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Is it worth to upgrade from a Mac Pro 5,1 6-core to a Mac Studio Max 24-core?

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Defever

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 16, 2022
30
3
I have a Mac Pro Tower 2010 (6-core) with Radeon Pulse 580 graphics and all the bays and slots are filled with SSD's or HD's. Is it worth to buy the Mac Studio M1 Max basic now to replace this machine? I am a bit afraid that I will need several boxes on my desk now because the Studio isn't internal expandable. I think that next year prices will increase a lot because of inflation. On the other hand, for most of the time, my old Mac Pro still satisfies my needs, but it can't run the last OS's. I am in doubt. Buy or wait for the M2 Max next year? Is it easy to transfer the data from the Mac Pro 2010 to the Mac Studio with ethernet?
 
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MacsRgr8

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,305
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The Netherlands
Always difficult to get advice on your personal needs and wants.
But, I won’t be sure on an M2 Max Mac Studio next year. I cannot imaging Apple updating the Mac Studio annually.
Maybe every other year. Like M2 MacBook probably about 2 years after M1 MacBook.

But, the CPU increase from the Mac Pro 2010 to the M1 Max will be huge. Even for Intel apps.
Also the grfx in the Max will thrash the Radeon 580.
You can compare the 32 core Max GPU to the nVidia 3080 mobile.

And the power consumption will be a lot lower, as the noise from the fans.

So, my perosnal advice: get the Mac Studio Max
 
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now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
11,144
23,898
I’d use the historical upgrade schedule of the Mac Mini as a guide to when the Mac Studio will get its next speed bump.

I’m confident that the Mac Studio won’t get an upgrade for at least another three years. And when it eventually does, (years from now) it’s not going to be an earth shattering upgrade, more like a modest speed and spec bump.

Yes - if you get a MacStudio, your hard drive situation will end up on your desk. It’s up to you to make it as uncluttered as you see fit
 
Mac Hammer Fan

Mac Hammer Fan

macrumors 65816
Jul 13, 2004
1,315
490
I am in the same situation as the original poster, but I have two Mac Pro's from 2009, one with the same Radeon RX 580 and one with a Geforce 980. I'll wait for the reviews and the confirmation that cooling is efficient enough in this small enclosure of the Mac Studio. The grfx in the Max will beat the Radeon RX 580 for some benchmarks but not that much for all. (check barefeats). Geekbench GPU is 45000 Metal for the Radeon and 51000/65000 for the M1 max 24/32 cores. However CPU increase will be huge and power consumption will be lower. The price is tempting, but I am not sure because I still use the Adobe CS6 Suite and if I buy the Mac Studio, I choose for the 32 cores.
 
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joker00

macrumors regular
Apr 30, 2011
186
94
That MPT was awesome. I was lucky enough to have one.
Anyway, I figured I'd need some external drives and didn't want them on the desk.
Planning on TB4 and the enclosure might end up on the floor.
future might even find a 10GB NAS in the house (but that would be way way down the road).
 
glenthompson

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
Any M1 Mac will outperform your Pro. You don’t mention how much storage you need but you can always attach a Thunderbolt enclosure and load it up with big drives.
 
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Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,285
1,789
London, UK
In terms of a replacement machine for your current one, your options over the next year are going to be Mac Studio or Mac Pro. The latter will likely start at $5k at the lowest for a barebones model. An entry level Mac Studio would eat your Mac Pro alive in terms of performance in every way. Maybe think about changing how you store your data e.g. you could get NAS and fill it with some big drives and connect that to a Mac Studio with 10GBe.

FWIW I've got a Mac Studio with M1 Ultra coming next week and it's going to be replacing my 2009 Mac Pro that's been upgraded to 12 cores at 3.33GHz with 96GB RAM, a 2TB NVME on a PCIe expansion card and a Radeon 580. I've got an existing Synology NAS that I've just bought a 10GBe card for as an upgrade that I'll be using for my 'bulk storage'.
 
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Chancha

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2014
2,159
1,955
Your biggest hurdle will be to re-distribute the internal SSDs and HDDs in various boxes, or search for adequate replacements in other forms. With Thunderbolt most things are possible except for like a 4 slot M.2 card which you need the larger Mac Pro for that. Also with the Studio's built-in 10GbE, maybe it is a good time to change and invest large storage to NAS / server type solution anyway.
 
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slainbabyyc

macrumors member
Dec 30, 2021
89
62
-narcan- said:
Yeah, I'm surprised as how many people just assume a whole new line of M2 processors in every machine is a given in 6 - 12 months. I'm sure it's possible... but seems like the rumor mill echo chamber in effect.
Click to expand...
They've released some sort of silicon update every 6-12 months since it was announced
 
illitrate23

illitrate23

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2004
681
271
uk
now i see it said:
Yes - if you get a MacStudio, your hard drive situation will end up on your desk. It’s up to you to make it as uncluttered as you see fit
Click to expand...

On the plus side, having an array of old external drives on your desk does keep you warm in the winter time ?

hmmm, I should probably get the duster out this weekend now that I see it in the photo….

1647511289136.jpeg
 
D

Defever

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 16, 2022
30
3
Thanks for all the advice, guys. If I buy the Mac Studio I will connect 6 TB external storage to it. But it is hard to decide. I really love my old Mac Pro with its internal drives and it's still a good machine for most of the things I do. But the Mac Studio will be a lot faster, I think, especially single core. Perhaps, after twelve years, I could upgrade but I can wait another 18 months too, if necessary. I am curious what the experiences are from users who made the switch from a Mac Pro 5,1 to the Studio. I could afford the price of the base model with 1TB SSD now. Is it easy to transfer the data from my Mac Pro to the new computer with Ethernet?
 
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Chancha

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2014
2,159
1,955
Do you mean you can forget about the internal storage of your 5,1, since you already got 6TB worth of external storage that's ready to be accessed by the Mac Studio?

Well if you only have about 1TB worth of data from your 5,1 internal then it should be simple to do SMB transfer from it to the new Mac, you are just one click away from enabling file sharing in System Prefs. But that's just for data. It is going to take less than an hour for sure.

It will get more complex if you intend to migrate the whole system. Normally people will do a direct migration via Thunderbolt cable but your 5,1 is too old to even have TB1. Depending on which Mac OS you have installed, the better ways may be to use Migration Assistant over Ethernet, or use a temporary drive for Time Machine.
 
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Defever

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 16, 2022
30
3
Chancha said:
Do you mean you can forget about the internal storage of your 5,1, since you already got 6TB worth of external storage that's ready to be accessed by the Mac Studio?
Click to expand...
The 6TB data is internal in my Mac Pro. I need to buy an external drive. I would keep the old machine as backup. I invested a lot in it. It could remain a second computer. I am looking forward to experiences from users who switched from an old Mac Pro 5,1 to a Mac Studio.
 
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Mac Hammer Fan

Mac Hammer Fan

macrumors 65816
Jul 13, 2004
1,315
490
Switching from the cMP to the Studio will need an extra cost for the external storage. For me, this is a reason to stay with the old machine if it is still satisfying for most of your needs. For me, there is another additional cost, some software that I use frequently under Mojave isn't compatible with Monterey. If you use 3D software or play games, the upgrade from 24 to 32 cores is recommended.
 
cpnotebook80

cpnotebook80

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2007
1,221
539
Toronto
Defever said:
The 6TB data is internal in my Mac Pro. I need to buy an external drive. I would keep the old machine as backup. I invested a lot in it. It could remain a second computer. I am looking forward to experiences from users who switched from an old Mac Pro 5,1 to a Mac Studio.
Click to expand...
I have invested into my MP 5.1 few years ago also however, I'm still on Mojave on there and my GPU card, 580x died, and back on an old AMD video card, and while I have 12core CPU, etc i hardly use the machine just for browsing now. I still fill limited on types of things i want to start learning esp video editing, architecture design, and 3d modelling. I can keep my machine as a back up or sell the internals ,since they are still good, esp the ram etc and be able to be more productive on the mac studio.

I have the 13" Mbp m1 which is fine for my portable needs at this time. Also - the mess of wires on the mac pro 5.1 under my desk, and the heat generated and fan constantly on due to many other issues, makes me glad starting a new chapter on a new apple product. the Mac pro 2019 was out of my budget for sure so this is way better esp the size but i think the mac studio will have better longevity for my needs.
 
Pressure

Pressure

macrumors 603
May 30, 2006
5,123
1,476
Denmark
cpnotebook80 said:
I have invested into my MP 5.1 few years ago also however, I'm still on Mojave on there and my GPU card, 580x died, and back on an old AMD video card, and while I have 12core CPU, etc i hardly use the machine just for browsing now. I still fill limited on types of things i want to start learning esp video editing, architecture design, and 3d modelling. I can keep my machine as a back up or sell the internals ,since they are still good, esp the ram etc and be able to be more productive on the mac studio.

I have the 13" Mbp m1 which is fine for my portable needs at this time. Also - the mess of wires on the mac pro 5.1 under my desk, and the heat generated and fan constantly on due to many other issues, makes me glad starting a new chapter on a new apple product. the Mac pro 2019 was out of my budget for sure so this is way better esp the size but i think the mac studio will have better longevity for my needs.
Click to expand...
The thing is your upgrade path with the 5,1 is severely limited. You can try and buy a Radeon VII, Radeon 5700XT or VEGA 64 / FE … but they cost a fortune now.

It also won’t support any newer graphic cards than those mentioned.
 
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