2. The Mac Pro, whilst expensive, is good value for money. The dual graphics cards inside it are not cheap at all. As servers with GPUs are fairly niche, this might actually be a cheaper solution.
I'd actually qualify this ever-so-slightly by saying "It's a good value for money if you need the specific features it offers." Which it evidently does to the OP! But many of us would prefer something with, say, one video card, one mainstream-ish desktop processor, and one mechanical hard drive, an way lower costs.
Yes, you're absolutely right. We use conventional Linux servers for application, database and storage for exactly this reason. The Mac Pros are a good value for an image rendering machine, but not for general purpose server stuff (in my opinion).
It's also a bit dear for use as a desktop machine, but it is pretty nice to have one hanging out for on your desk for a few weeks.
I'd actually qualify this ever-so-slightly by saying "It's a good value for money if you need the specific features it offers." Which it evidently does to the OP! But many of us would prefer something with, say, one video card, one mainstream-ish desktop processor, and one mechanical hard drive, an way lower costs.