2 ms·

They're still last generation GPUs, not AMD R9's. I had Mac Pro (old 2005) model and over the course of 8 years of continuous use I had maybe a handful of ECC

They're still last generation GPUs, not AMD R9's. I had Mac Pro (old 2005) model and over the course of 8 years of continuous use I had maybe a handful of ECC errors detected. I had far more crashes from unreliable software. There are a class of people who want fast expandable machines with top end GPUs who don't want ECC level reliability. The iMac is not a replacement for the guy who wants a Mac that runs Crossfire AMD GPUs for games or video editing. Again, the Xeon is a huge unneeded tax that leaves a whole in the market between iMac and Mac Pro, a whole that PCs fill. There are lots and lots of people who build tricked-out PCs that run rings around this Mac Pro as gaming or video editing rigs. The cases and build quality and "design" suck ass, power speed and cost wise they win. Apple is leaving money on the table I think by leaving such a huge donut whole, and the people comparing Mac Pros to what PC users can build don't understand what PC users want. I'd argue ECC is far more important in cloud based systems handling mission critical data than say, The Verge.com editing a review video, in which a single bit error is unlikely to be catastrophic or invite a law suit over data loss.

mpweiher 13y ago
They're still last generation GPUs, not AMD R9's. Can you elaborate? There are a class of people who want fast expandable machines with top end GPUs who don't want ECC level reliability. Sure, but I think we can agree that people who actually expand machines are not a majority. We are also now straying from the article, which asked "is there an Apple tax?" (not really, the machines are good value for money) to "does Apple make the machine I want?". The latter is a valid question, but a different one. The iMac is not a replacement for the guy who wants a Mac that runs Crossfire AMD GPUs for games... Again, I'd say that Apple doest not target gamers, and I don't think they'd be very successful if they did. How does this affect the position that the MacPro is good value for the market it serves? ...or video editing. I don't think I'd take as cavalier an attitude towards RAM errors as you do, especially since computers are digital and therefore have highly non-linear failure modes. [1] http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/dram-error-rates-nightmare.. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/dram-error-rates-nightmare....

mpweiher 13y ago

They're still last generation GPUs, not AMD R9's. Can you elaborate? There are a class of people who want fast expandable machines with top end GPUs who don't want ECC level reliability. Sure, but I think we can agree that people who actually expand machines are not a majority. We are also now straying from the article, which asked "is there an Apple tax?" (not really, the machines are good value for money) to "does Apple make the machine I want?". The latter is a valid question, but a different one. The iMac is not a replacement for the guy who wants a Mac that runs Crossfire AMD GPUs for games... Again, I'd say that Apple doest not target gamers, and I don't think they'd be very successful if they did. How does this affect the position that the MacPro is good value for the market it serves? ...or video editing. I don't think I'd take as cavalier an attitude towards RAM errors as you do, especially since computers are digital and therefore have highly non-linear failure modes. [1] http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/dram-error-rates-nightmare.. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/dram-error-rates-nightmare....