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I lust after a nMP, but its insane what I could build with the money
- Thread starter Phonzoxd
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Exactly! There are loads and loads of compute intensive applications that benefit not at all from the fancy GPUs in the nMP, but there's no option to get the nMP without the GPUs.
For Lightroom and software compilation, I can build a $1700 box that will perform comparably to a $4k Mac Pro. I can live with giving Apple their 25-30% margin (though presumably they get their parts for less than I get mine from NewEgg), but even with 50% margins, that machine would be under $2500, well below even the cost of the base Mac Pro.
Lightroom and software compilation aren't really what the new Mac Pro was built to do. I could build a better Battlefield 4 gaming rig for much less than the new Mac Pro, too. But that's not what it was built to excel in.
Keep swinging. You (and the others) will get it eventually.
Obviously it wasn't built for those things. But unlike Battlefield 4, those are tasks that the original Mac Pro was built for, and that many professionals still do.
I think he knows that. He was saying that the nMP is not suitable for all people. He quoted and agreed with my statement saying that the nMP was good for OpenCL, but that if you don't use OpenCL, it's overpriced.
He brought up another professional use-case, namely Lightroom, and pointed out that the nMP is overpriced and not even as effective as his $1700 alternative.
Furthermore, contrast his and my statement to others in this thread who suggest that OP dump 4 grand--thats four thousand dollars--on a computer that's not even complete: namely the new Mac Pro. Afterwards he must buy some external drive bays if you want more than some tiny overpriced 256GB drive. The OP barely even uses OpenCL.
Follow up that wave of ill-informed advice with a second wave of stereotypes and FUD about home-built PCs being loud, difficult to assemble, having bad warranties, using inferior parts, being more expensive somehow (whaaaaat?).
OP was also concerned about price/performance--a place where the nMP only holds its own in extremely specific circumstances at best.
That pretty much sums up the thread.
You literally can't build a better machine for FCPX than the nMP with Dual D700, which you pay $4,000 minimum and have almost no room to hold any projects. For many (most?) things, there are options with miles better price/performance and, in the case of OP, a much faster, much less limited option for less money. OP is focusing on his use-case and price/performance since post #1. Welcome to the thread.
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Price/ Performance ratio on the nMP sucks. Price per actual part used is quite an achievement. Given what Apple is selling them for and the parts they choose you are getting what you pay for. It's just that what you pay for is not great for everything and many many parts can beat it. But, they are not the same parts and the nMP is not overpriced in the slightest aside from the entry level which has been that way for 20 years. A reiteration but I tire of the same BS every release cycle regarding Xeon vs. consumer vs. PC vs. you name it.