Krisz, I also got ma 7.1 a few weeks ago from mac-store24. I ordered 192GB Ram instead of 96GB and that costs me about Euro 300.-. Its a 16 Core, 2TB storage , 192GB ram and RX580 for Euro 1990.- in mint condition.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MP 7,1 Is it worth buying a MacPro7.1?
- Thread starter Krisz
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I trust in this too
I just don't understand why MPX modules are so expensive, and why Apple decided to release such a powerful machine with a weak 580x card!?
Luckily it's also compatible with PC cards because I don't think the price of MPX modules will drop much even in a few months.
What is not expensive in an Apple product?
The MPX cards are not like other graphic cards. Even the 580x card can route the output through any of the Thunderbolt ports. The Mac Pro has two Thunderbolt ports on top, and two in the top expansion card. Giving a total of 4 Thunderbolt ports available to connect a Thunderbolt display.
Useful for pro Audio creators.
The other MPX cards are pro versions with more VRAM, like other AMD Pro cards (also expensive).
The Duo cards are unique, and AMD does not sell similar Pro cards.
The Radeon Pro W6800 card price new was $2249
The Radeon Pro W6800X MPX card was $2799
Non-MPX graphic cards can not output graphics through any of the Thunderbolt ports
Hello everyone...
I've been putting it off for a long time due to budgetary reasons. But when the opportunity suddenly arose, I gave in and decided to buy. The price might still be high, but in a place like Turkey, the fluctuation (increase) in prices of everything by the second has unfortunately begun to erode our very purpose in life. The machine I bought is an entry-level one (8 cores - 32 GB RAM - 256 SSDs - 580 modules). In dollars, it's the equivalent of $1200. And we had a blast. I already have a Mac Pro 5.1, which I've been using for years, and an HP Z series workstation for Windows-related work. Yes, in theory, spare parts are still expensive, but I don't have any such goals or objectives for now (upgrading from Mac Pro 5.1s was also costly back then, but now it's quite affordable). We're here today, gone tomorrow, after all... Even if hobbies are expensive, they shouldn't be postponed when they're accessible.
I've been putting it off for a long time due to budgetary reasons. But when the opportunity suddenly arose, I gave in and decided to buy. The price might still be high, but in a place like Turkey, the fluctuation (increase) in prices of everything by the second has unfortunately begun to erode our very purpose in life. The machine I bought is an entry-level one (8 cores - 32 GB RAM - 256 SSDs - 580 modules). In dollars, it's the equivalent of $1200. And we had a blast. I already have a Mac Pro 5.1, which I've been using for years, and an HP Z series workstation for Windows-related work. Yes, in theory, spare parts are still expensive, but I don't have any such goals or objectives for now (upgrading from Mac Pro 5.1s was also costly back then, but now it's quite affordable). We're here today, gone tomorrow, after all... Even if hobbies are expensive, they shouldn't be postponed when they're accessible.
I understand
Thank you for sharing this information with me
I also use 5.1 by connecting the video card HDMI connector to a Yamaha home theater amplifier with an 8K capable cable and the sound goes through it
It's perfect for me and I would like to use 7.1 the same way
I don't think I'll need Thunderbolt
I'm not really sure what the benefits are
Nice little collection of computers
I see from your signature that you have both a c64 and a ZX-spectrum!
I also had a ZX-spectrum and I still have the C64, it even has a floppy drive
I also have several Amiga computers! The Amiga has been my favorite since I was a child
Congratulations on your MacPro 7.1!
I hope I can boast of one of these machines soon
The RX 6600 XT card you have will do fine. You can continue to use it as you did in the 5,1.
But if you end up buying a Mac Pro with a better MPX card, it will also let you use the HDMI cable to your amplifier.
Yes, luckily I'll be able to use the rx 6600 xt and then eventually I'd like to replace it with a 6800 or 6900 and hopefully it'll last me a few years.The RX 6600 XT card you have will do fine. You can continue to use it as you did in the 5,1.
But if you end up buying a Mac Pro with a better MPX card, it will also let you use the HDMI cable to your amplifier.
I like using it through an Amplifier because it also has a signal booster and supports game modes (ALLM, VRR, QMS, QFT)
Unfortunately, even with the amplifier, MacOS for some reason doesn't want to display a refresh rate higher than 60Hz! 120Hz works perfectly on Windows
I was able to achieve 120 Hz on MacOS with ResXtreme.
Thank you very much. Yes, the machines in the signature were unfortunately the machines I could have in those years. I really wanted to own an Amiga, but fate caused problems here 🙂Güzel küçük bir bilgisayar koleksiyonu
İmzanızdan hem c64 hem de ZX-spectrum'unuz olduğunu görüyorum!
Benim de bir ZX-spectrum'um vardı ve hala C64'üm var, hatta bir disket sürücüsü bile var
Benim de birkaç tane Amiga bilgisayarım var! Amiga, çocukluğumdan beri favorim.
MacPro 7.1'iniz hayırlı olsun!
Umarım yakında bu makinelerden birine sahip olabilirim
One thing to mention is the 7,1 is quite power hungry.
I use battery power (generated from solar) to run my place - so when I turn on the 7,1 you can see how much power it uses up, quite a lot. During summer it won’t be a problem where I will have massive excess power generation. I am seeing how little grid power I can use.
So I only use it sparingly for the tasks that need its power. I have a Mac laptop that is used for general work.
Unfortunately the laptop only supports one 5K screen which is extremely limiting.
I use battery power (generated from solar) to run my place - so when I turn on the 7,1 you can see how much power it uses up, quite a lot. During summer it won’t be a problem where I will have massive excess power generation. I am seeing how little grid power I can use.
So I only use it sparingly for the tasks that need its power. I have a Mac laptop that is used for general work.
Unfortunately the laptop only supports one 5K screen which is extremely limiting.
24w while asleep, lol - it does seem a little excessive on that count, I think the blower fan keeps running for the ram, and each PCI NVME blade adds about 4w sleeping.
In our culture, there is a saying: 'If you love the rose, you must endure its thorns.'
Yes, architecturally this is inevitable.
At home, on the Windows side for work purposes, I also have a Z820 workstation. In sleep mode, it draws around 11–12W. It’s not really worth obsessing too much over the energy issue. But if it’s about the carbon footprint philosophy, I have respect for that...
when you compare it to any other domestic appliance, the power draw of a kettle, or toaster, or dishwasher, or oven which no one ever thinks about when thy use them, a computer idling at 240w really isn't worth worrying about.
This is going to be the last pro tower like Mac I buy. I used to get them because work would never get me what I needed to get stuff done fast; but new company is getting me the laptop I need so it isn't a worry anymore; and Apple silicon is very very good.
And I will also keep it since the case is so unique and it truly is a very good design. I also do not see it getting slow anytime soon.
MPX cards are expensive but worth it if you want to keep the innards clean as Apple intended.
And I will also keep it since the case is so unique and it truly is a very good design. I also do not see it getting slow anytime soon.
MPX cards are expensive but worth it if you want to keep the innards clean as Apple intended.
Asleep is fine, when it is running and you are doing general work it’s using a lot more - in the region of 400-500w. That’s just using browsers and a virtual desktop, nothing major. Add that up through the entire day - then that’s fair amount if you are trying to absolutely minimise energy use.
I can prove it with screenshots from the inverter app.
I realise it’s not wise to go against the religion of the Intel Mac Pro because that ends with all out warfare, but it does have its drawbacks. But it also has benefits.
With sensible use of appliances yesterday I used no power from the electricity grid and this morning still had ~35% stored. I am gradually setting up my home where I will be able to run everything- AC/heating, everything entirely from solar power either being generated or stored.
Last edited:
Very interesting.
I'm adding the values of the machine connected to my smart socket that measures energy. So it's not even 200w. Of course, if I work during the day, the color of the work changes, that's different.
8 cores, 5500 Mpx module and all NVMe card.
Attachments
Totally agree. They are expensive and rare but they are worth it. Also you get the thunderbolt ports.
However I would have been happy if we could have added W7900 Pro cards and run them in MacOS. But not to be. And when our MPX modules fail we will be left searching for elusive new old stock at exorbitant prices or trying to find 6000 series Radeon cards that are compatible. Or more likely we just move over to Windows or another OS.
Mine is 28 core, W6800X MPX and afterburner card and various NVME. I have a pair of 5K screens running, one Apple, one LG. The screens don’t use much power, at least not the Apple one anyhow.
I got fed up with rising power prices (despite using far less power) so I made the choice to go with batteries. My next step is to increase my solar power production by another 4.4kw. That should hopefully cover my power requirements on the dull winter days. I would have around 12kw. I cannot easily go much more than that due to space limitations. I have it set up to store any excess energy generated, once the battery reaches 100% I then export to the grid, which only pays about 4c/kwh, so I naturally want to avoid that. Then in evenings or early morning I use the solar power stored.
In summer I will have excess power generation so could increase the battery size a bit more.
It’s nice when you have days with absolutely no energy use from the grid at all. When my next power bill comes that should be very little or nothing.
Last edited:
I have noticed that graphic cards are so big now, that they have started to use support brackets/stands, in the PC world.
The MPX cards have a unique slot that fixates them in position, with no risk of any movement.
The extra power delivered via the mpx slot, avoids the melting power connector that some nvidia users have experienced.
And the PCI-E locking mechanism is fantastic.
It is not easy to unlock a standard graphic card under the large cooler, and worse if you have a multi-GPU setup.
It feels like a real shame that Apple developed such a brilliant design, just to abandon it.
Asus seems to have found the Apple design good as well.
"ASUS introduced its new BTF ecosystem expansion at Computex 2025, with the BTF family of products including the new "GC-HPWR" power connector for motherboards, paving the way for GPUs like the ASUS RTX 5090 BTF to be powered without its 16-pin power connector, feeding all of the power into the motherboard itself.
The new GC-HPWR (Graphics Card - High Power) connector has reached version 2.5, and is found on ASUS's new motherboards, is capable of sending 1000W of power through the motherboard and into a graphics card. ASUS General Manager Tony Yu used the company's in-house ROG Strix GeForce RTX 5090 BTF through a bunch of tests, displaying the capabilities of the GC-HPWR connector.
Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/1059...0w-power-more-reliable-than-16-pin/index.html"
Last edited:
Interesting, just web browsing etc on my system, the Mac on its own is drawing around 210w. I have a watt meter inline of just the Mac's power cable.
I thought about this too. I think the energy prices here are the most expensive in the whole world. But I don't need much energy for other things, so it should be okay.
Sadly I have no garden or I think it's not allowed in this house to mount a solar panel on the wall, also I am not able to do things like that.
I already have two of those power stations with a battery in it and they include connection cables. Maybe the daylight in my living room can charge them if I give it enough time. I almost ordered a large foldable mobile solar panel a few month ago.
My balcony is not really a balcony, because it is built into the house. Loggia would be the correct word, seems to be the same in German and English. I think there is even less sunlight than inside. I could try both locations.
I once owned a wireless Logitech solar keyboard. It was only standing on my desk where it wasn't really bright and almost never got empty. But there was an USB cable for charging too. It even had a Mac Layout. Sadly when I moved for a year far away I lost almost everything behind.
I found it my purchases:
It was 2013 when I purchased it. That one is not available anymore and also showing pictures with US layout. There a newer ones, even with the same name, but somehow only with Swiss Layout and no girl color.
For Windows there is a German layout one, that wouldn't matter much but it is somehow much more expensive and all black.I am using now only mechanical keyboards anyway. The Magic Keyboard from my iMac what isn't used at the moment is only connected to my mini because of Touch ID.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
The RX 6600 XT card you have will do fine. You can continue to use it as you did in the 5,1.
But if you end up buying a Mac Pro with a better MPX card, it will also let you use the HDMI cable to your amplifier.
What about this one, it seems too cheap to be good. Or am I missing something? It looks strange. Is that the frame that has to be removed for the ports? There is also a little cheaper one available that had been returned and only the original box seems to be damaged.
Apple Radeon Pro W6600X MPX Modul
Das AMD Radeon Pro W6600X MPX Modul liefert starke Grafikleistung für deinen Mac Pro. Radeon Pro W6600X basiert auf der RDNA2 Architektur von AMD und hat bis zu 9,8 TeraFLOPS einfache Präzision oder 19,6 TeraFLOPS halbgenaue Präzision und 8 GB GDDR6 Grafikspeicher mit 256 GB/s Speicherbandbreite.
www.amazon.de
The chatbot is saying there are better ones: W6800X MPX, W6900X MPX, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000.
The other AMD ones are all not available here on Amazon.
That NVIDIA card couldn't have been an Apple option, the bot says it is similar specced as the W6900X. If I am not wrong macOS doesn't support NVIDIA since many years.
It's also not affordable anyway:
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Let's take you to the geography of Turkey. Let's leave aside the cost. There is a hike every day without exception. They even reflect the electricity consumption you do not use on your bill. For example, they introduced a limit. For example, if you exceed 1000Tl (about 25 USD) per month, they multiply your bill by 2. Very sad but true. We have become a country like a simulation.
I think 1000KW/h per year in Germany is already more than €50 per month what is $58. I pay €46 every month and my usage was maybe 960KW/h or so, after a year I get an invoice or refund, depending on my usage. The monthly fixed fee is already €15.90. And the average usage for a one person apartment normally is about 1500KW/h what would be €69 per month. And if you don't make a contract for 1 or 2 years it's even more expensive. I have already exceeded the year and got a €50 Bonus for that. I could change to the same plan again with a little cheaper price for one year it would start in October if I do it until the end of this month. Very annoying. I always forget it.
The price looks correct to me (€283), comparing with Amazon Sweden.
Amazon could have done a better job of providing photos.
The card slots in the Mac Pro as it is. A very clean design as you can see.
The card offers two HDMI ports, and supports Thunderbolt displays. Like Apple 27" Studio Display 5k, or the 32" Pro Display XDR via the Thunderbolt ports available on the Mac Pro.
One can even use the old Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display with a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter.
You are correct, nvidia cards are not supported in macOS
Amazon Sweden has Radeon Pro Vega II versions for sale, but extreme prices.
Last edited: