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Level 1

16 points

i5 / i7 MBP / Logic Pro benchmark test

So I have been thinking about consolidating both my Mac Pro and MacBook Pro into one newer MBP i5 or i7. I stumbled on a benchmark test and ran it on both my Mac Pro and MBP.

http://www.evan.se/logicprobenchmark/EvanLogicBenchmark.zip

My MacBook Pro is a 2.2 Core 2 Duo (3.1, not unibody) and I was able to play around 18 tracks by dragging the loop point right before the tracks, un-muting all tracks, starting playback and then dragging each track one by one until it can't played anymore.

I did the same thing with my Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 Xeon (first gen). I was able to get about 28 tracks going.

I got to stop in the Apple store for a short while tonight and was really disappointed by the new i5/i7's with this benchmark test. I actually got better results with the i5 than the i7 (really strange). I tried the i5 2.53 and was able to get about 22 tracks going and on the i7 2.66 I was only able to get about 16 tracks going.

Something is definitely wrong because the i7 should definitely be able to do more than the i5. I for sure thought the i7 would at least be able to match my current Mac Pro.

One more thing is that Logic Pro is not loaded on the Macs in the Apple store, only Logic Express is, so Space Designer was not present in the test at the Apple store. This was even more of a let down because when I was running the test on my Macs, Space Designer was obviously running as well.

Other people have gotten similar results in this thread on Gearslutz:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/371545-logic-pro-multicore-benchm arktest.html

Please run this benchmark test and give some feedback on your results, there might be something I'm missing here...

Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Logic Studio, iPhone, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on May 1, 2010 12:21 AM

169 replies

Nosirrah

Level 1

0 points

Jul 28, 2010 7:11 AM in response to djanthonyw

So let me get this right. You're running about 21 audio tracks with no effects when it maxes out?

I'd have thought the processor can handle this relatively easy, but the hard disk may max out since that'd be the data bottleneck if you're using the standard 5400rpm drive? Have people compared the same test on i7 with 5400rpm drive vs i7 with 7200rpm drive? or i5 with 5400rpm drive vs i5 with 7200rpm drive?

I could be wrong on this test without knowing more about it, but the HDD access speed is usually the bottleneck for audio production unless you're running lots of plugins/softsynths that munch up CPU processing. When I get my i7 I'm getting a 7200rpm drive, and the first thing I'm doing is putting a 2nd 7200rpm hard drive in the optical drive bay with an MCE optibay or equivalent, and running OSX/music software from one, and samples/audio off the other.

Message was edited by: Nosirrah

thedomus

Level 1

20 points

Jul 29, 2010 8:52 AM in response to Nosirrah

I've run the test on a quad 2.66 nehalem macpro with 7200rpm HD's and a new MBP i7 with 7,200rpm HD.
MacPro - 60ish tracks playback
MBP i7 - 24ish tracks playback

N.B. my previous C2D MBP 2.93 with 7200rpm HD also ran 24ish tracks.

IMO regardless of hd speeds the hyperthreading in the i7MBP is not being utilized properly by Logic Pro. N.B. the aforementioned quad 2.66 nehalem seems to make great use of its hyperthreading in Logic.

BTW - could it be that this 'bug' has been left deliberately so that Logic makes use of turbo boost and not the hyperthreading thereby keeping the MBPi7's cooler?

noeqplease

Level 4

3,589 points

Jul 31, 2010 2:47 PM in response to djanthonyw

Yes, but what does it SOUND LIKE man?

thedomus

Level 1

20 points

Jul 31, 2010 11:36 PM in response to noeqplease

Sublime!

"lack of talent will be a problem way before the machine will be" - chucho

Aug 2, 2010 6:46 AM in response to djanthonyw

I'm hoping the release of 6/12 core macs will push Apple to finally update Logic with better CPU core use. We'll see.

SimonB76

Level 1

0 points

Aug 4, 2010 8:24 AM in response to Mike Connelly

Fingers crossed! I'm holding off buying a MBP i7 because of this but as they've announced these 12 core MacPros, surely they'll test Logic on them in the lab and realise that the CPU is lacking some umph.

noeqplease

Level 4

3,589 points

Aug 4, 2010 6:40 PM in response to SimonB76

SimonB76 wrote:
Fingers crossed! I'm holding off buying a MBP i7 because of this but as they've announced these 12 core MacPros, surely they'll test Logic on them in the lab and realise that the CPU is lacking some umph.

And... do nothing about it, like the last time when the new dual core intels came out, and we could only use ONE core... unless it crashed first.

Cheers

Aug 5, 2010 9:06 AM in response to djanthonyw

I assume they'll eventually have support for four core laptops and 12 core with hyperthreading, it's just a question of when that will happen. And when it eventually does happen, if it takes so long that by the time it's released, your machine is old and outdated (and possibly not even supported).

SimonB76

Level 1

0 points

Aug 9, 2010 2:04 AM in response to Mike Connelly

Come on Apple, you're put your 12-core Mac Pro for sale on your website - now get Logic updated! 🙂

Sep 7, 2010 6:32 PM in response to djanthonyw

Finally got my head around to do these test properly. With the EvanLogicBenchmark I was able to run 25 tracks on my i5 MBP with Logic Pro 64-bit. Removing all SpaceDesigner units I ran 34 tracks.

Oct 4, 2010 12:25 AM in response to Eriksimon

Personally, I'm just glad we can talk about benchmarking. I remember the good ole Atlon days when Intel needed 1.0 extra gighz just to keep up and the ppc, while not nearly as fast, did a better job at lower megahertz than intel, just like AMD. Then AMD feel asleep at the wheel. Can't wait until they get back into the race someday. They will. In time.

What I would love to see is being ablPe to o/c the fsb and getting even faster speeds. Maybe via windows then reboot to mac. It's a shame the express card is gone as there were some really good fx you could get. Let's just hope that if Apple never plans on a midrange mac pro with i3-7, and pci slots, that they can make up for it with price cuts and 8 cores once the mpro gets to 16 the 16 when the pro gets to 24/32 cores and the price stays the same.

Good times for all. Just wish Apple would realize the ProSumer makes up more, with gamers, than music and video combined and tomorrows producer doesn't have the cash flow for server workstations. You know like the way Avid/Protools bought maudio. I want to see blazing, good performing machines and bring back the express slot. Please. Phatso is one heck if a plug in.

Peace and Blessings!!!

JP007

Level 3

516 points

Oct 4, 2010 2:08 PM in response to djanthonyw

Sorry I didn't read through all the pages here but...

has anyone tried opening the Activity Monitor and seeing if Logic is using Hyperthreading on the new MBP or not? I've read that Logic doesn't display four meters on these machines but if you open the Activity Monitor, you can see activity on four virtual cores...

Knewjack

Level 1

0 points

Oct 15, 2010 9:31 AM in response to JP007

Logic does not display more than two cores in the core meter window. However the activity monitor is showing activity in all cores. Not sure if this is the case with the latest 9.1.2 update since this update has disabled hyper-threading; essentially crippling some machines (single quads?) which used hyper threading in 9.1.1.

Oct 25, 2010 2:39 AM in response to SimonB76

This is insane! I was just ready to spend $$$$ on a MBP i7 when I stumbled across this topic. Since the MBP i7 will primarily be used with Logic 9 (and Kyma) the performance issue is vital. My trusty old MBP 2.16 C2D manages 13 tracks on the test, and with reports stating that the MBP i7 only manages about 24 I will wait some more.

Oct 25, 2010 6:44 AM in response to djanthonyw

Have you tried the terminal command discussed in other threads (the general one, not the quad specific one)? It may improve your performance.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2615247

defaults write com.apple.logic.pro MD_AllowVirtualCores -bool yes

i5 / i7 MBP / Logic Pro benchmark test