CUDA, wide variety of Nvidia and AMD GPU options, numerous flash and SSD storage options & pure CPU power: Why the Mac Pro 5,1 is the creative professional’s choice At Create Pro, the Mac Pro 5,1 is our system of choice and the same goes for a huge number of creative professionals. But why is this? Why do so many audio, video, 3D & still image professionals choose to employ the Mac Pro 5,1 workstation? There are many reasons for the classic Mac Pro’s continued dominance of the professional market.
We’ll explain them today in this post and discuss why the 5,1 is held in such high regard amongst creative users. Mac Pro 5,1 History Before looking at why the 5,1 is presently the professional system of choice. Lets look at where it came from, and the design features that allow it to dominate even in 2015.
Initially released in 2010 the Mac Pro 5,1 was the pinnacle of the classic Apple tower design. The 5,1 debuted with a 12 core 2.93GHz processor as the top spec option.
GPU/Video Card. Apple Mac Pro Early 2009 A1289 MB871LL/A - 2.66 GHz, Quad Core, 4 TB. 28 product ratings - Apple Mac Pro 2009 Server 2x Quad Core Xeon. Apple Mac Pro A1186 Early 2008 Early 2009 Graphics Card Cable 922-8446 See more like this 8GB Kit 2X 4GB Apple Mac Pro Early 2009 A1289 MB871LL/A MacPro4,1 Memory Ram New (Other).
By it’s final release in 2012 we saw a 3.06GHz 12 core system. With a custom Mac Pro build in 2015 you can install a staggering 3.46GHz 12 core CPU ensuring unparalleled CPU grunt. Mac Pro 5,1 workstations shipped with an ATI Radeon 5770 1GB GPU and could be upgraded to an ATI Radeon 5870 1GB GPU. Further down the line Nvidia GTX680 and AMD Radeon 7970 Mac editions were released. Nowadays, thanks to the efforts of various EFI programmers around the world, we have a multitude of modern GPU options for the Mac Pro 5,1 encompassing both Nvidia and AMD.
The 5,1 could be configured with up to 48GB RAM on a single processor system and 96GB RAM on a dual processor Mac Pro when it was released. With the debut of 10.9, 10.10 and new CPUs we can now add up to 64GB RAM on a single processor system and 128GB RAM on a dual processor workstation. The real strength of the 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro systems come from their internal expandability.
The Mac Pro is equipped with 4 SATA drive bays and 4 PCI-E 2.0 slots. This means unrivalled customisation and a never ending supply of new components that make the Mac Pro 5,1 better every year.
CPU Options The processing power of the Mac Pro 5,1 is highly scalable depending on your budget and can easily match the grunt of the 6,1 for just a fraction of the price. We personally stock 4 different CPU options that we believe can fulfil the needs of all users. Mac Pro 5,1 CPU options: • 3.46GHz 6 core Intel Xeon W3690 • 2.66GHz 12 core Intel Xeon X5650 • 3.06GHz 12 core Intel Xeon X5675 • 3.46GHz 12 core Intel Xeon X5690 For those with a thirst for unparalleled power the 3.46GHz 12 core processor will score similarly in benchmarking tests to the Mac Pro 6,1’s top spec processor at just a fraction of the cost. For those that have a smaller budget the 3.46GHz 6 core processor or 12 core 2.66GHz processor will provide impressive power, exceeding that of the Mac Pro 6,1 base models, and still leave change in your pocket. For more information of processors, cores, GHz and CPUs check out our guide to them.
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GPU Options The fact that the Mac Pro 5,1 has PCI-E 2.0 slots means that theoretically the system will keep getting brand new GPU options as new graphics cards are released. This is in contrast with the Mac Pro 6,1, which uses proprietary GPUs meaning you are tied to the option you choose when your system is assembled. It should also be noted that the Mac Pro 6,1 has no Nvidia GPU option, this means no CUDA functionality is available on that system.
Most PC cards are compatible with the Mac Pro 5,1 out of the box, they wont however have a boot screen and GPGPU functionality is missing in some cases. This being said, thanks to a number of Mac EFI developers, there is a continual stream of modern GPU ROMs being released that allow PC cards perform as well on a Mac as they do on their PC counterparts, boot screens and all.
Below are just a few of the GPU options we offer for the Mac Pro 5,1, all of them run off internal power with no need for an extra PSU. Internally powered Mac Pro 5,1 GPU options: • AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB (2 can be installed internally) • Nvidia GTX 780 3GB • Nvidia TITAN Black 6GB For many users Nvidia GPUs are essential to their workflow. CUDA acceleration provides huge performance boosts in many professional applications (detailed ), and is only available on Nvidia graphics cards. For Nvidia users the Mac Pro 5,1 has no competition. Autocad 2015 for mac wont install download.