M-323

Q: speed differance?

Hi everyone in mac world.

 

I'm contemplating retiring my G5 mac and moving to a 2.66ghz Mac pro.

 

but my current G5 is already 2.5gz dual processors. it doesn't seem like that much difference from 2.5 to 2.66

 

do I need 8 cores or can I get away with 4? how much speed difference in rendering... I heard that FCP X rendered in the background.

 

right now, I cant even get browsers to work right on G5. I've tried like 5 browsers and they either look nice & crash OR the layout is difficult.

 

2) will the ram memory from my G5 fit and work in the Mac Pro?

 

the video card in the MacPro is 256mb Nvidia 7600 HD GDDR3....

 

in the G5 is 256mb Nvidia 6800-- again doesn't seem that much difference

 

am I going to gain much or is this an act in futility?

 

I dont have a RED camera but I want the machine to be able to edit footage from a 4k camera since it apears this is the way its going, so I want to be set up for that.

G5 Power Mac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2x 2.6Ghz DCPs, 8GB Ram, 4+TB storage Acer X243W

Posted on May 16, 2013 10:35 AM

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Q: speed differance?

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  • by Allan Eckert,Helpful

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert May 16, 2013 10:45 AM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (54,010 points)
    Desktops
    May 16, 2013 10:45 AM in response to M-323

    The Intel processors are able to do way more then a PowerPC. I upgraded fron a Quad G5 PowerMac to the a Mac Pro with 2.66 GHz processors and it was so much faster it was amazing.

     

    To answer the question of cores that all depends on exactly what you are doing. If you are heavily into FCP X then 8 core would be a good choice

     

    No the RAM from the G5 will not work in the Mac Pro

     

    Since FCP X is capable of using OpenCL as long as the graphics card supports Opencl you might want to get one of the graphics cards from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

     

    Allan

  • by kaz-k,Helpful

    kaz-k kaz-k May 16, 2013 10:48 AM in response to M-323
    Level 5 (5,921 points)
    Desktops
    May 16, 2013 10:48 AM in response to M-323

    1) Not sure which model Mac Pro you mentioned(Mac Pro1,1?), though I suppose it's pretty faster than G5.

    2) No, you can' use G5 memories.

     

    -- kaz-k

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 16, 2013 11:10 AM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 16, 2013 11:10 AM in response to Allan Eckert

    thanks guys. will I be able to use my FCP Suite V6 on this machine if I dont like FCPX?

     

    or at least the stand alone programs like motion, Sountrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, After Effects?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 16, 2013 11:32 AM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 9 (61,250 points)
    Desktops
    May 16, 2013 11:32 AM in response to Allan Eckert

    The 2009 model (and later) was a major upgrade in compute power. Architectural changes meant that a 2009 or later model with only 4 processors tests very similar to a 2008 or older (at same nominal MHz speed) with 8 processors.

     

    For stuff OTHER THAN Final Cut, MegaHertz matters. Final Cut will max out however many processors you have no matter what.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter May 16, 2013 11:42 AM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    May 16, 2013 11:42 AM in response to M-323

    Even  the 7 yr old Mac Pro 1,1 2.66 (4-core) was close to but with improvements over the Quad G5. Plus no LCS, the heat, and support for 32GB DDR2 667. Those systems today won't run Mountain Lion but do support 8-cores.

     

    Any Mac Pro is going to do well, but 2009 has full 4 x PCIe 2.x slots and better support all around, more graphic card support, as well.

     

    Loading up on RAM, SSDs, some PCIe SATA.

     

    The sweet spot is 6-core 3.33 w/ 24-48GB RAM and a couple SSDs.

     

    Apple Store Special $1819 is a 2.8 4-core that is easily upgraded to 6-core.

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 16, 2013 12:12 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 16, 2013 12:12 PM in response to The hatter

    dident know there was a 6 core!

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter May 16, 2013 12:43 PM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    May 16, 2013 12:43 PM in response to M-323

    And there is $$$ dual 6-core.

     

    The 4-core 3.2GHz base model today is decent. All depends on the bottleneck or where the bandwidth and performance is being held back.

     

    Geekbench gives you a synthetic look at some aspects.

    Barefeats.com has lately been looking at GPUs.

     

    And having used a "lowly" i5 3.5GHz 4-core I was greatly impressed with what a $200 cpu can do given good SATA3 w/ SSD and some DDR3 1333MHz RAM. Just can't go out and buy what I want w/o getting into $2700 iMac. The Mac-mini might but uses slower processors. Not everyone today needs one but getting 7-8 yrs out of one? good investment and plan to buy one also when there is something new.

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 17, 2013 10:43 AM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 17, 2013 10:43 AM in response to The hatter

    can one processor have several "cores"? then there is reference to "threads" as well.

     

    can anyone explain the difference to me?

     

    also will FCP Suite 6  run on these newer machines?

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter May 17, 2013 10:54 AM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    May 17, 2013 10:54 AM in response to M-323

    a cpu today does have 4-cores

     

    each core supports hyper-threading (there are some Intel processors used in iMac and MacBook line that do not have HT but every Xeon in the last 4 yrs does)

     

    Wikipedia and others perhaps on "hyper-threading" for a starter.

     

    Your G5 Quad had two cpu sockets, each cpu had two distinct cores (2 x 2-cores for your 4-core).

     

    2008 brought that to dual processor socket and each processor with 4-cores for total of 8.

     

    Now you have a 6-core / 12-hyperthreads or 12/24 in a dual setup.

     

    IE10 devotes a process thread to each tab in a web page, Safari use to try to manage all the tabs with one thread (and would come to its knees if you opened 12 tabs at once). Point not about Safari 5 vs 6 vs IE10 but how software has to be engineered as well to make use of the hardware to make a difference and do it well.

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 17, 2013 3:19 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 17, 2013 3:19 PM in response to The hatter

    interesting what you say about safari because with G5, I cannot upgrade to Chrome or IE etc, so there are a few backdoor options available like sea monkey and TenFourFox... a version of FF made for PowerPC processors... even with the latest updates (latest one couple of days ago) it still crashes every 15 minutes!

     

    I don't remember my G5 being so bad but since the upgrade to FCP6 and since we are stuck with the backyard browsers, nothing seem to work well anymore. FCP lags, I get beachballs all the time... Ive optimized the disks with warrior and they have LOTS of space on them. Ive reloaded 10.4 OS, added as much ram as possible (8G) but the machine seems worst than it was with FCP5 and 4GB of ram.

     

    pretty sure FF is based on Safari, so that makes sense.

     

    there are quite a few 4cores around but doesn't seem like that much benefit over what I have now, aside from the Intel processors.

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 17, 2013 7:46 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 17, 2013 7:46 PM in response to The hatter

    some on ebay say "Quad Core / Eight Core"

     

    "Loaded Mac Pro 2x Quad-Core 3.0GHz (E08) 8-Core 500G 8GB - 2 x Quad Core 3Ghz "

     

    its confusing.. to me anyway. Im assuming the above has 4 processors with 8 cores is that about right?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 17, 2013 8:02 PM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (61,250 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2013 8:02 PM in response to M-323

    That has two sockets, each filled with a quad core processor, for a total of 8 processors, but no Multi-Threading.

     

    That could be either a 2006 model or a 2008 model. The disadvantage of the 2006 and 2007 models is that they can Never run 10.8 Mountain Lion. Their memories are also quite expensive compared to 2009 and later models.

     

     

    There is no 3.0GHz in the 2009, but a 2009 model would have similar description, except each of the 8 processors has an extra set of registers inside to accommodate Multi-Threading. The processors are so much faster than main memory, that if operands are not available it will flip (instantly) to the other set of registers and try to execute some instructions for another thread while it is waiting for stuff to come in from main memory.

     

    --------

     

    I suggest you NOT put new money into a 2008 or earlier unless that really is all you can afford to buy. The 2009 and later really are superior.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter May 18, 2013 6:59 AM in response to M-323
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    May 18, 2013 6:59 AM in response to M-323

    People don't always know what to say, "Early 2008" or the Apple ID number (3,1) is clear to users.

     

    That it came with two 5400 series Xeon too is fine.

     

    Or that it supports DDR2 800MHz FBDIMM is clear as to what model.

     

    But if it has DDR3, then it is 2009+, Nehalem family of Xeons. Has HT.

     

    HT really only adds ~20-30%, so a 4-core it is like having a 5th core.

    HT also can increase operating temps.

     

    Because it is better designed you do get more per MHz out of each core.

     

    Budget, intended use, maybe something to last 18 months until the future is clear.

     

    Pre-10.7 allows PowerPC/Rosetta, and all Mac Pro models at this point can run 10.6.8 even if they shipped iwth a later OS.

     

    FBDIMMs today are better, cheaper, less expensive than ever, and as long as you don't need more than 16GB (whihc is much more common than it was with PowerMac G5 era) can be done for $129. Almost any server FBDIMMs today run so much cooler that the use of Apple RAM heatsinks on FBDIMMs are said to be optional by many people.

     

    But if you run CS6 and then need 24GB (sweet low spot) or more or want something to last and run 10.8 and whatever comes next.... avoid 2008s, too many issues, too old, they have a hob-nodge PCI Express setup even.

     

    Harpertown 5400's are also called Penryn and they only came in a quad-core processor.

    4-core downgrade, 8-core 2.8GHZ standard, a rare few were 3GHz 8-core (and NOT to be confused with the 2007 5300s that were the first and also 8-core Clovertowns, that was a MacPro 2,1 model).

     

    The N,1 designation is the easiest and clearest way to know what motherboard and firmware it has tells most of the story.

  • by M-323,

    M-323 M-323 May 18, 2013 7:22 AM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (20 points)
    May 18, 2013 7:22 AM in response to The hatter

    wow guys this is A LOT of information. I had NO Idea there was su much differnece from year to year!

     

    so in summary, you guys are saying 2009 or newer and 10.8 Mountain Lion which allows for cheaper memory.

     

    and Im thinking 4 processors with "8 cores" 3+gz memory is that about accurate?

     

    Will OS 10.8 run FCPS # 6 and all the other programs that comes with? like DVD studio pro, Sountrack Pro, Motion, Compressor also have photoshop and after effects both "Cs3" or will I need to upgrade those programs too?

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