheap 7,1". But there is no such thing.

Not yet!

I am seeing more units for sale on eBay UK getting cheaper.
16 core for £1700….with the typical 96gb and 2TB

 

[flyproductions]

I am seeing more units for sale on eBay UK getting cheaper.
16 core for £1700….with the typical 96gb and 2TB

The moment these configurations start to drop below 1.000, i will try to get one. Maybe some time next year.

So i will swap the RX 6800 as well as the RAID-card from the 5,1 into it and have a nice capable machine for years to come! 😎

 

[Tony Danger]

The moment these configurations start to drop below 1.000, i will try to get one. Maybe some time next year.

So i will swap the RX 6800 as well as the RAID-card from the 5,1 into it and have a nice capable machine for years to come! 😎

Mine is the 12 core and i added an RX 6800 XT last week.

It’s incredible, when it comes to gaming I’m at 2k and everything I play is at ultra now. Work / office stuff the system doesn’t even break a sweat.

 

[Melbourne Park]

I've switched to a MacBook from my 5,1. I may buy a thunderbolt 3 PCI external for my RAID card alike a Highpoint Rocketstore, or maybe try to sell the card but I doubt I'll get much for it. I had thought to put it into a 7,1 where it would be pretty quick. But looking at real performance of Thunderbolt 5 drives, they are only fast in short bursts (while caching) so I will have to live with Thunderbolt 3 external speeds of around 2800. Or sell the card and buy a T-5 drive, which are not cheap at the moment.

 

[flyproductions]

Mine is the 12 core and i added an RX 6800 XT last week.

In my case it's non-XT...

...and there’s also some kind-of-HighPoint-clone RAID-card with 6TB of storage on it.

All this will happily migrate to a 7,1 one day, where the RAID 0 on the card should likely offer numbers in the 10GB/s region.

But all this just has to wait a little...until there is some "cheap 7,1".

It's pretty much as fast as the 8-core-base-configuration anyway.

 

[Tony Danger]

In my case it's non-XT...

View attachment 2466856

...and there’s also some kind-of-HighPoint-clone RAID-card with 6TB of storage on it.

All this will happily migrate to a 7,1 one day, where the RAID 0 on the card should likely offer numbers in the 10GB/s region.

But all this just has to wait a little...until there is some "cheap 7,1".

It's pretty much as fast as the 8-core-base-configuration anyway.

I love the reference cards. I tried to get the reference XT but the retailer sent the wrong card:

 

[Jethro!]

I've literally chucked everything at it since I got it last week, and it doesn't break a sweat.
Pro Tools running at 16% on 32 buffer setting, when it used to max out my 6 core 5,1 and 8 core 13" MBP base model at higher buffers. Adding IK's Amplitube plugin takes it up around 1% per instance of it, which is crazy as 5 instances used to max out both my old machines, now I could get close to 100.
That's with lightroom importing 10k photos from old hard drives, and many other apps open too.

That's the same story for every new computer I've ever bought - WOW! At first... until it starts getting long in the tooth, which isn't that long. Then what are your non-upgradable options besides chuck it?

 

[Regulus67]

That's the same story for every new computer I've ever bought - WOW! At first... until it starts getting long in the tooth, which isn't that long. Then what are your non-upgradable options besides chuck it?

Not sure why you would want to downplay anybody's choice of a computer by telling them this?
Shouldn't the user who find a computer which is very capable of doing the work needed, and fits the requirements, be happy about it?
Sounded to me that he had found a great computer for his particular needs. Even if I personally have no interest in laptops. I think it is great he enjoys it

 

[Jethro!]

Not sure why you would want to downplay anybody's choice of a computer by telling them this?

Because there is a better choice -- one that was once embraced by Apple (Computers), but since abandoned.

 

[Regulus67]

Because there is a better choice -- one that was once embraced by Apple (Computers), but since abandoned.

Ok.
The voters seem to support hornedrums choice. And the M4 Max is better than the M3 Max, right?
I voted for the Mac Pro 7.1, but that was only what I thought was a great choice.

... I'd rather spend more and have a machine I can run for 10 years. ...

The Mac Pro 7.1 will loose Apple OS support many years ahead of the one he ended up purchasing. There is no denying that fact.