2008 8 Core Mac Pro vs. 2011 MBP

[SDAVE]

It's pretty insane that my 2011 MBP got a Geekbench score of 11375 and my 8 core (3.2Ghz) + 16GB ram Mac Pro got 12825.

And this is Sandy Bridge we're talking about, not even Ivy Bridge.

I'm super excited about any new Mac Pro Apple comes out with, the speeds on those guys are going to be insane.

[derbothaus]

Laptops are always 2-4 years behind desktops. You are showing a 3-4 year disparity. Very stable and expectedly not "insane" at all. IMO.

[SDAVE]

Originally Posted by derbothaus

Laptops are always 2-4 years behind desktops. You are showing a 3-4 year disparity. Very stable and expectedly not "insane" at all. IMO.

This might have been true a few years ago, especially the Core 2 Duo era, but not anymore. The recent Ivy Bridge (and future Haswell) will get consumers desktop performance on high end mobile devices.

Processors become smaller and faster as time goes on, although desktops will always be faster because they run at full speed, mobile devices will be enough for majority of the users.

I was using the MBP as a desktop replacement for a year or so, and it was fine. However, I hated the fact that the fan kept speeding up everytime when there was an intensive task happening, not to mention that I had to "dock" the MBP every time I wanted to use it with my bigger screen.

[derbothaus]

Originally Posted by SDAVE

This might have been true a few years ago, especially the Core 2 Duo era, but not anymore. The recent Ivy Bridge (and future Haswell) will get consumers desktop performance on high end mobile devices.

I think it is still sorta true Dave. While the mobile landscape gets familiar with 4-cores the desktop is hitting 8+ with same generation. If they can make chips that generate no heat they could be on par for sure. But otherwise mobile will always be slower. Whether or not you need more is something else.
Desktop performance has come to laptops, yes. And I will say faster than previously stated as we now have mobile chips akin to i7-2600 from late 2010/ 2011 (I thought it was older) which would suggest we are getting faster sooner in the mobile market. Giving a 1-2 year disparity. But that is where development is going anyway.
Another angle would be we are getting closer in mobile vs desktop because software has hit a ceiling and no one can tell much difference between 4 and 44 processors generally. So go with the 4 and be "green".

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by SDAVE

It's pretty insane that my 2011 MBP got a Geekbench score of 11375 and my 8 core (3.2Ghz) + 16GB ram Mac Pro got 12825.

And this is Sandy Bridge we're talking about, not even Ivy Bridge.

I'm super excited about any new Mac Pro Apple comes out with, the speeds on those guys are going to be insane.

your comparing sandybridge to a pair of Core 2 Quads..

This really makes no sense there's about 5 generations separating those processors. Or is this an observation as in it's really cool that after only 4 years my little notebook is as fast as my tower, and uses a 3rd of the electricity? Which is cool!

[SDAVE]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

your comparing sandybridge to a pair of Core 2 Quads..

This really makes no sense there's about 5 generations separating those processors. Or is this an observation as in it's really cool that after only 4 years my little notebook is as fast as my tower, and uses a 3rd of the electricity? Which is cool!

The point is/was that, regardless if mobile devices are behind desktop computers, it's the fact that the idea of a "mobile workstation" is becoming truer and truer and closing the gap of having a desktop and mobile device. This is why Apple has been slow to adapt the Mac Pro as they think computers such as the iMac and Mac Mini are fast enough for desktop uses.

Get my drift?

I've seen the progression of computers since the late 80's, so this is not a "surprise" for me, but the fact that what we used to do REQUIRED desktop computers can now be done on a device that is 3 pounds and includes a screen is just fantastic.

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Originally Posted by derbothaus

I think it is still sorta true Dave. While the mobile landscape gets familiar with 4-cores the desktop is hitting 8+ with same generation. If they can make chips that generate no heat they could be on par for sure. But otherwise mobile will always be slower. Whether or not you need more is something else.
Desktop performance has come to laptops, yes. And I will say faster than previously stated as we now have mobile chips akin to i7-2600 from late 2010/ 2011 (I thought it was older) which would suggest we are getting faster sooner in the mobile market. Giving a 1-2 year disparity. But that is where development is going anyway.
Another angle would be we are getting closer in mobile vs desktop because software has hit a ceiling and no one can tell much difference between 4 and 44 processors generally. So go with the 4 and be "green".

Intel will definitely make 6-8 Core (+ HyperThreading) a reality on mobile computers a reality within the next year or two. Haswell is on the path to do that.

Don't get me wrong, for what I do, I don't see ever going to only a laptop for work. A mobile device is more of a "transitional" device for me, but it's amazing that I can start work on a laptop when I'm traveling and push my projects on the desktop when I get back.

You guys might shrug at the fact that we're moving at the speed of light in terms of faster computational devices, but I think the last 3-4 years have been amazing as far as the speed of processors and advancements. Never before that was the transition of technology that quick. If you remember when the G4 and Pentium 4 were competing, the computer industry was stalling when AMD came into play, then Intel went to the drawing board and completely changed things...I'm not even talking about the movement in the smart phone arena, which I appreciate, but don't really care about, but the mobile arena has a direct connection with what is happening with the CPU/GPU industry.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by SDAVE

The point is/was that, regardless if mobile devices are behind desktop computers, it's the fact that the idea of a "mobile workstation" is becoming truer and truer and closing the gap of having a desktop and mobile device. This is why Apple has been slow to adapt the Mac Pro as they think computers such as the iMac and Mac Mini are fast enough for desktop uses.

Get my drift?

I've seen the progression of computers since the late 80's, so this is not a "surprise" for me, but the fact that what we used to do REQUIRED desktop computers can now be done on a device that is 3 pounds and includes a screen is just fantastic.

----------



Intel will definitely make 6-8 Core (+ HyperThreading) a reality on mobile computers a reality within the next year or two. Haswell is on the path to do that.

Don't get me wrong, for what I do, I don't see ever going to only a laptop for work. A mobile device is more of a "transitional" device for me, but it's amazing that I can start work on a laptop when I'm traveling and push my projects on the desktop when I get back.

So it's an observation that it's really cool that his little notebook is as fast as his old tower and well it is cool.

[SDAVE]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

So it's an observation that it's really cool that his little notebook is as fast as his old tower and well it is cool.

Maybe the original post came out to be a bit "naive," but it wasn't my intention.

This thread was more about "reflecting" on how things have progressed, and maybe we can take the time to do that in this fast paced society.

[throAU]

It very much depends what you're doing.

If you're doing video transcoding or encryption, the MBP will potentially be much faster than the Mac Pro due to the newer CPU having hardware acceleration instructions for those functions. The AES-NI instructions in the Core I series for example are about 30 times faster than doing the encryption in software on the older CPUs.

My first computer had 16k of RAM (Tandy Coco 2) and second computer had 512KB (amiga - upgraded it to 1 megabyte). The amiga was amazing.

512KB of ram these days is probably enough to run a small hello world app generated by xcode

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by SDAVE

Maybe the original post came out to be a bit "naive," but it wasn't my intention.

This thread was more about "reflecting" on how things have progressed, and maybe we can take the time to do that in this fast paced society.

Not naive, it really is cool. My/The families first computer was a IIe then a IIc then we got a 256sx 12 not long after that I built a cyrix 386dx 16. Starting in 1988 my dad (a shop teacher) began converting shop class to tech class at his school the transition was complete in 1989 when we spent the better part of 3 weeks assembling 20 or so 486DX 33's. I stayed pretty in touch until I went to OSU in '94 and stayed out of touch until '00. I was in and out during my time in the Army. I remember back in the day but it seems to me less exciting now than it did when I was a kid. Computers are obscenely fast now and making them obscenely faster is kinda boring. Overclocking took actual HW mods now it's a simple as changing a number in the BIOS/EFI. We used to have al kinds of cool different connectors now not so much. I know things are much better now but the "ain't that cool" factor is gone for me....

I think that's why I like futzing with the PowerPC's they aren't silly fast and they take a bit of effort to make them usable in the modern age. As always for me it's the process not the product.

[SDAVE]

Originally Posted by throAU

It very much depends what you're doing.

If you're doing video transcoding or encryption, the MBP will potentially be much faster than the Mac Pro due to the newer CPU having hardware acceleration instructions for those functions. The AES-NI instructions in the Core I series for example are about 30 times faster than doing the encryption in software on the older CPUs.

My first computer had 16k of RAM (Tandy Coco 2) and second computer had 512KB (amiga - upgraded it to 1 megabyte). The amiga was amazing.

512KB of ram these days is probably enough to run a small hello world app generated by xcode

FWIW, I'm a graphic designer in print and motion. My Mac Pro and 2011 MBP have been pushed to their limits, and they're VERY functional. I'd say, especially between all the pro software I use such as Cinema 4D, Photoshop and After Effects, these 2 machines handle them very well.

We've done some amazing things on the 2008 Mac Pro, and sure it's showing it's age, but having the ability of THAT machine and the things we did with the 2008 Mac Pro in a mobile device is just fantastic (It's not even the latest MBP).

Intel is on a roll. I just wish AMD pushed the market a bit so we can see more advancements.

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Originally Posted by GermanyChris

Not naive, it really is cool. My/The families first computer was a IIe then a IIc then we got a 256sx 12 not long after that I built a cyrix 386dx 16. Starting in 1988 my dad (a shop teacher) began converting shop class to tech class at his school the transition was complete in 1989 when we spent the better part of 3 weeks assembling 20 or so 486DX 33's. I stayed pretty in touch until I went to OSU in '94 and stayed out of touch until '00. I was in and out during my time in the Army. I remember back in the day but it seems to me less exciting now than it did when I was a kid. Computers are obscenely fast now and making them obscenely faster is kinda boring. Overclocking took actual HW mods now it's a simple as changing a number in the BIOS/EFI. We used to have al kinds of cool different connectors now not so much. I know things are much better now but the "ain't that cool" factor is gone for me....

I think that's why I like futzing with the PowerPC's they aren't silly fast and they take a bit of effort to make them usable in the modern age. As always for me it's the process not the product.

That's really cool.

I definitely agree with you that computers are a bit "boring" now...maybe because most of us here grew up with technology. I mean I started using a Commodore Amiga since the age of 10, so throughout the years, this has just become part of our culture, maybe that's why we are so jaded by technology. Before that, I was taking apart radios and stuff at around the age of 5 and my dad would come home to the home radio parts being thrown around the living room—he'd make a big fuss about it.

I definitely used to tinker and overclock when I moved into the PC realm in the mid 90's. It was a pain in the butt trying to get the IRQ working, the ISA slots, etc. It's just so funny how easier things have become, even on the PC side.

I definitely am bored by technology, it is just a tool for me now to get my work done, especially since I moved on from the technical background to a more artistic one. I do get the "urge" to take things apart once in a while, hence why playing a video game on the desktop or a PS3 kind of helps aleviate that...and maybe upgrading the drive's to SSD's or cleaning the inside of the computer (haha). That's most of the techy stuff I do nowadays, I just want these things to "work."

It's also funny how when I upgrade my iPhones or laptops, I'm actually "happy" (not my best choice of words) for about an hour, then it's succumbed into just another thing in your pocket.

I actually want to buy a G4/G5 iMac and give it to my family for their living room, but it's probably not worth it since I can get a recent iMac 27" for a fairly low price.



Sometimes it's good to look at the clouds and how slow they move.

[spoonie1972]

i retired my 3,1 in favour of the 2012 15" MBP. with the newer sata connection and the ssd in there, it was no contest.

i'm sure it still does some things better, but for now, as my 'master' machine, this laptop is great.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by SDAVE

FWIW, I'm a graphic designer in print and motion. My Mac Pro and 2011 MBP have been pushed to their limits, and they're VERY functional. I'd say, especially between all the pro software I use such as Cinema 4D, Photoshop and After Effects, these 2 machines handle them very well.

We've done some amazing things on the 2008 Mac Pro, and sure it's showing it's age, but having the ability of THAT machine and the things we did with the 2008 Mac Pro in a mobile device is just fantastic (It's not even the latest MBP).

Intel is on a roll. I just wish AMD pushed the market a bit so we can see more advancements.

----------



That's really cool.

I definitely agree with you that computers are a bit "boring" now...maybe because most of us here grew up with technology. I mean I started using a Commodore Amiga since the age of 10, so throughout the years, this has just become part of our culture, maybe that's why we are so jaded by technology. Before that, I was taking apart radios and stuff at around the age of 5 and my dad would come home to the home radio parts being thrown around the living room—he'd make a big fuss about it.

I definitely used to tinker and overclock when I moved into the PC realm in the mid 90's. It was a pain in the butt trying to get the IRQ working, the ISA slots, etc. It's just so funny how easier things have become, even on the PC side.

I definitely am bored by technology, it is just a tool for me now to get my work done, especially since I moved on from the technical background to a more artistic one. I do get the "urge" to take things apart once in a while, hence why playing a video game on the desktop or a PS3 kind of helps aleviate that...and maybe upgrading the drive's to SSD's or cleaning the inside of the computer (haha). That's most of the techy stuff I do nowadays, I just want these things to "work."

It's also funny how when I upgrade my iPhones or laptops, I'm actually "happy" (not my best choice of words) for about an hour, then it's succumbed into just another thing in your pocket.

I actually want to buy a G4/G5 iMac and give it to my family for their living room, but it's probably not worth it since I can get a recent iMac 27" for a fairly low price.



Sometimes it's good to look at the clouds and how slow they move.

I figure now any computer can do what I need/want so they might as well be nice to look and quiet. When I build computers for folks they're surprised when the case I pick out is not a black box. I think were getting in the art phase of computers. Murderbox, digitalstorm etc. sorta show that.

[throAU]

truth is we're at one of those points in computing history where the cpu power, memory capacity and storage has become so cheap for what most people do that it is no longer important for most people any more.

whether you buy a core i3 or a xeon, unless you're in a niche field the cpu is fast enough.

so yes, other factors become more relevant for most people....



until the next big killer app happens. maybe 3d projection...

[PowerPCMacMan]

I can agree with this, hence why my Mac Pro's main job is to SERVE and DELIVER to its PowerPC siblings.. I wouldn't say the G5 Quad is slow. This thing is a beast still. 2.5Ghz Quad core PowerPC power is not slow at all, just nothing made for it.

Sorry, my mistake.. plenty of web browsers which support PPC. To make our PowerPC machines work it takes a lot of tinkering with - I love doing this and thats how I became so experienced with systems.


I think that's why I like futzing with the PowerPC's they aren't silly fast and they take a bit of effort to make them usable in the modern age. As always for me it's the process not the product.[/QUOTE]

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by PowerPCMacMan

I can agree with this, hence why my Mac Pro's main job is to SERVE and DELIVER to its PowerPC siblings.. I wouldn't say the G5 Quad is slow. This thing is a beast still. 2.5Ghz Quad core PowerPC power is not slow at all, just nothing made for it.

Sorry, my mistake.. plenty of web browsers which support PPC. To make our PowerPC machines work it takes a lot of tinkering with - I love doing this and thats how I became so experienced with systems.


I think that's why I like futzing with the PowerPC's they aren't silly fast and they take a bit of effort to make them usable in the modern age. As always for me it's the process not the product.

[/QUOTE]

My quad is roughly 1/3 as fast as my MP.

But yes it's fast enough for the modern age