Geekbench 2008 Octo Mac Pro vs. Core i7 Hackintosh

shokunin · Mar 3, 2009

I decided to run a few geekbench tests on my Early 2008 Octo 2.8ghz Mac Pro w/ 16gb of RAM against my daughter's Core i7 920 DIY Hackintosh with 6gb of DDR3 RAM. Both are running Leopard 10.5.6 with nothing else running.

Summary:
2008 2.8ghz Mac Pro Geekbench score = 9143
Quad Nehalem @ 2.66ghz = 7995
Quad Nehalem @ 3.60ghz = 10898

Details below

Octo Mac Pro:

Code:

 Platform: Mac OS X x86 (32-bit)
Compiler: GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5484)
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Build 9G55)
Model: Mac Pro (Early 2008)
Motherboard: Apple Inc. Mac-F42C88C8 Proto1
Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5462  @ 2.80GHz
Processor ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6
Logical Processors: 8
Physical Processors: 2
Processor Frequency: 2.80 GHz
L1 Instruction Cache: 32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache: 32.0 KB
L2 Cache: 6.00 MB
L3 Cache: 0.00 B
Bus Frequency: 1.60 GHz
Memory: 16.0 GB
Memory Type: 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
SIMD: 1
BIOS: Apple Inc.     MP31.88Z.006C.B05.0802291410
Processor Model: Intel Xeon E5462
Processor Cores: 8

Integer (Score: 8395)
Blowfish single-threaded scalar -- 1898, , 83.4 MB/sec
Blowfish multi-threaded scalar -- 14793, , 606.2 MB/sec
Text Compress single-threaded scalar -- 2156, , 6.90 MB/sec
Text Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 14342, , 47.0 MB/sec
Text Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 1942, , 7.98 MB/sec
Text Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 13581, , 54.1 MB/sec
Image Compress single-threaded scalar -- 1907, , 15.8 Mpixels/sec
Image Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 13406, , 112.8 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 1561, , 26.2 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 10084, , 164.5 Mpixels/sec
Lua single-threaded scalar -- 3099, , 1.19 Mnodes/sec
Lua multi-threaded scalar -- 21979, , 8.45 Mnodes/sec

Floating Point (Score: 15417)
Mandelbrot single-threaded scalar -- 2086, , 1.39 Gflops
Mandelbrot multi-threaded scalar -- 14544, , 9.52 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded scalar -- 3826, , 1.85 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded scalar -- 32243, , 14.7 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded vector -- 2887, , 3.46 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded vector -- 25118, , 26.1 Gflops
LU Decomposition single-threaded scalar -- 776, , 691.3 Mflops
LU Decomposition multi-threaded scalar -- 5564, , 4.88 Gflops
Primality Test single-threaded scalar -- 3979, , 594.3 Mflops
Primality Test multi-threaded scalar -- 21653, , 4.02 Gflops
Sharpen Image single-threaded scalar -- 5365, , 12.5 Mpixels/sec
Sharpen Image multi-threaded scalar -- 41260, , 95.1 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image single-threaded scalar -- 7124, , 5.64 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image multi-threaded scalar -- 49425, , 38.9 Mpixels/sec

Memory (Score: 2864)
Read Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 2486, , 3.04 GB/sec
Write Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 3591, , 2.46 GB/sec
Stdlib Allocate single-threaded scalar -- 2198, , 8.20 Mallocs/sec
Stdlib Write single-threaded scalar -- 3759, , 7.78 GB/sec
Stdlib Copy single-threaded scalar -- 2288, , 2.36 GB/sec

Stream (Score: 2367)
Stream Copy single-threaded scalar -- 2527, , 3.46 GB/sec
Stream Copy single-threaded vector -- 2797, , 3.63 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded scalar -- 2715, , 3.52 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded vector -- 2715, , 3.66 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded scalar -- 1715, , 2.59 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded vector -- 2661, , 3.70 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded scalar -- 1846, , 2.55 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded vector -- 1964, , 3.68 GB/sec

Quad Nehalem @ 2.66ghz (stock):

Code:

Platform: Mac OS X x86 (32-bit)
Compiler: GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5484)
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Build 9G55)
Model: Hackintosh
Motherboard: DFI Inc. DFI LP JR X58 1.0
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz
Processor ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4
Logical Processors: 8
Physical Processors: 0
Processor Frequency: 2.67 GHz
L1 Instruction Cache: 32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache: 32.0 KB
L2 Cache: 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8.00 MB
Bus Frequency: 532 MHz
Memory: 6.00 GB
Memory Type: 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
SIMD: 1
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Processor Model: Intel Core i7 920
Processor Cores: 8

Integer (Score: 6530)
Blowfish single-threaded scalar -- 1628, , 71.5 MB/sec
Blowfish multi-threaded scalar -- 10868, , 445.4 MB/sec
Text Compress single-threaded scalar -- 2074, , 6.63 MB/sec
Text Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 10713, , 35.1 MB/sec
Text Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 2152, , 8.85 MB/sec
Text Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 11357, , 45.2 MB/sec
Image Compress single-threaded scalar -- 1853, , 15.3 Mpixels/sec
Image Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 9748, , 82.0 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 1570, , 26.4 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 7305, , 119.2 Mpixels/sec
Lua single-threaded scalar -- 3393, , 1.31 Mnodes/sec
Lua multi-threaded scalar -- 15710, , 6.04 Mnodes/sec

Floating Point (Score: 12607)
Mandelbrot single-threaded scalar -- 2240, , 1.49 Gflops
Mandelbrot multi-threaded scalar -- 17010, , 11.1 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded scalar -- 3647, , 1.76 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded scalar -- 15337, , 6.99 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded vector -- 4351, , 5.21 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded vector -- 20175, , 21.0 Gflops
LU Decomposition single-threaded scalar -- 804, , 716.0 Mflops
LU Decomposition multi-threaded scalar -- 3404, , 2.98 Gflops
Primality Test single-threaded scalar -- 3634, , 542.8 Mflops
Primality Test multi-threaded scalar -- 15576, , 2.89 Gflops
Sharpen Image single-threaded scalar -- 5398, , 12.6 Mpixels/sec
Sharpen Image multi-threaded scalar -- 33276, , 76.7 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image single-threaded scalar -- 6950, , 5.50 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image multi-threaded scalar -- 44700, , 35.1 Mpixels/sec

Memory (Score: 4402)
Read Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 4535, , 5.55 GB/sec
Write Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 6037, , 4.13 GB/sec
Stdlib Allocate single-threaded scalar -- 3052, , 11.4 Mallocs/sec
Stdlib Write single-threaded scalar -- 4290, , 8.88 GB/sec
Stdlib Copy single-threaded scalar -- 4096, , 4.22 GB/sec

Stream (Score: 4172)
Stream Copy single-threaded scalar -- 3862, , 5.28 GB/sec
Stream Copy single-threaded vector -- 5816, , 7.54 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded scalar -- 4245, , 5.51 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded vector -- 5670, , 7.65 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded scalar -- 2142, , 3.23 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded vector -- 5400, , 7.51 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded scalar -- 2325, , 3.21 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded vector -- 3918, , 7.33 GB/sec

Quad Nehalem @ 3.6ghz (overclocked BCLK=180)

Code:

Platform: Mac OS X x86 (32-bit)
Compiler: GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5484)
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Build 9G55)
Model: Hackintosh
Motherboard: DFI Inc. DFI LP JR X58 1.0
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz
Processor ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4
Logical Processors: 8
Physical Processors: 0
Processor Frequency: 3.60 GHz
L1 Instruction Cache: 32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache: 32.0 KB
L2 Cache: 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8.00 MB
Bus Frequency: 720 MHz
Memory: 6.00 GB
Memory Type: 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
SIMD: 1
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Processor Model: Intel Core i7 920
Processor Cores: 8

Integer (Score: 8911)
Blowfish single-threaded scalar -- 2222, , 97.6 MB/sec
Blowfish multi-threaded scalar -- 14889, , 610.2 MB/sec
Text Compress single-threaded scalar -- 2817, , 9.01 MB/sec
Text Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 14622, , 48.0 MB/sec
Text Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 2928, , 12.0 MB/sec
Text Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 15545, , 61.9 MB/sec
Image Compress single-threaded scalar -- 2534, , 20.9 Mpixels/sec
Image Compress multi-threaded scalar -- 13232, , 111.3 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress single-threaded scalar -- 2151, , 36.1 Mpixels/sec
Image Decompress multi-threaded scalar -- 9983, , 162.9 Mpixels/sec
Lua single-threaded scalar -- 4587, , 1.77 Mnodes/sec
Lua multi-threaded scalar -- 21432, , 8.24 Mnodes/sec

Floating Point (Score: 17224)
Mandelbrot single-threaded scalar -- 3045, , 2.03 Gflops
Mandelbrot multi-threaded scalar -- 22879, , 15.0 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded scalar -- 4956, , 2.39 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded scalar -- 20958, , 9.55 Gflops
Dot Product single-threaded vector -- 5920, , 7.09 Gflops
Dot Product multi-threaded vector -- 27464, , 28.6 Gflops
LU Decomposition single-threaded scalar -- 1110, , 987.7 Mflops
LU Decomposition multi-threaded scalar -- 4681, , 4.11 Gflops
Primality Test single-threaded scalar -- 4938, , 737.6 Mflops
Primality Test multi-threaded scalar -- 21200, , 3.93 Gflops
Sharpen Image single-threaded scalar -- 7338, , 17.1 Mpixels/sec
Sharpen Image multi-threaded scalar -- 45468, , 104.8 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image single-threaded scalar -- 9460, , 7.49 Mpixels/sec
Blur Image multi-threaded scalar -- 61724, , 48.5 Mpixels/sec

Memory (Score: 5964)
Read Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 6161, , 7.54 GB/sec
Write Sequential single-threaded scalar -- 8149, , 5.57 GB/sec
Stdlib Allocate single-threaded scalar -- 4148, , 15.5 Mallocs/sec
Stdlib Write single-threaded scalar -- 5827, , 12.1 GB/sec
Stdlib Copy single-threaded scalar -- 5537, , 5.71 GB/sec

Stream (Score: 5586)
Stream Copy single-threaded scalar -- 5206, , 7.12 GB/sec
Stream Copy single-threaded vector -- 7676, , 9.95 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded scalar -- 5717, , 7.42 GB/sec
Stream Scale single-threaded vector -- 7568, , 10.2 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded scalar -- 2918, , 4.41 GB/sec
Stream Add single-threaded vector -- 7201, , 10.0 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded scalar -- 3166, , 4.37 GB/sec
Stream Triad single-threaded vector -- 5243, , 9.81 GB/sec

nanofrog · Mar 3, 2009

Over clocking definitely has it's place, and makes the i7 920 a "hot item" ATM.

Comparing an OC'd Xeon 55xx to the new MP's in stock form, would be interesting to see. This is an instance where DIY'ing your own might make sense.

Need to see the DP boards and pricing.

Salavat23 · Mar 3, 2009

The new D0 stepping of the Core i7 920 will let you overclock past 4GHz fairly easily. At 4.2-4.5GHz, the i7 920 will eat the new Mac Pro for breakfast.

nanofrog · Mar 3, 2009

Salavat23 said:
The new D0 stepping of the Core i7 920 will let you overclock past 4GHz fairly easily. At 4.2-4.5GHz, the i7 920 will eat the new Mac Pro for breakfast.

Mine is C0 stepping. Just getting started with OC'ing it, so I'm not sure how hard I can push it yet.

If it works out well, I'll probably drop in a W3570 on this board (Asus P6T6 WS Revolution). I already have a use for the i7-920, so no donations.

dukebound85 · Mar 3, 2009

op, care to post overall scores?

DoFoT9 · Mar 4, 2009

VERY impressive numbers there OP. i am thinking of going this way more and more each day.

Weepul · Mar 4, 2009

I'm sure someone will wind up posting a "**************************" link, but I would also be curious to hear your experiences with an i7 920 Hackintosh, building and running. 4.3 GHz would just about make up for half as many cores, and goodness knows it would cost less.

DoFoT9 · Mar 4, 2009

Weepul said:
I'm sure someone will wind up posting a "**************************" link, but I would also be curious to hear your experiences with an i7 920 Hackintosh, building and running. 4.3 GHz would just about make up for half as many cores, and goodness knows it would cost less.

im seriously guessing half as less....

Salavat23 · Mar 4, 2009

You can assemble as solid Core i7 rig with an ATI 4830 and 6GB of RAM for under $1000USD.

For $150 more, you can go with 12GB of RAM.

Overclock that CPU, and you're set.

nanofrog · Mar 4, 2009

Salavat23 said:
You can assemble as solid Core i7 rig with an ATI 4830 and 6GB of RAM for under $1000USD.

For $150 more, you can go with 12GB of RAM.

Overclock that CPU, and you're set.

Are you figuring in everything, including items like PSU, optical drive, HDD, cables (if needed), and even peripherals like keyboard and mouse...?

Or just the primary components consisting of CPU, board, and memory?

BTW, what boards are you considering? (At least a price point).

Ikyo · Mar 4, 2009

Don't forget to factor in the time to install new updates as they come out.

wawanarchist · Mar 4, 2009

OP or anyone else have links to the guides on how to do this? Any stories about stability? I think a lot more people are going to be interested in a DIY Hackintosh in the near future, i know i am

Ikyo · Mar 4, 2009

There is a decent amount of information out on google not to mention some Hackintosh/Frankenmac websites.

wawanarchist · Mar 4, 2009

Ikyo said:
There is a decent amount of information out on google not to mention some Hackintosh/Frankenmac websites.

Haha, I googled it, and found this

TomsHardware said:
Why on earth would anyone build a Mac on purpose?
Sorry, but really you are not going to get much help here. I would suggest trying this out:
https://forums.macrumors.com/

milo · Mar 4, 2009

Summary:
2008 2.8ghz Mac Pro Geekbench score = 9143
Quad Nehalem @ 2.66ghz = 7995
Quad Nehalem @ 3.60ghz = 10898

Based on this, doesn't it seem like the new quad mac pro will likely benchmark slower than the old 8 core? Or is there some other factor I'm missing?

Valorite · Mar 4, 2009

milo said:
Summary:
2008 2.8ghz Mac Pro Geekbench score = 9143
Quad Nehalem @ 2.66ghz = 7995
Quad Nehalem @ 3.60ghz = 10898

Based on this, doesn't it seem like the new quad mac pro will likely benchmark slower than the old 8 core? Or is there some other factor I'm missing?

The i7s automatically OC themselves, so the 2.66 would operate higher(assuming you don't live/work in a very hot room), closer to 3.0ghz, meaning the performance of the old 2.8 and the new quad 2.66 is probably about equal to each other in "real" performance.

In the benchmark I'm assuming when they say 2.66 they actually limited it to 2.66(otherwise the benchmark is useless anyways...).

nanofrog · Mar 4, 2009

Ikyo said:
Don't forget to factor in the time to install new updates as they come out.

In a Hackintosh?

The updates work the same way they do on a Mac. Automatically. You don't have to go find the individual files and manually install.

(Whether you use a software solution like Vanilla Kernel, or an USB device like EFiX).

milo said:
Summary:
2008 2.8ghz Mac Pro Geekbench score = 9143
Quad Nehalem @ 2.66ghz = 7995
Quad Nehalem @ 3.60ghz = 10898

Based on this, doesn't it seem like the new quad mac pro will likely benchmark slower than the old 8 core? Or is there some other factor I'm missing?

Keep in mind, you're comparing an 8 core '08 MP to two 4 core (single processors) Nehalem chips. Not a fair comparison.

Find a Quad core '08 MP, and the results will compare properly.

You might want to consider OC'ed systems on Quad core Nehalems as well. IIRC, there's few that have produced higher numbers. I recall one person using an i7 920 OC'ed to 4.2GHz, producing a score over 12700!

milo · Mar 4, 2009

nanofrog said:
Keep in mind, you're comparing an 8 core '08 MP to two 4 core (single processors) Nehalem chips. Not a fair comparison.

I'm only comparing them because they are in a similar price range, whether that's "fair" or not isn't really a concern - I'm just trying to decide what to buy.

nanofrog · Mar 4, 2009

milo said:
I'm only comparing them because they are in a similar price range, whether that's "fair" or not isn't really a concern - I'm just trying to decide what to buy.

Ahh...OK, that's understandable.

A little confusing to see your point without clarification though.

But to get a real idea of what's possible, you should look into the OC'ed systems. As stated earlier, look for the Core i7 -920's, and what they can pull off once overclocked.

That should give you a really good idea of what you can actually get out of the technology. Makes the "pill" easier to swallow.

To me, a 920 outperforming an '08 MP base model for less $$$, is a no-brainer if you plan to DIY your system.

nateDEEZY · Mar 4, 2009

If you browse the geekbench's online scores, you can see people with Hackintosh's pulling nearly 12k on the 920's.

In regard to my hackintosh, I built it with the intention of using it with my photography and as a main system. Everything I need it for works, with my equipment, printer and router. There is technically no other reason than security reasons for me to update it. If I were to disconnect it from the net, and use it purely for photography reasons, store photos/back up and edit raws. I imagine it to be a solid performer for years.

Hackintosh's are a great alternative to Mac Pro's if you have pure function with a dedicated software in mind. I'm just getting into the same mindset my IT department has, if it works and does it job well there is no reason to update.

The tech geek in me wants to update every chance I can get just to "push" it's stability and upgrade my system

The only benefit I would see out of it though is processing raws marginally faster.

shokunin · Mar 4, 2009

I was planning on buying the mini or the new iMac if it was a quad core, but I got fed up waiting and ordered the parts last month, all in all it was less than $800 as I had spare parts lying around.

Case:

Core i7 920 @ Microcenter $229
DFI x58 T3H6 mATX @ NCIXUS $219
6GB DDR3 SuperTalent @ newegg $99 (After MIR)
Silverstone TJ-08 Case @ Amazon $90
Noctua NH-u12P SE1366 heatstink $70

Total: Approx $707 before tax/shipping add in another $70.

ATI Radeon 2600 XT (pulled from Mac Pro which has 8800GT)
ATX Power Supply (Already have several)
Hard Drive (Already had extra)
Don't need an optical.

I'm not sure if posting links to hacking sites is allowed, but if you google "gigabyte ud5 efi wolfie" you'll find the Guide. The system is stable in Vista at 4ghz with a little added voltage, but it kernel panics in OS X, so I dropped it down to 3.6 and it's been fine running Prime for hours.

Using the vanilla/retail method is the only way to go. Using an EFI boot partition and then an the retail Leopard, you can probably upgrade all you want without bricking the system. All the modified kexts are installed in the EFI Boot partition and loaded when needed.

shokunin · Mar 4, 2009

My 920 is C0 Stepping and at 3.6ghz it is waaay more than my daughters need for now. I'll upgrade the video card when I find a killer deal or even bite the bullet and splurge on the LED Cinema and Apple upgrade video card to get mini-displayport.

The only issues with the Hackintosh is getting the machine to sleep, which is not a problem for us as they shut down their machine when they are not using them. Bootup is super quick anyways. I'll be loading Compressor on her box to use as a encoding node in addition to my Octo MP.

nanofrog · Mar 4, 2009

shokunin said:
My 920 is C0 Stepping and at 3.6ghz it is waaay more than my daughters need for now.

I'll be loading Compressor on her box to use as a encoding node in addition to my Octo MP.

Nice.

BTW, how does it compare to the MP?

AndyCorleone · Mar 6, 2009

shokunin said:
My 920 is C0 Stepping and at 3.6ghz it is waaay more than my daughters need for now. I'll upgrade the video card when I find a killer deal or even bite the bullet and splurge on the LED Cinema and Apple upgrade video card to get mini-displayport.

The only issues with the Hackintosh is getting the machine to sleep, which is not a problem for us as they shut down their machine when they are not using them. Bootup is super quick anyways. I'll be loading Compressor on her box to use as a encoding node in addition to my Octo MP.

Hi, have you tried any real life test? I meant: have you use compressor on the New Hackintosh an compare with the octo?
Cheeers Really looking forward for you responce

myca · Mar 6, 2009

Cheers for the info, this has really eased my mind over the decision I've made to build an EFIX based hackintosh, I'm even gonna order some of the parts today

Geekbench 2008 Octo Mac Pro vs. Core i7 Hackintosh

macrumors regular

macrumors G4

macrumors 6502

macrumors G4

macrumors Core

macrumors P6

macrumors regular

macrumors P6

macrumors 6502

macrumors G4

macrumors 6502

macrumors regular

macrumors 6502

macrumors regular

macrumors 604

macrumors newbie

macrumors G4

macrumors 604

macrumors G4

macrumors 6502a

macrumors regular

macrumors regular

macrumors G4

macrumors newbie

macrumors 6502

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