Upgrade from PowerMac to MacPro (processor speed question)

GarfieldConnoll

Hi,

I've a PowerMac, dual 1.42GHz PowerPC G4, 2GB DDR SDRAM, running 10.5.1

I'm thinking of upgrading to the Mac Pro, two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core), with 2GB 800MHz DDR2 RAM.

I don't understand the speed implications of the quad-core.

Simplistically:-
On my old machine I alway though 1.42 * 2= 2.84
On the new machine what would the calculation be: 2.8 * 2 * ?= ?

All help appreciated.

Thanks,

Garfield.

conor2007

you have 8 by 2.8 cores

so that = holy ****

GarfieldConnoll

conor2007 wrote: »

you have 8 by 2.8 cores

so that = holy ****

Is that the calculation? 8 * 2.8 = 22.4?

So simplistically that would be 2.84 vs. 22.4 or 8 times faster?

Anyone?

Garfield.

leeroybrown

No. It's a classic 'it depends' question. It really depends on what you are doing.

Firstly, doing comparisons in terms of clock speeds is completely invalid given that they are two entirely different architectures and a couple of generations apart in design terms. There is also much improved memory bandwidth to factor in.

If you spend most of your time running one instance of a single threaded application then the eight cores won't be a huge bonus. Obviously the new Intel CPU will be an awful lot faster compared to the G4 processor. Conversely, if you run a lot of individual tasks or a task that can run with multiple threads or processors then it'll be a lot faster.

Sorry to give you such a vague answer but it's really an apples to oranges comparison. If you tell us what you use the workstation for we might be able to give you some idea. For example, if you are using it for rendering then it depends on how well your rendering engine parallelises or how many concurrent tasks you run.

All that said, if your applications have the right fit it easily has the potential to be comparatively even faster than the simplistic calculations suggest.

GarfieldConnoll

leeroybrown wrote: »

No. It's a classic 'it depends' question. Ir really depends on what you are doing...

<snip>

... it's really an apples to oranges comparison. If you tell us what you use the workstation for we might be able to give you some idea. For example, if you are using it for rendering then it depends on how well your rendering engine parallelises or how many concurrent tasks you run.

Thanks Leeroy,

It's a home office replacement for the G4:-
iLife, iWorks, MS Office and bootcamp'd XP for some work applications.

The G4 has lasted me 4- 5 years and I'd want it's replacement to do the same. I don't think the latest iMacs would do that for me, so Mac Pro seems the logical choice.

So it will be much faster? I guess that's the answer I was hoping for.

Garfield.

leeroybrown

If I were buying for that workload I'd go for the iMac. Running standard desktop apps wouldn't even stretch an 8 core system. For the price of a standard Mac Pro you'd get an iMac with a great 24" screen and still have enough cash left over to buy an external drive for Time Machine. Not quite as many cores and probably not quite the same robustness but a good deal and not a huge difference in performance for your home/home-office style work.

The only caveat is that I think the iMac is due a new product revision in the near future.

Richard

leeroybrown wrote: »

The only caveat is that I think the iMac is due a new product revision in the near future.

Do you think so? The new look iMacs haven't been out that long, have they?

GarfieldConnoll

leeroybrown wrote: »

If I were buying for that workload I'd go for the iMac. Running standard desktop apps wouldn't even stretch an 8 core system. For the price of a standard Mac Pro you'd get an iMac with a great 24" screen and still have enough cash left over to buy an external drive for Time Machine. Not quite as many cores and probably not quite the same robustness but a good deal and not a huge difference in performance for your home/home-office style work.

The only caveat is that I think the iMac is due a new product revision in the near future.

Point taken. I have an original 23" cinema display and I like the idea of being able to upgrade the Mac Pro over time (upgrades certainly contributed to my G4 lasting as long as it has, as did buying the best one I could at the time).
Will XP under BootCamp benefit from the additional cores?

Thanks,

Garfield.

leeroybrown

Richard wrote: »

Do you think so? The new look iMacs haven't been out that long, have they?

I think they were August last year. I was thinking more along the lines of a spec increment than a product overhaul. That said, now that the MacWorld keynote is over with no change their spec will probably remain the same for a little while longer.

leeroybrown

GarfieldConnoll wrote: »

Point taken. I have an original 23" cinema display and I like the idea of being able to upgrade the Mac Pro over time (upgrades certainly contributed to my G4 lasting as long as it has, as did buying the best one I could at the time).
Will XP under BootCamp benefit from the additional cores?

I take your point about upgradability and keeping the original display. Up to a point the iMac is upgradable (4Gb memory, bigger disks) but not to the degree that the Mac Pro is.

XP should benefit if the applications can take advantage of it.

Most home/office apps don't really take much advantage other than being able to run multiple apps at once. This is only a minor gain when you're largely doing interactive tasks.

babypink

GarfieldConnoll wrote: »

I have an original 23" cinema display and I like the idea of being able to upgrade the Mac Pro over time (upgrades certainly contributed to my G4 lasting as long as it has, as did buying the best one I could at the time).

i can't fault this approach at all!!! if you can afford it, NOW is the time to buy the best MacPro you can!!! You won't regret it at all......just buy it with base level RAM and buy the upgrade from crucial....you'll save a packet!

Will XP under BootCamp benefit from the additional cores?

Yes!

GarfieldConnoll

babypink wrote: »

i can't fault this approach at all!!! if you can afford it, NOW is the time to buy the best MacPro you can!!! You won't regret it at all......just buy it with base level RAM and buy the upgrade from crucial....you'll save a packet!
Yes!

Point taken on the RAM.
What about additional hard disks (Time Machine), what make and from where?

The jump from 2.8 to 3.0 is €750 and from 2.8 to 3.2 is €1,500. Given what I'm using it for, even looking at my future requirements and OS upgrades, I don't think that's justifiable, even if I could afford it. Might start a 30' fund....

G.

babypink

HD's are SATA / SATA-II ones, get them where cheapest!!!

Komplett, pixmania, etc..