[Cryos]

heads up..

My rig is the following; macmini late 2012 i7 quadcore 16 gigs ram.. ssd internal internal and external drive.
Protools.12.7 HD native / Sonnet Echo Express Thunderbolt. Omni Interface. Call digit Thunderbolt Hub. all connected to 3 monitors. 3rd monitor is connected via usb3


Recently set up a 2nd partition with a clean install of EL Capitain + protools 12.7HD Native. Same exact set up as with Mavericks...Bottom line is El Capitain sucks in my case... graphics redraw in protools is slower and protools hd native uses way more cpu.

Same exact setup using the same dense protools project on Mavericks works almost flawless way smoother graphics redraw and protools uses substantially less cpu... basically a non-issue.

My suggestion, and this is probably Mac Hardaware dependant; don't run El Capitain with this specific macmini with this type of set up..

I Also had an avid tech look at the system and he didn't understand it either.. he saw with his own eyes El Capitain and protools sucked more cpu as well.

side note;
A little while ago had an experience in another studio where they had a newer gen 2014 i7 macmini with a 3rd monitor connected via usb3 with an mbox pro interface and my project would barely run.. then we discovered by disconnecting the 3rd monitor which was attached via the usb3 adaptor was causing the issue. however on smaller projects this made no difference...
and here's the thing that Macmini was running El Capitain and without the 3rd USB monitor it was super smooth

its unbelievable how a single component can cause a whole system bog down.

by the way those newer i7 Macminis seem to be as powerful as the earlier 2012 units..( keep in mind they are not quad-core either but have a new generation i7 processor). when I was running this super heavy session with the 2 monitor set up it was as efficient as my Macmini. I was very surprised to say the least.