MP 7,1 How much budget are you saving for the nnMP?

[chfilm]

Just out of curiosity, hoch much budget are you guys saving for the new Mac Pro?
And maybe you could comment, what kind of expansion or model you expect to buy for that money.
I should add - the price including VAT business tax that business customers will get back.
I kinda expect that the CPU to 16 core, ram to 96 and GPU to the second option upgrade will bring us definitely in the 10k range :/

 

[Macpro2019]

8k is my thing

 

[iGobbleoff]

Down under I’m figuring AU$10k

 

[sirio76]

6000$ for the base model from Apple, well.. likely less than 6000$ because of the business discount

I'll add by myself:
4400$ 28core CPU(1TB RAM variant)
1200$ 192GB RAM ECC 2933mhz
450$ Highpoint RAID controller(up to 14000MB/s)
600$ 4x Samsung 970 Pro M.2 SSD 500GB

Up to 1500$ for the GPU, depending on price a VegaII MXM from Apple or a cheaper Radeon VII standard PCIe card

I'll repourpose the 8core CPU and the build in RAM of the basic system for a new render node, I altready have GPU, PSU and case so I'll just need a basic MOBO and a cooler.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

£6500-£7000.

I will expand RAM to 48GB and go for 2TB SSD. I will add Sonnet Allegro USB card myself later on, together with another 48GB of RAM. I might go for 12 core, depending on price and performance. Stock GPU is fine, as I need Mac Pro for music studio only (Logic Pro).

 

[keysofanxiety]

6000$ for the base model from Apple, well.. likely less than 6000$ because of the business discount

I'll add by myself:
4400$ 28core CPU(1TB RAM variant)
1200$ 192GB RAM ECC 2933mhz
450$ Highpoint RAID controller(up to 14000MB/s)
600$ 4x Samsung 970 Pro M.2 SSD 500GB

Up to 1500$ for the GPU, depending on price a VegaII MXM from Apple or a cheaper Radeon VII standard PCIe card

I'll repourpose the 8core CPU and the build in RAM of the basic system for a new render node, I altready have GPU, PSU and case so I'll just need a basic MOBO and a cooler.

Sorry in advance for my ignorance. Can the RAID controller you'll be using have M2 SSDs plugged into it?

I just ask because it looks like the storage on the nMP is still the proprietary SSDs rather than standard M2: https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...stom-connector-for-the-ssd-in-the-new-mac-pro

 

[chfilm]

6000$ for the base model from Apple, well.. likely less than 6000$ because of the business discount

I'll add by myself:
4400$ 28core CPU(1TB RAM variant)
1200$ 192GB RAM ECC 2933mhz
450$ Highpoint RAID controller(up to 14000MB/s)
600$ 4x Samsung 970 Pro M.2 SSD 500GB

Up to 1500$ for the GPU, depending on price a VegaII MXM from Apple or a cheaper Radeon VII standard PCIe card

I'll repourpose the 8core CPU and the build in RAM of the basic system for a new render node, I altready have GPU, PSU and case so I'll just need a basic MOBO and a cooler.

By „adding myself“ you mean, you‘ll be for example building a new CPU in yourself?
One thing about this Mac Pro Edition looks like we can hopefully really spread the costs a bit overtime, upgrading piece by piece when we need it..
It‘ll be interesting for example how the prices for MPX modules are gonna be like on eBay after 6 months..

 

[shuto]

business discount

Can you let me know how do you get business discount from Apple?

My current plan to save money on the Mac Pro is to buy it from student store (which it should be on right?) to take about 10% off the cost. And then I can claim back the 20% VAT on it as I'm a UK registered business. But wondering if there is any other way to save money.


over at www.barefeats.com they are estimating a 12 core, Vega II, 1TB Mac Pro will be $8000. Which sounds about right.

 

[majus]

Somewhere between $6-8K to begin, build it out myself over time. I already have a great 4K monitor.

 

[sirio76]

Sorry in advance for my ignorance. Can the RAID controller you'll be using have M2 SSDs plugged into it?

I just ask because it looks like the storage on the nMP is still the proprietary SSDs rather than standard M2: https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...stom-connector-for-the-ssd-in-the-new-mac-pro

The two proprietary flash module won't be directly upgradable by user IMO https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/will-apple-cave-on-the-7-1-release.2191045/page-6#post-27662312
On the other end you can simply buy a PCIe RAID card and fit 4 standard M.2 drive, performance will be far better and price will be a lot cheaper compared to the build in solution from Apple(though that's good for security because of the T2 controller) so I'm preety happy Apple provided the minimum amount of storage in the base configuration. On the standard drive I'll just install OS and other softwares, my WIP and recent projects will be on the RAID card(2TB, or maybe 4), my archive will be on an external 24TB Thunderbolth RAID.
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Can you let me know how do you get business discount from Apple?

Go to your nearby Apple store and ask for the business customer manager, usually ther's a nice saving.

 

[shuto]

usually ther's a nice saving.

Sadly there isn't an apple store where I live (Nottingham, UK). Do you have a rough idea how much the business discount is? Wondering if its worth my while going to another city to order it if I can get a discount bigger than 10% (student discount).


I think the minimum config which makes sense on Mac Pro is...
-12 core (for 4.4 Turbo) - and wouldn't want to replace CPU myself until out of Apple Care warranty.
-32GB RAM - add more later myself (am I an idiot for missing apple black memory, yes)
-VEGA II - I'd love a VEGA II duo, but guess they will be mega expensive. People are guessing RadeonVII will offer similar performance to VEGA II, so plan to buy one of these to add internally.
-1TB SSD
-AppleCare - makes sense to spend at a guess $200 to extend the warranty to 3 years from 1 year.

$8000 estimate.

(plus $5999 for matt Pro Display XDR)
eeek!

 

[sirio76]

You can contact an Apple store and ask for the business manager but if you are a student I think you do not qualify as a pro, you can ask for student/educational discount though.
Radeon VII will be sligtly slower, noisier, have less RAM and do not support Infinity Fabric, all those things worth extra money IMO, my guess is that the Vega II MXM costs about 1500$ but I can be wrong.
About the CPU, up to the 16 core it's better to buy from Apple, while the 24 and 28 core comes just in the M variant that is a lot pricier than the standard version(7500 vs 4500$ for the 28core) so it may be wise to upgrade the CPU by yourself if you do not plan to use more than a TB of RAM.
Applecare will probably costs more than 200$.

 

[skippermonkey]

I'll pay what needs to be paid. In my head I'm budgeting anywhere between £15-£18K (if it's less, then great!). Aiming for 24 cores (possibly 16) and a Vega II Duo (one at first, with plan to add a second one later). All TBC of course.

I wonder how much Apple will charge for the Duo? I'm already bracing myself for the worst!

 

[chrono1081]

As much as I'd love one and do think they're reasonably priced (seriously guys, price the systems out spec for spec and you'll see they're not unreasonable by any means, and that means SPEC for SPEC not "Oh I"ll just forgo the Xeon), I'm going to have to pass unless I land a better paying job.

I think I'll do a linux build for my next 3D workstation and keep my MacBook Pro for iOS development.

 

[davidec]

15K. For that I’d like the 16 core, 48GB ram and as much SSD as possible. Ideally a total of around 8GB. I’ve just purchased an LG49 ultra wide monitor.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I plan to wait until there's a deal on the base model. Can upgrade it later. The MPX modules will be available separately. Best Buy and Micro Center had the iMac Pro $750-$1000 off shortly after launch. I think we'll see similar deals on the 7,1 as we get close to the holidays.

 

[DPUser]

I'm not gonna' spend anything on a Mac Pro for at least a few years. Maybe you can sell me your 7,1 when you are ready for the 8,1.

 

[Krevnik]

I'm considering one, despite knowing it's a bit overkill for what I need. But I'll probably wait just long enough for people to be able to answer two questions:

1) Can you boot from the PCIe slots with an NVME adapter?
2) Can you take a GPU supported in an eGPU enclosure, and expect it work?

If the answer is yes, I'll probably go with the base model with the 12 core CPU upgrade. Then throw in a 3rd party NVME SSD, and a Vega 56 I've got sitting in an eGPU enclosure. I suspect these will work, but I'd rather not buy on suspicion. Hope is that this will keep the price under 7000$ US.

As much as I'd love one and do think they're reasonably priced (seriously guys, price the systems out spec for spec and you'll see they're not unreasonable by any means, and that means SPEC for SPEC not "Oh I"ll just forgo the Xeon), I'm going to have to pass unless I land a better paying job.

A lot of the folks complaining about the price don't want or need the Xeon. That's kinda the whole problem. It may be reasonably priced when compared to similar Xeon workstations, but that won't stop folks who want/need a headless Mac that's got something a bit better than an i7 8700 and an iGPU from wondering where their machine is. Xeon workstations have been an option in the past when the cMP was being kept up to date, but it's much harder now to make the same sort of jump.

 

[beaker7]

Well configured but not maxed out, probably 50-60k.

 

[sirio76]

1-2) probably yes
For 7000$ you can buy an iMacPro loaded with 64GB RAM, a 14core CPU and the build in Vega 56. Add the eGPU you already have and a nice 5k monitor, I’m not sure the MP is the best option.
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Well configured but not maxed out, probably 50-60k.

I bet it’s well under 50k(before business discount), probably up to 45k loaded with 1.5TB RAM, 28core CPU, 2x Vega2 duo, 4TB storage and an Afterburner. Half of that price will comes from the RAM so if you update the memory by yourself you can save easily about 10k on the official price, you can also save if you use PCIe storage and upgrade the CPU by yourself. Will know for sure in about a month.

 

[beaker7]

1-2) probably yes
For 7000$ you can buy an iMacPro loaded with 64GB RAM, a 14core CPU and the build in Vega 56. Add the eGPU you already have and a nice 5k monitor, I’m not sure the MP is the best option.
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I bet it’s well under 50k(before business discount), probably up to 45k loaded with 1.5TB RAM, 28core CPU, 2x Vega2 duo, 4TB storage and an Afterburner. Half of that price will comes from the RAM so if you update the memory by yourself you can save easily about 10k on the official price, you can also save if you use PCIe storage and upgrade the CPU by yourself. Will know for sure in about a month.

The 12 DIMM 1.5TB upgrade alone is $45K or thereabouts for their competitors. Just for the memory.

 

[sirio76]

If you buy that from Newegg it will cost you about 13k, no way Apple will charge almost 4x. Will see very soon.

 

[Krevnik]

1-2) probably yes
For 7000$ you can buy an iMacPro loaded with 64GB RAM, a 14core CPU and the build in Vega 56. Add the eGPU you already have and a nice 5k monitor, I’m not sure the MP is the best option.

I already know the answer is “probably yes”, but I’m not dropping money on probably. I even say so in my post.

It isn’t the best option. But what you suggest is a non-starter precisely because the machine needs to be headless in my case, and the Mini needs more cores and better thermal limits for my needs. Ideally something i9 class with a Vega GPU would be great, I’d even take one in the tcMP chassis with TB3 ports. But such a beast doesn’t exist.

I’m not looking at the MP blindly (or happily) here. But I could keep one of these going for quite a while before needing to replace it. Especially if the 12-core is reasonably priced.

 

[beaker7]

If you buy that from Newegg it will cost you about 13k, no way Apple will charge almost 4x. Will see very soon.

They compete with Dell and HP, not Newegg. But you are right, we will see. Perhaps for the first time in their history they will have dramatically lower memory upgrade pricing than the rest of the industry.

 

[sirio76]

They compete with Dell and HP, not Newegg. But you are right, we will see. Perhaps for the first time in their history they will have dramatically lower memory upgrade pricing than the rest of the industry.

Right now they are charging about twice as much on the iMacPro RAM compared to Newegg(DDR4 ECC DIMM), ther’s no reason why they should do differently for the MP since it’s basically the same memory.
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I already know the answer is “probably yes”, but I’m not dropping money on probably. I even say so in my post.

It isn’t the best option. But what you suggest is a non-starter precisely because the machine needs to be headless in my case, and the Mini needs more cores and better thermal limits for my needs. Ideally something i9 class with a Vega GPU would be great, I’d even take one in the tcMP chassis with TB3 ports. But such a beast doesn’t exist.

I’m not looking at the MP blindly (or happily) here. But I could keep one of these going for quite a while before needing to replace it. Especially if the 12-core is reasonably priced.

When I say probably yes I mean 90% sure about the storage and 99% sure about the GPU. To be 100% sure you have to wait for the release, in the meanwhile you can contact PCIe storage producer, they already know about the boot option. Just an example: http://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/main.htm