Jump to content

Anyone else using vectorworks iMac Pro 8-Core 3.2GHz Xeon W (Late 2017) Space Grey with AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 ?


Recommended Posts

I have been using that exact computer since 2017 and it works great for my needs. With occasional giant files (500 mb±) it bogs down a bit during some processing but otherwise is a great machine. Rendering time is okay but can be irritating when waiting for something to happen. Also using programs like Bluebeam is not easy as it is no longer supported on the Mac platform. Kind of peculiar since Nemetschek is the developer for Vectorworks and Bluebeam, go figure. If the machine you are looking at is affordable and less than a new iMac I would go fo it. 

Link to comment
3 minutes ago, DGMacNair said:

I have been using that exact computer since 2017 and it works great for my needs. With occasional giant files (500 mb±) it bogs down a bit during some processing but otherwise is a great machine. Rendering time is okay but can be irritating when waiting for something to happen. Also using programs like Bluebeam is not easy as it is no longer supported on the Mac platform. Kind of peculiar since Nemetschek is the developer for Vectorworks and Bluebeam, go figure. If the machine you are looking at is affordable and less than a new iMac I would go fo it. 

Thanks for the input. Is it fairly quite to run as I am fed up with the fan noise of my MacBook All day!

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Thats been my machine too since they first came out except I have the Vega 64 card. I think you'll find the video card really boosts the open GL work compared to a MacBook. The fan rarely comes on except during renderworks redraws but its not very loud because the of the dual fans. I've been very happy with the machine. Also, thank you for your excellent tutorials, They've really been a help to me.

Link to comment
On 8/14/2021 at 10:14 PM, Andrew Pollock said:

Thats been my machine too since they first came out except I have the Vega 64 card. I think you'll find the video card really boosts the open GL work compared to a MacBook. The fan rarely comes on except during renderworks redraws but its not very loud because the of the dual fans. I've been very happy with the machine. Also, thank you for your excellent tutorials, They've really been a help to me.

Thanks Andrew. Thats helpful. It's tricky to decide to go for it or wait a bit longer for the new M1X MacBook Pro 16" but that helps.

Link to comment

Hi Jonathan 

We have two of them with Vega 64  3,0 ghz 10 and 3.2 ghz 8  and they work well for VW and TM. We bought later the iMac Mid2020 3,8 Ghz i7 AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB for roughly half the price of the iMac pro. I believe they are faster but in day to day work but I haven't done any systematic comparison. 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

I will add an anecdote similar to  Hans-Olav's above. I moved to a new office and needed to buy a second Mac. I bought a 2019 4.2 GHZ 27" iMac. Since VW is mostly single core the faster CPU clock makes that machine faster than my iMac Pro. I find that for most CAD work it is faster but still the open GL work, Renderworks  and Twinmotion operations are faster the iMac Pro but not by much. If you are waiting on an M1X/M2 iMac 27 you would do well to save a few dollars and buy a used iMac 27 with the highest clock speed and best GPU you can find.

  • Like 2
Link to comment

Thanks Andrew. That helpful

21 minutes ago, Andrew Pollock said:

I will add an anecdote similar to  Hans-Olav's above. I moved to a new office and needed to buy a second Mac. I bought a 2019 4.2 GHZ 27" iMac. Since VW is mostly single core the faster CPU clock makes that machine faster than my iMac Pro. I find that for most CAD work it is faster but still the open GL work, Renderworks  and Twinmotion operations are faster the iMac Pro but not by much. If you are waiting on an M1X/M2 iMac 27 you would do well to save a few dollars and buy a used iMac 27 with the highest clock speed and best GPU you can find.

 

Link to comment

I retired my old Mac Pro classic for a Imac Pro 10 core in 2018 and it has been perfect for my needs. One thing the Imac Pros have which is very convenient is has lots of connection ports. (four full-size USB 3.0 ports, four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports) . If you check the mac benchmarks you will see that the IMac Pros are still close to the top of the chart. https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks/. Since the Imac pros use Intel chips they should run most of your apps for the next few years. My 2010 6 core Mac Pro had so many non Apple upgrades it wasted more time fussing than any time saved processing . My Imac Pro just runs and does what it needs to do no fussing as yet. I am running the latest macOS Big Sur 11.5.2 with Vectorworks 2021 and Adobe Creative Suite with out issue.

Note if you want to fuss around with eGPUs you can add one for rendering. See this test review https://barefeats.com/rx-6900-xt-vs-other-gpus-in-imac-pro.html

Edited by rjtiedeman
add note.
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...