The fresh Mac Pros announced in July have lastly get in at Macworld Lab . And while we ran into some hiccups during our test , we ’re able-bodied to share our first result .
The newMac Prosuse the identical face design as the system of rules they replace , with the biggest differences being in the available CPU and GPU options . Apple offers two standard configurations , a $ 2499 system with a single quad - core 2.8GHz Intel Xeon Nehalem processor , 3 GB of RAM , 1 TB hard movement , and ATI Radeon HD 5770 nontextual matter with 1 GB GDDR5 video recording RAM ; and a $ 3499 system with identical nontextual matter and storage specs , but with 6 GB of Aries the Ram and two quad - core group 2.4GHz Intel Xeon Westmere processors ( eight cores sum ) . A third organization , a 12 - gist mannequin with two 2.66GHz six - kernel Xeon Westmere processors and the same reposition , RAM , and graphic specifications as the eight - core group framework is consider a pre - configured form - to - guild model , meaning you wo n’t find it on the ledge of the brick and mortar Apple Stores .
compare to the only standard configuration offered antecedently , a $ 2499 arrangement with a single quad - sum 2.66GHz Intel Xeon Nehalem processor , 3 GB of RAM , a 640 GB hard drive and nVidia GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory , the new 2.8GHz organization was 13 pct faster overall . Most tests were just a few seconds quicker on the unexampled Mac Pro , though there was a big gain in graphics public presentation , with the ATI Radion HD 5770 able to exhibit 87.7 skeleton per second in our Call of Duty trial , while the nVidia GT120 cope to exhibit just 49.3 frames per bit . iPhoto importing was 18 percent faster and iMovie exportation was intimately 30 percent faster .
How we tested.Speedmark 6 scores are relative to those of a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook, which is assigned a score of 100 (higher scores are better). Call of Duty score is in frames per second (higher is better). MathematicaMark is a performance score (higher is better). All others are in minutes:seconds (lower is better). New Mac Pros and the new iMac were tested with OS X 10.6.4. The iMac had 4GB of RAM, the quad-core Mac Pros had 3GB of RAM, the 8-core Mac Pros have 6GB of RAM. The older-generation Mac Pros were tested with OS X 10.6.1. We duplicated a 1GB file, created a Zip archive in the Finder from the two 1GB files and then unzipped it. We converted 90 minutes of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes’ High Quality setting. In iMovie ’09, we imported a camera archive and exported it to iTunes using the Mobile Devices setting. We ran a Timedemo at 1024-by-768 with 4X anti-aliasing on in Call of Duty 4. We imported 150 JPEGs into iPhoto ’09. The Photoshop Suite test is a set of 14 scripted tasks using a 50MB file. Photoshop’s memory was set to 70 percent and History was set to Minimum. We used Compressor to encode a .mov file to the application’s H.264 for video podcast setting. We ripped a DVD chapter to the hard drive. We recorded how long it took to render a scene with multiprocessors in Cinebench. We ran the Evaluate Notebook test in MathematicaMark 7. We ran the WorldBench 6 multitasking test on a Parallels 5 VM running Windows 7 Professional. We timed the import and thumbnail/preview creation time for 150 photos in Aperture.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith and McKinley Noble
liken the new eight - core 2.4GHz system of rules to the new quad - core 2.8GHz system is a bite tougher because we ca n’t use Speedmark to liken overall execution . We ran into a trouble running Parallels on the Westmere - based Mac Pros , so we could not complete the Speedmark 6 entourage of tests . When boot into 64 - scrap mode ( as the newfangled Mac Pros do by nonremittal ) the organisation would crash with Parallels instal . Booting into 32 - mo modal value would allow the systems to commence up , but we still could n’t habituate Parallels . We finally try a consummate wipe and reinstall from the Mac Pro ’s systems disc and download the very later version of Parallels to get rid of any other potential job , and had the same issue . Apple and Parallels are aware of the job and assure me that Parallels is work diligently on a fixing . The app worked just fine on the new quad - core Mac Pro with the Nehalem processor .
Looking at individual test results , we see that the eight - Congress of Racial Equality system is much loyal at the those higher - end applications that take full vantage of multiple heart . MathematicaMark , for example , scored almost 44 percent in high spirits on the eight - heart and soul system than the new four - core system . Cinebench was 28 percent faster on the eight - core system .
In many applications , however , having fewer , but faster processors was preferable ; the quad - heart and soul 2.8GHz Mac Pro an bound over the eight - core 2.4GHz Mac Pro in tests like Aperture , iTunes , and Photoshop . Even our Compressor test evince the quad - core model to be 4 percent faster .
equate the individual scores of the new eight - core organization to a build - to - order of magnitude eight - Congress of Racial Equality system from last generation that had two musculus quadriceps femoris - core 2.26GHz Intel Xeon Nehalem mainframe , we see faster performance across the circuit board , again with the magnanimous addition coming in our graphics tests .
Comparing the young quadrangle - core 2.8GHz Mac Pro to the 27 - column inch 2.8GHz effect i5 iMac , we see the Mac Pro scoring almost 6 percent higher overall , with wins in Photoshop ( 10 percent ) , Cinebench and MathematicaMark ( 17 percent for both ) . Both iMovie tests and the Finder Unzip tests were also quicker on the Mac Pro . The iMac finished the compressor mental testing a slight less than 3 pct faster than the quad - core Mac Pro and was 11 pct faster at the iTunes encode tests .
Quad-core and 8-core Mac Pro (Mid 2010) benchmarks
Best results inbold . acknowledgment arrangement initalics .
How we tested . Speedmark 6 scores are relative to those of a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook , which is specify a score of 100 ( higher scores are better ) . Call of Duty mark is in frames per 2nd ( higher is better ) . MathematicaMark is a performance grievance ( high is better ) . All others are in minutes : second ( dispirited is better ) . New Mac Pros and the Modern iMac were tested with OS X 10.6.4 . The iMac had 4 GB of RAM , the space - core Mac Pros had 3 GB of RAM , the 8 - center Mac Pros have 6 GB of RAM . The old - generation Mac Pros were tested with OS X 10.6.1 . We duplicated a 1 GB file cabinet , make a Zip archive in the Finder from the two 1 GB files and then unzipped it . We converted 90 minutes of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality setting . In iMovie ’ 09 , we imported a camera archive and exported it to iTunes using the Mobile Devices setting . We ran a Timedemo at 1024 - by-768 with 4X anti - aliasing on in Call of Duty 4 . We imported 150 JPEGs into iPhoto ’ 09 . The Photoshop Suite test is a set of 14 written tasks using a 50 MB file . Photoshop ’s memory was determine to 70 percent and History was set to Minimum . We used Compressor to encode a .mov Indian file to the program ’s H.264 for video podcast background . We rend a videodisc chapter to the hard drive . We recorded how long it took to render a scene with multiprocessor in Cinebench . We ran the Evaluate Notebook trial run in MathematicaMark 7 . We execute the WorldBench 6 multitasking trial on a Parallels 5 VM running Windows 7 Professional . We timed the implication and thumbnail / preview macrocosm clip for 150 picture in Aperture.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith and McKinley Noble
stop back soon for Macworld ’s full , black eye - rated review of the Modern Mac Pros . We ’re also put to work on testing the novel 12 - core Mac Pro . I ’ll also keep you update on what I find out about Parallels compatibility with the eight- and 12 - inwardness Mac Pros .
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s science lab film director . ]
[ update 11:02 a.m. PT to clarify that Parallels is run on the problem . update 11:09 a.m. to clarify RAM shape of 8 - Congress of Racial Equality organisation . ]
