Well, then we can make fun of each others' ages—you old coot!Same deal with me and law school. I was young when i got my PhD though
2019 Mac Pro: The last of the Mohicans (Back on again.)
- Thread starter Colstan
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Well, then we can make fun of each others' ages—you old coot!
For sure. I think it’s actually time for me to go back to school for something, but I’m not sure what.
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If you're not going after another degree, I can highly recommend Stanford's Continuing Studies night classes. They offer a wide range of subjects from political science, tech, art, literature, photography, journalism, different languages, creative writing, music, business, tax, and more.
Best classes I've taken in the past were music theory, photojournalism, a deep study of Robert Frank's photography, and two political science classes focusing on the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections (which included campaign manager guest lecturers) all during the election season, and a couple of specialized photography classes.
All were outstanding.
I stopped when Covid hit and Stanford transitioned to online classes. I think they're now starting to transition back to in-class for some.
Colstan
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It was truly heartwarming to see all of the positive messages and reactions to my last post. Thank you all for your feedback and understanding. The people in Real Life™ who know about my Mac Pro saga are non-tech people, who don't quite grasp the situation, so I truly appreciate the kind thoughts from everyone here.
I apologize for disappearing again for the past week. I was still in the process of cleaning up the mess that I had made, but have taken care of most of it, and am attempting to move on from it.
For the keyboard, I sleep with a large fan for "white noise" in the background, and put the keyboard in front of it. That seemed to do the trick. The Mac mini, eGPU, and keyboard still have a slight odor to them, but I have to put my nose right up to it to smell the fragrances. The important part is that it is no longer irritating my skin when I touch them, nor is the smell wafting up from my computer desk, thus causing sinus irritation. That's the reason for my absence from this forum for the past week. I was literally airing out my old computer.
At least I was able to recover almost all of the funds that I put into it, and I am able to use my old computer, after a thorough deodorizing. Right now, I'm just trying to rewind the clock by about two months, before I started the Mac Pro odyssey. While I wouldn't call it "good", getting things back to normal would be satisfactory.
In terms of finances and materials, I didn't take much of a hit. I can't say the same thing for my personal confidence. A non-tech family member remarked that "you don't know as much about computers as you think you do". While logically I know that switching out a graphics card shouldn't damage a computer, desktop Macs don't spontaneously die after just three weeks of use, and it was likely already close to the edge before it was shipped to me, that's a comment that has stuck in the back of my mind.
My original plan for next year, before the quixotic Mac Pro quest, was to purchase a Mac mini featuring a theoretical "M3 Pro", while building a gaming PC on the side. After this experience, I'm reevaluating those plans. Upgrading the Mac Pro involved five different purchases, building a custom PC involves well over a dozen, something which I have no appetite for. Also, I want to wait and see what Apple plans for the Mac. It's easy to forget that we are still at the beginning of the Apple Silicon journey.
We still have no idea if there will be a Pro chip inside of the next Mac mini. Nor have we seen the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, even though I have zero interest in buying one (the only reason I had the x86 Mac Pro was for gaming). Of course, there are rumors of a larger iMac Pro for next year, so that may be of interest. There are also persistent rumors of a mini-LED display sometime in the future. Plus, I want to see where Apple plans to take Mac gaming, since they appear to be putting a lot of effort into Metal 3 and featuring big budget games in their presentations.
Given my recent experience, I've decided that my PC building days are behind me. I took a look at the reviews for the 13900K and RTX 4090, and the power consumption is ridiculous. Intel and Nvidia are clearly happy to increase wattage as far as they can push it. AMD is just as guilty, they're just better at hiding it, by looking slightly better than the competition. As someone with a hearing condition that requires quiet operation, I've decided that the PC guys have no interest in keeping heat and noise under control, as long as they win by 2% in benchmarks.
I've always considered three fundamental factors in a modern computer system: speed, heat and noise, physical size. With x86 PCs, you can have maybe two of those. It's clear to me that Apple is really the only company that can make a desktop computer that is fast, quiet, and reasonably small. The Mac Studio is the perfect example, where the version with an Ultra has an absolute maximum power consumption of 215w. That's not just the SoC, but the entire computer, and Apple doesn't hide behind some fake power specification. The 13900K alone is approaching 50% higher wattage, while the 4090 is twice that, just for those single parts. In my mind, it's clear that Apple is the only company that is willing (or able) to make performant desktop computers that aren't effectively space heaters. I don't know what my next computer will be, but I do know it will be from Apple. If that means giving up a handful of Windows-only games, then so be it.
I've mentioned it before, but my philosophy has always been to use your current computer for as long as possible, spend as much as you can reasonably afford on a new one, and then enjoy the hell out of it. Since my 2018 Mac mini is still able to do what I need it to do, I'm just going to keep my options open for the future. For obvious reasons, I've gotten rather cautious, so I may hang onto it for longer than I had expected. I may even wait until Apple stops supporting x86 macOS, Apple still sells the 2018 Mac mini, and therefore will be one of the final Intel models that will receive support. Then, maybe I'll decide what to do, since there will probably be two years of security patches afterward. By then, the software and hardware transition to Apple Silicon will definitely be finished, all of my old computer gear will have aged out, and I'll be able to do everything "from scratch". Starting over with all new tech sounds appealing right now, so I may just do that, eventually. I'm tired of having a computer held together with sticks and bubble gum.
So, thank you all once again for your understanding, suggestions, and support. Now, I should be able to put most of this behind me, and be visiting here more regularly. Unlike some folks over at the other place, who dwell on every perceived misstep that Apple or others make, I'm not going to spend my days grousing on the forum about how things aren't the way I want them to be. Instead, I'm going to learn lessons from my experience, and then apply them to the future, so that I avoid any unpleasant repeats. Win or lose, I'm thankful to have been able to share it with you all along the way.
I apologize for disappearing again for the past week. I was still in the process of cleaning up the mess that I had made, but have taken care of most of it, and am attempting to move on from it.
Thanks @Citysnaps, I was concerned about losing some funds along the way. At one point in time, because of delays in processing returns, I had about $4,300 in charges sitting on my credit card. To end up with only a negligible $25 loss because of return shipping charges is probably the best way it could have ended.
Thanks @theorist9 for the tip! As I said before, my old computer gear was at my sister's place for three weeks and she constantly burns scented candles. To get the "essential oils" off, I initially tried putting it outside in the wind and locking them up with baking soda, but it was taking forever. For the past week, I did as you suggested and maxed out the CPU inside the Mac mini, and the GPU inside of the BlackMagic eGPU. I did this by running four instances of "yes > /dev/null &" in terminal, one for each core inside the i3 8100B. For the eGPU, I concurrently ran an intensive scene from "Alien Isolation". Between the heat generated and internal fans going full blast, it dissipated the odors much quicker than my other methods.
For the keyboard, I sleep with a large fan for "white noise" in the background, and put the keyboard in front of it. That seemed to do the trick. The Mac mini, eGPU, and keyboard still have a slight odor to them, but I have to put my nose right up to it to smell the fragrances. The important part is that it is no longer irritating my skin when I touch them, nor is the smell wafting up from my computer desk, thus causing sinus irritation. That's the reason for my absence from this forum for the past week. I was literally airing out my old computer.
@Yoused is correct. The reason that I felt comfortable sharing my failure here was because I knew that everyone at Talked About would be understanding of the situation. I haven't said a thing about this over at the other place, because the usual suspects would use it as an opportunity to jump all over me. Even then, I hesitated to post about my plight, simply because I'm so used to being on the defensive, but that isn't necessary here.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts, @Cmaier. It was a letdown, to put it mildly. I was right on the cusp of building the "ultimate Mac Pro", having managed to find a suitable 6900XT, when it all went sideways.
At least I was able to recover almost all of the funds that I put into it, and I am able to use my old computer, after a thorough deodorizing. Right now, I'm just trying to rewind the clock by about two months, before I started the Mac Pro odyssey. While I wouldn't call it "good", getting things back to normal would be satisfactory.
In terms of finances and materials, I didn't take much of a hit. I can't say the same thing for my personal confidence. A non-tech family member remarked that "you don't know as much about computers as you think you do". While logically I know that switching out a graphics card shouldn't damage a computer, desktop Macs don't spontaneously die after just three weeks of use, and it was likely already close to the edge before it was shipped to me, that's a comment that has stuck in the back of my mind.
My original plan for next year, before the quixotic Mac Pro quest, was to purchase a Mac mini featuring a theoretical "M3 Pro", while building a gaming PC on the side. After this experience, I'm reevaluating those plans. Upgrading the Mac Pro involved five different purchases, building a custom PC involves well over a dozen, something which I have no appetite for. Also, I want to wait and see what Apple plans for the Mac. It's easy to forget that we are still at the beginning of the Apple Silicon journey.
We still have no idea if there will be a Pro chip inside of the next Mac mini. Nor have we seen the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, even though I have zero interest in buying one (the only reason I had the x86 Mac Pro was for gaming). Of course, there are rumors of a larger iMac Pro for next year, so that may be of interest. There are also persistent rumors of a mini-LED display sometime in the future. Plus, I want to see where Apple plans to take Mac gaming, since they appear to be putting a lot of effort into Metal 3 and featuring big budget games in their presentations.
Given my recent experience, I've decided that my PC building days are behind me. I took a look at the reviews for the 13900K and RTX 4090, and the power consumption is ridiculous. Intel and Nvidia are clearly happy to increase wattage as far as they can push it. AMD is just as guilty, they're just better at hiding it, by looking slightly better than the competition. As someone with a hearing condition that requires quiet operation, I've decided that the PC guys have no interest in keeping heat and noise under control, as long as they win by 2% in benchmarks.
I've always considered three fundamental factors in a modern computer system: speed, heat and noise, physical size. With x86 PCs, you can have maybe two of those. It's clear to me that Apple is really the only company that can make a desktop computer that is fast, quiet, and reasonably small. The Mac Studio is the perfect example, where the version with an Ultra has an absolute maximum power consumption of 215w. That's not just the SoC, but the entire computer, and Apple doesn't hide behind some fake power specification. The 13900K alone is approaching 50% higher wattage, while the 4090 is twice that, just for those single parts. In my mind, it's clear that Apple is the only company that is willing (or able) to make performant desktop computers that aren't effectively space heaters. I don't know what my next computer will be, but I do know it will be from Apple. If that means giving up a handful of Windows-only games, then so be it.
I've mentioned it before, but my philosophy has always been to use your current computer for as long as possible, spend as much as you can reasonably afford on a new one, and then enjoy the hell out of it. Since my 2018 Mac mini is still able to do what I need it to do, I'm just going to keep my options open for the future. For obvious reasons, I've gotten rather cautious, so I may hang onto it for longer than I had expected. I may even wait until Apple stops supporting x86 macOS, Apple still sells the 2018 Mac mini, and therefore will be one of the final Intel models that will receive support. Then, maybe I'll decide what to do, since there will probably be two years of security patches afterward. By then, the software and hardware transition to Apple Silicon will definitely be finished, all of my old computer gear will have aged out, and I'll be able to do everything "from scratch". Starting over with all new tech sounds appealing right now, so I may just do that, eventually. I'm tired of having a computer held together with sticks and bubble gum.
So, thank you all once again for your understanding, suggestions, and support. Now, I should be able to put most of this behind me, and be visiting here more regularly. Unlike some folks over at the other place, who dwell on every perceived misstep that Apple or others make, I'm not going to spend my days grousing on the forum about how things aren't the way I want them to be. Instead, I'm going to learn lessons from my experience, and then apply them to the future, so that I avoid any unpleasant repeats. Win or lose, I'm thankful to have been able to share it with you all along the way.
Glad it worked! When it comes to removing heavy volatiles, elevated temperature and ventilation can remarkably accelerate the process.
