I'm just torn over whether the upgrade to the 8 core GPU is going to make that much of a difference in the long run. I plan to use the laptop for mostly for word processing, coding and 3d design. The 3d software I use are the ones mentioned in the heading, and I currently use a specced out PC to run them all, but it would be nice to be able to work on the fly if neccessary (hence the M1 Air). I have actually ordered a MPB M1 with 16GB and 256gb storage (£1500)..but am thinking to maybe cancel the order and order the 7GB air model with 16gb ram, 256gb storage and be done with it (and save 300 quid)..any thoughts?
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M1 Air ... 7 core vs 8 (16gb) for Zbrush, 3ds Max, Houdini, Substance Painter and maybe UE4
- Thread starter K_90918
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I would get the Air over the Pro, I did, mainly because I hate the touchbar, and i want it fanless (it's amazing!). And you might want to get more storage. I think 8c/16gb/1TB is probably more future proof, but 512GB would be fine if you don't download iCloud photos library originals to it. For the 7- vs 8-core question, if you do anything graphics intensive the extra core probably will be worth it.
thanks, just trying to figure out how worth it. Someone said that the 8core gpu is similar to the Nvidia 1060..just wondering if this is true.
I think the extra 8GB RAM would serve you more than an 8th GPU core. Just my opinion.
Im going to get the extra 8gb of RAM for sure..maybe the extra GPU core isn't really that big of a deal and 7 cores is fine ? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No it’s not true. It’s more or less comparable to a desktop 1050
just seen a vido whethere someone could hardly tell the difference between the 7 and 8 core version in gaming..it's edging me towards the air
Practical difference between 7 and 8 cores on the already thermally constrained Air is going to be minimal anyway.
very good point. i supose it would make sense if i was to do that thermal mod ive seen some do ith some success it seems..though still seems a bit risky. do you thnk the cpu is more thermally constrained than the GPU in these laptops? (does the pro fan cool both the gpu and the cpu?)
I don't really know how to answer that question, because I am not sure what exactly you are asking. CPU and GPU are located on the same chip, so technically, yes, both of them are being cooled by the same fan. Measurements show that CPU cluster peak energy usage is somewhere around 15-20 watts (in heavy multicore workloads) while the GPU cluster peaks out at around 10 watts. The sustained thermal dissipation capacity of the Air appears to be around 10 watts. I do not know how Apple power management prioritizes components, so I don't know what will be throttled "first" so to speak. I assume there is some sort of dynamic balancing going on.
This is not true, just look at M1 MBA Cinebench runs for 10 or 30 minutes, such thread is somewhere here. 7-core and 8-core M1 variants differ in these tests significantly ~600-700 points. I own M1 MBA 7-core and i can say two things:
- It can get really hot and throttles very fast
- I'd advise against getting it for anything demanding (especially if it involves GPU), every single time i use it in such way, it gets REALLY hot, and throttling is noticeable after 3-5 minutes.
If OP is interested i can provide some benchmarks for Houdini and UE4.
Mentioned Macrumors thread
I went as low as 6198 Points on 30 minute Cinebench R23 test... in February... winter. Please, don't assume that "1-core doesn't make much difference" if you don't have experience with both variants. There might be some chip lottery involved but it seems that 7-core versions are often the worst units.
MBA M1 / 7-core GPU / 16GB memory
The MB Air is a powerful system. In many areas, it outperforms my 16 MBP. But, it is a Gen 1 Apple Silicon system. So I think it is not worth overspending on M1 or Air or MBP system. New systems will be here laters this year and next year that will surpass the current systems.