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Mac Pro to Finally See Updates Next Week

Hey guys,

I wanted to ask since I'm quite a noob when it comes to hardware. At the moment I have 2 x Intel Xeon E5462 @ 2.80GHz in my 3,1.

I work with alot of HD video so I end up doing alot of encoding throughout the day.

With a 720p video my encode times are in realtime and 1080p is about x2.5 that of realtime so a 10 minute video usually takes 25 minutes.

Would the new Mac Pro's speed up this process due to better CPU's?

I've been looking at benchmark numbers on http://www.cpubenchmark.net and wondering would a Xeon E5-2670 @ 2.60GHz be better than a Intel Xeon E5-1650 @ 3.20GHz? I've only been looking at these since I've noticed people mention they could be a possibilty in the new systems.

Even though the E5-1650 is at 3.2Ghz it has a benchmark of 13551 but the 2.6Ghz E5-2670 is 15567. Would the E5-2670 be a better one for encoding lots of HD video?
 
Ve3tro said:
With a 720p video my encode times are in realtime and 1080p is about x2.5 that of realtime so a 10 minute video usually takes 25 minutes.

Would the new Mac Pro's speed up this process due to better CPU's?
Click to expand...
Yep.

I've been looking at benchmark numbers on http://www.cpubenchmark.net and wondering would a Xeon E5-2670 @ 2.60GHz be better than a Intel Xeon E5-1650 @ 3.20GHz? I've only been looking at these since I've noticed people mention they could be a possibilty in the new systems.

Even though the E5-1650 is at 3.2Ghz it has a benchmark of 13551 but the 2.6Ghz E5-2670 is 15567. Would the E5-2670 be a better one for encoding lots of HD video?
Click to expand...

Maybe, but your software really has to make use of all that processing power. Some encoding doesn't. Also you are looking at a lot of money (it's like $1,000 more) for a small performance increase. Not that Apple would probably offer a single E5-2670. It may be used in their highest end offering, but as part of a dual CPU setup for $6,000+
 
coldmack said:
I do have OS9 in classic view at least on 3 of my machines, but I am getting along fine with my PPC just fine. BTW it's Macheads that still use PPC macs, hipsters on the other hand are using intel machines.
Click to expand...
I still have a Pismo dual-booting OS9 and is it 10.4? Terrific machine, beautifully designed. Sadly, since I came up to speed in XCode, I've hardly touched it. I do have SheepShaver on my MBP though just in case....

AidenShaw said:
As stated, CPU speeds (in GHz) are plateauing due to physics, but CPUs are getting more cores and the execution units are changing to do more work per Hz. Different designs have different CPI (cycles per instruction), so directly comparing GHz across different designs isn't very useful.
Click to expand...
Speed of electrons in copper being one...
Some day we may have plasmonic or photonic computers that will do for electronic switching what that did for mechanical relays....

AidenShaw said:
And, as stated, CPUs do throttle themselves to avoid damage, but the throttle is at relatively high temps (70C to 100C). You should be able to run a CPU temperature app to see if your temps are that high.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure I've seen my MBP throttling when all cpu cores + gpu cores have been saturated for a long time under opencl -- but yes it has to get pretty darn hot before that happens; it's rare enough to surprise me that it doesn't happen more often, if that makes sense.
 
relimw said:
Um, my Pro1,1 has the 5770 in it, and I can stick CUDA cards in it. The only drawback is the EFI, so it either has to be a "Mac" card or you have to flash the card.
Click to expand...

That's precisely my point. The base system should be usable long after the GPU it shipped with is obsolete (like you are doing with the 5770), but choices for "Mac cards" have always been very limited when compared to straight up Win/PC cards. Flashing a GPU card is not a procedure for the faint of heart and there are *MANY* potential pitfalls when trying to match up a PC card from one of many manufacturers to a firmware image.
 
Mr_Ed said:
That's precisely my point. The base system should be usable long after the GPU it shipped with is obsolete (like you are doing with the 5770), but choices for "Mac cards" have always been very limited when compared to straight up Win/PC cards. Flashing a GPU card is not a procedure for the faint of heart and there are *MANY* potential pitfalls when trying to match up a PC card from one of many manufacturers to a firmware image.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely true and one of the main reasons I am seriously considering moving to Windows even if a new Mac Pro comes out. I simply can not go that long between refresh for graphics cards and I MUST have nVidia for the "CUDA" cores due to the high-end 3D software I use. When you use your computer professionally, you don't want to take time messing with such issues as making a Windows card work. Also, there are times even if it does, there can be issues with software updates, drivers, etc. all of which costs time and money which is why I avoid all that.

Without nVidia and a statement from Apple about the future of the Mac Pro, I really don't want to invest heavy in a platform that may be the last update ever. If Apple does decide to commit to their professional users and give us a statment about the future of Mac Pro and support for nVidia graphics cards along with AMD, then I will be the first to pay a good $8,000 for a new workstation.
 
I don't think Apple would correctly estimate the high demand for this product. How quickly do we think the pre-orders will sell out? I'm thinking a week.
 
MacFanJeff said:
This is absolutely true and one of the main reasons I am seriously considering moving to Windows even if a new Mac Pro comes out. I simply can not go that long between refresh for graphics cards and I MUST have nVidia for the "CUDA" cores due to the high-end 3D software I use. When you use your computer professionally, you don't want to take time messing with such issues as making a Windows card work. Also, there are times even if it does, there can be issues with software updates, drivers, etc. all of which costs time and money which is why I avoid all that...
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Yes true indeed however it hasnt been that much of an advancement with 3D power in along time. I too use PC's (BOXX and DELL) for 3D work but honestly dont see much of a diff between the latest Nvidia cards and what was offered 2 years ago.
We did a demo between a few years old cards and played with some huge data-sets and still it wasnt enough to wow us :(
The only advantage I find with PC over Mac (we have a ton of em for everything else) is the minor quirks you find in Maya running on Macs.
 
Store isn't up yet, but the specs page looks updated and looks like it matches what they said (E5645 westmere cpu for the 12 core).

http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html

No SATA III? No TB?? No usb3?

I hope this is some sad sad mistake but not optimistic right now...and who knows what pricing will be.
 
Store update

Store came online for a few minutes and I got this!

New MP still coming 100%
 

Attachments

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Sbowen67 said:
Store came online for a few minutes and I got this!

New MP still coming 100%
Click to expand...

Although it may be a horribly disappointing update (assuming the info on their "specs" page is correct).

And the store is up for me now. Just 12 core standard for the higher end model, no TB, no SATA III, no usb3.

Barely an update at all. Horrible.
 
I was all ready to finally have a Mac Work Station in my house, ( the last one I bought was a Dual 2.7 G5 ).

Looks like I won't be getting a new one, this " update " us a joke
 
milo said:
Although it may be a horribly disappointing update (assuming the info on their "specs" page is correct).

And the store is up for me now. Just 12 core standard for the higher end model, no TB, no SATA III, no usb3.

Barely an update at all. Horrible.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The silence from Apple is deafening.
 
G51989 said:
You can bet a large number of people will be switching to Windows Workstations!
Click to expand...

I'm one of them and a long time PRO Apple supporter. Back in the day when Apple was not an iToy company and most of us were the only ones keeping Apple alive. Now, Apple doesn't even bother to acknowledge us at all in their WWDC and it's been obvious for a while now they have left us.

I just hope Apple remembers this if they ever look to us in the future in case we are needed again. Maybe it will be us PROs that are silent and don't bother to acknowledge them. Remember Apple, it was you who left us, not the other way around.
 
G51989 said:
You can bet a large number of people will be switching to Windows Workstations!
Click to expand...
I switched. I installed BC with Windows 7 on a few of our Mac Pro's ;)
So whenever I need a Maya renderfarm...voila ;)
 
MacFanJeff said:
I'm one of them and a long time PRO Apple supporter. Back in the day when Apple was not an iToy company and most of us were the only ones keeping Apple alive. Now, Apple doesn't even bother to acknowledge us at all in their WWDC and it's been obvious for a while now they have left us.

I just hope Apple remembers this if they ever look to us in the future in case we are needed again. Maybe it will be us PROs that are silent and don't bother to acknowledge them. Remember Apple, it was you who left us, not the other way around.
Click to expand...

Yep, I really wanted a Mac workstation at home, j ust to have one. Almost everything I do at work is on Windows, and I'm a big gamer as well, but I've always kept a Mac around, currently its a new iMac. Which is OK. ( I want to burn it ).

The last " Real Mac " I bought was a decked out dual 2.7gzh G5. I guess it will be the last one I bought.

Trust me, if Apple won't support Pro's. You can bet your ass Microsoft and PC vendors will be more than happy to take that business off Apple's hands.

I switched. I installed BC with Windows 7 on a few of our Mac Pro's
So whenever I need a Maya renderfarm...voila
Click to expand...

That's epic lol.
 
G51989 said:
...Trust me, if Apple won't support Pro's. You can bet your ass Microsoft and PC vendors will be more than happy to take that business off Apple's hands...
Click to expand...
Im not sure how many so called Mac Pro users are out there but Im pretty sure MS and most vendors wont feel that so called wind of change. I can see a vendor like BOXX maybe get more switchers but honestly we are not that many in numbers compared to an typical Enterprise set-up in regular corps.
 
If Apple would do a Pro in a bigger Mini form factor with the cooling, solid state and other tech they have developed, they might sell 2-10 units per user. Admitedly it would still be small potatoes as compared to iPads (great new problem), but they already did the R&D, so it is a product engineering issue. Make all internal upgrades solid state and all spinning crap external.

Why can't they make a 4 CPU ie. E3-1220 L Mac mini style (all heat sink and NG MP style fans) in a case 4x a Mac-Mini.

Or better yet a custom chip using that theory with 8-16 cores per die.

Users can populate racks of them. They could sell the compatible aluminum extrusion for racking by the meter.

MacOS has intense compute capacity. Let it be free.

Rocketman
 
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