PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

Hi all-

I was just hired to edit and mix my first feature film. I'm thinking about going for the new Macbook Pro in a 15". On my current dinosaur (2006 Macbook Pro 15" / 2ghz Intel Core Duo / 2 GB RAM) I get about 18% CPU system usage for 8 tracks with EQ and Comp on each.

Any ideas how much better the new MBPro's would be?

Thanks!
Max

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

Only benchmarks I've seen so far are Macworld but I'm sure there's others out there by now. Not related to Pro tools performance but it will give you an idea. As the test system they use incrementally changes over the years its harder to judge performance for machines that far back but I think they were 15-30% faster over last years models.

Ignore the comments about 'not being worth the upgrade' - if your on a 2006 model (as I am too), you'll see a huge leap. People who brought last years model don't particularly need the upgrade but just because there is a new model, they feel they must state to the world thats its not worth their while - incremental updates never are mean't for these people!;)

Personally, I'm very tempted by them but might hold out for a new imac when they come along - MBP's are not cheap and for the same money you could get desktop class components and more screen.

If portability is key, then I doubt you'll get much better right now

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

The bench marks are showing in the area of a 2x performance leap for the newly released MacBook Pros. With Thunderbolt included too, when this becomes utilised by audio and video companies, there will be no reason to have a desktop with TDM cards.

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

True - only issue *might* be that this is the first generation of Thunderbolt (ie. copper), the 2nd generation (which was how Lightpeak was originally pitched) will be optical i think - hopefully the revisions will only be physical internal changes and not software or ports leading to backwards compatibility issues. Other concern with MBP set-ups is heat and noise over desktops with better fans, more airspace etc.

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

I've seen benchmarks that indicate that CPU-wise (=RTAS) the Quad 2.0 i5 MBP is roughly on-par with a 2.66 dual-dual MacPro1,1. And that the 2.3GHz build-to-order is similar to the 2.8GHz quad-core (Early 2008) MacPro.

Of course, the internal hard-drive is very slow, you can't stick more than 8GB of RAM without breaking the bank, you have limited expansion and when you push it the fans make a lot of noise and the early production batches can freeze if you push the CPU too much.

Oh, and according to Intel, these electrical TB ports will be backwards compatible with the optical cables, because they'll have optoconverters inside the plugs on the cable itself. They might be expensive, though.

Oh, to have two TB ports on the next MacPro, and use one for a Magma expansion system, while the other goes 70ft optically to the control room, where one side plugs into the display (and feeds USB to the keyboard). The end of USB extensions, yay!

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

The only i5 is in the 13" - all other MBPs are now i7.

As for the hard drives being slow, 7200RPM drives in MacBook Pros are usually fine, if you want 2 internal drives you can always remove the optical drive. Besides, with Thunderbolt now on them, the speed of external drives will, in theory, be just as fast as internal RAIDs.

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

I bought a standard i5 15 inch MBP last year and have finally given it a good thrashing with PT9 over the last month. It's astonishing what it's capable of with CPTK.
I'm prepping a 5.1 feature mix on this thing. Around 150 tracks, 5-6 instances of TL space native, lots of GRM tools, EQ3s, LCR to 5.1 bussing, stereo to quad bussing, you name it.
Originally I was printing each stem so I could make the components inactive, but towards the end of the edit I switched everything on and it ran it ALL without problems - on 1024 pb buffer of course.

This was in addition to running the ProRes LT Proxy 1080 QT movie in the session...(!)

This was with the standard 4 gigs of ram and a 7200 rpm audio drive fitted into the optical bay. Not a fancy setup.
My point is this is last years i5...I'd be no doubt gobsmacked by what these current machines can do. It's getting ridiculous!

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

I'm running a late 2010 i7 15" MBP basically they just released the quadcore MBP one month after i purchased mine (jerks!). I upgraded to 8 gigs of ram through crucial for 120$ which by the way i didnt notice much performance difference than the 4gb stock. I can run pretty big sessions on my rig and even have the dolby MM running as well. about 7 tracks of dx with 4 plugs per track. 3-4 trax of music 1plug per track and 10 tracks of fx 1 plug per track all going to grouped faders with VCA's then to masters then to stem outputs with a dv qt for ref. i even use my ipad as a C/24. I'm a total mobile post house with the exception of monitoring. My system is a little bit more powerful than a HD2 rig but not as strong or reliable as an HD3 rig. My specs are

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2


I think the new ones have 4 processors and 4 cores....I want one soooo bad! At first i was loving the power of my rig, but I still hit processing walls in pro tools hd and in logic as well, so I am really considering upgrading.

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

For those who are waiting on new Sandy Bridge Imacs, the signs are now pointing to end of April, beginning of May. So very soon.

Re: PT Performance on new Quad-Core Macbook Pros
 

Any word on the new Mac Pros?