Computer question.

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 12:00 pm

Has anyone here updated there 2009-2012, 12 core Mac Pro for a 2013 Mac Pro trashcan?
If so, how many cores did you get, and was there a significant performance increase, or was it not worth it?

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:06 pm

kwiz wrote:Has anyone here updated there 2009-2012, 12 core Mac Pro for a 2013 Mac Pro trashcan?
If so, how many cores did you get, and was there a significant performance increase, or was it not worth it?

I can't answer your question directly Kwiz, but I'm trying to remember if you bumped your 12 core up to 3.33 or 3.46 hex Xeons… if not, let me offer the reminder that you could gain some responsiveness for little cash and without re-working your entire setup, as is usually required with the 6,1 trashcan. Used Xeon X5680s have crept back up to around $200 on Ebay but are still available. X5690s are quite a bit more expensive at the moment.

I wouldn't recommend the 6,1 right now, unless you are in dire need and find it will significantly enhance your horsepower. If it doesn't abandon the Mac Pro entirely, Apple should roll out an updated version sometime this year.

doodles · Post by **doodles** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 3:11 pm

i got my 2009 12 core pimped up with new motherboard, etc, for $1500 all in - top of the range, ssd drives, etc. Was dubious at first, but as fats as trashcan. Only thing it doesn't have is thunderbolt, but that doesn't bother me.

Just before you throw your money away...

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 3:17 pm

doodles wrote:i got my 2009 12 core pimped up with new motherboard, etc, for $1500 all in - top of the range, ssd drives, etc. Was dubious at first, but as fats as trashcan. Only thing it doesn't have is thunderbolt, but that doesn't bother me.

Just before you throw your money away...

Copy that!

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 3:19 pm

HCMarkus wrote:
kwiz wrote:Has anyone here updated there 2009-2012, 12 core Mac Pro for a 2013 Mac Pro trashcan?
If so, how many cores did you get, and was there a significant performance increase, or was it not worth it?
I can't answer your question directly Kwiz, but I'm trying to remember if you bumped your 12 core up to 3.33 or 3.46 hex Xeons… if not, let me offer the reminder that you could gain some responsiveness for little cash and without re-working your entire setup, as is usually required with the 6,1 trashcan. Used Xeon X5680s have crept back up to around $200 on Ebay but are still available. X5690s are quite a bit more expensive at the moment.

I wouldn't recommend the 6,1 right now, unless you are in dire need and find it will significantly enhance your horsepower. If it doesn't abandon the Mac Pro entirely, Apple should roll out an updated version sometime this year.

Nah, I never bumped mine up, but that is something to consider.
I just wish there was a way to get Thunderbolt added as well, but I know that currently isn't possible.

Thanks HC.

waxman · Post by **waxman** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:43 am

I got the trash can. It was a good move. Consider this... an upgraded tower at $1500 is going to be worth less then a trash can Mac and the resell pool will be very small. If you can swing the MacPro trash can IMO it's a better investment. Also the performance and i/o is way better. I am using 3 mons. no need for extra vid card or adapters. It's really small, quiet and elegant. I think if you can find a 2013 for around $2750 your in good shape. Good luck...
ps did you get the Raven?

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:29 pm

waxman wrote:I got the trash can. It was a good move. Consider this... an upgraded tower at $1500 is going to be worth less then a trash can Mac and the resell pool will be very small. If you can swing the MacPro trash can IMO it's a better investment. Also the performance and i/o is way better. I am using 3 mons. no need for extra vid card or adapters. It's really small, quiet and elegant. I think if you can find a 2013 for around $2750 your in good shape. Good luck...
ps did you get the Raven?

How many cores do you have in your machine? I'm running 3 monitors with my current system as well.
(2) 30inch Cine displays, and (1) Raven.
I forgot to update that in the Raven thread we're in. I'm heading back home tomorrow and when I get to the studio this week, I'll post some pics of my Raven setup. I'm really interested in getting an Apollo 16 but I need thunderbolt to run it. I won't be getting it immediately because I'll be back on the road this year but once the tour ends, I want to update my lab.

Thanks for the info.

Michael Canavan · Post by **Michael Canavan** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:02 am

I dunno man, a 2009 or newer Mac Pro tower is eminently upgradable.
I got a steal a couple years ago on a 09 2.66ghz Pro 8 core. $1,000
Upgraded the home drive to a 512GB XP941 1100mbs $500
24GB 1333 RAM $200
and finally two 6 core 3.34ghz Xen chips for $350

In Geekbench tests, (which have been surprisingly accurate in terms of to failure plug in CPU tests for DAWs), This old Mac Pro cobbled together for roughly $2100 beats every new Mac Pro except the absolute top of the line one.

Here's an example of how drastic this is:
1. My 09 modded Mac Pro: Multi core Geekbench score 30,200

2. Top of the line 12 core Mac Pro 32,223
FYI that 12 core costs $7,299 with 512GB SSD 16GBRAM

3. The next Mac Pro down, the 3ghz 8 core at the same specs is $5,799.
It's multi core Geekbench score is significantly lower than my machine and the top of the line at 25,498

You get faster RAM, better video cards, but SSD wise no difference if you put them on the PCIe bus. CPU wise, again, not a major spike up. Single core scores are better, so for times you're loading a track with VSTs you shouldn't bog down as quick as I can. Though with single core tests the Mac Pros are skunked by the 4ghz i7 chips in iMacs.

So I guess it depends on what you want. I can't afford a top of the line Mac Pro, but I could cobble this one together over time, and it's pretty cool that in terms of high track count projects it should outperform all but the most expensive trash can.

Seriously, Geekbench for me has been dead on in terms of VSTi count in songs VS etc. It's well worth considering the single and multi core results before purchasing.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

Killahurts · Post by **Killahurts** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 7:15 am

Thanks for that post Michael, very informative!

My 2010 12-core machine is still a beast. I just went from 24 GB RAM to 48GB, for less than $200.

And then there is this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/PCIe ... lsior/RAID

I got one of these for my '08 video machine (3.2GHz. 8-core). I can't wait to get the budget to put one of these in my studio computer. It will be my new sample drive, and give me another year or two with this computer, at least!

The problem with the trashcan is that you have to hook it up to a bunch of external stuff to make it a real workstation. It's powerful, and cute, but it's incomplete for the $$, IMO.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 5:31 pm

I'm really interested in getting an Apollo 16 but I need thunderbolt to run it.

If that's the compelling argument then the other side doesn't really apply, does it?

Conversely, for those with a large investment in PCIe interfaces, upgrading the Mac Pro makes the most sense.

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 5:59 am

mikehalloran wrote:
I'm really interested in getting an Apollo 16 but I need thunderbolt to run it.
If that's the compelling argument then the other side doesn't really apply, does it?

Conversely, for those with a large investment in PCIe interfaces, upgrading the Mac Pro makes the most sense.

My PCI investment is currently an OWC SSD blade, and a UAD Quad card. My i/o is A MOTU 24 A/o, and a Black Lion modded Orion 32, both of which are connected via USB. My main concern is performance, my secondary concern is thunderbolt compatibility and the potential of recording through the UAD plugins with low latency. If I were able to mod my current machine and have thunderbolt installed, I'd be all over that. Sadly, that's not the case. A trashcan Mac Pro could solve most of my issues if I went that route. As far as the Apollo 16 goes, I think I'll fall back on that for now.
I have an Apollo twin that I got off of eBay for a good price. I can use that with my laptop, and that might be the current solution for my tracking needs going through UAD software with low latency.
The latest version of the Apollo 16 sonically sounds really good though, and I'm somewhat of a gear slut.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:35 am

and I'm somewhat of a gear slut

Well if you've come looking for absolution, this is the wrong place! We tend to be enablers around here.

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:32 pm

Well if you've come looking for absolution, this is the wrong place! We tend to be enablers around here.

Indeed!

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Fri Feb 12, 2016 10:38 am

waxman wrote:I got the trash can. It was a good move. Consider this... an upgraded tower at $1500 is going to be worth less then a trash can Mac and the resell pool will be very small. If you can swing the MacPro trash can IMO it's a better investment. Also the performance and i/o is way better. I am using 3 mons. no need for extra vid card or adapters. It's really small, quiet and elegant. I think if you can find a 2013 for around $2750 your in good shape. Good luck...
ps did you get the Raven?

Btw, I posted the pics of the Raven in the MTi thread.
Also, how many cores are in your TC MacPro?

MOTUnation.com