iMac Pro for Zwift in 2023

General Discussion
1

Hi, I thought I’d reach out to the community here for some advice.

I have been offered an iMac Pro with Intel Xeon W and a Radeon Pro Vega 56 for what sounds like a good price.

As a Mac user, would this be a good alternative for Ultra profile Zwift use?

I appreciate any advice any of you could give!

2

I’ve an iMac Pro, it easily copes with Zwift Ultra profile.

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3

Thanks @Paul_Shafi! That’s great to hear, does it look good on the 5k screen?

4

I have a 2019 Mac Pro, Xeon W 3245 with Radeon W6800X, it runs Zwift fine on a LG 5K screen 5120x2880.

Your iMac Pro should do as well.

5

Define ‘good price’ for lols.

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6

Argh, can you just rest with this a bit - sometimes a computer can be used for other things too. We know you can build a PC for cheap, you’ve said it numerous times.

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7

Good question @Dave_ZPCMR and one I have been asking myself too! €1000, is the offer.

8

That’s an okay price.

How much RAM and what size storage? There is a similar machine at my work with 64GB ram and the Vega 56.

9

Absolutely. Can’t be arsed with this forum any more. :+1:

10

32gb ram and 1tb SSD. Sounds ok?

11

It’s around what seems to be going price. I saw a 64GB / Vega 64 16GB / 10 core 3.0ghz on eBay for about AUD$3600 in original box.

Note if you want to upgrade RAM you’ll get a shock, these use expensive ECC ram. you can stack it with heaps of ram if you need that. If you need to upgrade the video card, that will not be so easy - you’ll need to take the screen off, it can be done but it’s not for the newcomer. So if you are intending to upgrade it down the road just be mindful of this.

There are people running the even older MacPro 5,1 with dual X5690, Pixlas power mod and Radeon 6900 (flashed) and opencore. The iMac Pro would be the oldest I’d look at now.

12

Yeah, but Zwift isn’t exactly cutting edge so don’t get your hopes too high. I usually airplay it to ATV box for proper 4k on that and avoid running cables.

13

Yes; that’s possible. How is performance with AirPlay?

Does it stream smoothly?

14

I’ve got both Zwift with ultra profile on my iMac Pro and also an ATV box.

4k Apple TV Zwift is actually really really good. Very sharp and very smooth. And incredibly convenient.

2 Likes
15

I will try it later with my Mac - it has HDMI cable (a huge one) running around the edge of the room to the TV.