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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The New Mac Pro is Here!!!

Let's put it this way... The new Mac Pro is an amazingly well thought out piece of kit that delivers everything it promised. It comes at a high price tag, but does not disappoint.

That said, AMD is killing it with their latest CPU offerings and have leaped ahead of Intel. I want a new Mac Pro, I really do, but have to sit this one out for the moment after building a 24-core ThreadRipper system to replace my old Xeon E5v2 Resolve station. It's too bad Apple is locked into Intel for the time being. If they had shipped the new Mac Pro built around the ThreadRipper 39xx CPUs, it would have been perfect. As it is, it's still pretty close, just know that there are better CPUs to be had and regardless of CPU choice, the base price of the new Mac Pro has a $2800 premium on it for being Apple cool.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
As it is, it's still pretty close, just know that there are better CPUs to be had and regardless of CPU choice, the base price of the new Mac Pro has a $2800 premium on it for being Apple cool.
Click to expand...
We did a ballpark comparison between a $15,000 2019 Mac Pro workstation and a comparable HP z8 Windows workstation last week, and the Mac was about $3000 more expensive (even more for the rackmount). Whether the "Apple Tax" is worth it or not is an individual choice. I could go either way, but there is something to be said about familiarity and ease of use.
 
Marc Wielage said:
We did a ballpark comparison between a $15,000 2019 Mac Pro workstation and a comparable HP z8 Windows workstation last week, and the Mac was about $3000 more expensive (even more for the rackmount). Whether the "Apple Tax" is worth it or not is an individual choice. I could go either way, but there is something to be said about familiarity and ease of use.
Click to expand...

I would be curious to see what specs you are talking about on the Z8, because I don't think that's true is it? The Z8s are only available with the Xeon scalable processors not the Xeon-W right? So quite a lot of additional cost there. The GPU options are also quite expensive for something comparable to the 32GB Vega II, not to mention getting dual 10Gb and 1450w power supply.

With 28 core (that isn't as good as Xeon W in Mac Pro, 384GB RAM, 2TB nvme storage, dual 10Gb, 1450w power supply, and Quadro 6000 24GB this is the price I am seeing. Which doesn't include any thunderbolt 3 ports among other things.

HP Z8 G4 Workstation - $43932.00 $35145.60
Windows 10 Pro for Workstations - HP recommends Windows 10 Pro for business / HP Z8 G4 Workstation / Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8280 Processor (2.7 GHz, up to 4.0 GHz w/Boost, 39 MB, 2933 MHz, 28 core, 205W) / HP Z8 G4 90 1450W Chassis 100V/20A / 384 GB (12x32 GB) DDR4-2933 ECC Registered Memory (1 Processor) / Operating System Load to M.2 / 2 TB HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 PCIe TLC SSD / 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.5" HDD / NVIDIA® Quadro RTX™ 6000 (24 GB GDDR6, 4 x DisplayPort 1.4; USB-C) Graphics / HP Dual Port 10GBase-T NIC Module / Premium - 2x USB 3.1 Type-C; 2x USB 3.0 Type-A / HP Remote Graphics Software (RGS) for Z / No included Optical Disc Drive / USB Business Slim Wired Keyboard / HP Wired Optical USB Mouse / No Adapters Needed / HP Z8 Standard Cooling Solution - 1 Processor / 3/3/3 year (material/labor/onsite) Warranty / Single Unit (Tower) Packaging / HP Z8 G4 1450W/1700W Country Kit

Dropping to a similar but not comparable 24 core CPU on the Z8 saves about $10000 but not really getting you the same CPU performance as the 24 core Xeon W available in the Mac Pro. Not to mention the memory capacity options.

A similarly spec'd Mac Pro is $22,199 - 28 core (a faster 28 core than the Z8), 384GB RAM, 2TB nvme storage, dual 10Gb, Vega II 32GB GPU, included dual 10Gb and 1400w power supply, as well as a ton of TB3 ports, option for Afterburner, ability to drive 6K HDR display from single TB3 cable, 8TB nvme option, etc. Not including likely business discounts that could be available. The Xeon W's are much better suited to video professionals and VFX than the scalable Xeons available in the Z8. Obviously comparing to a build your own setup it will be more expensive but none of those systems will offer the exact same functionality.

Dropping the machines down to 16 core and 192GB of RAM, and same other specs as before gets you here:

Z8: $17545.60

Mac Pro: $14,199.00

With the Mac Pro having a better 16 core CPU option.

Even an HP Z6 with similar specs is $16307.99.

Accidentally included a 500GB HDD in the HPs so take off $118 from each. Not that it matters.
 
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Marc Wielage said:
We did a ballpark comparison between a $15,000 2019 Mac Pro workstation and a comparable HP z8 Windows workstation last week, and the Mac was about $3000 more expensive (even more for the rackmount). Whether the "Apple Tax" is worth it or not is an individual choice. I could go either way, but there is something to be said about familiarity and ease of use.
Click to expand...

I think both Apple and HP(Dell, lenovo, etc..) have a high tax rate on their workstation equipment (for the performance/quality/service they deliver).
 
It would be also interesting to see a 3970X system with 2x 2080Ti price/performance comparison to a 16 core $15K Mac Pro.
 
Just got mine. I have to say, the case design is pretty brilliant. Waiting on PCI storage card and a TB3 black magic box and then will put it to work. Pretty stoked to get it dialed in and working.
 
Thomas Pohl said:
Silence is nice ;-) but performance is the key. As far as I saw, the new Mac Pro does not really hold what`s promised. I hope my impression is wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc4seGaMIkU
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If it had been released a year ago, it would fit in with the market. Now though, the CPU war that AMD started has pushed progress at a faster pace than proprietary solutions can keep up with, so the bar has been raised quite a bit, and it's been raised beyond what the new mac pro was designed to compete with.

Apple (and AMD) both bet on Intel adhering to its roadmap as usual. For Apple since it's riding the Intel horse, that's bad; now it's stuck with a platform that's already outgoing just as Apple launched the new system a year too late, while for AMD it's good because it ignored Intel's missteps in its planning, rather than holding back when Intel started falling behind.

This time next year if it doesn't get a refresh, Apple will be facing the same complaints about the new mac pro as it did for the old, possibly except for the overheating part as everyone not using a mac starts putting 16-24 core processors in their "budget" workstations. :)
 
Since Apple uses AMD GPUs maybe they should design a TRX40 MB for the Mac Pro and add a little 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen threadripper love. A single 3990x can smoke (2) Dual Xeon Platinum 8280s.

- AMD 3990x $3990.00
- Intel Dual Xeon Platinum 8280 $20,00

If apple could drop the price of the highend Mac Pro by 16k then we would have a winner*.

Heck with AMD's market cap of 56B Apple should just spend a little petty cash and buy AMD.

*Of course there is a problem with my math but I'll leave the error for effect:)
 
richard peterson said:
Since Apple uses AMD GPUs maybe they should design a TRX40 MB for the Mac Pro and add a little 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen threadripper love. A single 3990x can smoke (2) Dual Xeon Platinum 8280s.

- AMD 3990x $3990.00
- Intel Dual Xeon Platinum 8280 $20,00

If apple could drop the price of the highend Mac Pro by 16k then we would have a winner*.

Heck with AMD's market cap of 56B Apple should just spend a little petty cash and buy AMD.

*Of course there is a problem with my math but I'll leave the error for effect:)
Click to expand...


I’d love to come back to OSX but even with the new machine the performance penalty is just too much.

Maybe next iteration will be the one.
 
Well, my 2019 Mac Pro finally arrived. I got the 16core with 32GB of Ram and the 580X. I proceeded to add another 32GB (16x2) and a single Radeon VII to the system. The 580X is running the GUI. Second VII will be here Thursday.

I went back and looked at Puget benchmarks and looked at what the numbers I were seeing and what Puget was seeing with the 3rd Gen Threadripper. "Color" me very very surprised.

I don't have many formal numbers to post, YET, I will by the end the week. But I'll say this, with just a single Radeon VII, this Mac Pro is beating the 24core 3rd Gen Threadripper and keeping pace with the 32core. Call BS if you want, I will post numbers end of the week. This is with performance mode off. I am not sure what Puget Systems was doing.

Their set up is a 24 Core 3960x and 24GB Titan RTX for the RED files. For the other tests they had a 11GB 2080Ti . First Number is Puget / Second Number is Mac Pro. I took the lower of the FPS if it was between two on the Mac Pro.

Test : 4K Prores444
3x Temporal NR - Better 2 Frames= 8 / 9
OpenFX - Lens Flare + Tilt-Shift Blur + Sharpen= 20 / 25

Test : 4K H264 150mbps
3x Temporal NR - Better 2 Frames= 8 / 9
OpenFX - Lens Flare + Tilt-Shift Blur + Sharpen= 20 / 26

Test : 4K RED
Temporal NR - Better 2 Frames= 15 / 17
3x Temporal NR - Better 2 Frames= 7 / 8
OpenFX - Lens Flare + Tilt-Shift Blur + Sharpen= 19 / 22
Basic Grade = 47 / 58 (sometimes it would keep realtime, but not consistent)

Numbers pulled from here

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...ore-X-10000-vs-AMD-Threadripper-3rd-Gen-1630/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...io-16-1-2-Update---RED-SDK-improvements-1645/
 
Ordered a 16-Core and Vega II for day job.
Ultimately would like to pick up a decent display card for dual Dell 4Ks.
Then bump up the Vega II as GPU.
Any tips?
 
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