Upgrading from 2009 12 core Mac Pro

[kwiz]

Has anyone here upgraded to a 2013 "trashcan" from an older 12 core Mac Pro?
If so, how many cores did you get in your "trashcan"?
I primarily need it for recording and mixing, and will keep the majority of my VI's on my older machine.
Most of my mixes are plugin heavy but I believe getting a new 12 core is overkill. I guess what I'm ultimately asking is, what would be the sweet spot (core wise) for recording and mixing that I could use without choking out the processors? I'd have at least 32 gigs of ram loaded.

Thanks in advance!

[mikehalloran]

There are a number of threads and posts on this subject including how to spread the load over 12 cores.

The general opinion is that you can hot rod the Mac you have for far less $$$$. SSDs (really fast) and/or PCIe blade drives (even faster) will let you run about as fast. OK, you don't have Thunderbolt but you can get USB 3.

2T SSDs can be had for less than $600 nowadays.

If you need the latest in video cards, the nMP makes a lot of sense.

[kwiz]

Thanks Mike but my current 12 core is already pretty maxed out. I have SSD's and HD's in every bay including the optical bay, as well as a OWC PCI SSD blade.
My issue is processor power at this point. I have mixes that are very plugin heavy at times and my machine is starting to feel the strain...lol

I use (2) 30 inch Cine displays, as well as a Slate Digital MTi2 and don't have any video card issues so a video card upgrade isn't necessary.

What I'm looking for is for someone to let me know if they upgraded from a 12 core like my current machine, to a 2013 model, and how many cores were sufficient given my request specifications.
I also need thunderbolt at this point or else I'd just bump my current machine to the 3.33 or 3.46 hex Xeons.

[HCMarkus]

Unless you absolutely need a new Mac today, I'd wait until WWDC, coming in a few days, a scope out what, if any, Mac Pro announcement is made. Apple is overdue for an update.

Interestingly, if you are running a fast (3.33 or 3.46) 12 core Mac Pro now, you may see only nominal improvements in track/plugin counts even with a 12 core current trashcan.

This lengthy thread can be perused for data:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/apple-l ... rack+count

And there is always Geekbench:
https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

Here's what I can find at Barefeats.com, but only talks about cMP, not nMP:
http://barefeats.com/cmp12c6c.html

[Shooshie]

I wish Apple would bring back the Mac Pro Tower. Maybe a modified design that is a compromise between the trash can and the big tower, so that it's lighter and maybe a little smaller, but still has PCI, Firewire, and USB, in addition to Thunderbolt.

I know that wishing for something does not improve this thread, but I'm just tired of feeling like I've got to start over if I upgrade to the current desktop Mac. New interfaces, new drives, new adapters, new... heck, just about everything. Does it even have an optical drive in it? Or do you have to provide your own?

In the past, designs like that (remember the Cube?) were short-lived, and they quickly got back to the business of providing users with what they need. It's cool that someone got their ego stroked when Apple spent all their Mac resources designing and building a round computer about the size of the old Mac Cube, but without a lot of things plugged into it, the darned thing seems pretty useless. That's not moving forward; it's a trip to bizarro land.

Shooshie

[HCMarkus]

Answer: Hackintosh aka Mac Faux.

I doubt Apple is gonna' give us what you are seeking Shoosh. For me, solace comes in the form of the hex core MPs I'm currently running. Solid and more than strong enough for any project I have encountered to date, and I have two, so I am backed up if one fails. I figure VE Pro with PC slaves is the answer if necessary, but DP's forthcoming improved efficiency could be tremendous as well.

[Killahurts]

I also need thunderbolt at this point or else I'd just bump my current machine to the 3.33 or 3.46 hex Xeons.

Yeah, you and I have similar machines, down to the PCIe blade. I am very fortunate that I don't need Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 right now. I haven't made the jump to the trashcan yet, but I can tell you this- if I were to make that move, I would do no less than 12 cores because that's where I am now and it works very well with DP. I don't see the new MP's as being substantially better processing-wise, than what I have, especially if I were to upgrade this MP to a higher speed processor. I'm sure the video features are much better on the new one, but my video needs are covered on this machine. The trashcan would be way more beneficial in our video editing room..

Bottom line, you're a pro. If you need the new machine, go all the way. Get the baddest one they've got.

[HCMarkus]

Bottom line, you're a pro. If you need the new machine, go all the way. Get the baddest one they've got.

...but wait for WWDC; it's only 10 days away!

PS: USB3 is available via PCIe. Only Thunderbolt eludes those with the cMP.

[waxman]

Hey Kwiz... I switched from a tower last year to a 2013 trashcan... 12 core 3.7. I 100% recommend the 2013 12 core rather then chasing old tech. My system has never been better. Having 6 Tbolts, the HDMI make it great. It cost me $3200. If you hotrod a tower you will be stuck with USB 3 or an expensive multi port Tbolt add on. Not to mention the day will come sooner for the tower when a NEW OSX won't work on the tower. Those were my reasons when I bought. I see them on eBay and CL for $2300 to $2800 and sometimes since they are used they come with other useful stuff like cables etc... good luck man. I'd like to hear how it turns out.

[Shooshie]

Hey Kwiz... I switched from a tower last year to a 2013 trashcan... 12 core 3.7. I 100% recommend the 2013 12 core rather then chasing old tech. My system has never been better. Having 6 Tbolts, the HDMI make it great. It cost me $3200. If you hotrod a tower you will be stuck with USB 3 or an expensive multi port Tbolt add on. Not to mention the day will come sooner for the tower when a NEW OSX won't work on the tower. Those were my reasons when I bought. I see them on eBay and CL for $2300 to $2800 and sometimes since they are used they come with other useful stuff like cables etc... good luck man. I'd like to hear how it turns out.

Greg, what are you using for interfaces? Did your old ones make the switch to the trashcan? What about your internal drives from the old tower? How did THEY make the switch? If you have a moment and don't mind thinking back, I'd like to know what major purchases you had to make to do the switch. It's not bad if I just set my mind to a number, then go cash in some stocks and get it. But I think it's the unknown that keeps me from upgrading to a new system.

Maybe we need a thread devoted to this very thing, to give people an idea of the paths others have taken. But this thread is fine with me, if others aren't forthcoming.

Thanks,
Shooshie

[kwiz]

Thanks for the helpful replies fellas!
Shooshie, I'm right there with ya. A new tower would be incredible. Right now, I'll have to buy yet another PCI extension box to accommodate my cards...

HCMarkus, thanks for the threads, I'll check them out.

Killahurts, I've had this same discussion with Magic Dave, and he stated that the advantage of having all those cores is only beneficial if I were running a bunch of VI's. I'm running most of my VI's on a separate machine so for me, a 12 core trashcan would be an expensive overkill. We have a few 12 core machines out here on tour and they're fast as hell but they're being used to run heavy live vocal f/x at a buffer of 32. The other ones are being used for video rendering/editing.
I'm looking for that sweet spot machine that won't break the bank...lol

Waxman, am I reading that right; a 12 core for $3200? Sign me up if I can get one at that price...lol

[Michael Canavan]

Waxman, am I reading that right; a 12 core for $3200? Sign me up if I can get one at that price...lol

That was my thought exactly.
If you need Thunderbolt and are not worried about multi core machines, then the current iMacs beat the latest Pros for single core power.

Personally I'm a bit ridiculous, I'm running a 2009 upgraded to 12 cores 3.33ghz with two M.2 drives in it. The OSX drive is running at 1100mbs write and the sample drive (SM951) is running at 1500mbs write, roughly twice as fast as Apples current SSDs. The secondary drive is using a third party Extension driver made by a tech to get OSX to recognize it as OSX does not recognize NVMe drives not blessed by Apple. Scetchy stuff for sure, but it was about 1/3 the normal price and I wasn't aware some of these drives are in a format OSX can't read. That drive is definitly only for sample libraries, nothing that could be lost forever with an upgrade screwing the driver.

[waxman]

I had a 10k drive in the tower which did not make the transition. I was already using Buffalo Tbolt drives for all my data and instrument libraries. The buffalo drive had USB 3 and Tbolt so it was easy with the trash can 6 Tbolts for the change over. I have 2 of the buffalo's and really like them. I did all clean installs of the software, VI's etc but kept my libraries on the Buffalo's. I had been using an Apogee USB then switched to a Apollo twin and soon after Apollo 16 with Focusrite ISA 828 mic pre's. It was just a few months ago I could add back in the twin. I have a UAD fire wire Satellite that needed a Tbolt adapter and also a Octo Tbolt UAD Satellite. So between the Apple tBolt display, drives UAD Satellite I am using 5 of the tbolts. Then I added a 3rd monitor on a hdmi to tbolt adapter. The Raven goes into the trash can HDMI. that's it...

Greg, what are you using for interfaces? Did your old ones make the switch to the trashcan? What about your internal drives from the old tower? How did THEY make the switch? If you have a moment and don't mind thinking back, I'd like to know what major purchases you had to make to do the switch. It's not bad if I just set my mind to a number, then go cash in some stocks and get it. But I think it's the unknown that keeps me from upgrading to a new system.

Maybe we need a thread devoted to this very thing, to give people an idea of the paths others have taken. But this thread is fine with me, if others aren't forthcoming.

Thanks,
Shooshie

[waxman]

Waxman, am I reading that right; a 12 core for $3200? Sign me up if I can get one at that price...lol

woops brain drain...I was thinking GB and typed core. got it USED last year off Ebay. Make that late 2013 6 core 16gb 3.5 GHZ
Am\MD FirePro D500

There are some 12 core models on ebay now for $3799

[James Steele]

Thanks for the helpful replies fellas!
Shooshie, I'm right there with ya. A new tower would be incredible. Right now, I'll have to buy yet another PCI extension box to accommodate my cards...

Not sure, but you're not talking about a TB>PCI box are you? A lot of PCI cards won't work in that scenario. I have a UAD-2 DUO and it's not compatible. Supposedly the OCTO were going to be. I've got an HD-192 and 24 I/O as well... PCI. End of the line. If I went to a trashcan, it means a new interface. That said, I can probably live without the 24 I/O if I had to.