MP 7,1 What are the best upgrade options for my 2019 MP?

[Regulus67]

I picked up my Mac Pro, that I purchased from Germany for €2.399 plus shipping. And opened it at the postal delivery, because I thought it was to small and light. Compared to the first I purchased in Stockholm last year. But the machine was in the "box", original box was missing. And the Power Cable is not original (the only item that came with the Mac Pro).

I checked it before I plugged it in. And noticed the internal speaker was loose. Pretty easy to fix. Not sure what to think about that. It is located right behind the CPU. If it was a 28-core, you bet I would have removed the CPU cooler to check if it is genuine.
The RAM sticks looks to be genuine Apple 16GB 👍

It came with Sonoma 14.4.1 pre-installed. So now I get to test that 😉

 

[Regulus67]

Thank you so much for that suggestion, I found a Mac Pro with a 16-core CPU for 2.399€,

realLucaR if you plan to purchase one of these, look at my post. All the other accessories, like keyboard, mouse and cables, are missing. And the Power Cord is not original.

It is still a good price, I believe.

Mac Pro 7,1 2019 16-Core 3,2GHz 2TB SSD 96GB RAM Radeon Pro MwSt. | eBay

Arbeitsspeicher: 96GB RAM. Festplatte: 2TB SSD (Original Apple). Apple Mac Pro 7,1 16 x 3,2GHz 96GB RAM 2TB SSD Pro 580X 2019. Apple Mac Pro 7,1 16 x 3,2GHz 96GB RAM 2TB Pro W5500X. 12 Monate Gewährleistung auf Gebrauchtware sowie ein 1 Monat Rückgaberecht.

www.ebay.de

edit: if the photos are to small, click on them and they will pop up, a bit larger

 

[realLucaR]

These are test CPUs, called ES (Engineering Sample) and QS (Quality Sample), for pre-production of the final product.
It is also illegal to sell those. And there is no guarantee they will function properly.
So I would also avoid those CPUs, as avro707 said.

I am also very sceptical of a trader in France that sells "new" machines on eBay. But looks suspicious, as the boxes are opened. Why would anyone open a box just to look at it, or take photos? Perhaps modified like avro707 mentioned.

I am not going to ask the German seller, as I have ordered a 24-core CPU. And that leaves only the 8TB SSD of value to me. I'll keep an eye out, and see if I can find an 8TB SSD kit one day instead.

In that case I think I'll rather spend a bit more than pay twice. There's a German saying "Wer billig kauft, kauft doppelt" and I think that's very true here 😅

i also saw that guy from France. Theoretically, is it possible to buy a new Mac Pro from 2019 and then add Apple Care to it? Because if they're really new they should also be unactivated.

Yes, I also won't buy the 5.500€ machine. Upgrading to a authentic 28-core Xeon is wayyy cheaper than spending 3500€ extra. Even buying a genuine 28-core Xeon just costs around 1900€. Also, since I want to install Windows 11 on a physically different SSD and I don't have more than 1.15TB of files on my Macs with macOS, I don't really know what I would do with that much storage.

Generally, speaking, is there any use case where you would need 8TB of SSD storage? I started editing 8k videos to make my own movies in FCP from the Canon EOS R5C (good camera btw), and even there I don't need that ridiculous amount of storage.

Also, one thing I was wondering about: Why does Apple advertise with every Pro-line Mac that they can play X amount of 8k streams, when you can't even view these videos using the best Pro Display XDR? Maybe some videographer could bring some light in the dark 😅

 

[realLucaR]

QS and ES are non production model CPUs and may be unreliable.

Yes, also found lots of articles of people describing this issue that they don't last. Definitly not throwing that much money gambling that away!

 

[realLucaR]

No, all machines have the same 12 RAM slots, it's just that the non "M" CPUs don't support 1.5TB RAM (or 2.0TB according to Intel).

A W3245M 16 core would also take theoretically 2TB maximum RAM (or 1.5TB by Apple limits), but Apple doesn't include that CPU, they use only the W3245 which support 768GB (Apple) or 1TB (according to Intel).

Below the W3245M the other CPUs are all lower maximum RAM (W3245, W3235 and W3225).

Some of the lower CPUs also run with lower memory speeds too.

The available CPUs when ordering from Apple:

W3225 (8 core)
W3235 (12 core)
W3245 (16 core)
W3265M (24 core)
W3275M (28 core)

The "M" versions (W3245M, W3265M and W3275M) are all pretty rare and expensive.

Also note the W3175X does not work in the MP 7.1.

This following topic is good reading: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-mac-pro.2216212/?post=28081956#post-28081956

See how some of the unsupported processors (eg Xeon Gold 6212U) do work briefly but then stop completely later and the machine won't even start. So those are off the table.

Since no one tried that out before I'm just gonna say **** it and try to install 2TB of RAM. What RAM configuration (capacity per module) do you recommend testing?

 

[realLucaR]

realLucaR if you plan to purchase one of these, look at my post. All the other accessories, like keyboard, mouse and cables, are missing. And the Power Cord is not original.

View attachment 2377973

It is still a good price, I believe.

Mac Pro 7,1 2019 16-Core 3,2GHz 2TB SSD 96GB RAM Radeon Pro MwSt. | eBay

Arbeitsspeicher: 96GB RAM. Festplatte: 2TB SSD (Original Apple). Apple Mac Pro 7,1 16 x 3,2GHz 96GB RAM 2TB SSD Pro 580X 2019. Apple Mac Pro 7,1 16 x 3,2GHz 96GB RAM 2TB Pro W5500X. 12 Monate Gewährleistung auf Gebrauchtware sowie ein 1 Monat Rückgaberecht.

www.ebay.de

edit: if the photos are to small, click on them and they will pop up, a bit larger

Did you buy the MP from this exact seller? I was just texting with them today, regarding original photos so that they show me the real condition of the machine, because I absolutely hate it when devices have scratches or any other cosmetic damage. My AirPods Max for example are almost two years old and don't have a single scratch.

They sent me photos of the machine I would be getting and the condition is almost mint.

Also, I don't think that the power cord is fake. It seems genuine, only the adapter from the UK to EU plug is not authentic of course.

The missing keyboard is really a bummer, especially considering the fact that these were only shipped with the Mac Pro and are therefore extremely rare. The Magic Trackpad is different as well because it doesn't have the rounded edges as the new MT and the same silver/black colorway so I assume I also have to import that to have the full peripheral setup.

Do you know whether the current black/silver Magic Mouse is the same color configuration as you would have gotten with the Mac Pro or did they change something? Because then I could buy the Magic Mouser directly here in Germany and wouldn't have to get it from the U.S. Here's what I found:

Apple Magic Wireless Keyboard - Space Gray (MRMH2LL/A) online kaufen | eBay

Entdecken Sie Apple Magic Wireless Keyboard - Space Gray (MRMH2LL/A) in der großen Auswahl bei eBay. Kostenlose Lieferung für viele Artikel!

www.ebay.de

 

[realLucaR]

I picked up my Mac Pro, that I purchased from Germany for €2.399 plus shipping. And opened it at the postal delivery, because I thought it was to small and light. Compared to the first I purchased in Stockholm last year. But the machine was in the "box", original box was missing. And the Power Cable is not original (the only item that came with the Mac Pro).

View attachment 2377955

I checked it before I plugged it in. And noticed the internal speaker was loose. Pretty easy to fix. Not sure what to think about that. It is located right behind the CPU. If it was a 28-core, you bet I would have removed the CPU cooler to check if it is genuine.
The RAM sticks looks to be genuine Apple 16GB 👍

View attachment 2377960 View attachment 2377961

View attachment 2377962

It came with Sonoma 14.4.1 pre-installed. So now I get to test that 😉

View attachment 2377963

You're a lucky guy, that looks pretty good! For an Apple collector it's of course annoying when the box is missing..

How about dust? Was it dirty or already cleaned? Also, how is the condition of the housing on your machine? I still have to wait until Wednesday next week when I turn 18 and get my drivers license, because I really want to pick it up myself, especially when I see how bad they packaged a 2.399€ computer.

But congrats, tell me more when you got to using it and also how the performance is in its current state! 🥳

 

[realLucaR]

Does anyone know where I might be able to pick up the wheel kit? I really want to "max" max out that machine and that seems to be a good touch. But I haven't found that many sellers and paying 699$ is way too expensive.

Apple Mac Pro Wheels Kit

Put your Mac Pro on wheels with the Mac Pro Wheels Kit. The custom-designed stainless steel and rubber wheels make it easy to move your Mac Pro around, whether sliding it out from under your desk or across your studio.

www.apple.com

 

[Regulus67]

i also saw that guy from France. Theoretically, is it possible to buy a new Mac Pro from 2019 and then add Apple Care to it? Because if they're really new they should also be unactivated.
...
Generally, speaking, is there any use case where you would need 8TB of SSD storage? I started editing 8k videos to make my own movies in FCP from the Canon EOS R5C (good camera btw), and even there I don't need that ridiculous amount of storage.

I believe we can get Apple Care for a brand new Mac Pro. I know some did that in the US a few weeks ago.

Awesome and thanks for posting. Just talked with Apple Support and I'm now under warranty and eligible for AppleCare+!

I want to get the 8TB SSD because Apple put in proprietary SSDs in the Mac Pro, then stopped offering them in the Apple store. I have the 4TB kit that I purchased from Apple, last year. And I'd rather be safe in the long run. As I plan to keep the Mac Pro 2019 for as many years as possible. But I can see why most people would not pay for that upgrade, but choose NVMe raid cards.

 

[Regulus67]

Did you buy the MP from this exact seller?
...
Also, I don't think that the power cord is fake. It seems genuine, only the adapter from the UK to EU plug is not authentic of course.

The missing keyboard is really a bummer, especially considering the fact that these were only shipped with the Mac Pro and are therefore extremely rare. The Magic Trackpad is different as well because it doesn't have the rounded edges as the new MT and the same silver/black colorway so I assume I also have to import that to have the full peripheral setup.

Do you know whether the current black/silver Magic Mouse is the same color configuration as you would have gotten with the Mac Pro or did they change something?

Yes, that is the seller

The Power cord should be braided, not plain rubber.

I have a keyboard with touch ID that look almost the same as the original, only a bit more rounded in the corners, and keys. I use that with the Mac Pro I got today.
The mouse I don't know, as I have only the original, and some white ones.

The condition looks good, pretty clean with no obvious dust inside. Only a tiny dent with scratch about 3mm. Not that easy to see.

Does anyone know where I might be able to pick up the wheel kit? I really want to "max" max out that machine and that seems to be a good touch. But I haven't found that many sellers and paying 699$ is way too expensive.

Keep an eye on eBay. I saw a kit a few weeks ago, for around $400 I think.
No need to pay Apple price for everything. Especially since they decided to pull parts of the store in less than 7-months after they last sold the machines

 

[Regulus67]

Since no one tried that out before I'm just gonna say **** it and try to install 2TB of RAM. What RAM configuration (capacity per module) do you recommend testing?

I can say for sure you can not use Load Reduced RDIMM (LR-DIMM) Memory because they have to be of the same size.
R-DIMM can be mixed, but 2TB?

It has 12 memory slots. Using twelve 128GB modules will get you to 1.5TB.
12x 128 = 1536
See the problem? Besides the extreme price for such a setup.

And I can not imagine any work we do could even start to use half of that

 

[Regulus67]

You're a lucky guy, that looks pretty good! For an Apple collector it's of course annoying when the box is missing..

How about dust? Was it dirty or already cleaned? Also, how is the condition of the housing on your machine? I still have to wait until Wednesday next week when I turn 18 and get my drivers license, because I really want to pick it up myself, especially when I see how bad they packaged a 2.399€ computer.

But congrats, tell me more when you got to using it and also how the performance is in its current state! 🥳

Thank you.

But you should know I am 56 years old. And I have been saving money for some years now.
It's not like I could afford buying one of these machines when they were new. But the prices have dropped faster than I anticipated. So I decided to buy one last year, a 16-core with 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD and Vega II. And during the last year I have been looking, and purchased parts and upgrades when the price was ok.
And the hunt for parts is also part of the fun!

I am telling you this, because I do not wish you to make a mistake and overextend yourself. OK?
Be wise beyond your years

 

[profdraper]

Hello everyone,

So I'm planning on buying a base-model Mac Pro 7,1 with the 8-core Xeon, 96GB of Ram and a Radeon Pro 580X MP. I mostly want to use it for webdesign, editing 8K video in Final Cut and coding in macOS. Also I want to dual boot Windows 11 to play some 4K games.

My plans are to install the 28-core Xeon because I found one for under 3,000$. Also, I want to install the maximum RAM possible. Here I'm also trying to figure out: Is the maximum possible really 1.5TB or can I also install 8x256GB? On the 5,1 MP I was able to install 256GB on Windows and with OpenCore also getting it recognized in macOS. So is it theoretically possible to install more than 1.5TB of memory? According to Intel the CPU supports 2TB of RAM.

As a GPU I was planning to replace the stock 580X with a 6900XT with 16GB of VRAM. Is this GPU currently supported in macOS and is there anything better I could possibly install? Also, what are the downsides of not using a MPX module like the Vega II? Furthermore, could I possibly install a MPX GPU and a normal GPU at the same time?

Also, are there any other MPX RAID modules besides the one from Promise? Paying over 2000$ just for a housing and drives seems like a veryyy bad deal. I want to install 32TB of HDD storage. If possible, I wanted to split these between 4 8TB HDDs, but I'm not too sure because this is the only MPX module I know of and it's really expensive.

Next, what Thudnerbolt PCI cards can you guys recommend? I need more ports and wanted to install some PCI solution.

And finally, what pcie solutions are there for SSDs? I want to keep Windows physically separated from macOS if possible.

Would be really glad if someone could help me out, still new here ^^

Thanks!

FWIW, I went through this a few years ago when my 7,1 was new:

Nemix Ram was the best bang for buck, has continued to work flawlessly & I went with 384GB (you know, the multiples of 64 that mac pros prefer best). https://nemixram.com/collections/mac-pro-2019-macpro7-1

IMO 16 core is the best bang for buck as well, anything beyond that really does get diminishing returns and less efficiency. Personally I'd restrain yourself on this and the amount of Ram you think you want, at least until the other items are done. See how the performance is etc (I still think 16 core is best). Re the Ram, you can accuratlely monitor this with something like Sensie. And I was surprising to see that really, even with heavy multitasking (say DaVinci Resolve, Nuendo, HandBreak & a few other bits and pieces running), really it reported that my 384GB was certainly overkill & perhaps 96GB would have been just fine. YMMV of course.

Yes, the 580X is pretty useless for anything visual intensive, doing video /photo production etc. And unfortunately any Apple mac pro compatible GPU is vastly overpriced yet underperfoming for what it is & in comparision to NVidia; good benchmarks and recommendations for that from Blackmagic (Davinci Resolve) (same reference for FCPX). In any case I ended going for two Apple Vega IIs (not the dual) mostly becuase of the significant extra ports provided on these two GPUs & overall connections to my recording studio peripherals. I did this one at a time however, eased the pain of the pricing.

Don't mix GPU types, video NLEs work best with matching cards. Same deal for FCPX.

Personally I wouldn't go with overpriced & somewhat underwhelming internal Promise addittions. Instead am using an OWC Thunderbay 6, 4x SSDs as RAID4, 2x as JOBDs & a spare M.2 with SofRaid. Hasn't missed a beat in five years. SSDs instead of HDDs also equal silent. If you really want more storage than that for Win 11 etc, there are some internal bays that support SSDs (search these fora), eg https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrade-internal-ssd-on-2019-mac-pro.2416195/

I also use a PCIe 4xM.2 from Sonnet, brillant and very fast, but my use is as RAID 0 for chaching & rendering in Resolve Studio and/or FCPX. https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m2-4x4-pcie-card/overview.html

I use CCC to clone the system to the M.2 on the Thnderbay, but could just as easily be used for Win 11. I use WinClone to back that up or restore copy etc. Personally, I just split my Apple 2GB boot disk w/ 500GB for Win 11, all good there. I also store everything away from the Apple boot disk (photos, music, films,docs etc) on the RAID. The boot disk then has much smaller storage demands & backs up to Time Machine & Carbon Copy Cloner much more quickly & uses less space.

PCIe cards & 'ports'? Well Sonnet make a terrific 8x or 4xUSB cards if that's what you're after. https://www.sonnettech.com/product/allegro-pro-usbc-8port/overview.html Meanwhile the Vegas provide lots of Thunderbolt. Otherwise I have a Blackmagic mini4k for video production monitoring; and a UAD expansion card for audio plugins & music production. The 2 x Vegas take up the other bays. There's a lot of options for PCIe Storage and IO from Sonnet. https://www.sonnettech.com/product/computer-cards/cards.html

Hope that helps.

 

[J-MI]

Did you buy the MP from this exact seller? I was just texting with them today, regarding original photos so that they show me the real condition of the machine, because I absolutely hate it when devices have scratches or any other cosmetic damage. My AirPods Max for example are almost two years old and don't have a single scratch.

They sent me photos of the machine I would be getting and the condition is almost mint.

Also, I don't think that the power cord is fake. It seems genuine, only the adapter from the UK to EU plug is not authentic of course.

The missing keyboard is really a bummer, especially considering the fact that these were only shipped with the Mac Pro and are therefore extremely rare. The Magic Trackpad is different as well because it doesn't have the rounded edges as the new MT and the same silver/black colorway so I assume I also have to import that to have the full peripheral setup.

Do you know whether the current black/silver Magic Mouse is the same color configuration as you would have gotten with the Mac Pro or did they change something? Because then I could buy the Magic Mouser directly here in Germany and wouldn't have to get it from the U.S. Here's what I found:

Apple Magic Wireless Keyboard - Space Gray (MRMH2LL/A) online kaufen | eBay

Entdecken Sie Apple Magic Wireless Keyboard - Space Gray (MRMH2LL/A) in der großen Auswahl bei eBay. Kostenlose Lieferung für viele Artikel!

www.ebay.de

If you need parts, you can also have a look here : https://usedmac.com/product-category/mac-pro-parts-2/mac-pro-2019-parts/page/1/

 

[avro707]

If you need parts, you can also have a look here : https://usedmac.com/product-category/mac-pro-parts-2/mac-pro-2019-parts/page/1/

Nice, I was looking for one of those I/O cards for more USB ports, I might just order one provided the Mac Pro doesn't have a fit about having two of them.

 

[tsialex]

Nice, I was looking for one of those I/O cards for more USB ports, I might just order one provided the Mac Pro doesn't have a fit about having two of them.

Not possible, you can't install the IO card to another slot, won't fit since it's not a standard PCIe card:

 

[Regulus67]

Not possible, you can't install the IO card to another slot, won't fit since it's not a standard PCIe card:

I had no idea that card has a proprietary slot

 

[avro707]

Not possible, you can't install the IO card to another slot, won't fit since it's not a standard PCIe card:

View attachment 2378205

Well spotted, not enough coffee for me.

I had no idea that card has a proprietary slot

Nor me and I had the thing out when I did a CPU change.

 

[avro707]

Correct, checking my photo that slot is bespoke:

 

[Kaspin]

And the Power Cord is not original.

View attachment 2377973

Also, I don't think that the power cord is fake. It seems genuine, only the adapter from the UK to EU plug is not authentic of course.

The Power cord should be braided, not plain rubber.

That looks like a genuine US apple power cord... for a 6,1 though. Notice the molded part of the plus is slightly curved to match the roundness of the 6,1.

 

[Regulus67]

That looks like a genuine US apple power cord... for a 6,1 though. Notice the molded part of the plus is slightly curved to match the roundness of the 6,1.

You are correct. I just compared to my 6.1 power cord. Well done noticing that!
The left is for my 6.1, and the right came with this 7.1 (with dust).

 

[Regulus67]

... because I really want to pick it up myself, especially when I see how bad they packaged a 2.399€ computer.

Did you pick one up?
I'm curious if you got yourself one of these machines now

 

[avro707]

I have a W6800X Duo on the way.

And a second 7,1 is also on the way:

2.5ghz 28 core, 96GB RAM, 2TB SSD, W6800X Duo 64GB

The card for this second machine is new from Apple.

 

[tsialex]

I have a W6800X Duo on the way.

And a second 7,1 is also on the way:

2.5ghz 28 core, 96GB RAM, 2TB SSD, W6800X Duo 64GB

The card for this second machine is new from Apple.

Care to elaborate where you got the new from Apple W6800X Duo?

 

[sfalatko]

Care to elaborate where you got the new from Apple W6800X Duo?

Definitely a tease....