What are you going to do until the 2013 upgrade of the Mac Pro?

[Bubba Satori]

I have a 2009 8 Core 2.93GHz Mac Pro.

I am going to....

- Upgrade RAM from 16GB to 32GB.
- Upgrade Radeon 4870 512MB to Radeon 5870 1GB
- Install OWC Accelsior 480GB PCI SSD Card To Use as Boot Volume
- Sell my 2 x 24" Cinema Displays and buy 2 x 27" Cinema Displays (Mini DP)

- Possibly by a PCI card to give me USB 3 ports and eSATA ports.

Should carry me for another year or two, as this machine is far from being a 'slouch'.

That's a very nice upgrade. Easily good for another two years.
Make a lot more sense than buying the current model.

 

[vaderhater245]

I was hoping to get a Mac Pro late this summer but it looks like I'll be sticking with a Sandy Bridge Custom rig until next year. just upgraded a few things through newegg today!

i5 2400 @ 3.1Ghz
32GB DDR3 1600 (upgraded)
256GB Crucial M4 (upgraded)
64GB Crucial M4 (upgraded)
3x 1TB WD Green (upgraded)
2x Asus 6950 2GB
Corsair 850ax
HP ZR22w
HP ZR2240w (upgraded)
Corsair 500r (upgraded)

Main purposes are Graphic Design and Bitcoin mining. This should serve me well until the revision comes.

 

[Nostromo]

NEC just has better panels, better specs, better color, faster response, non-LED backlight options, and more options in general like multiple RGB settings and HW calibration. Not to mention regular connectivity options like Dual-DVI, Mini-display, and HDMI, component/composite. Other than that, Apple display's compete with NEC just fine

Not to forget the great calibration package using a version of BasicColor Display calibration software, which gets fantastic black values and reliability and gives Eizos a run for their money.

I just felt sad for those dumbed down Apple "cinema" displays with their mirror surfaces and their plentitude of lacks that I had to say something positive about them.

And even the design could use an upgrade, as it's too close to an iMac. I wouldn't want to work on a nice Mac Pro and then have something iMac-ey looking standing on my desk.

As mentioned in another post on this thread, I wished Apple would develop a display that could match the quality of the old 30" displays (compared to the quality standards of their time, of course, not today's).

The NEC will also go well with the new rMBP (which has an HDMI connection).

I just wishes the NEC's design was better.

Anyway, I'm looking at the PA-271 W as my next display.

 

[kromekat]

After a lot of consideration, i've pulled the trigger on a refurb 12 core 2.66 for £3.4k.

Ultimately here is my thinking;

1. i DONT want to go to Windows unless its completely necessary.
2. With this mac I have DOUBLED my 3D rendering speed over the existing 8 core 3,1 which makes a significant difference for both short preview renders and long full res ones alike.
3. IF Apple do bring out a super new pro Mac of some sort eventually next year, all well and good, I can assess the benefits then and if necessary sell the 12 core and only lose about £1k
4. if Apple DONT bring one out, at least I will have got one of the last fastest Mac Pros they did at a really good price compared to when it came out!
5. Compared to the 'new' 12 core 2.66 which is identical bar the default 12Gb ram, I've saved £600.

Anyone think I'm nuts or is my logic sound?

Now - I have to decide whether to keep my 2,1 8 core and my 3,1 8 core under the desks as render nodes/additional workstations, or sell at least one of them on to offset against the new one!?

edit: Just added a 240Gb SSD from OWC, and 24Gb RAM from crucial, and STILL over £200 less that the 'new' 2.66!

 

[AppleDroid]

I have a 2009 Quad that I'm thinking about bumping up to 16GB of RAM, adding an SSD boot drive and keeping my GTX285 as it's fine for what I do.

I'd love to do the CPU swap with the 6c but after reading several horror stories I'm not very excited about potentially bricking my perfectly fine machine.

 

[Nostromo]

After a lot of consideration, i've pulled the trigger on a refurb 12 core 2.66 for £3.4k.

Ultimately here is my thinking;

1. i DONT want to go to Windows unless its completely necessary.
2. With this mac I have DOUBLED my 3D rendering speed over the existing 8 core 3,1 which makes a significant difference for both short preview renders and long full res ones alike.
3. IF Apple do bring out a super new pro Mac of some sort eventually next year, all well and good, I can assess the benefits then and if necessary sell the 12 core and only lose about £1k
4. if Apple DONT bring one out, at least I will have got one of the last fastest Mac Pros they did at a really good price compared to when it came out!
5. Compared to the 'new' 12 core 2.66 which is identical bar the default 12Gb ram, I've saved £600.

Anyone think I'm nuts or is my logic sound?

Now - I have to decide whether to keep my 2,1 8 core and my 3,1 8 core under the desks as render nodes/additional workstations, or sell at least one of them on to offset against the new one!?

edit: Just added a 240Gb SSD from OWC, and 24Gb RAM from crucial, and STILL over £200 less that the 'new' 2.66!

Nice machine! For 3D rendering you definitely need a Mac Pro! The SSD will also add snappiness.

 

[mtasquared]

I have a 2009 Quad that I'm thinking about bumping up to 16GB of RAM, adding an SSD boot drive and keeping my GTX285 as it's fine for what I do.

I'd love to do the CPU swap with the 6c but after reading several horror stories I'm not very excited about potentially bricking my perfectly fine machine.

Is it common for people to destroy their macs when swapping cpu's? I thinking of upgrading my quad to a hex core as well.

 

[Topper]

Buying a PC

I am going to buy a PC but only for gaming, actually one game, X-Plane 10.
I'll use my Mac Pro for everything else.
I want to thank Apple for their wonderful upgrade to the Mac Pro. Thank you.

My new PC will look like this:

Processor - Quad-Core Intel® Core™ i7-3820 3.60GHz 10MB Cache
Motherboard - Intel® DX79TO - ATX - Intel® X79 Express Chipset
Memory - 4 x Crucial 4GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3
Case - Antec Twelve Hundred V3 - ATX Full Tower - Black
Power Supply - Corsair HX1050 - Modular - 1000W Power Supply
Hard Drive - (2) 1TB SATA 6.0Gbps 7200RPM - 3.5" - WD® 7200.14
5.25" Bay - Samsung 22x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer (SATA)
Video Card - MSI NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 680 Twin Frozr III/OC 2GB GDDR5 (2xDVI, 1xHDMI, 1xDP)
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64-bit) with Recovery Partition

 

[thekev]

Not to forget the great calibration package using a version of BasicColor Display calibration software, which gets fantastic black values and reliability and gives Eizos a run for their money.

I just felt sad for those dumbed down Apple "cinema" displays with their mirror surfaces and their plentitude of lacks that I had to say something positive about them.

And even the design could use an upgrade, as it's too close to an iMac. I wouldn't want to work on a nice Mac Pro and then have something iMac-ey looking standing on my desk.

As mentioned in another post on this thread, I wished Apple would develop a display that could match the quality of the old 30" displays (compared to the quality standards of their time, of course, not today's).

The NEC will also go well with the new rMBP (which has an HDMI connection).

I just wishes the NEC's design was better.

Anyway, I'm looking at the PA-271 W as my next display.

I'd still suggest that Eizo is better, although I like NEC. The US NEC calls it Spectraview as well, but it's not the basiccolor port. It's a totally different application which isn't so bad these days. It used to be terribly buggy. NEC offers a more ergonomic stand. You can adjust height and tilt smoothly. It vents the panel better. I don't care if Apple uses an identical panel number. NEC is still superior. I don't think I'd ever buy an Apple display. I could see it as part of an imac if you're trying to get a desktop mac + display on a budget, but the NEC isn't even much more than the 27" TB display at this point as they're super aggressive on price drops. I've owned both, and Eizo is still significantly better in some ways (I like that they publish their QC standards for uniformity and color reference), but in the US you pay a lot for that.

 

[Nostromo]

I'd still suggest that Eizo is better, although I like NEC. The US NEC calls it Spectraview as well, but it's not the basiccolor port. It's a totally different application which isn't so bad these days. It used to be terribly buggy. NEC offers a more ergonomic stand. You can adjust height and tilt smoothly. It vents the panel better. I don't care if Apple uses an identical panel number. NEC is still superior. I don't think I'd ever buy an Apple display. I could see it as part of an imac if you're trying to get a desktop mac + display on a budget, but the NEC isn't even much more than the 27" TB display at this point as they're super aggressive on price drops. I've owned both, and Eizo is still significantly better in some ways (I like that they publish their QC standards for uniformity and color reference), but in the US you pay a lot for that.

Eizo is the dream monitor at nightmarish pricing - but totally worth. Their top of the line models automatically self-calibrate.

Apple's 30" cinema display was a good one, and I know a well earning professional photographer who could easily afford a wall of displays who still uses two of them.

The current ones are can't be considered for serious work - that's common knowledge. Maybe in the future Apple will give us a pro standard display again (27" retina ? ). Signs show that with the purchase of high end pro audio software (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1377842/) and the real Mac Pro update in 2013 that the pro line is getting some input. Why not a top of the line display?

I actually talked to BasicColor and they told me that the NEC Spectraview software is rebranded BasicColor software (it's probably the best currently out there, don't know if ColorEyes still exists) and with a modified i1Display2 puck.

And, yes, the NEC PA-271 W is currently $1150, only $150 more than the TB display. One would have to be crazy to get the Apple display.

 

[Graham King]

For the last three years, I've been running my entire video production company from an early 2009 17" MBP. I do at least 100 projects a year so this computer has spent literally months of it's life encoding and transcoding at 100% power for up to 36 hours at a time sometimes. I couldn't have asked for a better laptop.

Last year I added a solid state drive and moved the HDD to the optical drive port. Suffice it to say, I will never own another computer with an HDD as the boot/app drive, never. Well the machine is still running but I am at that point now where I desperately need an upgrade.

Like many, I was deeply disappointed with what happend during WWDC. Going back to Windows is not something I will even consider. With Windows I realistically spent 5-10% of my time trying to get the computer to just work. With Macs, it's probably less than 1%. That a 5-10 fold difference and gives me a lot more time to work.

Anyway, I reasoned that even though I'd be getting lousy value for my money, the 2.4ghz 12-core is at a price point I can swallow and it's going to be a beast for years regardless of what Apple comes out with for pros next year.

So I ordered today:
• 12-core
• 2.4ghz
• ATI 5870

I also ordered:
• 240GB OWC Mercury Accelsior PCI Express SSD (I am so frikkin' excited for this!)
• CalDigit 2-port USB 3.0 & 2-port eSATA 6Gb-s PCIe card
• 2x 3TB Hitachi HDD
• 2TB Time Capsule

On time machine: the time capsule will live in a 1-ton safe, setup as a passive node. One of the 3TB HDDs will be an additional time machine. I will manually switch between them now and then. Maybe get a script from somewhere.

When I'm feeling rich again:
• 2x monitors. 27" or 30". Want to do in person comparisons between HP, Dell, Apple, NEC.
• 64GB RAM
• Another small SSD for Windows Boot camp. I've waited decades for a computer with this kind of power to game on (GTA, Fallout, Elder Scrolls).

Two years from now:
• The fastest processor I can fit in there.

Side note: with all these cores under the hood, I think I am going to try transitioning out of FCP. Wow, I never thought I'd have to say that. WTH Apple?!?!

 

[Graham King]

And, yes, the NEC PA-271 W is currently $1150, only $150 more than the TB display. One would have to be crazy to get the Apple display.

You have opened my eyes sir. This is out of my price range for two but I think I'll go ahead an pick up one of these and just suffer with my 24" ACD alongside it for a while longer until I can afford another one.

 

[gusmahler]

As much as I really wanted a new Mac Pro, I'll just wait. I'm lucky in that, unlike some of you graphics/video professionals, I don't NEED a new computer, I just WANT a new computer. I went Pro merely for hard drive space.

I just bought a new hard drive for backup purposes, and will probably be adding a few more in the next year just for redundancy. Other than that, no upgrades on my Mac Pro except for Mountain Lion when it comes out.

I will probably pick up a Macbook Pro (or possibly an Air instead), though. Not the Retina one, though. That is way too expensive.

 

[pprior]

You have opened my eyes sir. This is out of my price range for two but I think I'll go ahead an pick up one of these and just suffer with my 24" ACD alongside it for a while longer until I can afford another one.

I've been using the PA271W as my primary monitor for a year or two now, beside it I have a PA241W in portrait mode, which I find nice for my email window as well as 2nd window in Lightroom. I gave up on apple monitors awhile ago and find these NECs calibrate nicely and wide gamut is nice for photo editing.

 

[kromekat]

Refurb 12 core arrived - instant double rendering speed attained!

Should keep me happy until Apple do something in the Pro arena next year!

 

[bearcatrp]

Side note: with all these cores under the hood, I think I am going to try transitioning out of FCP. Wow, I never thought I'd have to say that. WTH Apple?!?!

I left after selling my 2008 Mac pro. Cheaper to build your own. After seeing Xserve expunged, figured the Mac pro wasn't far behind. Not bad on the dark side.

 

[ugru]

I am going down the Hackintosh Route (Dual Boot M.L. and Win7):

GIGABYTE Z77X-UD5
Ivy Bridge i7 3770K
2x4GB 1600 DRAM
GIGABYTE nVidia GTX670 (when and if it will have full support, otherwise GTX580)
Liquid Cooling (Termaltake or Corsair)
Corsair T600W Case
sticker on the Case

I'll keep for another one or two years more my MacBookPro (Late 2008). With a SSD it is quite enough for my mobility use.

Thanks for neglecting the MacPro.

 

[-hh]

Refurb 12 core arrived - instant double rendering speed attained!

Should keep me happy until Apple do something in the Pro arena next year!

Looks like my Single should arrive tomorrow. The call home revealed that the old workhorse died this past Monday (right after I ordered the new one) which probably means some hassles in data transfers, etc.

In any event, upgrading now means that I'm not hostage to whatever the big radical change is going to supposedly be in 2013. I can afford now to skip the first release until it has been debugged.

-hh

 

[twietee]

In any event, upgrading now means that I'm not hostage to whatever the big radical change is going to supposedly be in 2013. I can afford now to skip the first release until it has been debugged.

That's what I've been thinking too, as I really need a bluray drive etc. I thought about getting the 12core base as a refurb or the 6core now, but that's kind of a tough decision. But I'm coming from really old tech right now, so nearly everything will be significantly faster.

A question besides: I am - one of the few I guess - who really wants this beautiful case, no matter what. Is it possible to insert in about 2-3yrs or so a different mobo for a dual-proc mobo (could be hackintosh/windows only, too) without too much hassle? I would be much more relaxed if I know that's possible, because the uprgading possiblities (Cpu wise 1366) will stay that expensive.

 

[kromekat]

Do you know what, despite some rumblings I had about switching to a PC rig, I opened up the new 12 core yesterday to install the SSD and the RAM, and like each Mac Pro I have had before it, I am always awed by the engineering brilliance inside these machines!! - how the CPU and RAM just slide out on a tray with a couple of nifty release mechanisms, the ease of the hard drive sleds and just the general neatness inside... its mostly a cosmetic thing, but for the same reasons a fine watch, or high end car can be appreciated for the engineering precision and lines, i'm glad I stayed with Apple.

 

[twietee]

which 12-core did you pick?

edit: sorry, you've already mentioned it before

 

[-hh]

...In any event, upgrading now means that I'm not hostage to whatever the big radical change is going to supposedly be in 2013. I can afford now to skip the first release until it has been debugged.

That's what I've been thinking too, as I really need a bluray drive etc. I thought about getting the 12core base as a refurb or the 6core now, but that's kind of a tough decision. But I'm coming from really old tech right now, so nearly everything will be significantly faster.

A question besides: I am - one of the few I guess - who really wants this beautiful case, no matter what.

To have it be asthetically appealing is a bonus, but I'm not emotionally tied to it. I do very much appreciate how well they're engineered internally, and the irony of the "good news" of the 2012 revision is that because it is such a minor bump, the 3rd Party products such as aftermarket brackets for adding SSDs and the like are already available off-the-shelf with no waiting.

Is it possible to insert in about 2-3yrs or so a different mobo for a dual-proc mobo (could be hackintosh/windows only, too) without too much hassle? I would be much more relaxed if I know that's possible, because the uprgading possiblities (Cpu wise 1366) will stay that expensive.

Given Apple's past history, I'd expect that the answer is 'no'. Sure, it will be technically possible for the determined, but it probably won't even be as easy as the upgrade for the Mac IIcx to the IIci.

Historical Trivia: the IIci motherboard was a drop-in, with one exception: the IIci added video on the motherboard, which added a video port out the back of the motherboard (the IIcx's video out was on a NuBus card). So in order to put a IIci board into a IIcx case, one had to take a dremel tool to the IIcx's plastic case to create the hole for that extra port. Because the IIci's port stuck out beyond the edge of the motherboard, if you didn't mod the IIcx case to cut away its access port, the IIci motherboard wouldn't fit in properly.

-hh

 

[twietee]

Originally Posted by -hh
To have it be asthetically appealing is a bonus..

sure, one should not discuss beauty. But it will stand around in the apartment and has to match somehow.

Maybe I'm ending up selling my MBA just to buy the regular 15'MBP now to do my CAD/PS/Rhino/Maxwell stuff hooked up to my ACD and wait what comes around the corner next year..should work out for a year I guess.

 

[foodog]

I have a Mac Pro 1.1 (2x 2.66 dual-core) that I've read will barely handle Lion. I'm going to sniff out a newer used Mac Pro on craigslist, probably a 4.1 or so. I think I can find that for under $2k, and that will get me by until I know for certain if a truly NEW Mac Pro is coming, and allow me sufficient time to decide whether or not to stick with the Mac platform. A lot of people talk about that being an easy switch, but in a work environment with decades of archives and thousands of dollars in software. That, and I abhor working in Windows.

Look in the Apple refurb store.... much better than what you will get on Craigslist

 

[Baytriple]

I buckled. I bought a 2.7 retina MBpro.