Hackintosh or used 2013 Mac Pro?

[propower]

FWIW - my 2013 MacPro is the best Mac I have owned since the 9600. Small, near silent, runs way cool for audio and plenty of power for what I do. There are of course more modern and powerful builds but at $2K for a used quad (maybe even a Hex) - thats a very useable machine for most folks.

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by YYR123

Hacks changed the way they are installed since 10.12. And for myself it's too convoluted to deal with. Used to be easy enough but now it seems way over my head....and I am pretty detail (mechanically speaking)

Anyway yeah that why I jumped to Win10 b/c my hack crashed and I didn't want to try and learn how to install 10.12

Win10 has been a pleasant experience so far.....

(Updates service disabled here)

They also become more difficult to build because Apple is so far behind Intel. They do not natively support the x99 chipsets, so it requires a LOT more work than with hardware where the chipsets are supported.

[V5V]

Originally Posted by propower

FWIW - my 2013 MacPro is the best Mac I have owned since the 9600. Small, near silent, runs way cool for audio and plenty of power for what I do. There are of course more modern and powerful builds but at $2K for a used quad (maybe even a Hex) - thats a very useable machine for most folks.

The other day at work we were talking about the uproar over how long it's been since Apple updated the Mac Pro, and how it doesn't seem to matter to us since we haven't come close to overworking it with our HDX system.

I really like how quiet it is, having three discrete Thunderbolt busses, and the fast PCIe local storage. It's still a great machine.

[khoop2112]

Great feedback.

I'm also convinced that there is nothing wrong with my 2009 hot-rodded 12 core 3.33 MP. I just am sick of getting 9171-type errors on small sessions with clients present. Tried fresh system installs, making sure all plugs were current, etc.

I have 3 other friends that are in my area with the same issues. The one that has the least amount of issues isn't running UAD and has a PCI m.2 boot SSD on his 2009 12 core.

So - I'm considering getting a PCI SSD and reinstalling yet again, or just saying hell with it, and buying a 2013 trash can knowing it'll last me for awhile. I think I've ruled out a hack for PT HDX, though might experiment with it someday on my Logic rig (another 2009 12 core 3.33 MP). I've heard nothing but great feedback from the 2013 MP guys, which is where I'm leaning. I never run out of CPU power for plugs now (esp since I have UAD and a few AAX DSP that I use often), but I'm feeling like a faster boot drive, faster RAM, and a more modern CPU architecture might help me with the 9171 debacle.

- k

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by khoop2112

Great feedback.



I'm also convinced that there is nothing wrong with my 2009 hot-rodded 12 core 3.33 MP. I just am sick of getting 9171-type errors on small sessions with clients present. Tried fresh system installs, making sure all plugs were current, etc.



I have 3 other friends that are in my area with the same issues. The one that has the least amount of issues isn't running UAD and has a PCI m.2 boot SSD on his 2009 12 core.



So - I'm considering getting a PCI SSD and reinstalling yet again, or just saying hell with it, and buying a 2013 trash can knowing it'll last me for awhile. I think I've ruled out a hack for PT HDX, though might experiment with it someday on my Logic rig (another 2009 12 core 3.33 MP). I've heard nothing but great feedback from the 2013 MP guys, which is where I'm leaning. I never run out of CPU power for plugs now (esp since I have UAD and a few AAX DSP that I use often), but I'm feeling like a faster boot drive, faster RAM, and a more modern CPU architecture might help me with the 9171 debacle.



- k

To ask the obvious since you mentioned UAD: What IO buffer size are you running at? Does increasing that make this problem go away? What happens if you remove all UAD plugins from the plugin folder?




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[khoop2112]

Buffer size 256 or 512.

I haven't removed UAD plugs because that's not really an option to work without, but it's a good idea to try sometime.

- k

[V5V]

Originally Posted by khoop2112

[...] I'm also convinced that there is nothing wrong with my 2009 hot-rodded 12 core 3.33 MP. I just am sick of getting 9171-type errors on small sessions with clients present. Tried fresh system installs, making sure all plugs were current, etc.

I'm absolutely not an expert in computer architecture, but purely anecdotal observation makes me wonder if certain software features are sensitive to dated hardware and/or protocols.

I recently retired an aged MacBook Pro and replaced it with a shiny new one. The retired machine was old (2009), but was the absolute top-of-the-line in its day, and with MOST applications it still worked very well. Over time though, little things that used to work developed strange behaviours. Like in one app, video playback stuttered even with low-overhead files. The software vendor was at a loss to explain why I was having trouble. With the new machine, those issues went away.

One of the biggest reasons for replacing the machine was the Avid Video Engine. It doesn't work at all with certain C2D CPUs, including the one I had. That made me wonder if other software has similar constraints that even the creators of it aren't aware of.

I have no idea whether or not a newer machine will resolve the particular issue you're experiencing, but I've decided for myself not to cling to old hardware anymore based on this experience. Even though most of my issues were things that SHOULD have worked, they didn't, and on the new machine, they do.

Unscientific as hell, but take it for what it's worth.

I love the 2013 Mac Pro too. I think it's a great machine,

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by khoop2112

Buffer size 256 or 512.

I haven't removed UAD plugs because that's not really an option to work without, but it's a good idea to try sometime.

- k

Unfortunately 256 may be too low for use with UAD plugins. They really love eating IO buffers. You need to see if they run reliably at 1024 or try removing them all together. Print plugin effects you need if you need to go back to low-latency tracking and so with no UAD plugins instantiated).

[fsavell]

Originally Posted by khoop2112

I'm a HDX user, with an upgraded 2009 Nehalem to 12-core 3.33ghz. I never hit my CPU usage ceiling, but I am having a TON of 9171 type errors, no matter how big the session. All plugins are current, and I'm just getting tired of this, so I'm considering my options.

Now that 2018 MP have been announced, the 2013 models are dropping in price to an almost reasonable amount. I'm trying to decide whether or not to build a Hack or buy a used 2013 MacPro.

I've been searching just about everywhere I can to find examples of HDX users using a Hackintosh successfully with UAD cards. I've found a few several years old examples on the tonymac site, but nothing current.

Do any of you currently use a HACK with HDX and UAD-2 cards? If so, I would love some feedback as to what has worked and what hasn't.

Appreciate any info!!!

- Kent

Hey Kent

I run a very similar system to you - HDX2 & Octo UAD card in a 2010 12-core Macpro upgraded to 3.46ghz. I'm on 10.11.6 El Capitan.

Running 12.7.1 and its very stable with massive mix sessions - I only get the 9171 errors when I run lots of high powered Native plugins on a single Aux (i.e. for mastering; Ozone, T-Racks etc). If you're getting those errors because of the stacked up plugins on a single Aux - try cascading some Auxes together and splitting up the plugins across the Auxes. I don't know why (i think it evens the load out over the different cores) - but it makes a massive difference to your CPU usage and there for reduces the chances of subtle CPU spikes causing a 9171 type error.

If you're seeing the CPU spike (watch the System Usage window) from low percentages up to 100% - its definitely a dodgy plugin. Previously, when I was getting lots of errors it all came down to 3rd party plugins. Thoroughly go over your plugin list and make sure you have the latest updates.

While a nMP or iMac will still be faster than the cheese-grater MacPro you should be able to get it stable.

Forrester

[khoop2112]

Forrester,

Interesting - usually my master fader (or aux) is the only place I've got high power native plugs stacked on....but I certainly do.

Guess I could split over two aux channels, a PITA, but worth a try.

I made the jump to 2013 MP 6-core this week and it's better, but the problem is not gone for sure. Yesterday I had a ton, and it turned out it was the Limitless plug from DMG audio on my master buss - I had a clipping/oversampling option turned on and the CPU hovered at 50% with spikes to 90%.

So if your theory is right, better to have higher single core performance over multi....or at least a good balance.

k