In terms of technology purchases, this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I don't think I'm exaggerating.
I went with the W6600X as my GPU for three reasons:
1. The default 580X is showing its age, which is an understatement. That was the one weak part of the system and it needed to be replaced.
2. The next step up from the W6600X, the W6800X, is substantially more expensive compared to the W6600X, and the 40% increase in performance wasn't worth the 400% increase in price, in my opinion.
3. I had tried a Sonnet 6800XT first, but returned it because of noise and thermals. Apple's MPX modules are passively cooled, whereas almost all PC graphics cards have three loud fans on them. On top of that, the W6600X is only somewhat more power hungry than the 580X that I replaced it with. Noise reduction is important to me, so not having any fans on the GPU, along with substantially reduced power requirements, also reduces the need for the Mac Pro to ramp up case fans to compensate. So, for my individual needs, the W6600X was the perfect upgrade.
I would have considered the RDNA2 refresh, but Apple has yet to provide support, despite being a relatively minor driver update. I think this gives some indication about Apple's future plans for RDNA3, or more specifically, apparent lack of plans to support AMD's 7000-series GPUs. Even if Apple does support RDNA3 with the 2019 Mac Pro, the less power hungry, more affordable version, codenamed "Navi 33", isn't rumored to be released until sometime next year, so I'd be waiting well past the initial release of RDNA3 for a similar option in that segment.
Obviously, I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but the W6600X was the last MPX GPU module announced by Apple, ironically released on March 8th of this year, the same day that they announced the Mac Studio; an event where the fruit company proclaimed the Mac Studio CPU was "up to 60% faster than the 28-core Mac Pro" and the GPU was "up to 80% faster than the fastest graphics card available for the Mac Pro", yet they quietly introduced a new GPU option for the 7,1. Unsurprisingly, the W6600X was confined to a press release, otherwise it would be a very awkward presentation.
At the time it was released, people were asking who the W6600X was intended for, but some users definitely have use for them, because I'm the exact type of customer that wants one. I think it's the perfect compromise between price, performance, and thermals/noise.
I spent two years searching for a good deal on a Mac Pro, so I had time to look for one. I was very close to giving up, since my old Mac was aging out. For reference, I went from this:
2018 Mac mini
Core i3 CPU
4-cores, no Hyper-Threading
8GB RAM
128GB SSD
BlackMagic RX 580 eGPU
To my previously mentioned specs: 16-core Xeon, 96GB RAM, 2TB SSD, and W6600X GPU. To say that this was an upgrade is an understatement. The substantial performance difference has been difficult for me to fully comprehend.
I had almost given up on getting a 2019 Mac Pro, and had planned on moving next year to an Apple Silicon Mac mini with a theoretical M3 Pro, and supplement that by building a side PC for x86 Windows compatibility. It is difficult to stress how much this Mac Pro has saved me, not just financially, but in duplication, as well.
I agree. For me personally, US$2,800 for my 7,1 build was a "no brainer", because I want the additional functionality of an x86 Xeon. For US$10,000 that's a more difficult call, particularly since the OP didn't indicate how important x86 compatibility is to them, as well as taking into account how soon the Apple Silicon Mac Pro is likely to be announced.
