Mac Pro 2010 buying advice

[joe8232]

Hi all,

I'm looking into upgrading my 2011 iMac (27" i5) and am debating buying a Mac pro off eBay. There are lots of 4,1 models that have been upgraded to 5,1 and have twelve core CPUs. This is quite attractive for me because I do a lot of numerical computing so being able to use 12 cores would give me a significant speed up. I also have access to a cluster but it's always nice to make sure everything is working locally before submitting a big job. These machines seem to be around $2k, do you all think they are worth it? I'm slightly worried about buying out an older machine. I know they don't have thunderbolt so I can't use my imac as a screen which is a shame.

Any advice/alternative suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[AndreeOnline]

I'd put it bluntly and say: if you know they are worth it, then they are.

These older machines have their strengths if you configure them right, but also their weaknesses. Some you can bulid around and some you will have to suffer.

And they will keep getting older.

I have a Mac Pro 5.1 that I bought 2010, but now that I'm looking to upgrade I find myself getting a 4.1 to go 12 core, just like you say.

I specifically want the CPUs for Maxwell render and Arnold that are both CPU based and I want to be able to use two graphics cards for DaVinci and to some extent FCPX (even if that is already smooth as it is).

I feel I get tremendous performance/dollar for my use cases with an old Mac Pro. YMMV.

For a photographer, as an example, looking to upgrade I'd definitely say go with an iMac.

 

[Zeebedy]

Hi there,

I am by no means an expert here - far from it. But I currently have my quad 2.66 4,1 Mac Pro and it is a beast, I'm soon upgrading to a Hex Core with 1333mhz RAM and a better GPU and will be doing some Photoshop / Illustrator work,

Im sure for your needs the 12 core will be a great investment and as with PC's the upgradability is unreal with the MP compared to its counterparts.


RTJ

 

[IowaLynn]

Hi all,

I'm looking into upgrading my 2011 iMac (27" i5) and am debating buying a Mac pro off eBay. There are lots of 4,1 models that have been upgraded to 5,1 and have twelve core CPUs. This is quite attractive for me because I do a lot of numerical computing so being able to use 12 cores would give me a significant speed up. I also have access to a cluster but it's always nice to make sure everything is working locally before submitting a big job. These machines seem to be around $2k, do you all think they are worth it? I'm slightly worried about buying out an older machine. I know they don't have thunderbolt so I can't use my imac as a screen which is a shame.

Any advice/alternative suggestions would be much appreciated!

Look for sellers with 99% or higher rating is all and more than just 30 day warranty support. A 'true' 5,1 rather than flashed firmware has added bonus of PCIe slots 3&4 not sharing bandwidth and were easier to turn into 12-core.

Can come in handy when running multiple GPU (GPGPU in your work?) or using a pair of PCIe blade style SSDs or something.

 

[Zeebedy]

Look for sellers with 99% or higher rating is all and more than just 30 day warranty support. A 'true' 5,1 rather than flashed firmware has added bonus of PCIe slots 3&4 not sharing bandwidth and were easier to turn into 12-core.

Can come in handy when running multiple GPU (GPGPU in your work?) or using a pair of PCIe blade style SSDs or something.

Sorry, not trying to hi-jack this thread, but I have a 4,1 flashed to 5,1 and have a PCIe mSATA hard drive, is there a particular slot I should have it in on the mob or does it not matter for that card?


RTJ

 

[IowaLynn]

Sorry, not trying to hi-jack this thread, but I have a 4,1 flashed to 5,1 and have a PCIe mSATA hard drive, is there a particular slot I should have it in on the mob or does it not matter for that card?
RTJ

Most of what I know about those slots and sharing bandwidth shows up when trying to use both slots and the "glass ceiling" effect using an array so that users were forced to use slots 2 and either 3 or 4.

2x or 4x PCIe adapter? whose or which mSATA device? May not matter though the XP941 and OEM Apple blades can push the envelope well beyond SATA III level.

SATA Express meets the '09 MacPro - Bootable NGFF PCIE SSD