Keep trash can, or get maxed Mac mini?

[scottrngr]

I can trade in my nMP to Apple, and get $1100 for a trade in. I know the value of the Mac Pro will fall once the cheese graters become available. My question is, do I trade it in for the maxed out Mini, with the Blackmagic eGPU Pro or hang onto it? I know the mini would be faster for exports, but with the eGPU, would render times be the same or faster? The trade in amount would pretty much pay for the eGPU.

 

[shaunp]

Depends if you can cope with the noise of the mini when it is running flat out.

 

[earth_balls]

I went through the exact same decision earlier this year. I opted for the maxed out mini with the Blackmagic eGPU Pro, mainly because I had transitioned to a TB3 workflow. Real time editing in 4k is snappy, as well as color correction with the mini. Render times are not noticeably faster, as I find it depends on the heaviness of effects.

 

[scottrngr]

I went through the exact same decision earlier this year. I opted for the maxed out mini with the Blackmagic eGPU Pro, mainly because I had transitioned to a TB3 workflow. Real time editing in 4k is snappy, as well as color correction with the mini. Render times are not noticeably faster, as I find it depends on the heaviness of effects.

Would you say it was worth doing? Also, when you disconnect the eGPU, how much slower is it?

 

[earth_balls]

Would you say it was worth doing? Also, when you disconnect the eGPU, how much slower is it?

Yes, it was totally worth it for my situation with TB3. I see a slump in real time editing (Premiere) without the eGPU, but render times are still decent and comparable to the Mac Pro. Since I switched/upgraded to the mini, I see a lot fewer playback issues as well.

 

[MRrainer]

Probably also depends on what specs the "old nMP" has.
If it's fully-loaded, it might still be faster, in some situations.

I'm not sure the appearance of the "real nMP" has any significance on the trade-in price of the old one.
I wouldn't get anything for my 2012 Mini for example and my guess is that Apple will certainly also cut off the nMP rather soonish.
And that new machine isn't really an upgrade-path for the old one. There's likely 10 or 15k ASP difference between the average system sold (from old to new).
They're not even in the same universe.

 

[magicMac]

you will probably lose some GFX performance but a eGPU might fill that void