Hi Shawn,
Please test what your configuration is getting, in terms of speed, with the current version; for example, the CPU has improved with over 12 cores.
Besides, the whole core has been heavily rewritten to make it faster than ever.
What the future of the old Hardware Viewport is - I can't tell (NDA), but I think the signs of what will happen are pretty large in the new announcements.
I do not understand myself here as a salesperson, nor am I supposed to be tech support; sadly, I have no idea what else to tell other than to test the new version and compare. Perhaps that is already the answer.
Please note that you must compare equal qualities when discussing render times. Se the GI to off, for example, or the samples in Redshift to 0.1, Then recheck the render times.
All the best