core 2 duo surprise.. got me thinking

[martian]

I've been running some film audio post on my laptop today.. ( 266 Ghz intel core 2 duo )

quite happily on the whole... ( not that all 100 channels are rammed yet - its early days but definitely 40 + channels - EQ on all 4 verbs and few compressor limitor etc )

So....... its holding up a normal session so far.. perhaps a teeny bit slower than my Mac pro ( dual 3 ghz {4 years old?}

I wouldnt normally buy a new laptop so quickly ( 1a year to 18 months )

but I got thinking about how my life would be simpler if I could work from a laptop all the time - ( got a cinema display at each end office home etc )

the I 7 would be better or not?

I am confused tho - the 13 inch appears to have a 2.7 Ghz - whilst the 15 or 17 only 2.2 or 2.3.,.

there's like 8 cores in them now ? ( my core duo is 2 right? )

so DP should go like a rocket in em? or for that matter "slowtools"

[Dwetmaster]

I Just got myself a second-handed I7 17". I didn't get to install everything yet but to me a laptop is great to do on the road-work. I still can't think it could be faster than my trusty 2008 MacPro with 16GB of RAM, one SSD and 6 5 other HDs in it.

Everymac.com has a great comparison chart of every Mac model, past and/or current. You might wanna have a look at it.

[HCMarkus]

The newest laptops use Intel's Sandy Bridge processor, and are very fast. Check this article at Digilloyd.com: http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/201 ... views.html

If you explore this site, you can find lots of good stuff. One new thing I think I recall: The laptops can now use 8 gig RAM sticks, so you can get 16 gig in a laptop.

New MacBook Pros are probably not due for a little while... they are currently about mid-cycle according to Macrumors Buyers Guide.

[martian]

thats a good link..

so it seems that it would be faster than my dual 3ghz mac pro..

It clearly compares a 2011 2.3 Ghz MBP with a 2.8 mac pro and {just} wins! ( and thats a 4 core machine - my 3 ghz is just a dual processor )

anyway it actually compares my current 266 core 2 and its twice as fast it appears...

and then it has some sort of turbo in it?

FYI I never have and never will be using masses of virtual synths

any other pitfalls?

[HCMarkus]

Pitfalls? None of which I am aware. But if you can afford it, I would get the fastest laptop Apple sells.

Good Thing? Thunderbolt Port!

[mikehalloran]

The i7 generally tests 30% faster than an i5 rated at similar speed.

In addition, the new i5, i7 boast "virtual" cores. When running TechTool, my i7 Quad actually pops up 8 core activity screens with each appear to be running independently - in other words, no mirroring. I dunno...

[martian]

thunderbolt? ha sounds like a b grade 60's movie

or a horse?

i guess I am mostly happy with my present laptop - It just sort of ignoring my /"stop" commands during playback,,,

but not all the time..

( but thats a thread in the trouble shooting forum )

do u think this is related to the "horse power" of my core 2 duo laptop?

[mikehalloran]

I don't understand what question you are asking.

Anyway, the new quad-core i7 processors have 8 virtual cores as I mentioned above. I do not know how much more horsepower this is compared to what you have now. You can get 16G memory into these new machines - that plus the i7Quad is a lot of power. When TB peripherals start appearing later this year, the performance differences between these and towers won't be as great as they used to be.

[HCMarkus]

Thunderbolt makes this possible: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/24/han ... underbolt/

THREE HDTV streams plus an external monitor running simultaneously from a MacBook Pro.