MP All Models Late 2024 - What Mac Pro are you using, and how are things going?

[benmuetsch]

Main machine for my audio freelance business:

7,1 / W-3223 (8C/16T) / 48GB / 1TB / MSI RX 560 / 3TB additional SSDs / Sequoia

Retired main machine now used for 3D modeling, storage and other lighter tasks

5,1 / X5690 (6C/12T) / 24GB / many HDDs and SSDs / Dell (Alienware) GTX 660 1,5GB / Monterey & Win10 via MartinLO OC + Geforce Patcher + EnableGOP

 

[ArtRev]

Mac Pro 7.1 (16 core & 2 x AMD RX 6900 XT)
Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) Mac 14.8
Mac Studio M2 Ultra
And a few others...
I don't use laptops.

I'm a film colorist and I have a small post-production studio.
I mainly do cinema productions and a few times a year something for Netflix or Amazon.
From my perspective, the M2 Ultra caught up and in some tasks overtook Intel with AMD. I'm waiting for the M4 Ultra.

I prefer bigger boxes so I'll probably buy a Mac Pro M4 Ultra... although despite the fact that the Mac Studio Studio has to be "encased" with several trays for cards or disks and only provides TB4 speed, the TB5 looks promising. Maybe the next purchase will be the M4 Ultra.

 

[Cnnka]

I daily drive a MP 6.1 10 core 64GB RAM.
This thing is old but it runs fast and it’s very reliable for my needs. I mainly do web stuff , coding stuff , I also run some adobe programs I’m an e-learning developer and I also studying and working on cyber security. MP 6.1 covers my needs still and I think it gonna cover me for 3-5 years more. I can open lot of VM’s with no performance issues or run programs on OS on windows and on Linux still no problems. I had some rendering problems with some app (electron apps) but was fairly easily to patch them.
I’m in the process of getting and upgrading a MBP 2012 gonna upgrade RAM and SSD and gonna keep it to do my elearnung development when I’m abroad I still think this machine gonna cover me still.
I’m so pumped up for Mac mini m4 but I love my MP 6.1 so I’m gonna wait a little more the price of m4 mini is really an appeal

 

[K15]

I have a 2010 - 5,1, 2012 - 5,1. Two new 2019 7,1s that I bought from ipowersales and a third 7,1 I use bought from ipowersales.

The 5,1s are full functioning but are just sitting around as display pieces. I want to do something with them but it has not hit me yet. Maybe a coffee table or something in the Man Cave.

Specs:
Socket : Dual 5690xs
Memory: 128 Gigs
Video: Radeon VII 16 Gigs

The 7,1s - 1- New In Box : Went to my dad as a gift.
1- New In Box : I use
1- Grade A System: Being converted to a Windows 11 Machine for my wife to use a college machine. She is
a degree collector.

Specs for all three 7,1s:
Intel Xeon 16-Core
192GB RAM
2TB Flash
AMD Radeon Pro 580X 8GB
- Upgraded to the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X 16GB


Waiting to see if Apple comes out with a Mac Pro M4 Ultra and what the specs will be on this system.

 

[StuAff]

The 5,1 was my daily driver, but since I got the MBP (M1 Pro) that's taken over. The occasional Windows gaming session is all that I use the cheesegrater for at the moment. I've still got my 1,1, which still gets fired up from time to time.

 

[typonaut]

Everything between mid-2010 and mid-2012 is interchangeable.

Sure, if you want a slower mid-2012, running slower RAM than specified.

 

[StuAff]

Sure, if you want a slower mid-2012, running slower RAM than specified.

@tsialex is correct. Only the six-core Xeons support 1333MHz RAM running at that speed, and that's the case on all 5.1 models, including flashed 4,1s. With 4-core chips, RAM slots run at 1066Mhz.

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex is correct. Only the six-core Xeons support 1333MHz RAM running at that speed, and that's the case on all 5.1 models, including flashed 4,1s. With 4-core chips, RAM slots run at 1066Mhz.

There are several quad core Westmere Xeons that work with 6.4QPI/1333MHz, like X5677, but Apple never sold these. Common user upgrade.

 

[StuAff]

There are several quad core Westmere Xeons that work with 6.4QPI/1333MHz, like X5677, but Apple never sold these. Common user upgrade.

Ah...never heard of that before, thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Sure, if you want a slower mid-2012, running slower RAM than specified.

Seems you never get the point.

The hardware supports Xeons that work at 800, 1066 or 1333MHz. The RAM that you install and the Xeon model is what will make the RAM frequency, not the CPU tray or backplane.

Again, it’s not locked and Apple always sent 1333MHz RAM with all mid-2012s, even if it was sold with 1066MHz Xeon.

For the second time ALL mid-2010/mid-2012 components are interchangeable.

 

[840quadra]

Interesting to see the results so far, I knew the 5,1 was solid on this enthusiast site, but somehow ( mistakenly) thought the the 6,1 would be much higher than it is.

Addition to my 1st post.

Been using my 3,1 with OCLP upgrade to Big Sur far more in recent weeks. I really like this system and kind of enjoy the struggle of making an old system with more limited support, work in a modern workload. It tends to be quite stable, and draws less power than my flashed 4,1 in general use.

G5 - 5,1 is my favorite case design to this day. The 7,1 is a beaut, but just doesn't tick all the boxes for me (though I still want one for my collection).

 

[bombardier10]

I wonder how many of you use hackintosh as a replacement for MacPro . Might be worth adding to the survey. The small percentage of Mac Pro Silicon users somehow doesn't surprise me for reasons like in this video.

 

[Minocan]

I bottled out and got M2 Mac Pro because I wasn't using open core on my 5.1. Didn't want nvram stuff to break it honestly, even after the clean ROM I kept Mojave.

 

[avro707]

I wonder how many of you use hackintosh as a replacement for MacPro . Might be worth adding to the survey. The small percentage of Mac Pro Silicon users somehow doesn't surprise me for reasons like in this video.

If I leave Mac Pro them I’m just going straight to a normal PC workstation with a modern generation GPU.

Staying with MacOS means staying with outdated GPUs unless someone finds a way to develop macOS support for modern 7000 series Radeons, or even better, Nvidia 4090.

Unless the latter occurs then the Intel Mac Pro is slowly being strangled to death by the lack of newer GPUs.

How long can we keep going with relatively antique RX580s?

 

[840quadra]

If I leave Mac Pro them I’m just going straight to a normal PC workstation with a modern generation GPU.

Staying with MacOS means staying with outdated GPUs unless someone finds a way to develop macOS support for modern 7000 series Radeons, or even better, Nvidia 4090.

Unless the latter occurs then the Intel Mac Pro is slowly being strangled to death by the lack of newer GPUs.

How long can we keep going with relatively antique RX580s?

My concern is less to do with GPU support, it is with Apple maintaining OS support for Intel processors.

For Example
Powermac G5 Quad 2.5 - Sold until August 2006

Operating System support
- 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard)
This system only had 2 major OS releases. Granted back then MacOS was on a 2 year cycle as opposed to annual like today.

Last Leopard OS update, August 2009

That is a super short support window for anyone who purchased a system in 2006!

MacOS 16 or 17 could likely be the last with Intel support, as Apple has gone all in on Apple Silicon / ARM at this point. This could also be the end of Hackintosh support as well.

 

[CanPhantom]

7,1 has been my primary workstation since 2021. It's been transitioned out now though. I have a dependency on Windows VMs, and Windows on Arm has been at a place where it's very usable for what I need for a while now, so The Beast is on its way to becoming the household server.

 

[bombardier10]

You can have the fastest macOS compatible PC computer currently available and still be fully Windows ready. What will happen in three or four years when Intel is no longer supported ?
I don't know, but consider that the value of each computer decreases by 20% every year. So if you buy a piece of hardware (hackintosh ) now for say $4000, will you regret that after four years it is worth $1000 and no longer has macOS support ? But you can still use Windows on it with the latest graphics.
Or will you be happy that you saved $8000 by not buying a MacPro ?
With any new Apple Silicon you can at most buy the best equipped version for future needs. But every year your hardware will lose value and its specifications will be less efficient than new PC or Apple processors/graphics.

 

[840quadra]

You can have the fastest macOS compatible PC computer currently available and still be fully Windows ready. What will happen in three or four years when Intel is no longer supported ?
I don't know, but consider that the value of each computer decreases by 20% every year. So if you buy a piece of hardware (hackintosh ) now for say $4000, will you regret that after four years it is worth $1000 and no longer has macOS support ? But you can still use Windows on it with the latest graphics.
Or will you be happy that you saved $8000 by not buying a MacPro ?
With any new Apple Silicon you can at most buy the best equipped version for future needs. But every year your hardware will lose value and its specifications will be less efficient than new PC or Apple processors/graphics.

Be curious to see how resale values level out now that Apple is fully on their silicon.

Back in PowerPC days, resale value of systems was actually quite good, and (for a period) I seem to recall that Core2 & core 2 Duo machines losing value quite a bit quicker than the previous iBook and Powerbook offerings.

Different era, and I am hoping there becomes native support for running windows on a Mac again, though the ARM processors on the other side are quite a bit different than M-Series processors.

 

[avro707]

My concern is less to do with GPU support, it is with Apple maintaining OS support for Intel processors.

That's also slowing down now too. I haven't seen any more recent MacOS Monterey updates.

Yes you can use OCLP to run Ventura but is that really totally stable for production use? Monterey is at least pretty solid even if there is a need to use OpenCore.

 

[840quadra]

That's also slowing down now too. I haven't seen any more recent MacOS Monterey updates.

Yes you can use OCLP to run Ventura but is that really totally stable for production use? Monterey is at least pretty solid even if there is a need to use OpenCore.

I have had zero issues with Ventura on my flashed 4,1. That said, the apps I use don't require / seem to care about lack of AVX. Even Lightroom Classic runs well for me.

 

[AlexMaximus]

I am still using my Mac Pro 5.1 as my daily driver. I have it for at least 8 years now. Since OCLP has been so advanced, it runs perfect and better than ever. Some how I kept my MBP 17' from 2010 around as well for the usual MS Office stuff. Everything else is done on the 5.1, also the occasional games. I also still use the correct Apple Cinema Display from that time. I have replaced it once a view years ago for a new exact same 2010 model. Other than that, these devices do perform extremely well and I never had a better hardware setup.

However, during the usage this workstation has been upgraded on every possibility. The 6 core is usually best for day to day duties, but I also have the dual tray just in case I need heavy rending. I somehow love to upgrade GPU's, so I had a lot of different versions over the years. At the moment I run Sonoma MacOS together with a shiny new Blue Vega VII PRO card. AVX is no obstacle to me. Most likely this will be the very last GPU that will work, so this current config will have to sail into eternity I guess. The 7.1 would have been nice. Unfortunately it is an even greater power guzzler. Prices for a 7.1 in Germany remains very high till this day. Since I have solar panels on the roof, a solar battery in the basement and a small EV, devices with a high power usage start to become questionable. So I have skipped the 7.1 completely, which makes the 5.1 even more valuable in retrospect. 4 years ago I was lucky enough to find one of those rare window kits, that makes this workstation a pice of art.

 

[840quadra]

I am still using my Mac Pro 5.1 as my daily driver. I have it for at least 8 years now. Since OCLP has been so advanced, it runs perfect and better than ever. Some how I kept my MBP 17' from 2010 around as well for the usual MS Office stuff. Everything else is done on the 5.1, also the occasional games. I also still use the correct Apple Cinema Display from that time. I have replaced it once a view years ago for a new exact same 2010 model. Other than that, these devices do perform extremely well and I never had a better hardware setup.

However, during the usage this workstation has been upgraded on every possibility. The 6 core is usually best for day to day duties, but I also have the dual tray just in case I need heavy rending. I somehow love to upgrade GPU's, so I had a lot of different versions over the years. At the moment I run Sonoma MacOS together with a shiny new Blue Vega VII PRO card. AVX is no obstacle to me. Most likely this will be the very last GPU that will work, so this current config will have to sail into eternity I guess. The 7.1 would have been nice. Unfortunately it is an even greater power guzzler. Prices for a 7.1 in Germany remains very high till this day. Since I have solar panels on the roof, a solar battery in the basement and a small EV, devices with a high power usage start to become questionable. So I have skipped the 7.1 completely, which makes the 5.1 even more valuable in retrospect. 4 years ago I was lucky enough to find one of those rare window kits, that makes this workstation a pice of art.

View attachment 2455584

Looks really nice!

I still operate a G5 with the door off as it came with a factory Clear cover for the components. It doesn't protect the upper section for DVD drive, but heat in that zone is the least of my concern!

What is the difference in power draw when using a 6-core tray? Since most of the applications I use are more GPU heavy, I may look into that as an option to keep my flashed 4,1 online more.

With my RX580 and secondary power supply, mine uses 250 wats of power at idle. That is quite a bit. I am sure I could skip the 2nd power supply, but it is far easier to replace an external ATX power supply than the proprietary Mac Pro unit. I do have a working spare, but would prefer to not need it!

 

[AlexMaximus]

One Intel Xeon X5890 has a TDP of 130W in the single tray and twice of that in the dual tray plus power for those cooling fans.
Depending of how many HDDs, DVD's, NVMe's and other devices are in your case, this second CPU has to fit inside the overall max power budget of your 980W PSU. I have been using the Pixlas cable and further in the past the EVGA PowerLink adapter to circumvent any damage from hungry GPU monster cards. With a secondary PSU, you should be totally fine when it comes to power overdraft with your RX580 and using a dual tray.

 

[jdb8167]

Since the intro of Apple silicon my Mac Pro 6,1 has become a kind of NAS. I have a Thunderbolt 2, 4 drive RAID that I use for network storage and it is hooked up to my antenna TV box for my infrequent TV use. Monterey has just ended security update support but since I no longer use it as a daily driver I will probably keep it going for as long as it works before replacing it with a Mac mini.

I very infrequently use it when I need a fast x86-64 VM. That hasn’t come up recently but I could see it happen again in the next few years.

The other use is as a central backup server that eventually backs everything up to Backblaze including my weekly Superduper backup of my M3 MacBook Air with the sync between the Pro and the MBA handled by iCloud syncing. Everything works together quite well for this. The only real downside is the power used by the MP 6,1 when it is awake 24/7.

 

[AppaSquatic]

I am still using my Mac Pro 5.1 as my daily driver. I have it for at least 8 years now. Since OCLP has been so advanced, it runs perfect and better than ever. Some how I kept my MBP 17' from 2010 around as well for the usual MS Office stuff. Everything else is done on the 5.1, also the occasional games. I also still use the correct Apple Cinema Display from that time. I have replaced it once a view years ago for a new exact same 2010 model. Other than that, these devices do perform extremely well and I never had a better hardware setup.

However, during the usage this workstation has been upgraded on every possibility. The 6 core is usually best for day to day duties, but I also have the dual tray just in case I need heavy rending. I somehow love to upgrade GPU's, so I had a lot of different versions over the years. At the moment I run Sonoma MacOS together with a shiny new Blue Vega VII PRO card. AVX is no obstacle to me. Most likely this will be the very last GPU that will work, so this current config will have to sail into eternity I guess. The 7.1 would have been nice. Unfortunately it is an even greater power guzzler. Prices for a 7.1 in Germany remains very high till this day. Since I have solar panels on the roof, a solar battery in the basement and a small EV, devices with a high power usage start to become questionable. So I have skipped the 7.1 completely, which makes the 5.1 even more valuable in retrospect. 4 years ago I was lucky enough to find one of those rare window kits, that makes this workstation a pice of art.

View attachment 2455584

This is a great setup, and glad to see its been working so well for 8 years. Are you sure this uses less power than a 7.1 though? Depends on the configuration you're comparing, I guess