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View Full Version : Programs & the # of cores they use




leftPCbehind209
Aug 25, 2010, 09:10 AM
As the debate continues re: which is better 6 vs 8 vs 12, I've read many times that more cores are better if your program utilizes the extra cores...

Is there a list that shows the # of cores typical Mac programs utilize?

1) If not, does anyone know how many Final Cut Studio 3, Photoshop, iMovie, mpeg streamclip, roxio titanium use?

2) Theoretically, if I'm done editing a movie in iMovie and am exporting via Quicktime (and iMovie only uses 1? core), does it mean that I should be able to render in Final Cut Pro (suppose it uses 4 cores?) at the same time, without performance loss

3) Extending #2 further, if I use Photoshop and some other programs concurrently too, and they are using an additional 4-6 cores, is that where the benefit of the 12 core comes into play?



Hellhammer
Aug 25, 2010, 09:17 AM
Final Cut is single core, only the compressor is multithreaded AFAIK. Some things in Photoshop can take advantage of the extra cores but I would say the frequency is still the most important. iMovie is single-threaded from what I've read.

IMO the 6-core is the best deal due insane clock speed with decent amount of cores.

300D
Aug 25, 2010, 09:17 AM
In OSX, all programs are multithreaded. The question is; to what extent?

Transporteur
Aug 25, 2010, 09:22 AM
In OSX, all programs are multithreaded. The question is; to what extent?

Just because applications are separated into various threads, doesn't mean that they can utilise the threads provided by the hardware.

Ryan P
Aug 25, 2010, 09:40 AM
It is very complicated. Even in C4D, which is normally the poster-child for multi core, I've ran into some scenarios where you are stuck with it processing through things with just 1 core.

highdefw
Aug 25, 2010, 11:08 AM
If you're a vfx/3d artist and know a little scripting, you could use compressor to render several instances of programs like Maya, Nuke, Shake, etc... Every core would be maxed out :)

macz1
Aug 25, 2010, 02:28 PM
There is no rule for Photoshop. While many artistic filters are single-threaded, there are some using up to four cores, while only few max out all 8 cores I have. Some examples:
Gaussian blur: 6-8 cores, but smart blur: 1
Shadow/Highlights: 4
Smart sharpen: 3-7, unsharp mask: 2
Hue/Saturation: 4
Lens Correction: 1

More core help sometimes, fast cores help all the time.