MP 7,1 Sanity check on Mac Pro 2019 7,1 build in 2025

[Regulus67]

... I doubt someone building a hash cracking computer from scratch, with a seemingly unlimited budget, would choose a bunch of ancient AMD GPUs and a 10th gen Intel CPU.

I mean, is cracking hashes quickly a priority, or not? Given the level of investment, it seems to be. OP did lead with "OK folks, please tell me where I'm going wrong".

The Radeon VII was very popular for hash calculations.

The Radeon Pro VII also has the very high double precision. Which could be the reason. Not sure about that, as the Vega II Duo cards have much higher performance than the Radeon Pro W6800X Duo cards. But he clearly stated he needs a lot of VRAM

 

[mode11]

The Radeon VII was very popular for hash calculations.

The Radeon Pro VII also has the very high double precision. Which could be the reason. Not sure about that, as the Vega II Duo cards have much higher performance than the Radeon Pro W6800X Duo cards. But he clearly stated he needs a lot of VRAM

View attachment 2534061

According to duck.ai - "FP64, or double-precision floating-point format, is not particularly important for hash cracking since hash algorithms primarily rely on integer math rather than floating-point calculations. Therefore, improvements in FP64 performance do not significantly impact the efficiency of password cracking tasks."

 

[Regulus67]

I have been searching again. Seems like the Infinity Fabric link came in two versions.

There was an old optional sync card that supported the VIIs. Only adding that as a curiosity.

AMD FirePro S400 G-Sync Option Card

The AMD FirePro™ S400 synchronization module allows selected AMD FirePro™ professional graphics cards to be used in demanding applications that…

shop.schneider-digital.com

 

[Flint Ironstag]

@mode11, thanks for the discussion:

In reviewing my posts, I definitely wasn’t as clear as intended. This thread was partially stream of consciousness as I got ready to order the gear and then assemble. I’m building on a moribund platform, but enjoy maxing out yesterday’s best to see what it can still offer. They’re damn capable, and cheaper by the day (for now).

I would also like to document this journey (however poorly) in order to give back to the general PC enthusiast community (but especially the Mac Pro) that has enriched my life in many ways.

I’ll try to elucidate on general objectives and how they drove individual component choices, even though they aren’t the latest, greatest, or most specialized tools.

I want a long-term primary battlestation:

- robust / solid build quality & reliability
- spare parts availability
- internal and external PCIe expansion
- upgradeable subsystems
- sufficient internal volume to cram a load of hardware
- capable enough to easily ingest and process large (workstation sized not cluster) projects and datasets from any discipline without impacting general UI responsiveness
- unobtrusive presence
- operate silently
- run Big Sur natively (not ready to proxmox or FreeBSD this one just yet)
- be interesting and of use to the community, especially as prices keep dropping

Regarding some of your points:

Hashcat and general MacOS forensics:

I have a dedicated cluster of Hackintoshed & proxmoxed HP Z820s & Z840s for long term jobs. MP2019 would only be for ‘low-hanging fruit’. Anything I might run an attack on for a few minutes or overnight. If it takes too long, I’ll pass the job off to the cluster. UI must remain responsive for whatever else I might do at the same time - including some Starcraft 2.

I have had a Z840 (Windows 10) dual 10 core Xeon with the liquid radiator CPU coolers like the G5 Power Macs hooked up to this same Cube3 chassis with 4 x Vega Frontier Editions 16GB, plus the internal Radeon 7800XT. Playing VR / Starcraft 2 / Heroes of the Storm (nothing too challenging) while the 4 Vegas were number crunching would definitely heat up a large room eventually, but with circulation and AC, fan noise wasn’t an issue. Gear was underneath the desk in this setup, and I wasn’t doing anything audio sensitive.

So why the Radeon Pro VIIs:

I find the cards intriguing, under-appreciated, (now) affordable, and a perfect complement to the capabilities of the W6800X duos.

- 4 will fit in Cube3 physically and within power limits (dual 550W PSUs)
- supported in Big Sur
- compatible with 2 slot IF link (when found at reasonable price)
- HBM2
- HIGH FP64 TFLOPs & VRAM for the money (if IF links can be found reasonably)
- not too power hungry
- CAN drive massive video walls if I need to throw a rave 😂

AI:

I'll eventually populate a rig with something like 4 x 3090 turbo plus NVlink just to make sure I can run 'most stuff'. But in general, I'll support the underdog and open source when it's not too painful. Only wish these Radeon Pro VIIs came with 32GB of RAM each like the MPX modules.

Original ebay price for 4 x Radeon Pro VII + (2) 2-slot IF links was about the same as a MP 2019 with dual Pro Vega II duos at the time, but I missed the MP auction.

Anyway, Still need to install the SSDs and NVMEs.

[edit] @Regulus67 Thank you once again! Now I know what that extra connector on the GPU is for. And yes, I'm after 2 of the 2 slot versions of the IF link. Thanks for looking out.

 

[Regulus67]

I would also like to document this journey (however poorly) in order to give back to the general PC enthusiast community (but especially the Mac Pro) that has enriched my life in many ways.

I find the information very fascinating. And it is nice to see someone building a powerful workstation on older hardware.
Many were upset that the Mac Pro out-priced them. And now when it has dropped to reasonable price levels, they chase the latest machines, even if that limits their specs.

 

[mode11]

@mode11, thanks for the discussion:

Thanks for taking the questions in the spirit I meant them. I was a bit blunt, but from the perspective of this layperson, it seemed like they needed getting out of the way.

I do question the logic of building a 'long-term primary battlestation' on a 'moribund platform' running an OS that's five generations old and counting. This is exactly the type of reason I moved to Windows 11 for my desktop - so I could use the hardware I wanted without having to fight Apple's restrictions. After years of keeping a 5,1 going with OpenCore and whatever AMD GPUs Apple deigned to support, I'd had enough.

On the PC side, those Z820s / Z840s are getting on a bit too. Couldn't they be consolidated to a single Threadripper? Or are the CPUs not important for what you're doing, and they essentially just serve as solid cases / PSUs for GPUs?

In general, though, best of luck with your project. I'll follow along and check out the toys! I've had fun scooping up once-pricey kit and seeing what it can do too.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

@mode11 for sure all this discussion will help someone go down or avoid this path 😂.

Once I can't run what I need on Big Sur, I'll go proxmox. I'll either run the final MacOS or go back to FreeBSD for my primary desktop OS.

The Z840 with 7800XT is indeed long in the tooth for a general Windows gaming / visualization platform, but it's still fast enough! Every game I've played runs great at 2k with all eye candy maxed. I don't need them to run at 100 FPS or whatever the gold standard is. Until that's no longer the case, I won't be upgrading.

But regarding the MP, yes I'm very much doing this just to see what kind of long-term battlestation I can build. With open source OS and apps, I think this can be a useful amount of computing power for a long time. Sort of like a 1930s tractor. Might not have AC or a radio, but it will never be useless.

[edit] yes the fleet of Z820s and Z840s are old, but I own them, they don't break down, they keep doing their job, and power / cooling are negligible. If they're still running 20 years from now, I'll let em on general principle. and I don't have to reconfigure them!!!!

 

[Kakirman]

I'm avoiding this topic (LOL). It was a tremendous effort.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

minor update - got everything internal installed, but misplaced the upper PCIe retention bracket. Once I find that, I'll attempt the GPUs again. The PCIe cable is so stiff I think it may be forcing the host card just out of whack. Don't want to play around with that.

All the storage was recognized first time. I was slightly annoyed by having to switch driver tips for PCIe cage vs storage cage, etc. Can't they just decide on philips screws and be done? Even better, find a way to go completely toolless. Anyway, some pics - and GPU update soon - which is the main goal of this.

[edit] just a bit miffed that I've lost the elegant, cable-less look. Wouldn't cost Sonnet, OWC etc. that much to at least provide some custom matched cables. 😂😐

 

[Regulus67]

minor update - got everything internal installed, but misplaced the upper PCIe retention bracket. Once I find that, I'll attempt the GPUs again. The PCIe cable is so stiff I think it may be forcing the host card just out of whack. Don't want to play around with that.

That is a loaded machine!

One tip that I discovered while installing my sound card. As you mention the PCIe cable is so stiff.
Check if it is properly secured. I had to use a thick bit of paper.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/buy-cheap-7-1-or-studio.2421880/post-33139385

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I'm avoiding this topic (LOL). It was a tremendous effort.

COME BACK!!!! GPU updates this weekend 😂

 

[Kakirman]

12 or 16 cores? 12 cores is fine, but we're tired in this geography. Yes, I'm here more (in the world)🙂🙂🙂

 

[avro707]

That machine is just crazy - 32TB storage plus whatever the default from Apple is!

Big GPU power as well. Imagine what it would have cost if Apple did it that way from new.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

12 or 16 cores? 12 cores is fine, but we're tired in this geography. Yes, I'm here more (in the world)🙂🙂🙂

16. When prices drop I will get a 24 or 28 + max the RAM to 1.5TB / glad you are still here 😂

That machine is just crazy - 32TB storage plus whatever the default from Apple is!

Big GPU power as well. Imagine what it would have cost if Apple did it that way from new.

Yes, as @Regulus67 said, including myself, many were upset at MP 7,1 pricing. But now all the things you imagined you could do with a maxed out MP in 2023, you can do now for a fraction of the price. Do your dreams NEED AS? I'm finding 2019 is a fine, fine vintage. I have affordable Thunderbolt 2 for my backups.

 

[avro707]

I'm finding 2019 is a fine, fine vintage. I have affordable Thunderbolt 2 for my backups.

Yep, my two are running well.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I know a few of you here have Apple Vision Pro - any must have apps that need heavy GPU processing? Or is it all done on the headset? I'm going to schedule a demo - they're getting cheap-ish on ebay.

PCIE brackets are out for delivery, so hopefully GPU update tonight. 😂