Mac Pro :: Finding Quad Or 8 Core 2010 For Software Development?
Aug 21, 2010
This will primarily be used for application development, primarily with Xcode.
I'll also use it for photography/video (GIMP, and stepping into Aperture and Final Cut Express).
I've ruled out an iMac because I want plenty of expansion options.
I know Xcode scales linearly depending on the number of cores but I am trying to look for a sweet spot in performance and budget. I want something I can grow with for a few years (i.e 3-4).
In my quest for a Mac Pro ...I have now found a 2008 8 core 3.2ghz that is in the price range of what you can buy a 2.93ghz quad core for now ....if there is any minus other than the warranty to considering that 2008 8 core 3.2ghx 8 core over the 2.93 Ghz quad?
I think I will get the base model (3GB) and add a 2x4GB Crucial kit.
My question is this - is there any hit for keeping 2 x 1GB and putting the 2x4GB in (10GB Total)?
My uses are VM (XP for Corel Draw only) and CS5 in the mac side. I also need to do a lot of handbrake to convert my divx encodes to a more mac friendly format.
I know 300 dollars for a bump from C2D/4670 to a i5/4850 is easily one of the best upgrades Apple has offered in a long, long time.... but would I really need it?
I was primarily going to be using the iMac for everyday stuff (word/browsing/etc) and for games occasionally by others. I don't need everything running on ultra with AA on or anything, just visually comparable to PS3/X360. I will be doing a lot of Photoshop/illustrator things as well and might get into video editing.
I was thinking maybe I could hold out on going quad core for a couple years until Macbook Pro lines get it at a reasonable price then I can just use the iMac as a gorgeous led and media hub in the background as I do my work on the Macbook Pro.
I've seen the benchmarks, but how does it work out in real world situations?
What would having Quad cores do for me except help me handle files/render a few seconds faster here and there? I'm sure it's a tremendous boost in things like encoding but how would it help when it comes to image editing?
Is the 4850 a huge bump in specs compared to the 4670? Is the performance gap similar to going from 9400 to the 9600?
im very interesting in buying a mac pro but as you know always money is the big problem , i decide to buy a quad mac pro but there is two option , is there to much diference in power processing between Quad-core 2010 "Nehalem" 2.8GHz and 3.2GHz? i check in geek bench mark and the 2.8 GHZ get a result of 8360 and the 3.2 GHZ get a result of 9968. is that to much diference ? please i need some help me in this dilema
I am on the verge of buying my first Mac Pro and have a few questions to those with some insight into the software development world before I make my decision on whether to buy a 1cpu or 2cpu MP.I am buying this computer to last me for many years and because of that wondering alittle about the future of software:-)1) Are software developers in general shifting towards making programs that utilize multiple cores? Will games, business software, leasure software etc. slowly start to be made with multiple cores in mind? Or is the trend that multiple core usage is mostly for professional editing?
Just curious as to how much of an improvement in performance I would see upgrading my system as it states above, since my 2006 machine is 3 years old and getting close to the end of my apple care, figured I would trade it in and upgrade.
is it even possible to upgrade an old dual core powermac g5 to a quad core or even an 8 core.
I have a dual core one and i really need to upgrade to a quad or even 8 but it is so expensive to buy a whole brand new one and i was wondering if there was a way to just get a new processor and more ram or what not.
So the older Mac Pro's from 2008 have 2 2.8ghz Quad Core Intel Xeon processors, without hyperthreading, for a total of 8 cores, and the top of the line iMac has a Quar Core i7 2,8ghz with hyperthreading for a total of 8 (virtual) cores.
With the ghz being the same but less "real" cores, but probably newer CPU architecture, which CPU will actually be faster?
I'm buying a new MacBookPro but can't decide, due to lack of knowledge, wich one to choose and if there's a noticeble difference between, 15.4" MacBook Pro Notebook Computer 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core4GB of DDR3 RAM500GB 5400rpm Hard DriveAMD Radeon HD 6750M 512MB Graphics15.4" LED-Backlit Glossy Display1400 x 900 Native ResolutionSlot-Loading SuperDrive802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDRFaceTime HD Camera, Built-in MicrophoneMac OS X 10.7 Lion (64-bit)
and the 13.3" MacBook Pro Notebook Computer 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 Dual-Core8GB of DDR3 RAM (2x4GB)750GB 5400rpm Hard DriveIntel HD 3000 Graphics13.3" Glossy Widescreen Display1280 x 800 Native ResolutionSuperDrive, Secure Digital Card SlotFaceTime HD Camera, Omnidirectional Mic802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDRMac OS X 10.7 Lion
Besides the screen size, one would be considerable faster?
I use Photoshop and beeing a photographer I deal with large files.
Info: MacBookPro 2.66GHz 4GB 1067MHz DDR3, Mac OS X (10.6.2)
The ivy bridge processors are coming out soon (or may already be out). I have heard that macbook pro 13" models might be able to use the new processers due to their lower energy useage. I presume that I will be able to take my mac to an apple store and have it installed. Is this information true?
Info: MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
I know other threads exist, but they don't have responses specific to me so what's the harm in one more?
So, I am going to be selling my late 2008 15" MacBook Pro this week to get a new 27" iMac and I just need some legitimate advice from those "in the know" on processors.
I plan on having this iMac for about 3 years to do the following tasks:
1.) Record and edit HD cable (1080i) from an Elgato EyeTV HD - will include some encoding of 2+ hour sports game recordings
2.) Some light editing of 720p iPhone 4 clips in iMovie
3.) Surf the web, iTunes, iPhoto, Mail, and all the other standard stuff
Assuming budget is an issue, would you recommend me spending the extra money for a Quad Core i5 iMac or would I be ok based on the info above just going with the base Dual Core i3 model?
Like, will there be a considerable difference in the two machines (factoring in processor and graphics card) that will really be worth the extra $300 - $400 for 3 years of use?
As I see the new Speedmark 6.5 test scores come out, I''m taken back somewhat.
I'm buying an iMac for my office which is used for internet, email, heavy excel and word. I like to get 4 to 5 years out of my computer so I'm switching to an iMac. That being said I'm buying a refurbished unit, but am wondering if it's worth the extra 4-500 bucks to upgrade from the 3.06 Core i3 to the 2.66 Quad-core i5??
I have a Macbook Pro Core Duo that I use Compressor and it literally takes forever to compress FCP files. I know an upgrade to a Mac Pro would make the compression go faster and I know the 8 Core would make it go extremely fast, but can I do just as good with a Quad Core 2.66ghz. Would that cut my compression time down? An 8 core is a little out of my price range, but i'm pulling toward a Quad Core.
So I was talking to my friend about the new MPs and that they should have two 6 core processors in it.
I plan on getting one for rendering scenes with Maya and doing stuff on AE, FCP, and the CS5 master collection. We were talking about his computer, which is one quad core processor.
He was saying that render times on Maya wouldn't be very different when comparing a quad core versus two hexa cores. I don't agree with him but would like someone elses opinion on this.
i was wondering if anybody here was developing for Windows Mobile 7 on their Mac? It may seem strange but I'm a Windows Mobile 7 developer and I really, really like it.
I know it goes against the grain here but I am a huge fan of Visual Studio. I really enjoy CSharp, C++, and VB.net. Though I'm partial to CSharp.
Anyway I joined the beta SDK program (its free) and I really enjoy programming for Windows Mobile 7. I noticed many other developers are using Mac as well. In fact, one of the presentations you can view shows Microsoft employees using a MBP.
I'm flipping between VMWare and Bootcamp because the XNA code requires a DX10 card which VMWare doesn't use. Though VMWare is great for Silverlight stuff.
My one week old iMac 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5. first started problems by not goping to sleep even when I forced it.
I shut it down using the shut off button and unplugging it from power for more than 5 munites.
I turned it back on, it does the usual startup chime and then gray screen. I have restarted twice from the shot off button and still getting the same result.
I'm just going to order a new Mac Pro and noticed that it was slightly cheaper to order the base dual processor model and buy the 2.93GHz hex cores myself. A couple of questions arise:
Will my AppleCare still be valid or will I have to keep the 2.4GHz Xeons if I need to return it to Apple for any reason?
Is there market for the 2.4GHz processors?
Can I upgrade to the 3.33GHz processors or will this not work?
I scanned the posts and didn't see this question, but honestly I didn't read all 20K + messages.I bought in late 2005 a dual 2.3 G5, about 6 months before the Mac/Windows combination came out. Does anyone know if I can upgrade or is it too costly to do so compared to buying a new machine.
Information: PowerPC G5 Dual 2.3 Mac OS X (10.4.11)
Well I am a little frustrated and looking for someone that can maybe find a solution with my problem. My mac pro system crashes constantly at least once a day if not more and it always seems to happen when I am doing something important. I have noticed that it usually crashes when I am on Safari... I have attached the report.
I've been hearing about this for a while now and Ive read that MBPs should have quad core by February.
I've also read that this isn't going to happen for a little longer. What's everyone's thoughts on this?
I own a PC and would like to switch over (finally) but am concerned about the $400+ premium. My thought is wait until the new quad-core MBPs come out and just get a standard duo-core (hopefully MAC will drop the price a few hundred).
However, I don't want to wait much longer than 2 months. Thoughts? Suggestions?
I just ordered a Mac Pro with Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2G of memory, 2 500G hard drives and I am wondering it is possible to upgrade it to 3.2GHz more cost effectively then buying it from apple directly during the purchase of a computer or even post purchase?
Also my unit came with 2 500G HD's, this comp is the lifeline for my webstore, web design and storage for all my personal stuff. So i am wondering if I should just buy 2 more 500G drives for roughly 80-90 a drive(memoryamerica.com) and a Raid Card to back up the first 2 500G drives or just buy a Western Digital 1 or 2 TB external OR buy a 1TB Time capsule.
The sole reason for the external or extra internal drives is in case the first 2 500G drives fail I don't lose any data.
Lastly, I bought the basic ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB card to run two monitors(one for the webstore, one for web design, photoshop and Adium or anything else I would use on the daily). I plan on putting in as BR drive(i know Leopard does not support it) but I was looking to use it for burning BR movies, and if need be run MV(microsoft Vista) to view/copy and burn BR movies(the two screens I am getting are HDCP), i am afraid this card does not support 1080P BR data, does any one know which one will?
I have talked to a Mac Genius and got no real info do to me wanting to use non Apple components IE non apple supplied HD's, memory(buying a 8G memory kit from Memoryamerica.com to reach 10G of memory) and BR drive and Dell Monitors(more cost effective and supports HDCP/BR)....
You can currently get mac pro's in quad or octo core. The quad core models have one processor. Is it possible to buy a quad core today, and say 6 months from now, (if you can find the parts) add the 2nd processor? Is there a good place to find parts like that?
