Full Spec Imac versus "NEW" Mac Pro ($3000+tax Entry Level System)

Adding a second video card to my MacPro 2006, I got a great increase in speed in 10.1 even when it was not in a 16x slot. I'd bet this will be true of a breakout box too.

I'd agree. Even constrained you'll see some advantage. But for you it's only the additional cost of the card. For someone on any other kind of Mac, there's the extra $500 of the breakout box as well.

True about the expense. However, if you need say a fiber card, you can get a 2 card breakout box, and then throw a video card in there.

Fiber thunderbolt, Promise $800

Fiber PCI card $200
Sonnet Echo Express 2 port $500 (B&H) www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1007816-R...o_express_se_ii.html
Total $700

Disproportionate Pictures wrote: … A GPU is typically a 16-lane PCIe card. Right now, Thunderbolt 2 cannot handle that kind of bandwidth; I think it's equivalent to 6-lane PCIe. … .

LOL, here you see, how ignorant I am when it comes to tech-sppecs...
ok, burying 'my' idea of a break-out box ... :whistle:

Thanks, DP, for teaching me ... !

(holding that tiny usb-turbo-stick in my fingers,
"… but, THAT worked... hmmm?" <flabbergasted> ) :lol: :lol:

While a number of these boxes exist, has anyone confirmed that you can use them with GPUs? Perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly, but I though I read somewhere that OSX wasn't supporting GPUs over Thunderbolt yet.

Don't know about the Mac OS, but apparently someone has a product already:

www.anandtech.com/show/7697/silverstone-...s-cases-nuc-and-more

tpayton wrote: Don't know about the Mac OS, but apparently someone has a product already: …

maybe, I wasn't that crazy?
needs some <cough> ... 'design'.
200€ is a lot of money … ok, depends on, how much it accelerates everything ...
interesting info in that link:
you have to 'certify' TB-products by Apple - didn't know that.


and:
Do they show such innovations in some 29.99$-budget-Motel??
images.anandtech.com/galleries/3350/Silv...one%20(13)_575px.jpg
weird marketing… 
:silly:

Thanks, tpayton, for sharing, [strike]nice[/strike] excellent find..

Have a eye out for this guy:
Echo Express III-R Mobile Rack Kit

There full line of Products

Such nice "toys" there, what is needed is a small device, the same footprint as the retina Macbook Pro, that has a couple of SSD, and loads of RAM, many, as much as you can fit in, all owner fitted as needs and funds allow, that takes some of the strain off the internal of the laptop, that could be used alongside the iMac, to give this more horsepower.

If the romours are true, then 3d editing comes along, this will need loads of horsepower, and 4K, 8K next year...What do we do?

I think the kind of modularity you're imagining is the realm of hobbyists and not a path Apple is likely to go down.

You cannot externalize some parts of the computer, like RAM. At least, not the way memory currently works.

What you're imagining is a scenario where you buy the cheap computer and then can later decide to make it the expensive computer. You buy the computer you need to do the job you need to do. It will have a shelf life and eventually it will need to be replaced as your needs change.

As many people here working on older MacPro can attest, if you spend more money then you get a longer working life out of the machine. Spend less and it will be outdated sooner.

My MacPro 2013 purchase is one not made for this year, it's made for the next 4-5 years.

This is not to say you can't do good work on iMacs and MBPs- I've been working on them for 4 years now, but there are compromises to every decision, and hoping for a computer purchase you can make without fear of compromises is just deflecting making a good decision.

Disproportionate Pictures wrote: I think the kind of modularity you're imagining is the realm of hobbyists and not a path Apple is likely to go down...

Exactly.
… that's why I mentioned that tiny Elgato Turbo-stick-thingie - a 70$ stick, which dramatically increased export speed (no real quality, but drop dead simple to use) on my cheap amateur set-up.

In case of FCPX, the concept is a bit upside-down:
The App itself supports 'natively' co-processors aka 2nd GPU!

… so, you 'just' have to master the hurdle, to apply a 2nd GPU to a device which hasn't.-
… unfortunately, GPUs itself are not cheap...

last word:
as a hobbyist, for me it really doesn't matter, if an export is 25min or 15min (whooy, 33% faster!) ...
for me, speed is only mandatory under 'live' conditions - does the edit stutter? Does my system react instantly? Do I get real-time feedback? ... and that is already fulfilled without any boxes...