Performance on Quad Core Intel MacPro

I don't feel as though I am getting the performance I should from the machine. Rendering on my Final Cut pro (6) seems to take longer. Are there setting I should adjust to take advantage of processors? I am noticing that iStat indicates that not only a portion of the cores are being used during the render process.
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 10 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz

Well, I just did a render with Final Cut Express HD 3.5.1
(can’t speak though about Final Cut Pro 6)
Both, Activity Monitor and iStat, are indicating the use of 8 cores...
(no Hyperthreading and use of 16 virtual cores visible yet...)
Doing a render with Cinema 4...
Activity Monitor shows that all 16 virtual cores are active...
iStat shows only 8 (this might be a limitation of iStat...?)
Regards
Nolan

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MacPro 1,1 vs 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 vs New MacPro

Greetings all,
I have a friend who has a MacPro 1,1 with 4 Gigs of RAM. He has 4 500 gig drives which I have striped and mirrored the drives giving him 1 TB of space. He is an avid photographer and having recently retired he is using up his available space at a rapid rate. He also complains about about speed. He is now running CS5 and Aperture 3. We have been talking about possible solutions. (I have not included the cost of a new backup drive for his off site backup.)
Option 1 - Upgrade the MacPro with 4 2TB drives and 16 gigs ram - $2,000
Option 2 - Buy a 27" iMac with i7 core, 2TB drive, 256 Gig SSD and 16 Gigs of ram - $3,699.00
Option 3 - Buy a 27" iMac with i7 core, 2TB drive, 256 Gig SSD and 16 Gigs of ram - $2,949.00
Option 4 - Buy a new MacPro, Two 2.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 16 gig ram, 4 - 2TB drives striped and mirrored. - $5,299.00
In reality money is not an option but I question putting 5K into a new MacPro. I have been out of the support business for a while now and would greatly appreciate any guidance you guys could provide.
Thanks, Sam

Forget that "0+1" setup. Yes, some people used it, not a good idea, not really supported.
4 x 1GB was minimum.
Apple Store Specials has 2010 4-core 2.8GHz for $2049.
Please dont' consider 2.4GHz 8-core. Poor move.
Apple's SSDs are slow and well, terrible performance.
Your $2000 doesn't add up:
4 x 2TB = $750
4 x 4GB = $650
Leaves you with $240 for a nice 120GB SSD
The hard drives are something that would be needed, and the RAM, no matter what you do.
Also, throw in ATI 5770 upgrade for 1,1, or the 5870 if buying new. So $200.
So yes, even new you would end up spending a bit on RAM and drives, and throw in the cost of upgrading software.
You might want to play with adding 3-5 x 1TB drives and one SSD along with 16GB RAM (depends on work flow) and ATI 5770 for about $1400.
Some have upgraded their processor to 5355s for an 8-core @ 2.66 (and slightly more efficient processor over the ones originally included).
And do replace and break up that frankenstein RAID.

Best graphics card for MacPro 5,1- 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon OS 10.6.8

Hi everyone.
I have a 2011 MacPro 5,1- 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon. 32GB RAM OS 10.6.8 with the stock ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card.
When I output/process/convert video through Quicktime or iMovie or Adobe Premiere or VisualHub (not always, but usually WS multi-pass H264, best quality), it seems to take forever.
Currently (as I type this) outputting a 2 hour movie made of 14 clips of 852x480 30fps 44KHz movies to a 29.97 multi-pass H264 48KHz file with Adobe Premiere CS 5.5.2- is coming up on 10 hours.
I would like to upgrade to a better graphics card with better VRAM and processing power. I realize that being on OS 10.6.8 may create a few problems. I'm willing to upgrade to 10.7 or 10.8 if need be. Though I'd hate to lose the carbon programs that I still use (like VisualHub).
I've heard that nVidia is the way to go, but I'm not sure which card to get. The Quadro FX 4800 looks promising (and expensive).
Anyone have any insight?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Dual or triple boot until you are sure if Lion or ML works.
GTX 570 2.5GB VRAM $320 from MacVidCards is one way to go, even GTX 680 (but that does require 10.8.x)
Nvidia 4000 (I thought I read Nvidia has a 5000 Quadro) not the older 4800. Amazon has Q4K $800.

Is it ok to leave my old photos in Aperature and start with new photos in Lightroom? MacPro with 2 x 2.26 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor, 6 GB memory, 1 TB harddrive.

Is it ok to leave my old photos in Aperature and start with new photos in Lightroom? MacPro with 2 x 2.26 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor, 6 GB memory, 1 TB harddrive?
Or should I transfer them to Lightroom?

That's really a personal preference. Support for Aperture is coming to an
end and you may find yourself unable to get to theses photos in the future
in the case of a HDD crash if you can't get the software to reinstall.
Faced with that prospect, I would probably put it on my list of things to
do when I am feeling really bored and looking for something to amuse myself
with. You can export your Aperture photos in their original format to a
folder on your desktop and then import them into Lightroom. Use the copy
option on the import to save the photos in a new folder within your
Lightroom catalog.

Download requested, but site responds that my computer is not compat. with ML. Is a MacPro 2x3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 16 GB memory. How can this be?!

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Specifically, you must have the following to update to Mountain Lion:
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
Xserve (Early 2009)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
More HERE.

AirDrop on my MacBook Pro but not on my Desktop MacPro (Quad-Core Intel Xeon). Does the desktop not support it?

AirDrop on my MacBook Pro but not on my Desktop MacPro (Quad-Core Intel Xeon). Does the desktop not support it? What gives?

See if your Mac model supports it:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4783
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Can my mid '12 MacPro 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon handle Final Cut Pro X?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 6 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.39f11
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f11
ATI Radeon HD 5770:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0xXXXX
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0160C-180
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.436
Displays: P191W:
Resolution: 1440 x 900 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Macintosh HD:
Available: 829.06 GB (829,058,117,632 bytes)
Capacity: 999.35 GB (999,345,127,424 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: Journaled HFS+
Writable: Yes
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: diskXXX
Physical Drive:
Media Name: WDC WD1001FALS-XXXXXX Media
Medium Type: Rotational
Protocol: SATA
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

Most don't know this...
If your Blue-Ray video is under 30 minutes, you can burn it to DVD disc using a DVD burner. I haven't had any problems playing these discs in a Blue-Ray player. The quality is the same as burning to a Blue-Ray disc.
First I make a disc image and open that in the VLC player to check the quality... after that... burn to disc.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

Late 2011 MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel i7 Vs Latest Release

Hi Guys I own a 2011 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel i7, 8 gigs of ram and 500 SSD. I've a photographer and tether my camera to the computer to shoot. I feel the performance is good and everything is on order. Wondering if upgrading to the latest release if going to see a signifant change in performance. I generally don't edit on my laptop so not sure what the retna display does for me.
Thanks!

Ray Kachatorian wrote:... Wondering if upgrading to the latest release if going to see a signifant change in performance....
(1) On my three 10.9 Macs, upgrading did two very obvious things:
• removed some useful features like the ability to set individual notification audio tones for different chat buddies and collaboration via iChat Theater. (These features are not supported in OS X 10.9's Messages app that replaced iChat.) There may be changes I do not like in other apps, too, but these are two that I noticed.
- and -
• slowed my machines down as compared to OS X 10.8, particularly on booting, opening apps, and other CPU/System interactions. The amount of slowing varied by machine, with my old 13" MBP being nearly unacceptable. My i7 MBP is not nearly so bad, although the the difference is noticeable, perhaps 10% vs almost double boot time on my old 13".
(2) To determine if upgrading will be a problem on your system, I suggest that you:
• make a current Time Machine backup
• configure  > System Preferences... > Time Machine to "OFF"
• upgrade Mac OS
• use your Mac long enough to see if you like the change
(3) If you want to keep the upgrade, turn Time Machine backups back on and continue using the new OS.
(4) If you don't like the upgrade, recover your system from your Time Machine backup.
Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early09) 2.93Ghz OSX 10.9 24" LED Cinema Display
iPad2 iOS 7.1.1 External iSights
MBP 15" i7 (Early'11) OSX 10.9 13" MBP (Mid'09) 2.26GHz OSX 10.9

Fileshare between my Mac Pro Quad Core Intel Xeon (64-bit) & Power Mac 9600

I want to make my Power Macintosh 9600/233 (Mac OS 9) a shared computer with my Mac Pro Quad Core Intel Xeon (64-bit)(Mac OS 10.6.6). I am using a Netopia Model 3346N-VGx DSL Ethernet Managed Switch to network with my Samsung printer and the Mac Book Pro.
I also have a Power PC G4 (Mac OS 10.5.8) connected (via a Ziplinq 48" Retractable Crossover Network Cable) to a Farallon EtherWave 10 Base-T AAUI Transceiver, which in turn is connected to the Netopia, from which I can share files. All of this is ethernet connectivity.
I thought I could connect my 9600 using the same method as for the G4 or by connecting the ethernet cable from the 9600 directly into the Mac Pro Quad Core. However, neither of these methods work.
An additional stumbling block is that I have not used this 9600 for several years and am not sure of its account name. I'm fairly certain of its password. But because I don't have a second monitor for this machine, I can't muddle my way in.
My questions:
1. What might be a network solution to this dilemma?
2. Or, do I need to get another monitor for this computer and leave it un-networked and just transfer files manually?
3. Or, would whatever hard drives are in the 9600 be transferable into the networked G4 or the main Mac Pro? (not sure what they are.)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Oh man, what a dilemma...
1. What might be a network solution to this dilemma?
Without a monitor on the 9600, almost none. At the very least you'll need to configure the server with appropriate network settings for your environment, and that can't be done headless.
You might only need a display for long enough to setup the network, but you'll need one all the same.
Once the network is configured your options are either AFP or FTP, but I'm not even sure the old version of AFP is supported anymore, which means you may need to fire up an FTP client on the 9600 and push the files to your MacPro.
2. Or, do I need to get another monitor for this computer and leave it un-networked and just transfer files manually?
As mentioned above, you're going to need a monitor at the very least to configure the network settings. I'd be inclined to say at that point you might as well copy the files off any way you can and put the 9600 to rest. If you're really, really fortunate and the 9600 has a CD burner I'd probably use that and count myself lucky
3. Or, would whatever hard drives are in the 9600 be transferable into the networked G4 or the main Mac Pro? (not sure what they are.)
The 9600 shipped with SCSI drives, which no current Mac support (at least without a SCSI card), so there's no way to remove the drive from the 9600 and attach it directly to the MacPro.

Mac Pro 3.2 GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeon Running Slow

Hi everyone!
I'm a professional photographer and could use some advise, and thanks for your help in advance!
I have a Mac Pro 3.2 GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 8 gigs of 1066 MHz DDR3 of memory, running on OS 10.9.5, and my main drive for applications is 1TB and has about 420 GB free. I have various other hard drives for storage.
I use Chrome, Lightroom 4, Photoshop CC2014, Blogstomp, Spotify or iTunes, and I have Backblaze Backup running continuously.
When I first got my computer I didn't have any problems, but over the past few months it's been running super slow. I know that LR4 has issues, but I want to make sure that there isn't anything else I need to look into before getting more memory. I mean even Chrome opening up has the beachball.
Thanks!
-Deirdre

etresoft EtreCheck
The output from that, post it, can be useful.
More details on the hardware from it too: amount of memory (24-48GB RAM), any changes or upgrades.
Good tips and advice can be found here, also pro graphics
Macintosh Performance Guide Articles & Reviews
My guess is this is a 5,1 2010-2012. You could use a GTX 680 or later, it has good PCIe (the 2009 is somewhat weaker and crippled by sharing slots 3&4)
A Samsung XP941 512 $525 delivers 1100MB/sec reads and 900MB/sec writes to supercharge your system - one of the best and few such, similar to the same SSD blade used in the nMP 6,1. Lightroom and CS love to be able to load and write scratch, graphic libraries. Bootable. You could use a smaller 256GB $275 for system in slot #3 and one for data and scratch in slot #4 if you wanted to go full out.
You said it was fine originally so maybe something you installed, or an upgrade to the OS or something else that Etrecheck should help show.

Ere are the specs on the Mac I need more power on. Mac Tower Processor 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Memory 6 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512 MB Serial Number H00354XF20G Software OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) Harddive 640 GB SATA

ere are the specs on the Mac I need more power on.
Mac Tower
Processor 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 6 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512 MB
Serial Number H00354XF20G
Software OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)
Harddive 640 GB
SATA Disk
(2) Harddrives 1 TB
SATA Disk
RAM 6 slots total -- 6 are filled with 1GB
(3) UAD Quad cards installed
I use this computer stictly for audio recording.
Pro Tools 10.3.7
Interface Apollo 16
Pro Tools is curretnly not compatible with Maverick. Also, I believe that Pro Tools 10 only allows 4GB ram to be utilized (not sure )
I know Pro Tools 11 allows more, but not sure how much more. Also not sure if the upgrade to Pro Tools 11 I will have to purchase all new plug ins or if my existing ones will continue to work in it.
The platform changes from 32 bit to 64 with the upgrade to 11
If it is as simple as adding more ram, what mode-part #l would you recomeend. Can the processor be upgraded also ?
The new tube like Macs are non compatible with UAD Cards. Those cards a must my sessions

You can use Activity Monitor to check if apps run as 32 or 64 bit - simply look at the "Kind" column (you may need to select it under View -> Columns) and see if the app in question is listed as "Intel" i.e. 32 bit or as "Intel (64 bit)".
While in Activity Monitor you can also check if Pro Tools is close to the 3-4 GB limit of a 32 bit app - if you aren't you will probably not benefit from more RAM.
Your MacPro (it appears to be a Early 2009 model) should have come with a small booklet showing how to install RAM and what kind of RAM that you need. Any RAM that fulfills the requirements should work but your safest choice is probably to buy from a retailer/online store that supports Macs as they will usually know what kind of RAM you need for your mac model.
Upgrading the CPUs should be possible, but I haven't seen Apple document how to do this, so you will probably have to google around a bit to find instructions and CPU part numbers.
Your choice of CPUs will also be limited by the motherboard and CPU socket so you may be limited to faster version of your current CPU chip and some slightly newer versions.
Going from your current CPU to the fastest version included in the 2009 MacPros would be going from 2.26 GHz to 2.93 GHz. This would only give a modest 30% speed boost. Using newer and highly clocked CPUs might boost this somewhat more maybe to 50% ?

Hi, I am going to buy a new iMac desktop. I am going for the 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 16 GB RAM and 2TB ATA Drive. I want to know whether I should go for the dual drives option i.e including the 256 GB SSD. I do a lot of 'heavy' media work. Brian

Hi, I am going to buy a new iMac desktop. I am going for the 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 16 GB RAM and 2TB ATA Drive. I want to know whether I should go for the dual drives option i.e including the 256 GB SSD. I do a lot of 'heavy' media work.

by looking at the specs the laptop is better but if your not a gamer or graphics designer then you most likly wont notice a difference in the performance at all so with that said a few downsides
the processor is i5 the i7 processor is the better processor the graphics card has half the dedicated memory that the laptop has and the hdd compared to the solid state is not much of a difference unless you wanna move your computer all the time you wont need a solid state drive
but like i said before if your not a gamer or graphics designer on your computer you will not notice the difference most likely

2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel core i7 WILL IT WORK WITH FCP?

I am planning on purchasing the new IMAC 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel core i7 27" screen for work with FCP. The requirements to install FCP state in relevent part:
ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel Graphics processors not supported).
Does this mean that the 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel core i7 27" screen will NOT OPERATE FCP. I know that the Quad-Core Intel i7 is an upgrade for the system should I stay with the basic NVIDIA graphics processor?

I understand there is a difference between the "graphics cards" and the Processor and Memory?
Graphics Cards:
27-inch model with dual-core processor, one of the following:
ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
27-inch model with quad-core processor:
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
I am going to purchase the quad-core processor which will come with the ATI Radeon HD 4850 processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
The Processor and memory according to Apple Specs are as follows:
27-inch models only, one of the following:
2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores
I would like to purchase the 2.8GHz quad-core Intel core i7 processor
This is where my concern is when FCP says (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)!

Difference between the 2.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 the 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 - Like $250.00 worth.. what re the spec differences

I am sorry if this is the same question: BUT Is there a big difference between the 2.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 the 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 - Like $250.00 worth.. what re the spec differences and how does that effect edit performance.

eww sorry did not see your post..... Just small business videos not long films...
I may wait for the next generation.

Best RAM to buy for a 27" 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7?

Dear all
I'm brand new to Apple computers and would therefore appreciate any advice you can offer relating to RAM.
I will soon be purchasing a 27" 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 complete with 2TB hard drive.
I also plan on purchasing 2x4gb RAM sticks separately but from reviews that I've read I see that not all ram is created equally...
Thus far I have discovered the following brands: Kingston, Komputerbay and Crucial. I would be most obliged if someone could let me know what the best brand is for the ram... I have found Komputerbay to be the cheapest but I've read a review from someone who said they didn't find it to be a good performer so that made me think it's best to pay a bit more.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing your replies
Kind regards
Kate
P.S. I'm based in the UK

Dear all
Thank you for your prompt responses - most appreciated!
Roger, I was particularly pleased with your answer as last night (after much internet research) I decided to go with Crucial... They were also offering a 10% off 'one day only' discount which seemed too good to miss! I purchased the RAM for a good price: £198 including discount for 2x4gb sticks - the same RAM averaged £250 on Amazon.
I will be ordering the iMac on Friday. Doubtless I will be back online thereafter to clarify that I have installed the RAM correctly; I haven't ever installed RAM before but given how easy it looks and the cost savings involved I thought I'd have a crack at it!
In total I will be running with 12gb RAM - no idea whether I actually need that much or not but I'd rather buy the best of everything from the outset so that I don't need to tweak things at a later date... Also thought a high amount of RAM would be advantageous given the screen size etc.
Again, thanks to you all.

Performance on Quad Core Intel MacPro

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