I'm trying to spec one out, and I literally can't get it below $4400*, and that's still with:
- Less PCIe slots than a Mac Pro
- A 1000 watt power supply and not a 1500 watt power supply
- A lower end GPU than even the 580 in the Mac Pro
- No Thunderbolt
- A pretty trashy case
- And a louder design
...and someone looking at the
entry-level Mac Pro would need all of those things because...?
The 8 core uses less power than the 28 core (surprise!) and can't support the full memory complement of the 28 core (go read the specs on apple.com) and nobody in their right mind is going to pay for quad Vega IIs or the equivalent Quadro (which will surely suck the juice) and then cheap out on the 8 core processor in the entry-level MP - so 1000W should be more than enough. If you're not worried about graphics then a cheaper GPU will be fine - if you
are worried about graphics then the 580X is probably going in the spares bin anyway.
NB: funny how, for some people, anybody complaining about the complete lack of
any PCIe slots in the iMac Pro or the trashcan was a hater who didn't get how computing was changing, but now suddenly we're not getting out of bed for less than 8 of the things...
As for the case - its going to sit under your desk and you'll open it once in a blue moon. At least the HP has the front-mounted sockets on, you know, the
front rather that the top where they'll be blocked by the desk. Don't confuse good design with the form-over-function bling that Apple's rockstar designers produce without Steve there to whack them with the clue-bat.
Even at your price, you've got $600 to sort out your problems (or pay someone to build a custom system) and still have $1000 change from the Mac Pro.
Its a similar problem to the iMac - if you
want a 28" 5k display then the iMac is terrific value for money, and even the iMac Pro looks OK - if you prefer, say, a pair of 4k 23" or a single 32" screen you're suddenly paying for a really expensive display that you didn't want. The entry-level Mac Pro isn't that system, and isn't even a sensible
base to upgrade to that system, with a non-upgradeable (officially) 8 core processor.
(* Well, the HP web site is horrible - I tried to find the system I linked to on the UK site on the US one and failed, but I guarantee that the UK version won't be cheaper... anyway, - if I were getting a $3-5k workstation for myself I'd build it - people have already posted low-$3k prices for that - and if I were getting it for work I'd send out a spec and get quotes and probably - from anyone other than Apple - a discount).
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Who cares if it has a monitor. Mac pro price was never below imac’s standard price.
...but it was never far
above the price of an iMac (non-pro) with maxed-out CPU and GPU either. Certainly not thick-end-of-2x-far as it is now... and that was still true when the iMac was relatively less powerful.