Apple Pro 6,1 vs new iMac

[MHBrown]

I'm looking to design trade show exhibits and museum exhibits using Vectorworks and Renderworks. I don't think these are heavy duty projects like a skyscraper or similar model. I'd like to stay on the Mac platform, so I've been looking around. I will have to do fairly high-end interior renderings, but that seems doable on the old iMac I was using with 16GB RAM and a 2GB video cards. I noticed Other World Computing has "trash can" Mac Pros for under $2,000. Typical specs as follows:

 

Apple Mac Pro (Current Model) 3.7GHz 4-core Xeon E5-1620v2 - Used, Excellent condition, $1,549.00

Mfr P/N: ME253LL/A | OWC SKU: UAGA4HS3HXXXXXB

16GB RAM, 256GB Solid-State Drive, AMD FirePro D300 x 2/2GB. macOS 10.12.x Sierra. 90 Day OWC Fulfilled Limited Warranty.

 

I know 256GB is small for an HD, but I could save up for for an external drive and this would be dedicated to VW and Adobe apps only. Also, 16GB is a little low, but, again, I could upgrade that. How does this compare to a new iMac with 16GB RAM, i7 processor, the 4GB video card, that comes in around $1,800? I have a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse already. All I need is the CPU. The Mac Mini is out of the running because of the lack of a dedicated video card. The iMac Pro and new Mac Pro are not in my budget. I'd look at a Windows machine, but I'm a one-man-band, so I have to do my own IT troubleshooting and Macs are what I know. Any advice is very appreciated...expecially if you can explain why the used Mac Pros are so inexpensive. Are they really that old or are there bugs I don't know about?

 

Thanks,

Mike B