Avid Pro Audio Community

Avid Pro Audio Community

How to Join & Post  •  Community Terms of Use  •  Help Us Help You

Knowledge Base Search  •  Community Search  •  Learn & Support


Avid Home Page

Go Back   Avid Pro Audio Community > Pro Tools Post Production > Post - Surround - Video

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-04-2017, 03:25 PM
Nathan W. Nathan W. is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Moorpark, CA
Posts: 536
Default iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

Has anyone run tests to see how much faster a Xeon machine is vs. a standard iMac i7 at certain tasks? In particular, I'm interesting to see if any RX6 advanced features would process audio faster and by how much. Better to buy an iMac or iMac Pro?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-04-2017, 06:06 PM
reichman's Avatar
reichman reichman is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: New York
Posts: 2,411
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

I can't comment directly on this topic, but you could do some tests to see how well RX6 is utilizing multiple cores by watching Activity Monitor. I'm pretty sure it runs most processes on one core. Cross-reference whatever you discover with the single-core performance scores on Geekbench. You would have to extrapolate from other Xeon tests because there is zero data available on the iMac Pro, but possibly some data on similar Xeon chips running on other systems...

FWIW, RX6 is fast on the current crop of Mac Pros. But that said, the current iMacs are famous for having higher single-core scores. In all likelihood, the 6-core iMac Pro will be outfitted with a chip that has higher single and multi-core scores.
__________________
Nathaniel Reichman
Producer/Re-recording Mixer - New York
Nathaniel Reichman | IMDB | LinkedIn
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-05-2017, 05:07 AM
tom_lowe tom_lowe is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: London, UK
Posts: 1,083
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

Quote:
Originally Posted by reichman View Post
I can't comment directly on this topic, but you could do some tests to see how well RX6 is utilizing multiple cores by watching Activity Monitor. I'm pretty sure it runs most processes on one core. Cross-reference whatever you discover with the single-core performance scores on Geekbench. You would have to extrapolate from other Xeon tests because there is zero data available on the iMac Pro, but possibly some data on similar Xeon chips running on other systems...

FWIW, RX6 is fast on the current crop of Mac Pros. But that said, the current iMacs are famous for having higher single-core scores. In all likelihood, the 6-core iMac Pro will be outfitted with a chip that has higher single and multi-core scores.

iMac Pro will start at 8 cores, then 10 and 18. The clock speed of the 18 core looks like it'll be significantly slower than the 8 core.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-05-2017, 06:34 AM
quadraphonics quadraphonics is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 458
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

Would it be fair then to say that Pro Tools and RX and such don't really benefit from the larger multi-core systems as much as higher single core speeds?

I was thinking of jumping ship to something like the newer i7 or Ryzen processors, but if Pro Tools doesn't really use the multi-core processors as efficiently as , say, a 3d rendering software, maybe i need to rethink what I was going to purchase.

Thanks,
Randall


Quote:
Originally Posted by reichman View Post
I can't comment directly on this topic, but you could do some tests to see how well RX6 is utilizing multiple cores by watching Activity Monitor. I'm pretty sure it runs most processes on one core. Cross-reference whatever you discover with the single-core performance scores on Geekbench. You would have to extrapolate from other Xeon tests because there is zero data available on the iMac Pro, but possibly some data on similar Xeon chips running on other systems...

FWIW, RX6 is fast on the current crop of Mac Pros. But that said, the current iMacs are famous for having higher single-core scores. In all likelihood, the 6-core iMac Pro will be outfitted with a chip that has higher single and multi-core scores.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-05-2017, 07:36 AM
Bob Olhsson's Avatar
Bob Olhsson Bob Olhsson is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Songwriter Gulch, Nashville, TN
Posts: 3,519
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

My understanding is that 6 cores at the highest FPU calculation speed is the best real time performance.
__________________
Bob's room 615 562-4346
Interview
Artists are the gatekeepers of truth! - Paul Robeson
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-05-2017, 05:18 PM
reichman's Avatar
reichman reichman is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: New York
Posts: 2,411
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

Quote:
Would it be fair then to say that Pro Tools and RX and such don't really benefit from the larger multi-core systems as much as higher single core speeds?
Not at all. In fact, totally the opposite. DAWs spread the tracks out among cores and are often some of the best utilizers of multiple cores (parallel processing). I thought the OP was referring to offline RX performance, which is single-core. Online, multiple-plug-in performance is multi-core. I think it was Bobby Lombardi who talked about the fact that an individual track in Pro Tools has to exist on one core, so if you have just a few tracks with a zillion plug-ins on each track, high clock speed per core will help you (you'll get a CPU overage if one track maxes out one core, regardless of numbers of cores not used). But if you have a zillion tracks with just a few plug-ins on each track, Pro Tools will balance the track load across all available cores.
__________________
Nathaniel Reichman
Producer/Re-recording Mixer - New York
Nathaniel Reichman | IMDB | LinkedIn
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-05-2017, 05:25 PM
Bob Olhsson's Avatar
Bob Olhsson Bob Olhsson is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Songwriter Gulch, Nashville, TN
Posts: 3,519
Default Re: iMac Pro Xeon vs. iMac i7

Bobby Lombardi is who told me that six cores are optimal!
__________________
Bob's room 615 562-4346
Interview
Artists are the gatekeepers of truth! - Paul Robeson
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tranferring Protools 10 from old iMac to new IMac JuergenTilak Pro Tools 10 3 07-31-2012 08:48 AM
Imac and ext HD Bruno5150 macOS 9 11-30-2011 05:24 PM
2010 iMac 27" i7 quad VS 2009 MacPro 2.66 Xeon sweetness 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 2 11-27-2010 11:01 PM
24in iMac or 21.5 iMac??? Help the blast 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 2 09-30-2010 05:19 PM
sync iMac with 003 and iMac with Mbox2? Jussi 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 4 03-09-2009 03:24 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:49 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. Forum Hosted By: URLJet.com