Hi William 

This HP station is only 4 cores !

The 12 core HP station is 9999 $ and that without graphic cards and without Thunderbolt 

http://shopping1.hp.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/WW-USSMBPublicStore-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?ProductUUID=tdMQ7EN5zgQAAAFBXYFNbJcf&CatalogCategoryID=x.IQ7habXDwAAAFCulgtkXzC&JumpTo=OfferList

The link you gave us does not compare to the high-end 12 core Mac (2.7GHz 12-core with 30MB of L3 cache) that is at 6999 $ 

You can buy this 6 999 $ Mac at Apple and buy the memory and SSD extensions elswhere (Crucial .......)

Our main concern is going Thunderbolt, the Thunderbolt to PCIe chassis are quite expensive at the moment because Thunderbolt is only starting, and we have audio cards !

Best

Cyril

I have seen this !

But there is no secret, if the HP 12 core is costing 9900$, the expansion of the one you selected will cost the same or even more !

(in France we are saying : you cannot get the butter, it's milk and the farmer's wife  LOL)

That's an excellent article - very useful.  I was too lazy to do the actual price differences so it is great to see the point for point comparison.  Given the fact I am shooting 4K video also,  this is all becoming very alarming for my bank account.  

The question is - for VSL sample use, is the 12-core really needed? 

I was pricing the 8-core 3 ghz with maxed out RAM and PCLe and none of the more expensive graphics cards,  and it is about $2,000 cheaper.  

One other thing - I just read that you can upgrade the CPU !  Is that true?  Many people seem uncertain about it.  

If so, then one could get a base Mac Pro and later - when some more funds come in - upgrade everything.

8 core x 3 ghz = 24

12 core x 2.7 ghz = 32.4 

If you have a large orchestral template it's better to have a 12 core !

Upgrading a CPU is not a good idea you will pay a lot more !

I think there may definitely be a case for buying a 4 core or 6 core MacPro and in 18 months to 24 months swapping out the CPU. By then you may be able to get a 12 core with a higher clock speed than the current offerings for well under half the price. At the moment the 12 option looks to be particularly expensive for the performance increase - the processor upgrade alone is about the same as buying a complete new 6 core MacPro!

Unless you are urgently needing a new computer it may be worth waiting a couple of months then speaking with OWC http://eshop.macsales.com about the viability of future upgrades.

Julian

The high end processors will be always VERY expensive ! And Intel will always change something so you need to change the mother board !

A way to save money is :

Buy the Quad core = 2999 $

Buy the 12 core processor at ??? Newegg = 2749 $   (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116925)

Total = 5748 $

If you buy directly the 12 core it is 6999 $ 

So you save 6999 - 5748 = 1251 $

You have 12 GB of memory instead of 16 GB !

But you are taking risks, I will wait that other persons does the deal !

Unless Apple clearly specify you can upgrade your Macpro with processors bought elsewhere, if you have problems you need to return the Macpro with the original processor !

teardown macPro

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Pro+Late+2013+Teardown/20778

http://blog.macsales.com/22108-new-mac-pro-2013-teardown

confirms the CPU is sitting in a socket ... just the PCIe SSD appears to be proprietary and i wonder if the 1TB model contains 2 of those devices (completing the symmetry).

Hi Julian,

"Never say never!", ;-) ... but at least in case of MIR Pro I can assure you that we have no plans to switch to GPU-processing in the forseeable future.

Kind regards,

So this would mean getting the maximum  PCLe memory right now.