Will Merom help iMovie & iDVD processing?

[Maxx26]

Both my wife and I use my Quicksilver G4 (2GB/900GB+) for movies, DVD's, and thousands of pictures. Recently I started to work with Final Cut for more advance video editing. My computer is tuned very well, but all of these apps are heavy hitters in the world of processing.

If I move to a MacBook (we both like the idea of having these apps portable) would there be much difference in these apps running on a Core Duo vs. a Merom MBP?

If the difference is slight (10-15% i.e. 30min instead of 35 to burn a DVD) I see no need to wait. If the difference was around 50%, we can wait. I realize that in the next 2-3 all developers will move to 64 bit, which will necessitate a 64 bit machine, but I'll deal with that in the far future.

It would be nice if anyone knows a site that has benchmarks (even though the Merom is brand new)

Thanks, Maxx

 

[eXan]

Well the Merom will likely be around 20 % faster than CoreDuo.

As for 64-bit, dont bother. The only real advantage it gives is the ability to use tons of RAM (4GB+), which is not actual for laptops (assuming you want a laptop) with two RAM slots.

Also don't forget about the HD space limitation on laptops, you should have tons of external HDs to cover your current 900 GBs of storage capacity

 

[thumb]

Well the Merom will likely be around 20 % faster than CoreDuo.

As for 64-bit, dont bother. The only real advantage it gives is the ability to use tons of RAM (4GB+), which is not actual for laptops (assuming you want a laptop) with two RAM slots.

Also don't forget about the HD space limitation on laptops, you should have tons of external HDs to cover your current 900 GBs of storage capacity

why couldnt you put 2 2GB sticks in?

 

[robbieduncan]

That would only take you to 4Gb which is the theoretical 32-bit ceiling. If you want more than 4Gb you need to be in 64-bit land.

 

[eXan]

why couldnt you put 2 2GB sticks in?

What robbieduncan said + 2 gig sticks are very expensive these days.

 

[daveL]

That would only take you to 4Gb which is the theoretical 32-bit ceiling. If you want more than 4Gb you need to be in 64-bit land.

The 4 GB limit you are referring to is *per process*, not all processes (programs) running at any particular moment. If you want Photoshop to access more than 4 GB, then yes, you need to be 64 bit. However, you can have a large number of processes using, say 256 MB, that exceed the 4 GB total, without being "in 64 bit land".

Also, apps that do a lot of 64 bit integer math will benefit (think pixels).

 

[SC68Cal]

I thought I read somewhere the MacBook did not meet sys reqs for Final Cut? Or maybe I read that the next version of Final Cut won't support MacBooks.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303782