MP 7,1 New Mac Pro not really that modular?

[ilikewhey]

"As shown in the Mac Pro's diagram, AMD made a custom Radeon Pro Vega II Duo for Apple that doesn't rely on any external PCIe power connectors. The graphics card pulls its power entirely from a standard PCIe x16 slot, which is capable of 75W, and Apple's new propiertary PCIe connector that can supply up to 475W. Both the Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo feature four ThunderBolt 3 ports and one HDMI 2.0 port for connecting displays."
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-radeon-pro-vega-ii-7nm-gpus-apple-specs,39571.html
does anyone have more knowledge on this?

from what i'm understanding, this is apple's propiertary pcie slot, aka you not able to fit in a future Vega III or IV unless apple releases it, which was basically the same thing i had a problem with the trashcan, given how fast GPU tech advances, Vega II would only be justifiable for its cost for 2-3 year before Vega III or better yet, AMD Navi.

i was half convinced to get the barebone base model and expand it down the line as i see fit, basically what i did with my mac pro 4.1, which i later upgraded the xeon cpu from 8 cores to 12 cores, and dropped a vega 56 in there.

but it seems once again apple locked down everything and you have to source all add ons from them exclusively.

 

[fhturner]

from what i'm understanding, this is apple's propiertary pcie slot, aka you not able to fit in a future Vega III or IV unless apple releases it, which was basically the same thing i had a problem with the trashcan, given how fast GPU tech advances, Vega II would only be justifiable for its cost for 2-3 year before Vega III or better yet, AMD Navi.

Not really. You have the option to use the MPX ("Mac Pro eXpansion") modules, which can be really powerful and useful, or use regular PCIe expansion cards, including GPUs. Have a look at the product pages— especially Tech Specs— to get an idea of what's possible there.

 

[ilikewhey]

Not really. You have the option to use the MPX ("Mac Pro eXpansion") modules, which can be really powerful and useful, or use regular PCIe expansion cards, including GPUs. Have a look at the product pages— especially Tech Specs— to get an idea of what's possible there.

"Up to 300W auxiliary power via two 8-pin connectors"
ok i see it, phew, so there is hope yet.

what about the cpu, does anyone know if you can swap out the cpu yourself? my guess given the history of mac pros, but i would like to see some more concrete evidence

 

[Boil]

"Up to 300W auxiliary power via two 8-pin connectors"
ok i see it, phew, so there is hope yet.

what about the cpu, does anyone know if you can swap out the cpu yourself? my guess given the history of mac pros, but i would like to see some more concrete evidence

Go over all of the product pages Apple has for the Mac Pro...

You will see the CPU is clearly in a socket,not soldered to the PCB...

 

[zzzachi]

the "modularity" is absolutely ridicule marketing nonsens.
yesterday apple presented a standard workstation, exactly the same as the old 2012 mac pro.
in fact this was the only solution, everything else would have been doomed anyway.

question is now: how open is this system?
if you can upgrade it on your own with standard processors, ram, ssd, (nvidia) gpus, etc
this machine has a chance, otherwise i'd never buy it.

you must think that 5k is the entry level price, only!
i'm sure a 64gb, 2+2tb ssds, better gpu, 28core version will cost something close to 20k
and for the same price a pc has a doubled performance!

so... save 10k and have the same performance,
or spend 20k and do your work in the half time,
and earn more, because u have time left for other clients.

anyway if apple is smart, they leave that loophole open as they did it for the older systems.
dummies pay the apple surcharge, the others use standard parts.

 

[ilikewhey]

depending on how much apple gonna charge, the max i would need is 16 core, i'm currently using threadripper and that is just running fine. as for ram 32-48gb is suffice, the most important for me is the graphics, currently using nvidia for cuda for adobe, so it would be interesting switching to amd vega. but ofcourse i would have to see when the thing comes out in full detail in fall. i can at least write half of it off as business expanse, so the 5k entry price is not too concerning.

 

[bsbeamer]

what about the cpu, does anyone know if you can swap out the cpu yourself? my guess given the history of mac pros, but i would like to see some more concrete evidence

Certainly appears to be swappable in some fashion. Purchasing entry level with the plan to upgrade CPU over time is not a terrible plan for many.

 

[AustinIllini]

the "modularity" is absolutely ridicule marketing nonsens.
yesterday apple presented a standard workstation, exactly the same as the old 2012 mac pro.
in fact this was the only solution, everything else would have been doomed anyway.

question is now: how open is this system?
if you can upgrade it on your own with standard processors, ram, ssd, (nvidia) gpus, etc
this machine has a chance, otherwise i'd never buy it.

you must think that 5k is the entry level price, only!
i'm sure a 64gb, 2+2tb ssds, better gpu, 28core version will cost something close to 20k
and for the same price a pc has a doubled performance!

so... save 10k and have the same performance,
or spend 20k and do your work in the half time,
and earn more, because u have time left for other clients.

anyway if apple is smart, they leave that loophole open as they did it for the older systems.
dummies pay the apple surcharge, the others use standard parts.

It's clearly very modular. Your ranting aside.

 

[smirking]

It's clearly very modular. Your ranting aside.

While it IS modular, I think he's got a bit of a point about the marketing-speak. I mean this is basically just a souped up tower. It's like some car manufacturer just came out with a faster super car when they were making it sound like they would produce a flying car.