APPLE MAC PRO or The Allenstein "Quadzilla" Machin

[hws]

I wanne get a new computer. Which would be the fastest? Forget about price.
APPLE MAC PRO 2.66 or The Allenstein "Quadzilla" Machine which consists of the following:
CHENMING CMUI-601AECB-U Charcoal Black 1.0mm SECC Server Computer Case 55.99


ASUS K8N-DL Dual Socket 940 NVIDIA nForce4 Professional Extended ATX Server Motherboard 177.99

AMD Dual-Core Opteron 270 Italy 1000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 940 Processor - Retail 471.99 x 2 = 943.98

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory = 297.00

ATI Radeon X700 256Mb DDR 16X Dual Video Card 129.99

Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8MB CACHE Hard Drives 58.00 x 2 = 116.00

[hws]

Anybody????????????

[Shan]

I wanne get a new computer. Which would be the fastest? Forget about price.
APPLE MAC PRO 2.66 or The Allenstein "Quadzilla" Machine which consists of the following:
CHENMING CMUI-601AECB-U Charcoal Black 1.0mm SECC Server Computer Case 55.99


ASUS K8N-DL Dual Socket 940 NVIDIA nForce4 Professional Extended ATX Server Motherboard 177.99

AMD Dual-Core Opteron 270 Italy 1000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 940 Processor - Retail 471.99 x 2 = 943.98

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory = 297.00

ATI Radeon X700 256Mb DDR 16X Dual Video Card 129.99

Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8MB CACHE Hard Drives 58.00 x 2 = 116.00

All this info is in the Quadzilla thread.

Even the smallest Quad Opteron has more power than most guys will use. If you're going to take the Opteron route, I strongly suggest the Tyan Quad as it gives us slightly more performance over the Asus Quad.

A Quad Opteron 285 and MacIntel Xeon 2.6 have very similar results. The benchmark Dverb test on the Xeon 2.6 gives us 190 Dverbs. We are still waiting for the benchmark on the first Opteron 285.

The smallest and cheapest Quad Opteron 265 will give you a Dverb benchmark of 134 Dverbs. More CPU plug-in power than most will ever use.

The Quad Opterons are solid, stable and cheap to build now.

The Xeon Quads are reported to be solid, stable and run VERY quiet compared to the Opterons. But you wont have the plug-in selection at this time if you are going to use the MacIntel with OSX until everyone ports over to universal binary. But...you can also run XP on the MacIntel.

Also, with the current Xeon quad, you will be able to put in the new 4-core single CPUs when available. This will also be the same with the Opterons if you have a board with the new slot, hence we will have some very powerful 8-core systems very soon.

Nowadays it comes down to personal preference and your budget of which Quad you go with.

What you shouldnt be looking for is the "fastest" Quad, but a rock solid "stable" Quad. Stability should come first.

Shane

[marspe]

A Quad Opteron 285 and MacIntel Xeon 2.6 have very similar results. The benchmark Dverb test on the Xeon 2.6 gives us 290 Dverbs. We are still waiting for the benchmark on the first Opteron 285.

Wow! I go away for a few weeks and look what happens. Is this true Shane? The Mactel Woodcrest 2.66 does 290 DVERBS!!!!!? When did this happen? The last time I was in here, you were gloating about the fact that the Opty and the Mactel were about the same. Now the MacTel is doing more than DOUBLE THE DVERBS OF THE OPTY!!!!!! How can there be any doubt at this point?

[nikki-k]

@marspe:
Yes, it is true. This is due to the Mac Pro/Intel architecture; when using only 2 sticks of RAM (default config), the full 256-bit wide path is not in use. One must populate 2 slots in both the top and bottom risers for RAM to have this. The difference for Pro Tools was pretty drastic (comparitively). Interestingly enough tho, substituting two 1G sticks for the original two 512M sticks (making a 4G total with four sticks of RAM) did not afford alot more in overall PT fuelling power; only another 5 or so Dverbs were afforded.

Yes, Mac Pro compatible plugins are a serious point to consider today. I would venture that (through rumour and dev announcements) now through AES will yield many of the most popular plugs to be ready. NI is a notable hold out, with some available now, but most being slated for Oct or later, or never, for release. Be aware of the "never" part; there are some, like Antares with their Tube plug, that have been slated for a "never" release. Also, users of the VST-RTAS wrapper, take note that some of your fav VST plugs might face this same fate.

@those wanting to run XP on Mac Pro:
Caution is the word of the day! BootCamp is a BETA. A public one, and one many have had success with. But, just the same, it is a beta. Personally, I am not lacking in any Mac Pro availability options that are causing me to consider doing Bootcamp right now. It hurts to be missing certain plugins, but each week I find a new one that is released, and it is like X-mas all over again on those plugs! (or, like a birthday, for those non-Santa-ites).

Woodcrest on my Mac Pro is running very cool. Typically, I see the cores on both CPUs idle at about 8C, rev up to about 10-12C during "oridinary use," and when running PT at full stride for several hours at a time, peak temp will see 20C hit at most. I have not ever seen it go over 20C yet. While at the peak of use, with 4 SATA drives and four 1G sticks of RAM, a nice, gentle whir (like a Zalman on low speed) is all I hear. When dead quiet in the room, it is noticeable. But, my Kurzweil K2500XS fan is louder...a good bit louder IMO.

My experience, coming form years of building and running Windows OS computers, has been great. Mixed impression initially, as I found plugins not available, trying to get a hold on a new OS, and dealing with certain aspects of OS X I will never care for (like the complete $#!^box Finder); but, a month and a half later, I have settled in, and am truly enjoying it. Not for everyone, but, IMHO, very much worth considering. BTW- the build quality is stellar. I did not care for the case on first sight. But, after upgrading and adding to this machine, I have never had such an easy time. Hard drives just need a small metal thingy attached to the hard drive, and it slides right in, no cables! Slide a card out, pop RAM on it, and slide back in. Done! Hook up an ilok...no messages about finding drivers or such. Heck, I hooked up my Epson R300 printer yesterday, and sat there for like 2-3 minutes before realizing- DUH! - it had been ready to go like 2-3 seconds after I plugged it in. And there it was! Ink levels reading, print-ready and all. I am even using my favorite mouse- an Intelimouse Explorer v3, with access to all 5 mouse buttons, and after sintalling the Intellimouse software, I even have the same features, such as setting the mouse up differently for each app I use.

YMMV, but I am very happy with my Darth Macintosh

[Matt P]

UMMMMM!!! Darth Macintosh?

Aren't you streching those numbers a little bit?
I think what I remember is that was 190 Deverbs with 4 GB of RAM.
NOT 290!
I think the Darkside has got to your sense of reality.

It's still not to late to come back into the light, Anikin!

Yoda

[Shan]

Wow! I go away for a few weeks and look what happens. Is this true Shane? The Mactel Woodcrest 2.66 does 290 DVERBS!!!!!? When did this happen? The last time I was in here, you were gloating about the fact that the Opty and the Mactel were about the same. Now the MacTel is doing more than DOUBLE THE DVERBS OF THE OPTY!!!!!! How can there be any doubt at this point?

No, it's NOT true. That was a typo that has been corrected. We get 190 Dverbs on the Xeon 2.6 with 4G of RAM running OSX which makes the Opteron and Xeon close to the same.

And I have alot to "gloat" about, but it's not that. The 'gloating' has definitely been done on the second tier of the DUC. Even Digidesign would raise an eyebrow or two. We've had a few 'firsts in history'.

Shane

[auxsend1]

You said forget about price, well then you should be considering the dual 3.0 Mac Pro vs. whatever the highest Opteron is. But as Shane states, either option is more CPU power than you will need.

[nikki-k]

Ooops! I didnt see the 2...kinda assumed 190, as 290 is unheard of! I dont think dual 4 cores will even do that...

[Shan]

Something to ponder over. Here are screen shots of a 48 track session with 10 Aux returns. The H/W buffer is at 64 with 18 tracks(The max physical inputs allowed in PT LE) ready to record from my 002 and Alesis AI-3!!

The Tracks.

The Aux Returns.

The Plug-Ins.

You will notice I am using some plug-ins that are quite the CPU hogs. AC2 and SSL Channel strip on the 48 mono tracks, 1 SSL comp on the Master Fader, and 4 Rverbs, 1 Dverb, 1 Waves Doubler, 4 Digi Extra Long Delays, 2 Digi 1 band, 1 Digi 4 band on the Aux Returns with about 25% CPU left over. And just for kicks, I routed the 18 tracks to the Hall reverb. And this is at a buffer of 64 with 25% CPU left!!

With a buffer of 1024, the CPU meter drops to 1/3rd.

Not bad for the 'slowest' Quad Opteron 265 we have out there, or what marspe would call the "Babyzilla". As you can see, you will probably have more power than you will use. Even in the 'slowest' Quads.

And by the way. I can attest that this Quad is 100% rock solid stable with no issues at all. Do you really need "the fastest" Quad?

The Opteron 265 gives us 134 Dverbs, Opteron 285 is 176 Dverbs and the MacIntel Xeon 2.6 with OSX is 190 Dverbs.

Very doubtful that you will max out any of those systems.

Hope that helps.

Shane