Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

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73grad
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:15 pm

Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by 73grad » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:26 pm

Hi!
I have so much problems with my macbook pro 2015 i7, 16gb. The CPU Load is horrible.
So I want to buy a new machine.

Would a mac pro with 6 core, 32gb Ram be a better choice?
Or are 8 cores much better and necessary?

p.s.: I have already set the sample rate to 512 and pimped everything that was possible in Live. But the CPU is always under full load.

Would the 6 core mac pro make a huge difference and be much faster?

Artcutech
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:56 pm

Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by Artcutech » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:33 pm

i just bought the new i9 6 core 32 gb of ram MBP and tested it with one of my pre bounce maxed out midi arrangements and the fan came on almost immediately and ram was really getting eaten up, although it held up i just couldn't imagine that fan always being on and how the thing would respond if i decided to start adding stuff. So i'm in the process of returning it and getting the iMac pro 8 core 64 gb of ram

73grad
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:15 pm

Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by 73grad » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:44 pm

Thanks for your fast reply!
Would a 6 core mac pro be better than my macbook or do I need 8 cores? Cause I can get a 6 core mac pro with 32 gb RAM and 512 gb ssd really cheap.

Stromkraft
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by Stromkraft » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:10 pm

73grad wrote:6 core mac pro with 32 gb RAM and 512 gb ssd really cheap.
Specifically which Mac Pro? Whichever it is, it's technology from 2013 at the latest. Next year there will be new (likely quite expensive) Mac Pro models.

I'm slowly building a Hackintosh instead. Which is not cheap actually, but it's current technology so…
Make some music!

v00d00ppl
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by v00d00ppl » Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:16 pm

If you can find an 8 core mac pro (trash can) you should be more than good. If you are mac pro shopping try to get a 6 or 8 core model because each core can do better processing for each track.

I use a base model iMac Pro with 8 cores and my CPU doesn't really move mean using live 10.0.2

It took me 54 instances of reaktor 6 and 2 drum rack tracks to hit 51% system usage on the iMac Pro in system resources and the fan did not kick on at all. On my 2014 MBP i7 the fan can kick on at 25%.

The shocking thing is performance didn't improve much more on maschine 2.7.

The performance was better on cubase pro 9.5 for bouncing my mix. I ran a 24 track mixdown session and it took 1.5 minutes to bounce a 3 minute song. This is where you will see a big performance leap the off line bounce.
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diegux
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by diegux » Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:02 am

Hi guys, just my 2 cents.
I really think all our MacBook Pro fan problems are graphic related rather than processor/multi-core related.
There are lots of posts about it and even though they did some fixes (forcing Live to use internal card only, which doesn’t work right) trying to mix a +20% cpu session in a MacBook Pro is almost impossible due to fan noise.
I hope they can fix it soon and also give any statement about this issue.

scheffkoch
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by scheffkoch » Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:28 am

...are you talking about the old or the latest mbp???...my late 2016 (2.9 i7) runs perfectly fine...even when the fans turn on i'm not able to hear them (only when i put my ear very close to the chassis)...
macbook pro m1pro, macos monterey, rme multiface via sonnet echo express se I, push 2, faderfox mx12, xone:k2

scheffkoch
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by scheffkoch » Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:32 am

...btw: it's recommended to switch off all power saving features for best performance, meaning when i do music stuff i even force the computer to use the dedicated graphic card only (as recommended by native instruments)...
macbook pro m1pro, macos monterey, rme multiface via sonnet echo express se I, push 2, faderfox mx12, xone:k2

Stromkraft
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by Stromkraft » Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:24 pm

diegux wrote: trying to mix a +20% cpu session in a MacBook Pro is almost impossible due to fan noise.
You mean it never occurred to you to use external controls (track pad, keyboard and display and put the machine way to the side on a cooler stand?
Make some music!

[jur]
Site Admin
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by [jur] » Thu Jul 19, 2018 9:36 pm

You should definitely get in touch with support@ableton.com
Running in such issues with this kind of machine doesn’t sound right.
I’m still using a 2011 mpb and can run huge sessions without much anything else annoying than fan noise.
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8E
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by 8E » Thu Jul 19, 2018 11:54 pm

Artcutech wrote:i just bought the new i9 6 core 32 gb of ram MBP and tested it with one of my pre bounce maxed out midi arrangements and the fan came on almost immediately and ram was really getting eaten up, although it held up i just couldn't imagine that fan always being on and how the thing would respond if i decided to start adding stuff. So i'm in the process of returning it and getting the iMac pro 8 core 64 gb of ram
I have warned you. Exactly that I have described in my post a week ago.
Get a powerful PC.
I have 3 Macs, if they (Apple) don't change their philosophy, these will be my last.
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8E
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by 8E » Thu Jul 19, 2018 11:57 pm

73grad wrote:Hi!
I have so much problems with my macbook pro 2015 i7, 16gb. The CPU Load is horrible.
So I want to buy a new machine.

Would a mac pro with 6 core, 32gb Ram be a better choice?
Or are 8 cores much better and necessary?

p.s.: I have already set the sample rate to 512 and pimped everything that was possible in Live. But the CPU is always under full load.

Would the 6 core mac pro make a huge difference and be much faster?
What is CPU load and for what project?
MacOS Mojave MacBook Pro (15", Mid 2015), 2,5 GHz i7, 16GB RAM
Live Suite 10-latest + Push 1
U-PHORIA UMC204HD

Machinesworking
Posts: 11416
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Location: Seattle

Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by Machinesworking » Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:55 am

73grad wrote:Hi!
I have so much problems with my macbook pro 2015 i7, 16gb. The CPU Load is horrible.
So I want to buy a new machine.

Would a mac pro with 6 core, 32gb Ram be a better choice?
Or are 8 cores much better and necessary?

p.s.: I have already set the sample rate to 512 and pimped everything that was possible in Live. But the CPU is always under full load.

Would the 6 core mac pro make a huge difference and be much faster?
Two different things make a difference. CPU load can be a problem for people using heavy plug ins on one track, most audio applications including Live do not use multiple cores on one track, one cpu per track. If you open up Activity monitor/ CPU History and you and only see spiking on one CPU (2cores out of 8), then what you want to get is a higher CPU per core machine.

You mentioned all specs but actual processor speed, Live is a pig, no doubt, the faster the machine the better. i7 or up over i5, look at Geekbench before buying, some machines specced out well on paper perform badly and visa versa.
This chart in Multi core and single core results is waaaaay more accurate than the resident Live 9 Test thread. You can't judge the power of a computer by what an application like Live "thinks" the CPU is at, a real test of a machines power is a to failure test, this allows for random variations in what Live thinks is left CPU wise, which can be horribly off and often is. Barring that Geekbench is 100% accurate in my experience.
https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

To illustrate this, I have two older macs, a cheesegrater 09 Mac Pro at 3.34ghz 2x6 cpus, and an 2012 MacBook pro i7 2.7 four cpu.
In almost every way the Pro trashes the MacBook, but on a single track the MacBook is about 25% better, newer chip etc. Now doing huge projects with dozens of tracks and plug ins, the Mac Pro is roughly 2 1/2 X faster.

Personally if all you use is Live I would go more for higher individual CPU speed, since it's easy in Live to overload a single track.

Artcutech
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:56 pm

Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by Artcutech » Sat Jul 21, 2018 11:46 pm

Machinesworking wrote:
73grad wrote:Hi!
I have so much problems with my macbook pro 2015 i7, 16gb. The CPU Load is horrible.
So I want to buy a new machine.

Would a mac pro with 6 core, 32gb Ram be a better choice?
Or are 8 cores much better and necessary?

p.s.: I have already set the sample rate to 512 and pimped everything that was possible in Live. But the CPU is always under full load.

Would the 6 core mac pro make a huge difference and be much faster?
Two different things make a difference. CPU load can be a problem for people using heavy plug ins on one track, most audio applications including Live do not use multiple cores on one track, one cpu per track. If you open up Activity monitor/ CPU History and you and only see spiking on one CPU (2cores out of 8), then what you want to get is a higher CPU per core machine.

You mentioned all specs but actual processor speed, Live is a pig, no doubt, the faster the machine the better. i7 or up over i5, look at Geekbench before buying, some machines specced out well on paper perform badly and visa versa.
This chart in Multi core and single core results is waaaaay more accurate than the resident Live 9 Test thread. You can't judge the power of a computer by what an application like Live "thinks" the CPU is at, a real test of a machines power is a to failure test, this allows for random variations in what Live thinks is left CPU wise, which can be horribly off and often is. Barring that Geekbench is 100% accurate in my experience.
https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

To illustrate this, I have two older macs, a cheesegrater 09 Mac Pro at 3.34ghz 2x6 cpus, and an 2012 MacBook pro i7 2.7 four cpu.
In almost every way the Pro trashes the MacBook, but on a single track the MacBook is about 25% better, newer chip etc. Now doing huge projects with dozens of tracks and plug ins, the Mac Pro is roughly 2 1/2 X faster.

Personally if all you use is Live I would go more for higher individual CPU speed, since it's easy in Live to overload a single track.
the iMac pro i just bought, it's 8-core(64 gb ram) and scores lower than some of these 4 core 2017 iMac's in the single core department, i just returned the new maxed out MBP i9 which was a huge fail as far as over heating and dealing with high sustain loads and it scores higher in the single core department as well.

I get what your saying about heavy plugs on single tracks and live not being able to utilize multi-core in that sense but with 8 cores and 64 gb of ram there should be no problems, i'll just have to wait and see when it comes in how it'll perform, i'm sure it'll do fine as others on here have mentioned their's holding up

fishmonkey
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Re: Mac Pro vs Macbook Pro

Post by fishmonkey » Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:11 am

the terminology is a bit confused in some of this thread. a "CPU" is a single discrete physical processor chip. most CPU chips also have multiple physical cores inside them. to confuse things further, most CPU cores also have multiple virtual cores (what Intel calls Hyperthreading).

as far as Macs go, only Mac Pros have ever had multiple CPUs. all iMacs and MacBooks have had single CPU chips, and all current models have multiple cores.

the new 15" MBPs have a single CPU chip with 6 cores, each with 2 virtual cores...

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