Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Anyone else disappointed by the 2.26ghz 8 core Nehalem Mac Pro's performance?

I blew it

I waited forever to get the '09 Mac Pro. Finally got it last Friday. Now my problems are legion.

- Does not work well with Pro Tools. Tons of drop outs, slow rendering. Saw a long thread on this, I guess a lot of other people are having same problem
- No Firewire 400 port. Tried using a converter to import DV footage, tons of drop frames. I was naive to believe a converter would work flawlessly
- Benchmark scores basically the same as '08 model.
- spent more $$$ than I would have on '08, + had to buy a converter for my ACD 20"

Regretful

RA
 
RhymeAnimal said:
I waited forever to get the '09 Mac Pro. Finally got it last Friday. Now my problems are legion.

- Does not work well with Pro Tools. Tons of drop outs, slow rendering. Saw a long thread on this, I guess a lot of other people are having same problem
- No Firewire 400 port. Tried using a converter to import DV footage, tons of drop frames. I was naive to believe a converter would work flawlessly
- Benchmark scores basically the same as '08 model.
- spent more $$$ than I would have on '08, + had to buy a converter for my ACD 20"

Regretful

RA
Click to expand...

Maybe you should return it and get the 2.8GHz 8 core model, see if they have it for $1899 with a business account.
 
RhymeAnimal said:
I waited forever to get the '09 Mac Pro. Finally got it last Friday. Now my problems are legion.

- Does not work well with Pro Tools. Tons of drop outs, slow rendering. Saw a long thread on this, I guess a lot of other people are having same problem
- No Firewire 400 port. Tried using a converter to import DV footage, tons of drop frames. I was naive to believe a converter would work flawlessly
- Benchmark scores basically the same as '08 model.
- spent more $$$ than I would have on '08, + had to buy a converter for my ACD 20"

Regretful

RA
Click to expand...

That sucks, I've just heard about the Pro Tools problem.

With problems like these I do wish that Apple would make it easier to get a hold of their older stock, at least for a reasonable period after new hardware has been released, the 08 Mac Pros seem somewhat difficult (near impossible) to get a hold of in the UK.

BTW, not to rub salt in the wounds, but you should never really upgrade software or hardware until digidesign tells you it's safe, they are buggers for getting Pro Tools to run on newer stuff.

I'd get a refund and grab a refurb if you can, if all else fails just kick up a good stink and complain till they have no choice ;)
 
Ploki said:
waw, i keep them at original speed, and after a year i have probably 90% less dust.
however we do have brick walls and less humid atmosphere. :D

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7287708/
and i still have ambient temp less :p

however i do have too little ram. :S much less than you anyway.
Click to expand...

RAM didn't add any extra heat into my system over the 4x1GB I had in previously. But that's not bad at all!!! You're 25C on the procs and around 20C on the drives. If I got that with the standard fan speed I would have just left it alone! On mine without the increased fan speed the drives were hitting 35 and 40 just browsing the web and the procs were higher but I forget what - not dangerous. 40C for drives is though! Dangerous I mean. Life shortening. :p So I added in the smcFanControl.

Also I dunno about the 2008 Mac Pros but the ones from 2006 and 2007 never increase the fan speed on their own as I think they should. They stay at that ~500 RPM regardless of any of the temperatures. I made a huge stink about it in the Apple Developer forums and they released a new SMC which they said was supposed to address the problem but for me at least nothing has changed. I'm kewl with smcFanControl though - even if I do have to turn the air-compressor hose on my system every 8 months or so. :)
 
RhymeAnimal said:
I waited forever to get the '09 Mac Pro. Finally got it last Friday. Now my problems are legion.

- Does not work well with Pro Tools. Tons of drop outs, slow rendering. Saw a long thread on this, I guess a lot of other people are having same problem
- No Firewire 400 port. Tried using a converter to import DV footage, tons of drop frames. I was naive to believe a converter would work flawlessly
- Benchmark scores basically the same as '08 model.
- spent more $$$ than I would have on '08, + had to buy a converter for my ACD 20"

Regretful

RA
Click to expand...

That sucks. I picked up a 2.8 Octo+8GB RAM+8800GT+1TB HDD+23" ACD for $1900 last week off of Craigslist. Return that thing and get an early 2008 Mac Pro.
 
Can someone add a 2009 MacBook Pro 2.93?

Tesselator said:
Here's the Cinebench10 results.

Cinebench10_Numbers.jpg



Here's all of the base prices including the 2009 models just released:

2006
Mac Pro Quad 2.0GHz $2,199 NEW *
Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz $2,499 NEW *
Mac Pro Quad 3.0GHz $3,299 NEW *

2007
Mac Pro Quad 2.0GHz $2,199 *
Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz $2,499 *
Mac Pro Quad 3.0GHz $3,299 *
Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz $3,997 NEW *

2008
Mac Pro Quad 2.8GHz (2008) $2,299 NEW
Mac Pro 8-core 2.8GHz (2008) $2,799 NEW *
Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz (2008) $3,599 NEW
Mac Pro 8-core 3.2GHz (2008) $4,399 NEW *

2009
Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz $2,499 NEW *
Mac Pro Quad 2.93GHz $2,999 NEW *
Mac Pro 8-core 2.26GHz $3,299 NEW *
Mac Pro 8-core 2.66GHz $4,699 NEW *
Mac Pro 8-core 2.93GHz $5,899 NEW *​

* = Appears in the above benchmarks.​




Intel Processor Pricing (supplied by commander.dada)
  • 2008 Models:
    1 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 ($2299 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 x 2 = $1594 ($2699 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 3.00GHz X5472 Harptertown: $958 x 2 = $1914 ($3599 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 3.20GHz X5482 Harpertown: $1279 x 2 = $2558 ($4399 overall Mac Pro price)

  • 2009 Models:
    1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
    1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
    2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)

Intel's price lists:
.
Click to expand...

Or at least the 2.8?
 
My benchmarks

Mac Pro Early 2009 Quad 2.66 (NOT OCTO), Radeon 4870, 8 GB ram

Cinebench: 3605 (1 CPU) , 14497 (x cpu), Multiprocessor speedup - 4.02

Geekbench 32:
Section Description Score Geekbench Score
Geekbench 2.1.2 for Mac OS X x86 (32-bit)
Integer Processor integer performance 6884 8318
Floating Point Processor floating point performance 13277
Memory Memory performance 4323
Stream Memory bandwidth performance 3977

Xbench unexpectedbly quits when doing the Text graphics portion.
Xbench without gaphics scores 193.02
(Details at: http://db.xbench.com/merge.xhtml?doc1=354188&doc2=1&setCookie=true)
 
RhymeAnimal said:
I waited forever to get the '09 Mac Pro. Finally got it last Friday. Now my problems are legion.

- Does not work well with Pro Tools. Tons of drop outs, slow rendering.
RA
Click to expand...

Which version of PT are you running? I'm kinda deciding on which Mac Pro to get now.
 
tomhayes said:
My benchmarks

Mac Pro Early 2009 Quad 2.66 (NOT OCTO), Radeon 4870, 8 GB ram

Cinebench: 3605 (1 CPU) , 14497 (x cpu), Multiprocessor speedup - 4.02

Geekbench 32:
Section Description Score Geekbench Score
Geekbench 2.1.2 for Mac OS X x86 (32-bit)
Integer Processor integer performance 6884 8318
Floating Point Processor floating point performance 13277
Memory Memory performance 4323
Stream Memory bandwidth performance 3977

Xbench unexpectedbly quits when doing the Text graphics portion.
Xbench without gaphics scores 193.02
(Details at: http://db.xbench.com/merge.xhtml?doc1=354188&doc2=1&setCookie=true)
Click to expand...

Even on my 2x2.8ghz Octo with a flashed 4870, XBench sometimes quits running the text graphics option. But not every time. Have you tried running it a few times?

I'm guessing maybe a driver issue then, with the 4870.
 
Tesselator said:
2008 Models:
1 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 ($2299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 x 2 = $1594 ($2699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.00GHz X5472 Harptertown: $958 x 2 = $1914 ($3599 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.20GHz X5482 Harpertown: $1279 x 2 = $2558 ($4399 overall Mac Pro price)


[*]2009 Models:
1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)[/list]
.
Click to expand...

For me, these figures sum up everything. The performance of the 09 MPs is exactly what it should be, it's the pricing & the price/performance ratio that's not.

Maybe it's just that the '08 MPs offered such freakishly good value for money and that precedent has not been extended to the new models.
 
alanlindsay said:
For me, these figures sum up everything. The performance of the 09 MPs is exactly what it should be, it's the pricing & the price/performance ratio that's not.

Maybe it's just that the '08 MPs offered such freakishly good value for money and that precedent has not been extended to the new models.
Click to expand...

No, you're right... the 08's weren't freakish! The 09's are whacked price-wise. I'm all for starting up a boycott of them they're so off. I dunno about others tho...
 
Tesselator said:
No, you're right... the 08's weren't freakish! The 09's are whacked price-wise. I'm all for starting up a boycott of them they're so off. I dunno about others tho...
Click to expand...

Sorry I just never heard that term before! I just find it funny, lol.

I heard its wack but whacked a mole or whacked as in italian hit?.. :D
 
solved

'09 Mac Pro = returned
'08 2.8- 8 core, 8 gbs of ram purchased in its place. It's fantastic.

Pro Tools works like a dream, and I can't believe how fast compressor has been rendering my edits for work.

I'm sure the Nehalem mac pro's will be rad in a year or so w/ the next update. But for now, I really can't recommend them. I learned a good lesson here. A bird in the bush is worth two in the tree.
 
jjahshik32 said:
Sorry I just never heard that term before! I just find it funny, lol.

I heard its wack but whacked a mole or whacked as in italian hit?.. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah... Whacked. See definition #2 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whacked

As in:
  1. Apple must be going bonkers if they think they can pull sh__ like this and people will swallow it.
  2. I'm not so stupid as to go for such an insanely obvious bait & switch.
  3. Is Apple really crazy enough to think we will pay $2000 more for an average 10% speed increase when a 10%~50% increase is supposed the be the whole idea behind any new line upgrade?
  4. Apple has now officially lost their marbles.
  5. Whacked!
:D

.
 
RhymeAnimal said:
'09 Mac Pro = returned
'08 2.8- 8 core, 8 gbs of ram purchased in its place. It's fantastic.

Pro Tools works like a dream, and I can't believe how fast compressor has been rendering my edits for work.

I'm sure the Nehalem mac pro's will be rad in a year or so w/ the next update. But for now, I really can't recommend them. I learned a good lesson here. A bird in the bush is worth two in the tree.
Click to expand...
I just got a 2.8 to use with Logic. Works like a dream. Good luck.
 
Tesselator said:
Yeah... Whacked. See definition #2 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whacked

As in:
  1. Apple must be going bonkers if they think they can pull sh__ like this and people will swallow it.
  2. I'm not so stupid as to go for such an insanely obvious bait & switch.
  3. Is Apple really crazy enough to think we will pay $2000 more for an average 10% speed increase when a 10%~50% increase is supposed the be the whole idea behind any new line upgrade?
  4. Apple has now officially lost their marbles.
  5. Whacked!
:D

.
Click to expand...
i love your grammar :D

Johns12 said:
I just got a 2.8 to use with Logic. Works like a dream. Good luck.
Click to expand...

same (ab)user here. ;) the only thing holding me back is HDD ... :S
 
Intel Processor Pricing (supplied by commander.dada)

* 2008 Models:
1 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 ($2299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 x 2 = $1594 ($2699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.00GHz X5472 Harptertown: $958 x 2 = $1914 ($3599 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.20GHz X5482 Harpertown: $1279 x 2 = $2558 ($4399 overall Mac Pro price)

* 2009 Models:
1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)


This is nuts, seriously how can they justify this additional premium?

I'm going to try and get the 2.8 for $1899.
 
davewolfs said:
This is nuts, seriously how can they justify this additional premium?

I'm going to try and get the 2.8 for $1899.
Click to expand...

Especially when you take the $3,200 + $250(applecare) + $218 (3rd party ram) + $160 (2nd hard drive) - real price around $3,828 (and add tax for your state).

Oh and if you want a better card than a re-branded 9500 which is a re-branded 8600 (I may be wrong) +$200 for the ATI 4870 upgrade now = $4,028. Yikes.
 
davewolfs said:
Intel Processor Pricing (supplied by commander.dada)

* 2008 Models:
1 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 ($2299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 x 2 = $1594 ($2699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.00GHz X5472 Harptertown: $958 x 2 = $1914 ($3599 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.20GHz X5482 Harpertown: $1279 x 2 = $2558 ($4399 overall Mac Pro price)

* 2009 Models:
1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)


This is nuts, seriously how can they justify this additional premium?

I'm going to try and get the 2.8 for $1899.
Click to expand...

When you're in the only game in town on a given platform and have a very vocal portion of your userbase that thinks any action you take is above scrutiny that will attack and try to drive off anyone with concerns, you can pretty much do whatever you want.
 
Is the price reasonable?

Tesselator said:
[*]2009 Models:
1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)[/list]
Click to expand...

I was as mad as many of the people here after seeing the new Mac Pro, and was looking for a thread to vent on. After looking at the price of these new Intel chips on Wikipedia, however, it appears that Mac's pricing is pretty much on with what these chips are said to cost. The server chips needed to make a duel chip setup (Gainestown), are EXPEN$IVE.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not impressed with the new Mac Pro. The eight core base model does not appear to be faster. And the lack of an optional Blue Ray burner makes me think that Final Cut Studio 3 will not support Blue Ray. But the high price and lackluster performance may be more a problem with Intel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Nehalem_(microarchitecture)
 
Chris7 said:
I was as mad as many of the people here after seeing the new Mac Pro, and was looking for a thread to vent on. After looking at the price of these new Intel chips on Wikipedia, however, it appears that Mac's pricing is pretty much on with what these chips are said to cost. The server chips needed to make a duel chip setup (Gainestown), are EXPEN$IVE.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not impressed with the new Mac Pro. The eight core base model does not appear to be faster. And the lack of an optional Blue Ray burner makes me think that Final Cut Studio 3 will not support Blue Ray. But the high price and lackluster performance may be more a problem with Intel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Nehalem_(microarchitecture)
Click to expand...

Not trying to be rude but perhaps your missing the numbers here. There is no way that the dual socket motherboard + perhaps larger PSU justifies $1000 premium over a system that had the same CPU cost. I still want one. At most they should have had the same pricing as the 08 models.

* 2008 Models:
1 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 ($2299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.80GHz E5462 Harpertown: $797 x 2 = $1594 ($2699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.00GHz X5472 Harptertown: $958 x 2 = $1914 ($3599 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 3.20GHz X5482 Harpertown: $1279 x 2 = $2558 ($4399 overall Mac Pro price)

* 2009 Models:
1 x 2.66GHz W3520 Bloomfield: $284 ($2499 overall Mac Pro price)
1 x 2.93GHz W3540 Bloomfield: $562 ($2999 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.26GHz E5520 Gainestown: $373 x 2 = $746 ($3299 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.66GHz X5550 Gainestown: $958 x 2 = $1916 ($4699 overall Mac Pro price)
2 x 2.93GHz X5570 Gainestown: $1386 x 2 = $2772 ($5899 overall Mac Pro price)
 
Chris7 said:
I was as mad as many of the people here after seeing the new Mac Pro, and was looking for a thread to vent on. After looking at the price of these new Intel chips on Wikipedia, however, it appears that Mac's pricing is pretty much on with what these chips are said to cost. The server chips needed to make a duel chip setup (Gainestown), are EXPEN$IVE.
Click to expand...

The 2.66GHz processors are the same price as the 3.0GHz 2008 option Apple offered but the whole system costs $1,100 more. The 2.26GHz are half the price of the 2.8GHz processors previously used. They may be expensive compared to desktop processors, but not what Apple have been using for the past two and a half years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back