I've been reading the reviews of the nMP, most of which are for the 8 & 12 core models, and trying to find some objective information on the 4-core model.
It seems that several benchmarks don't show any significant difference between the 4-core nMP and the top-spec'd iMacs & rMBPs, and in many cases single threaded performance on the nMP is somewhat less than the consumer models.
I have a genuine question: for what use cases is the 4-core nMP a good choice?
To my mind the following features might be relevant differentiators:
1) Dual GPUs - at present only a limited amount of software can use the GPUs, but they may become more relevant in the future.
2) Faster / bigger / more reliable memory - higher clock, 4 memory channels, ECC, up to 64GB: but how much difference does this make in the real world compared to DDR3-1600 if you need 32GB or less?
3) More Internal & external connectivity - larger number of CPU PCIe lanes, 3 TB2 channels: again, how much difference does this make if you only have a couple of external disks?
4) Better thermal behaviour: higher processor TDP should allow turbo speed to be maintained for longer. Cooler, quieter machine.
The above may be important for some use cases, but what are they?
Where would the 4-core nMP begin to show significant performance / usability improvements over an i7-4770 iMac?
The nMP looks like a beautifully engineered computer, but it's considerably more expensive than a maxed out iMac and you don't even get a screen, keyboard & mouse.
I'm trying to work out its value proposition. Any ideas?
It seems that several benchmarks don't show any significant difference between the 4-core nMP and the top-spec'd iMacs & rMBPs, and in many cases single threaded performance on the nMP is somewhat less than the consumer models.
I have a genuine question: for what use cases is the 4-core nMP a good choice?
To my mind the following features might be relevant differentiators:
1) Dual GPUs - at present only a limited amount of software can use the GPUs, but they may become more relevant in the future.
2) Faster / bigger / more reliable memory - higher clock, 4 memory channels, ECC, up to 64GB: but how much difference does this make in the real world compared to DDR3-1600 if you need 32GB or less?
3) More Internal & external connectivity - larger number of CPU PCIe lanes, 3 TB2 channels: again, how much difference does this make if you only have a couple of external disks?
4) Better thermal behaviour: higher processor TDP should allow turbo speed to be maintained for longer. Cooler, quieter machine.
The above may be important for some use cases, but what are they?
Where would the 4-core nMP begin to show significant performance / usability improvements over an i7-4770 iMac?
The nMP looks like a beautifully engineered computer, but it's considerably more expensive than a maxed out iMac and you don't even get a screen, keyboard & mouse.
I'm trying to work out its value proposition. Any ideas?
