More cores or more CPUs?

[skitzodancer]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to buy a Mac Pro, unfortunately it will be a second hand one as I don't have deep pockets.

I'm looking on ebay and there are some good deals there but I'm not sure what to get. I'm only using it for streaming tv and a bit of music production.

Looking on eBay there are some with single CPUs and some with dual CPUs. Would there be any advantage to getting a older two dual core Xeon CPU machine or get a new quad core machine ?

 

[Jake0604]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to buy a Mac Pro, unfortunately it will be a second hand one as I don't have deep pockets.

I'm looking on ebay and there are some good deals there but I'm not sure what to get. I'm only using it for streaming tv and a bit of music production.

Looking on eBay there are some with single CPUs and some with dual CPUs. Would there be any advantage to getting a older two dual core Xeon CPU machine or get a new quad core machine ?

A single cpu Quad-core system would be faster than a 2xDual-core Cpu system

 

[ChristianVirtual]

You can check on Geekbench for a benchmark based comparison.
But what you described I also would go with newer quad-core.
Depends on what you need for you might upgrade RAM and graphic card.

What will be the main job for the Pro ?

 

[MisterKeeks]

A single cpu Quad-core system would be faster than a 2xDual-core Cpu system

Yes, because of differences in the processor communication, a dual-core would be faster, though it's more about the generation of processor, which only Geekbench can explain.

 

[skitzodancer]

The main job of it will be to stream media trough plex media server, however I would be doing some photo editing and music production as well.


I have a MacBook Pro which I use at the moment and its got a intel core 2 duo at 2.8ghz, so a quad core will be a big bump up in speed.

----------

Infact
I've just bought a dual quad core Xeon mac with 14gb of ram.

It's the 2008 model but its only £1000.

BARGAIN!

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Congrats and enjoy !

 

[SuperCyborg]

A single cpu Quad-core system would be faster than a 2xDual-core Cpu system

False.
The dual CPU has higher memory speed because it has twice as many memory channels.

 

[GermanyChris]

If it's mainly for plex why are you trying to buy a Mac Pro??

I'd say unless the music production is a paying gig then a mini or a broken MBP running in clamshell is enough to stream to the TV.

Am I missing something?

 

[skitzodancer]

If it's mainly for plex why are you trying to buy a Mac Pro??

I'd say unless the music production is a paying gig then a mini or a broken MBP running in clamshell is enough to stream to the TV.

Am I missing something?

I bought the Mac Pro because of the price and expansion capabilities, with my MacBook I have three external hard drives, so I can make this all internal.

Also for £1000 I can't complain, it would cost me at least that to buy a 20" iMac with lower spec. I know I could buy a Mac mini bit I don't like it, I had one and it broke down due to over heating (admittedly a few generations ago) but I lost faith in the product design... Plus I use the disc drive.

Anyway I've bought it now and it will be here by the end of the week

Edit;

I do do a lot of music production, I do various remix work and also a little bit of photoshop, also now I have a valid reason for it.... A Christmas present for ME!

 

[derbothaus]

False.
The dual CPU has higher memory speed because it has twice as many memory channels.

Which makes little difference when your memory speed and processor are faster on the new boxes anyway. A new Quad will be much faster. Maybe a toss up on a 2006 Dual 3GHz vs a base Quad 2.8GHz 2008 but here are the Geekbench 32-bit averages. 64-bit higher numbers but also scales across the board.

2006:
Dual 2GHz: 3714
Dual 2.66GHz: 4833
Dual 3GHz: 5357

2008:
Quad 2.8GHz: 5320 to 8565 for Dual 3.2GHz.

2009+:
Base Quad 2.66GHz: 8144 to 15000 for Dual 2.93GHz

2010:
Base 2.8GHz: 8839 to 21630 for Dual Hex 2.93GHz.

2012: Who cares?

 

[SuperCyborg]

2012: Who cares?

Professionals.

 

[derbothaus]

Professionals.

Funny.