i5 / i7 MBP / Logic Pro benchmark test

I'm using the latest Cubase: 5.1.1

Steve

Just switched from a MB Pro 2.4 C2D, 4GB RAM to an i7 MBP with 8GB RAM and the difference is huge. I would have to freeze tracks in the past, I now have to freeze nothing on the same project and the CPU meter is maybe at half at the most. So I am not sure about all of these measurements in this thread, just sharing my experience. Night and Day.

Is it working well, Cubase 5.1.1 and MBP?
/T

bollibompa wrote:
Is it working well, Cubase 5.1.1 and MBP?
/T

Incredibly well, yes.

Any word on when Cubase is supposed to go 64 bit?

That's exactly what I'm seeing. Logic maxing out, yet there's 50% or more of system resources available.

Regarding i7, the chip runs natively at 2.66GHz, but can step up to 3.1GHz when needed. How do we know if this is kicking in, and is there any way to switch it on permanently?

I can run 20 tracks with my MBP i5 2.4 and the processors just showing about 50-60% of usage.
Strange....it's a pitty if Logic not can use it all.

guys shoulda went with the imac i7...

Just to bring some clarity to this thread:

The new MacBook Pros (i5 and i7) do offer hyperthreading, which means that the CPU presents itself to the system as a quad core. You can see this by opening Activity Monitor and opening a CPU window. You'll see that, as far as OSX is concerned, there are four cores. But it appears that Logic Pro, when run on these MBPs, does not (currently) see things this way, so you only see two CPU bars. This is different to, say, a Xeon-class Mac Pro, where the number of CPU bars that you see in Activity Monitor is also the same as you see in Logic Pro. So the concept of hyperthreading as regards to Logic is something that should (and does) work - the Mac Pro we have at the studio shows the virtual cores as CPU bars in Logic just as though they were real ones. But all that is probably happening here is that the architecture of these new CPUs is not the same as the Xeons.. so whereas Logic Pro will happily 'see' the virtual cores via hyperthreading on a Xeon Mac Pro, it currently doesn't do the same with the mobile i5 and i7 used in the MBPs. There should be no reason why this won't be rapidly addressed - it shouldn't need any kind of complicated re-coding because Logic is obviously already able to use virtual cores with Xeons. I'd expect a small Logic update soon (or it may be a ProKit or Pro Apps Support update) to enable this functionality for the new MBPs.

In the meantime, it couldn't hurt to go to Logic feedback and let the developers know that we've noticed something is up:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/logicpro.html

I've already asked them to put out a support document explaining hyperthreading and how it relates to Logic. Seeing as it is fully exploited by Logic for other models of Mac using different CPU families, I believe it wouldn't be asking too much for an official statement to be made on this matter for the new MBPs. Either an explanation as to why it's not possible (which I would hope is not the case), or just a mention that the architecture is different and that the feature will be enabled in due course. It is, after all, an advertised feature of this CPU series, so Logic users who bought a new MBP had every reason to expect to see four CPU bars in Logic seeing as this is exactly what happens with other hyperthreading-architecture processors. After a conversation with a technician on this matter who knows about this kind of thing, I'm pretty confident that it is going to be enabled sooner or later and we'll get the performance boost that was to be expected.

I also asked for them to give us official word on how the Turbo Boost feature is addressed by Logic. Seeing as they've already released a tech document explaining why Logic only ever uses one core to process bounces, it would not be a big deal for them to take this one step further to confirm that Logic does indeed make a call to the CPU to use Turbo Boost when performing a bounce.

I think as professional users, it's not too much to ask for us to have a clear document with an official overview from Apple as to how all of the advertised hardware (and OSX software) features are used in Logic Pro. Many of us make business purchasing decision based on this information, so it's important for us to know what we're getting with our new hardware, in certain terms. It would not violate Apple's speculation and privacy policy to share this information, so I'd encourage all users of the new MBPs to write to Logic feedback and request that they give us official word on this matter.

Good summary of the stuation. One minor correction:

tbirdparis wrote:
This is different to, say, a Xeon-class Mac Pro, where the number of CPU bars that you see in Activity Monitor is also the same as you see in Logic Pro.

This is only the case on quad xeons (and imac i7 quad). Quad xeons show 8 cores in logic, 8 in AM while octos show 16 cores in AM but 8 in Logic.

HT is definitely supported and used by Logic on those machines, but it looks like the app is limited to using 8 cores total (whether HT or not). I don't know why Logic hasn't been updated for this, these machines have been out for well over a year now and there have been multiple Logic updates in that time.

So really, octo MP owners are in the same situation as MPB i7 owners (but because of different technical reasons).

tbirdparis wrote:
Just to bring some clarity to this thread:

The new MacBook Pros (i5 and i7) do offer hyperthreading, which means that the CPU presents itself to the system as a quad core. You can see this by opening Activity Monitor and opening a CPU window. You'll see that, as far as OSX is concerned, there are four cores. But it appears that Logic Pro, when run on these MBPs, does not (currently) see things this way, so you only see two CPU bars. This is different to, say, a Xeon-class Mac Pro, where the number of CPU bars that you see in Activity Monitor is also the same as you see in Logic Pro....<snip-snip>

Nice post... a little more clarification for myself if you don't mind.

Are you saying that an Octo-core Mac Pro shows 16 bars in Logic's CPU window?

Oops... never mind, Mike C. posted while I typed the above question.
There was a Logic version that showed 16 cores on an Octo Mac but evidently that was a mistake and "fixed" with the next Logic update.

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