From: "Rick Gerard" <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
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Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 14:05:14 -0800
Subject: Re: [AE] We can order a new MacPro tomorrow.
Message-Id: <B6CFFE28-CD68-478F-A1F2-30E3445008A6@mstrg.com>
References: <list-7477109@media-motion.tv>
In-Reply-To: <list-7477109@media-motion.tv>
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Sender:  Rick Gerard <ae@mstrg.com>

I track my costs very very carefully. I have had very high end machines from=
 Dell, Alienware, and HP. For most of that time I also ran the current versi=
on of a Mac.

I am now doing almost all of my work on a Mac. The biggest reason? Long-term=
 cost of ownership plus productivity.

Considering all the costs and the resale value my max have cost me 20 to 30%=
 less than any of the Windows machines I have owned in the past 20 years. Th=
at cost of ownership includes the hardware, upkeep, time it takes to keep th=
e software update it and protected with virus controls, and backing up.

Your mileage may vary, but I would strongly encourage anyone using a compute=
r to make their living to keep track of all the real costs involved in owner=
ship.

Up until two years ago the very first 24=E2=80=9D Intel iMac (remember the b=
ig white plastic one?) was still being used nearly every day by a former cli=
ent that bought it from me when I updated the machine in 2009 to keep up wit=
h their Photoshop work. That computer ran with nothing more than cleaning th=
e dust out of it and replacing the hard drive every three or four years =46rom=
 January 2006 when I bought it at MacWorld until November 2017.=20

I=E2=80=99m giving the new Mac Pro about six months and then buying one to s=
it right next to my fully loaded iMac Pro.=20

Rick Gerard
DP/VFX Supervisor
Northern California

> On Dec 10, 2019, at 1:41 PM, Jim Curtis <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:
>=20
> In spite of the arguments against it, and I appreciate all the input, pro a=
nd con, I still think I=E2=80=99m going to order one.  I can be the canary i=
n the coal mine.
>=20
> So my question for the experts is:  Since Ae and Pr comprise 99% of my pay=
ing work, what do you think would be better?
>=20
> 16-core
> 32G RAM (base)
> Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory (+$2400 over the base GPU)
> 1 TB SSD
> $10,799 from Apple.
>=20
> or
>=20
> 24-core
> 32G RAM (base)
> Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory (base)
> 1 TB SSD
> $12,399 from Apple
>=20
> IOW, fewer cores and better GPU vs. more cores and lesser GPU.
>=20
> I understand this may be unanswerable now, but I wonder whether buying the=
 base GPU can be replaced (or augmented) with a better 3rd party card later.=
  Apple=E2=80=99s prices to upgrade the GPUs are stratospheric.
>=20
> I=E2=80=99ll add more RAM later from a 3rd party.  Their upgrade to the SS=
D isn=E2=80=99t as obscene as some of their other upgrade options.
>=20
> Again, part of the reason to buy one of these is for tax purposes.  I=E2=80=
=99m currently working on a 2012 cheese grater that has a hard time with Pr 2=
020.
>=20
>=20
> x
> +---End of message---+
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