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Mac Pro ($3800 model) on sale for $2500 at Best Buy and Amazon. (Merged)

Ccrew said:
Mine is "Out for Delivery" as I type. Interested in what shows up....

And the Best Buy link I originally posted is now $3799. (and out of stock)
Click to expand...

Well, that pretty much confirms it was some type of error/inventory reducing that has nothing to do with the 2013 MP. Looking at Ebay, and making an assumption seeing brand new 2.4 12 core MPs unopened, you will be getting the 12-core. Let us know for sure though once you receive it. :)
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
Being a noob I'm learning so much from all of these threads. If I say something dumb - please point it out to me.
I have always wanted a Mac Pro. I'm running a 2007 iMac right now. I can't seem to justify the latest & greatest for what my needs are. ...... - don't know if I should return the 12 core to Best Buy and put the $ toward a new one since I tend to keep them a long time or just enjoy this deal.
Click to expand...

If you got a BB clearance special I'm not sure they take those back. They are trying to chuck it from inventory. They aren't going to want to put it back in. :)

If your workload isn't demanding much of performance increase this is likely a good move. You're on newer base that will be support much longer than the 2007 model was going to be. This discount price is likely lower than than what a "new" Mac Pro 2013 will be. if they do have to embedded a GPU for Thunderbolt I suspect the general price is going to up. ( may be down a bit for folks who want to "bring your own" GPU card as a second GPU).

Unless have software that is single threaded and GHz choked, the new models probably won't offer much better for the price you paid.

Worse case can sell it into the "I'm running 10.6.8 forever" market when a new Mac Pro comes out and get your money back.

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Ccrew said:
And the Best Buy link I originally posted is now $3799. (and out of stock)
Click to expand...

I suspect it will stay that way , ""out of stock", until Apple releases something new. It doesn't make any sense at all for Best Buy to get more given their problems with cash flow.

If Apple is doing something near term don't want to have dump again in a few weeks. If Apple isn't doing anything short term then the Osborne Effect is going to kill off sales over time even lower than the sloth pace they sold the previous batch at.

Retailers that move a decent number of Mac Pros may restock. The Obsorne Effect doesn't kill of all buyers; just most of them. But it doesn't make any sense if haven't been selling to get more.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
Being a noob I'm learning so much from all of these threads. If I say something dumb - please point it out to me.
I have always wanted a Mac Pro. I'm running a 2007 iMac right now. I can't seem to justify the latest & greatest for what my needs are. I thought I could jump on this deal to do some crunching.
More of a software than hardware guy but I somehow managed to replace my dead HD with a small SSD (didn't enjoy the experience).
Sort of second guessing my decision right now - don't know if I should return the 12 core to Best Buy and put the $ toward a new one since I tend to keep them a long time or just enjoy this deal.
Click to expand...

If you ever built a pc before, would suggest you build a computer for crunching. Besides being less expensive, part of the fun too. One of the reasons I built after selling my 2008 mac pro. You could build the same system as this mac pro for under 2 grand. Have built 4 since leaving. But if you need OSX, then this system is a pretty good deal. Cool to see 24 threads at work in activity monitor.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
Being a noob I'm learning so much from all of these threads. If I say something dumb - please point it out to me.
I have always wanted a Mac Pro. I'm running a 2007 iMac right now. I can't seem to justify the latest & greatest for what my needs are.
Click to expand...

I am running a 2007 iMac as well. I maxed it out at the time but now it is showing its age.

Having used Apples since the ][ I am used to being able to get access to the guts of my machine. If something goes bad swap it out. I tolerated the 2007 as an experiment in using an all-in-1 but the 2012 pushed that design WAY too far. Who ever heard of a desktop machine that only has one internal drive bay and even that not exactly easy to get to?

All-in-1s are GREAT machines for people who are not geeks or pros. I would certainly recommend iMacs to people who just wants a 'it just works' machine. The ones whose eyes would glaze over if I started talking about installing and overprovisioning an SSD are not the people who should be buying a tower.

Since I buy more computer than I need right now I will probably aim for the middle of the specs. Of course, without knowing what is going to be offered I can not say that at 100% for sure.

Well, at least we know (hope) this one will have a cover on any fans! :)
 
well, I placed an order with amazon when it was still available. it shows 4 weeks for shipping. let's see if it comes through. knowing amazon, if it's available from apple, then it'll ship.

what can I say. it was a good deal. I'm more a web surfer and occasional photog. I have an 2011 iMac 27" that I use but realized some of my prints were off when compared to the screen, but never bother to fix it.

now, I just bought >2 yr old technology. Just because it was a good deal. not sure I'm even going to use the 12 cores. Maybe for video encoding. The only drawbacks are the lack of USB 3.0, thunderbolt, and SATA support. The SSDs in the iMac are fast and I understand the MacPro is only SATA2? I also have to buy an older ACD?
 
ssdaytona said:
The only drawbacks are the lack of USB 3.0, thunderbolt, and SATA support. The SSDs in the iMac are fast and I understand the MacPro is only SATA2? I also have to buy an older ACD?
Click to expand...

USB 3.0 and SATA3 can be added with PCIe cards. Buy any non-Thunderbolt monitor you want; there is no need to specifically get an ACD. Plenty of other companies make monitors that are nicer, have more features, and cost less.
 
I'm in the same boat.

KaraH said:
I am running a 2007 iMac as well. I maxed it out at the time but now it is showing its age.

Since I buy more computer than I need right now I will probably aim for the middle of the specs. Of course, without knowing what is going to be offered I can not say that at 100% for sure.

Well, at least we know (hope) this one will have a cover on any fans! :)
Click to expand...

I read an article somewhere about the time is right for a Mac Pro mini-tower.
Fewer expansion slots and drive bays.
That would fit my needs and would not be overkill like the current MP.
 
If I keep it I will need to spend more $.

ssdaytona said:
now, I just bought >2 yr old technology. Just because it was a good deal. not sure I'm even going to use the 12 cores. Maybe for video encoding. The only drawbacks are the lack of USB 3.0, thunderbolt, and SATA support. The SSDs in the iMac are fast and I understand the MacPro is only SATA2? I also have to buy an older ACD?
Click to expand...

Since I have an iMac now I have to apply some of my savings toward an ACD & SSD (which I have really gotten used to).

PS - UPS just delivered it - and it is the 12 core.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
Since I have an iMac now I have to apply some of my savings toward an ACD & SSD (which I have really gotten used to).

PS - UPS just delivered it - and it is the 12 core.
Click to expand...

Good to know its the 12 core. I didn't have much doubt it wasn't.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
I read an article somewhere about the time is right for a Mac Pro mini-tower.
Fewer expansion slots and drive bays.
That would fit my needs and would not be overkill like the current MP.
Click to expand...

Apple could slim down the mac pro by putting one 8 core xeon but would have to ensure plenty of ram capability. Most programs don't use more than 4 but the few that do, an 8 core/16 thread 128gb ram would be sweet spot. If only apple would listen to its customers.

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ABCDEF-Hex said:
Since I have an iMac now I have to apply some of my savings toward an ACD & SSD (which I have really gotten used to).

PS - UPS just delivered it - and it is the 12 core.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new machine. Enjoy it! BTW, pictures or it didn't happen!
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
I read an article somewhere about the time is right for a Mac Pro mini-tower.
Fewer expansion slots and drive bays.
Click to expand...

People have wanted this for approximately 620,000 years. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Personally, I like the bays and slots, but I could probably live with one optical bay instead of two. I hope they keep at least one optical bay, even if they don't include a drive by default.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
I better thank you now before:
1 - My usual buyers remorse kicks in - or
2 - I have to pay my credit card bill.

Seriously - thanks for the heads up on this deal.
Click to expand...

No problem at all. I hope you enjoy it.

I needed it like I needed a hole in the head, but mine arrived today too. Exactly what was ordered. At that price, and as an owner of a 1.1 I thought it was hard to go wrong.
 
Ccrew said:
No problem at all. I hope you enjoy it.

I needed it like I needed a hole in the head, but mine arrived today too. Exactly what was ordered. At that price, and as an owner of a 1.1 I thought it was hard to go wrong.
Click to expand...

Congratulations Ccrew on your new 12 core machine and enjoy! Thanks for sharing this info too as it was an exciting week. If you can let us know your experiences with the 12 core Mac Pro that would be great. :)
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
I read an article somewhere about the time is right for a Mac Pro mini-tower.
Fewer expansion slots and drive bays.
That would fit my needs and would not be overkill like the current MP.
Click to expand...

The problem there is that everyone has different needs and wants. I would suggest a flexible design that can be customised. Still a tower but it does not need the power a graphics professional would need.

Drive bays .... I would argue for no less than 3 on *any* model. The main HDD, the SDD, and a timemachine drive. Other people may want more than that.

Slots: in practice many users could get by with 2: a graphics card or two. However 2 slots is not really my idea of a tower.

I have no need for a 12 core behemoth. I want a real tower though.
 
Sorry I missed it.

I recently moved from a 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 to a Late 2012 Mac Mini.

The Mini is OK, but I'd have bought a current Mac Pro at that price.
--
 
I'm not sure why people think this was an anomaly, a mistake, a mis-print.. There is absolutely no doubt that you will again see the price point of $2499 on the 12 core, and likely others again over the next month. When a mac mini gets better Cinibench scores than a mac pro on many functions, why would you expect anything different.. If you're buying a 12 core machine simply because its $1200 off the MSRP with out first determining if your software even utilizes multi core processes, well, never mind 12 of them.. its just simply foolishness..
 
I don't think they could pack enough silica gel to keep the Pros warehoused much longer.
 
What's the Geekbench n that model? I don't see a 12-core 2.4GHz model listed.

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The fan on my Late 2012 2.6GHz i7 starts screaming any time I hold it 15% or more CPU for more than a few minutes.

I don't recall my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 ever getting loud in the 6yrs I used it pretty much all-day, every day.

It definitely got HOT, but not loud.
 
michael_aos said:
What's the Geekbench n that model? I don't see a 12-core 2.4GHz model listed.
Click to expand...

By just eyeballing the 64-bit OSX scores using this search [ http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/search?page=5&q=E5645 ], these Mac Pro models appear to score in the low 20,000s. The 32-bit scores are, of course, much lower. Those scores aren't bad for an Apple product sold at the price some lucky ones here recently purchased them. Still, compared to the Geekbench scores of self-builds made for less money, those scores leave a lot to be desired - there are some i7 builds (i) using the i7 3770k that are as fast and (ii) using the i7 3930k that are faster [see, e.g., posts nos. 444 and 450 here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1333421/
and 497 here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1333421/ ]. But building your own system is not for most; so those purchasers, if not inclined to build their own systems, appear to have made wise decisions.
 
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Question for Tutor

In your first post on this thread you mentioned slapping in a couple of the 3.33Ghz CPUs.

Is the 2.4Ghz 12 core able to handle the power and cooling requirements?
Would the power supply and fans have to be upgraded to handle the new chips?
Apple only offers a dual 3.06Ghz option as the highest speed for the 12 core.
Is that just based on the price of the CPUs, or are there some other hardware limitations.

Thanks.
Thanks also for all of your informative and insightful posts.
 
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