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swpmac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2011
28
0
About to have a 2010 Mac processor upgrade. Other than additional cost, is there anything negative about getting a 12 core over a 6 core?
 

scott.n

macrumors 6502
Dec 17, 2010
339
78
About to have a 2010 Mac processor upgrade. Other than additional cost, is there anything negative about getting a 12 core over a 6 core?
Uses more power, generates more heat, etc.
Dual 130W processors are out of spec for the Mac Pro (but it should be fine).
Some tasks might be faster using fewer cores at higher frequency than distributed across greater cores.
 
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PowerMike G5

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2005
556
245
New York, NY
I've upgraded my 2010 Mac Pro to the fastest processors you can get for it, dual six-core 3.46 Ghz Xeons, a while back. Definitely a speed improvement for sure.

It does use more energy and has a higher TDP, so something to keep in mind. But the Mac Pro chassis can handle it easily.

If you plan on doing constant video rendering or anything that will utilize and stress the CPUs frequently, then I'd jut make sure the Mac has good airflow around it and is not butted up against a wall.

I'd also only go this route if you utilize programs like Adobe CC that can use the 12-cores frequently and in tandem.
 

swpmac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2011
28
0
You plan to upgrade from 6 to 12?
Upgrading a 2010 2.4 8 core...
[doublepost=1469372952][/doublepost]
I've upgraded my 2010 Mac Pro to the fastest processors you can get for it, dual six-core 3.46 Ghz Xeons, a while back. Definitely a speed improvement for sure.

It does use more energy and has a higher TDP, so something to keep in mind. But the Mac Pro chassis can handle it easily.

If you plan on doing constant video rendering or anything that will utilize and stress the CPUs frequently, then I'd jut make sure the Mac has good airflow around it and is not butted up against a wall.

I'd also only go this route if you utilize programs like Adobe CC that can use the 12-cores frequently and in tandem.
Not using anything right now that would utilize 12 core. (On PS6 with plans on upgrading to CC soon and going to be getting into video at some point.) Was originally just going to upgrade to a 6 core, but wondered if it would be smarter to go ahead and move to a 12 core for future use. I had read some time back that having the dual processors could actually slow down some programs that were optimized for multi-processor so didn't want to do something that might actually slow down programs - so I guess that is one of my main concerns.
 
Last edited:

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
I see. In this case, I think it really depends, you may simply upgrade to dual X5677 which is very cheap at this moment to enjoy the max 3.46GHz speed. And only upgrade to 12 cores in the future when you really need it. By that time, the hex core CPU will be even cheaper.
 

PowerMike G5

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2005
556
245
New York, NY
Well video can use the cores easily. Premiere Pro, Media Encoder and After Effects all can use the full 12-cores combined with the GPU for entering and encoding/transcoding of video.

It comes down to what processor you are looking to upgrade to.

If you want to keep single processor, you can max out at 3.46Ghz with the 4-core x5677. The X5690 will be 6-core @ 3.46Ghz, which you can get 2 of down the line.
 

prvt.donut

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2008
525
26
Upgrading a 2010 2.4 8 core...

Considering how the x5690 jumped dramatically in price at the start of the year (just before I bought mine), you are much better off getting x5677 CPUs that are basically the same 3.67ghz chips but with 4 cores.

That is of course unless you need as many cores as physically possible.
 

Bubalight

macrumors member
Apr 22, 2015
38
18
One additional positive is you get 8 ram slots with a dual cpu pac pro instead of just 4 on the single slot. This may save you money on ram. if you needed 32gb of ram its a fair bit cheaper to get 8x 4GB sticks then having to buy 4x 8GB of PC3-10600R, you would save even more if you needed 64gb.
 

pat500000

Suspended
Jun 3, 2015
8,523
7,515
Uses more power, generates more heat, etc.
Dual 130W processors are out of spec for the Mac Pro (but it should be fine).
Some tasks might be faster using fewer cores at higher frequency than distributed across greater cores.
Yeah it makes my room hot.
 
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