SHOULD I BUY THE NEW MAC PRO OR A RED ROCKET CARD?

[Mark Andersen]

12 core Mac Pro 2012 with good GPUs is faster (proven through many tests) and way way cheaper (ebay). In the future, you can endlessly upgrade the GPU end (unlike the new Mac Pro).

This is the first time ever I have seen a computer company release a new product that is actually slower and more expensive than older offerings. I find it utterly outrageous.

Faster cause of better third party GPUs? Or just a faster Mac? Cause I can't believe that apples to apples (pun intended) the new stuff is slower than the old stuff. Speed is only 1/2 of it for me, the TB2 and USB3 architecture, along with a 4K compatibility right out of the box makes the machine much more useful for 4K content producers. I got pretty frustrated working with the old Mac Pros.

 

[Eric Bowen]

Robert, aren't those "tests" based on software that hasn't yet been optomized? We all know Premiere is currently slower, but I thought that optomized programs like FCP-X were screaming in comparison.

If that's the case it's an unfair assessment to say it's slower since when we get a few updates the entire playing field will change.

If I've missed some info, please let me know as I'm keeping a close eye on this. I'm not here to defend the trash can, just really want one so looking for the correct info.

Unfortunately its going to take more than few updates to really show the advantage of 2x GPU modules instead of 2x CPU modules. The GPU acceleration currently deployed is not ready for this yet and neither are many applications that still predominantly process at the CPU such as AE, C4D, and other CG. The current configuration likely wont show the major advantage until well after Haswell E is out with the new crop of Nvidia GPU's and then it will be legacy because of DDR4.

 

[Eric Bowen]

I am not aware of any x79 motherboards with Thunderbolt (1 or 2). ASUS came out with an add-in card that currently only works with specific ASUS Z87 motherboards. The HP Z820 advertises thunderbolt2 capability, but is stating that it will become available as add-in in early 2014. It was originally due last October. So for users who want power (6 core CPUs and above) plus thunderbolt, the new Mac Pro is your only option at the moment.

If HP and Asus is able to release a Controller card this year then 3rd party will in general. Right now it's just the navigation of the terms required by Intel and chip availability that is delaying this.