Mac Pro GPU may be replaceable

[Marcus Moore]

That’s it exactly. I’ll freely admit I pay more for a Mac, but I’ve been pretty much problem free since I started my business in 2006.

And when you consider how long I get out of the machine, and it’s resale value relative to comparable PCs- If I come out behind- I don’t think it’s by very much. Certainly not enough to support the Meme of Macs as insanely overpriced.

[Ronny Courtens]

Yep Marcus, that’s the link I was looking for.

– Ronny

[Herb Sevush]

[Marcus Moore] “the MacPro is technically ahead at about $300 above his parts list.”

While I think the Tube is a good deal financially what you are not getting for the money is flexibility. You cannot choose GPU’s, you cannot have PCIe, you cannot have multiple CPUs. What you can have is the illusion of excellent energy efficiency and sound reduction, because Apple has outsourced most of the elements that suck up power and increase noise. Of course once you start adding external DVD recorders, hard drives and PCIe expansion cases, the power requirements and sound go back up. As long as you are completely satisfied with exactly what the Tube offers without any Thunderbolt expansion it’s a smart choice.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Mark Dobson]

[Herb Sevush] “While I think the Tube is a good deal financially what you are not getting for the money is flexibility. You cannot choose GPU’s, you cannot have PCIe, you cannot have multiple CPUs. What you can have is the illusion of excellent energy efficiency and sound reduction, because Apple has outsourced most of the elements that suck up power and increase noise. Of course once you start adding external DVD recorders, hard drives and PCIe expansion cases, the power requirements and sound go back up. As long as you are completely satisfied with exactly what the Tube offers without any Thunderbolt expansion it’s a smart choice.”

Yes, It would seem that what you buy is what you are stuck with – apart from memory. But I’ve already made this transition with switching from the Mac Pro to a new 27″ iMac.

At the moment I’ve got 3 GRaid Drives attached to my iMac via Thunderbolt and a LaCie Thunderbolt Esata Hub and these would be the drives I would need to attach to the new Mac Pro.

Can’t say they are that noisy or that I’m that concerned to monitor the power but see the point you are making about Apples claims of reducing energy consumption. And don’t forget the monitors and a kettle.

Ultimately I think that if one made the wrong Mac Pro processor of GPU it will be possible to sell at a good price and get a new one. Certainly at a better price than my 2008 Mac Pro is valued at.

[Marcus Moore]

If Apple has made any direction clear over the last couple of years, it’s that it’s not interested in being the computer for tinkerers.

If the term makes sense, I’d call the MacPro the first “Pro Appliance” computer.

In a few cases you’re correct- the MacPro is absolutely not as configurable for CPU and GPU as a standard tower is.

But what I like about the modularity is that I can push my peripherals off and into an cabinet or another room. I’d imagine the only drives I’ll have on my desk in the new setup will be the drive I got via courier to offload footage. Everything else will be out of sight and sound.

I think the people on the losing end here are the ones with lots of legacy PCIe peripherals who (if they decide to buy one) will have to jump thru some hoops with expansion chassis to make their I/O and network cards work. But for someone like me who already has loads of Thunderbolt peripherals, the expense (and the clutter) is much less of an issue.

[Julian Bowman]

I actually use a blue ray burner as my main CD/DVD drive as I use it to archive things anyway. I already have 2 external drives (one for my internal raid drives and the other my launch drive, and two monitors. For me that is it and that will pretty much be the same when i get a new mac pro, so for me the only change is the big energy reduction of the new mac and my mac stays on a lot so that is a big appeal to me.

Admittedly I will get 2 x g-tech drives so I don’t know if they consume more energy than my current one but it seems unlikely the bump in hard drive energy use will negate the saving from the machine itself.

My only real gripe with the new design is the fact there are no usb or thunderbolt ports on the front. I do a lot of swapping into my 2 front usb ports whether it be for phone charging, web cam, capturing SD cards or my Xoom or even charging my bluetooth ear piece and having to go round the back to do that will be annoying. Personally I would have liked some ports on the front, or all the thunderbolt and usb ports on the front and the other stuff on the back. But hey, I guess I can get a usb hub which will give me more than 2 frontal usb slots, so not ideal but not particularly a deal breaker.

Ultimately it is horses for courses. For me, as a one man show working in a niche market, the new mac pro offers a great deal and the price is affordable. And anything that circumnavigates the crashes and lag I get on my current machine will be embrace with loving arms (apart from imacs, I have an inexplicable pathological dislike of them. Can’t say why, just glad I don’t have to buy one).

[Steve Connor]

Julian, you know you could have the ports at the front, it’s a cylinder!!!!

Steve Connor

There’s nothing we can’t argue about on the FCPX COW Forum

[Mark Dobson]

[Julian Bowman] “Ultimately it is horses for courses. For me, as a one man show working in a niche market, the new mac pro offers a great deal and the price is affordable. And anything that circumnavigates the crashes and lag I get on my current machine will be embrace with loving arms (apart from imacs, I have an inexplicable pathological dislike of them. Can’t say why, just glad I don’t have to buy one).”

I shared your dislike of the iMac breed of Macs but just couldn’t wait, this time last year, to take advantage of thunderbolt speed, so I’ve had a hassle free year of editing with FCPX, and to be honest I have to ask myself how I can justify the imminent and inevitable purchase of the new Mac Pro.

[Julian Bowman]

Believe me Steve, the thought of spinning it rounds has been mulled, but having the power lead out the front…. i’ll see when I get one 🙂

[Julian Bowman]

Mark, I have considered it too, many times, but decided to hold out and stumble along and wait and see if a new mac pro was in the offing. I just can’t justify £2500 every year and my current mac can handle things fine most of the time… and now it appears patience has paid dividends. I’m not sure what the new mac will be like for different set ups, including shops, but for me it really does look quite sweet, and not much more than I would have spent in years past, or even on a maxed out i7 imac.