Hotrod Cheese Grater 128gbRAM vs Studio 64gbRAM

[Anthropy]

My hotrod 4,1-5,1 12 core 126gb Mojave machine still runs great. But I have that gut feeling that it's getting worn out, and I'll need later OS's for new plugs.
I use about 85gb of RAM when I open DP-9.5 (experimenting with 11) and Vienna Ensemble Pro with all the samples I use for a media production. It's a couple hundred tracks of sample based instruments available live.
Can anyone relate? And can I successfully, painlessly 'small-up' my VEP/Kontakt sample buffer sizes to well under 64gb and still see an improvement in DP's performance with a lower buffer and such a huge template?
I can wait a bit longer, but not too much so...
Gratefully,
Robert Watson (Anthropy from the old days)

ps - 11 is noticeably slower that 9.5 on my machine.

[mikehalloran]

If you believe the armchair experts, the rule of thumb is 4:1. i. e. 128GB of discrete RAM is roughly equal to 32GB Unified RAM in Apple Silicon. Some magazine reviews say the same thing. I am highly suspect of anything that cut and dry.

That said, I've run DP 11 on an MBAir with 8GB RAM and it's pretty snappy. It is not loaded up with the huge VI and Effects library sitting on my iMac Pro with 128GB discrete RAM, however, though I have tried it successfully with Kontakt 6.

Also remember that the M1/M2 have integrated GPU that's pretty powerful but how so depends on the chip. Based on what I've read, the M1 Ultra with 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine with 64GB Unified RAM will blow my iMac Pro with its Vega 64x out of the water. The Mac Studio allows multiple external monitors but some of the M1 portables allow only one without an external GPU.

So why am I looking at the 64-core GPU and 128GB Unified RAM?

[HCMarkus]

Check to see what size pre-load you are running for your VIs... if it is not the minimum, and your VI datas resides on an SSD, reduce the size to minimum and save a bunch of RAM.

PS: Night and Day from Cheesegrater to Mac Studio.

[James Steele]

PS: Night and Day from Cheesegrater to Mac Studio.

He's right, you know!

morganfreemanhesright.gif (136.1 KiB) Viewed 698 times

I have to say... despite the growing pains... I COULD NEVER GO BACK! Apple Silicon is the future. It's kind of like what I'd always hoped for in the Mac experience.

[mothra]

I went from a 2010 hex core w/24GB to a 2020 i7 Mac mini w/16GB 2 years back. The CPU power was roughly the same, maybe a slight boost, but it allowed me to play back a Logic Pro project without glitching and overloading constantly on me, which started around the last couple of Mojave updates. The M1 model came out literally right after I bought it and that thing eats the i7 alive (and it's the same guts inside as my iPad Pro hah). I can only imagine the Studio is worlds apart in performance from the old cheese grater. I really want one now, but the i7 still has plenty of juice left in it, so I just can't justify replacing a Mac after only 2 years. Someone over at the Cubase forums, mentioned the Studio is completely overkill for my workflow but if I go with another Mini, I'm waiting for the M2 this time.

[mikehalloran]

I went from a 2010 hex core w/24GB to a 2020 i7 Mac mini w/16GB 2 years back. The CPU power was roughly the same, maybe a slight boost, but it allowed me to play back a Logic Pro project without glitching and overloading constantly on me, which started around the last couple of Mojave updates. The M1 model came out literally right after I bought it and that thing eats the i7 alive … if I go with another Mini, I'm waiting for the M2 this time.

I hear you. My concern with the M1 Mini is that I wouldn’t be able to run 3 monitors without external GPU. An M2 Mini refresh is heavily rumored for 2023.

So is an M1 Ultra or M2 27” iMac Pro which is what I really want. For tax reasons, I need to decide today if I’m going to buy a Studio or wait till 2023. If today, I might decide to go with the Studio 64GB and put the extra money into 3 27” Studio Monitors. My eyes are fine with my iMP’s 5K but my 4K LGs cause eye strain. I really, really like the NanoGlass display on my wife’s 2020 27” iMac.

[mothra]

I hear you. My concern with the M1 Mini is that I wouldn’t be able to run 3 monitors without external GPU. An M2 Mini refresh is heavily rumored for 2023.

So is an M1 Ultra or M2 27” iMac Pro which is what I really want. For tax reasons, I need to decide today if I’m going to buy a Studio or wait till 2023. If today, I might decide to go with the Studio 64GB and put the extra money into 3 27” Studio Monitors. My eyes are fine with my iMP’s 5K but my 4K LGs cause eye strain. I really, really like the NanoGlass display on my wife’s 2020 27” iMac.

Ahh that's another reason I'm not rushing to upgrade yet. These built in Intel GPU's aren't the greatest when scaling a 4K display down to 2K, so I ended up buying a Sonnet eGPU, and just a couple months ago upgraded the RX570 in it to a brand new RX 6600XT so I need to get my money's worth out of that hahaha. Suppose I could always repurpose it in the old Mac Pro, which currently only has a Win 10/Bootcamp drive left in it, and make it a gaming machine for all my old Windows stuff.