Velocity Micro ProMagix HD6000, the “anti Mac Pro”

[CES 2012] The Velocity Micro ProMagix HD6000 is a workstation that is pitched by Velocity Micro as being an “anti Mac Pro”, the Apple workstation with which it shares one similarity: the $3500 price point. It’s a lot of dollars for a computer (I mean “workstation”), and with that budget, the ProMagix HD6000 is loaded with two dual-Intel Xeon E5-2620 (12 cores in total) and 32GB of DDR3 1600 memory. Both are mounted on an ASUS X79WS Motherboard.  The storage is a mix of “fast” with a 120GB SSD drive that will host the OS, the apps and frequently used files, while a second 1TB 7200rpm disk can be used for pure storage. If that’s not enough, users can always burn Blu-Ray (BR) discs, although the specs don’t say if we’re talking about the 25GB or 50GB BR writer.

There’s no question that in some areas, the ProMagix HD6000 delivers a lot more bang for the buck than a Mac Pro: for example, the Mac Pro comes with 6GB of RAM (ECC though…) versus 32GB for the ProMagix. There is no default SSD drive to boost the OS on the Mac Pro, and the only Mac Pro upgrade path is a $1250 512GB SSD option, which may be overkill. Finally, there is no Blu-Ray writer.

You get the picture, but it is also fair to say that the comparison is a moot point, because the Velocity Micro does not run on Mac OSX, so in the end, it’s really a PC vs. Mac choice, which should be based on what software can get the job done. But if that choice ends up being Windows, then it means that a computer like the ProMagix HD6000 can bring greater computer power for the price.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Breaking, Computers
Tags: CES, CES 2012, velocity micro