3 ms·

For most processing tasks like render, the effect will be negligible. Syscall heavy workloads we saw dip up to 50% on all pre-NVMe models with under 4 cores in

For most processing tasks like render, the effect will be negligible. Syscall heavy workloads we saw dip up to 50% on all pre-NVMe models with under 4 cores in both the U and HQ series. The practical effect was up to 10 minute logins for new users and glacial access times on models prior to 2017. We have 6 mid spec'd iMac Pros ($8-11,000/pc), and unless it's being purchased for you, they're a hard product to justify. With the same budget, I usually recommend building a 1-2U half rack node for compute and getting an LG OLED or Flanders Scientific display if you're doing anything VFX related. For half the expense, you can get equivalent or better specs and invest more where you actually need it. We buy Macs mostly to remote into other machines built to do the work. It's more economical and much less frustrating.

pdimitar 7y ago
Thank you. If that's okay with you, I have a few more questions and notes: - For the moment I am not considering return-of-investment at all, or how pricey the iMac Pro is in general. I know it is more expensive than a competing Linux-based Xeon solution with a pro display (though I didn't believe the difference to be that huge as 50%!). - You mentioned the performance penalties on pre-NVMe models with <4 cores. But what about the hit on the NVMe and >4 core models? - I am not gonna do anything VFX related for now but I like having the option if I change focus in the future. Currently I am a programmer who wants to branch out to data science and, in general, analysis of big data sets (and to work on large parallel workloads like CPU multicore + GPU CUDA at the same time). I feel the 18 cores plus the huge L caches of the Xeon W-2195 will be of huge benefit -- but I could be wrong. - Additionally, I am sick of Linux' brittleness and would just like to use a Mac. I could probably setup a particular Linux to never fail to boot after an update but I have to admit I gave up on that years ago. Linux just seems to acquire bloat over time until one day an update bricks it -- and I don't want to look after it anymore. - Can you clarify why Macs are more frustrating in your day work? Your statement to me seems loaded with a context I don't have. - I saw one reviewer claiming the 14 and 18 core variants to be a waste due to the ECC RAM having only 4 parallel channels. Do you have an opinion or observations on that front? --- TL;DR: I don't care about the price since I am gonna do a lot of parallel programming where the extra cores' bonus should be very impactful, I am after a very solid machine that doesn't brick after an update (like many Linus distros do), and the NVMe SSD, the 18-core Xeon CPU and the tons of ECC RAM will help in my future endeavours a lot. I don't care about the world-class display (a normal 5K retina display would be just fine) so my money there wouldn't be that well spent but oh well, not gonna lose sleep over it. Is the iMac Pro a good work machine with these caveats, how do you think?

pdimitar 7y ago

Thank you. If that's okay with you, I have a few more questions and notes: - For the moment I am not considering return-of-investment at all, or how pricey the iMac Pro is in general. I know it is more expensive than a competing Linux-based Xeon solution with a pro display (though I didn't believe the difference to be that huge as 50%!). - You mentioned the performance penalties on pre-NVMe models with <4 cores. But what about the hit on the NVMe and >4 core models? - I am not gonna do anything VFX related for now but I like having the option if I change focus in the future. Currently I am a programmer who wants to branch out to data science and, in general, analysis of big data sets (and to work on large parallel workloads like CPU multicore + GPU CUDA at the same time). I feel the 18 cores plus the huge L caches of the Xeon W-2195 will be of huge benefit -- but I could be wrong. - Additionally, I am sick of Linux' brittleness and would just like to use a Mac. I could probably setup a particular Linux to never fail to boot after an update but I have to admit I gave up on that years ago. Linux just seems to acquire bloat over time until one day an update bricks it -- and I don't want to look after it anymore. - Can you clarify why Macs are more frustrating in your day work? Your statement to me seems loaded with a context I don't have. - I saw one reviewer claiming the 14 and 18 core variants to be a waste due to the ECC RAM having only 4 parallel channels. Do you have an opinion or observations on that front? --- TL;DR: I don't care about the price since I am gonna do a lot of parallel programming where the extra cores' bonus should be very impactful, I am after a very solid machine that doesn't brick after an update (like many Linus distros do), and the NVMe SSD, the 18-core Xeon CPU and the tons of ECC RAM will help in my future endeavours a lot. I don't care about the world-class display (a normal 5K retina display would be just fine) so my money there wouldn't be that well spent but oh well, not gonna lose sleep over it. Is the iMac Pro a good work machine with these caveats, how do you think?