Nehalem YES - but which one?

[Peterjk]

Hi all,

I'm very close to buying one the new Mac Pro "Nehalem" Models only to run ProTools on it. But the question is which on to buy?

Now for roughly the same amount of money, I can choose to put 8 GB of RAM in a quad 2.93 OR buy a Octad 2.26 Ghz (also with 8 GB RAM). The later scores better on multithread programs but around the same as a 2008 2.88 Mac Pro on single threaded program (like ProTools). The Quad 2.93 socres better on single threaded of all the mentioned machines.

What to do?

I usually do not run a lot of RTAS plugs as I think the sound not as good as there TDM counterparts. I tend to max out my HD3 system on the TDM side though.


Peter
www.clearproduction.dk

[25ghosts]

Hi,

you may wanna take a look at this report.
The guy writing them is amazing and you can learn a lot from reading all the reports on this site

http://macperformanceguide.com/Revie...roNehalem.html

[JSR]

Hi,

I recently had the same choice to make. I went with the Quad 2.93 with 8 GB of RAM; I later upped my RAM to 16 GB.

I moved from a dual 2.5 G5 and I couldn't be happier. The machine is lightning fast and I haven't a single crash or issue regarding Pro Tools in the last few weeks; working 6-7 days a week with heavy mix sessions.

(the machine was lightning fast with the 8GB of RAM, but even snappier with the 16 GB)

I'm running PT 8cs2 with an Accel HD6 using a Magma PE6R4-I.

Another note, the updated Magma PE6R4-I is dead quiet.

Best,

JSR

[Peterjk]

Hi 25ghost and others...

Mr. Lloyd Chambers recommends buying the 8-core system even though he also concludes, that very few programs utilize all 8 cores. Some programs are even slower on octad.

So I guess my question (to DIGI?) is: Will ProTools utilize 8 cores within the lifespan of a brand new Mac Pro Octad (say two years?)

Mr. Chambers also recommends bump'in the RAM up to at least 16GB. Will this also be the case with ProTools? DIGI?

[mixboy bob]

Hey JSR,

Are you saying you did NOT go with the 8-core? I thought with the Quad 2.93 that 8GB RAM was the max. Can you clarify for me?

Thanks!

Rob Burrell
aka mixboy

[John_Toolbox]

Are you saying you did NOT go with the 8-core? I thought with the Quad 2.93 that 8GB RAM was the max. Can you clarify for me?

8GB is the max that apple will sell you. It will actually take 16GB if you use 4 4GB modules(However you must use 4 identical 4GB modules). Check out OWC for more info:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory