8-Core: Macworld Mixed Review

[Frodo]

http://www.macworld.com/2007/07/reviews ... /index.php

Still good, though.

[SixStringGeek]

http://www.macworld.com/2007/07/reviews ... /index.php

Still good, though.

So long as I never hit any kind of machine limit while making my noise - I'm happy with it.

[HCMarkus]

I wish MacWorld and others would test some audio apps now and then. It would seem multithreaded audio apps with lots of plugs would be ideal fodder for the eight core. SixString, sounds like the OctoMac is working well for you. A friend who produces documentaries bought the eight core, and he reports blazing performance, but his point of reference is a G5 quad, and my reading suggests Final Cut renders much quicker on the MacIntels, so the observed difference may not have much to do with the extra cores.

[Frodo]

I wish MacWorld and others would test some audio apps now and then. ...

Even MOTU would be doing a great service by posting DP benchmarks on new machines as they are released to give its users a better idea of what it considers to be optimum performance numbers. Even their recommended setups are too over-modest too give a terribly accurate picture of real-world usage.

[Jim]

I'm really surprised their octo hasn't been updated. There were rumors of a lower profile tower that vented from the top for a while. Plus, there was a rumored doubling of the bus speed. I don't know where these come from before they get to MacRumors.com, but this one seems to have vanished.

Apple's too busy selling iPhones, I guess.


http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Pro

[mhschmieder]

I take everything in MacWorld magazine with a grain of salt, as their bias is more and more towards consumer markets.

They consistently give their best ratings to products that have high failure rates and/or low performance when hit with the kind of continuous read/write of an audio app.

I've always been left wondering whether gaming is the closest we can get to making an analogy to how things would fare for us audio folk.

[Frodo]

I'm really surprised their octo hasn't been updated. There were rumors of a lower profile tower that vented from the top for a while. Plus, there was a rumored doubling of the bus speed. I don't know where these come from before they get to MacRumors.com, but this one seems to have vanished.

There were also rumors of RAM going to 32GB, but it all remains to be seen.

New Intel chips are being pushed forward-- the smaller 45nm chips may eventually find their way into next gen Macs-- again, who knows if or when for certain?

True or not, I think faster bus speeds are inevitible-- frontside bus speeds in particular if RAM speeds are going to continue to increase.

One thing I'd like to see with all the promise of greater RAM access to come is the ability to load entire projects into RAM with Virtual Memory working to protect RAM-loaded data from the vulnerabilities often experienced with hardware samplers that loaded data into RAM. Just imagine-- the option to deactivate streaming at will... Hmmm.

I take everything in MacWorld magazine with a grain of salt, as their bias is more and more towards consumer markets.

They consistently give their best ratings to products that have high failure rates and/or low performance when hit with the kind of continuous read/write of an audio app.

I've always been left wondering whether gaming is the closest we can get to making an analogy to how things would fare for us audio folk.

From the looks of things, serious DAW users are but a blip within the greater user base. Yours is a long unanswered question.