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Mac Pro performance tips on DIGLLOYD

Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Lloyd Chambers is one of my front-line go-to gurus when it comes to Mac performance tips. He has just posted an excellent article on Mac Pro performance over on his site (note also the special section on Photoshop optimization): http://macperformanceguide.com/

Be sure to navigate over to his blog and look around while you're there. Portions of Lloyd's site are subscription based and IMO worth the price of admission, but much of his info is free, such as this in-depth Mac Pro performance article. Thanks Lloyd!
 
D

diglloyd

Guest
Thanks Jack!

BTW everyone should be aware that memory prices are now incredibly, unsustainably low—if you're thinking of more memory, now is a great time to buy. I expect prices will double sometime in 2009.

When new Mac Pros come out, no doubt they'll take the new and more expensive memory, that’s a shame now that FB-DIMMS are finally "cheap".

Another really cool upgrade is 6GB for your MacBook Pro: I've been using one for several weeks now and it actually seems to run cooler than the 2X2GB config I had. See my review: OWC 6GB Memory Kit for MacBook Pro

I'm always leery of pushing the envelope, but this module has been trouble free from the start.
 
Bob

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Lloyd,
Your analysis exactly parallels mine, other other than I just put everything other than archives on one 4-way stripe using fast drives and the mac raid card.
The primary point is that the OS X does a good job of caching data in ram, so the MOST important thing is to have plenty of it.
-bob
 
Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
PS: Bob is my other front-line "go-to" computer tech guru!

:thumbs:,
 
D

diglloyd

Guest
Bob said:
Lloyd,
Your analysis exactly parallels mine, other other than I just put everything other than archives on one 4-way stripe using fast drives and the mac raid card.
The primary point is that the OS X does a good job of caching data in ram, so the MOST important thing is to have plenty of it.
-bob
Click to expand...
Yes...too bad there aren't 8GB DIMMS: then 64GB would be possible, and I'm sure there are folks who could use it!

Well, if apple would just ship a new Mac Pro with 8 drive bays and 16 slots...
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Yea I am running 8gb now with 8 1 GB sticks . Thinking of bumping to add 4 2 gb sticks to get me to twelve on my old 2.66 . I think in both risers i would have to go A and B slots 2gb than C and D the 1gb sticks . Need to find that right configuration for my box. I have done a lot of improvements on my box with the VelociRaptors which I add in the optical bay 2 300 gb drives one for OS the other with a partition of 100 gb for scratch and that did give me a major speed bump. I am actually thinking of 2 more 150 and Raid O them for the OS instead and put the raw working images on 1 300gb drive. i think I may see a speed bump there also. Also thinking of bumping up my graphics card since mine is 128 vram which i have been getting a warning on big files or too many files open in CS4 about not enough Open GL. Maybe bump that up to 256. It's either that or wait for the next Mac Pro. I figure 600 dollars would give me a better speed increase with the added Ram, Hard drive and new Graphics card. Something to think about. By the time i got a new box with all the stuff for speed it could get very expensive and selling a old Mac Pro is not that easy and the bottom line until we see 64 bit in the software than just not sure what to do until than.
 
Georg Baumann

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Just spend the last hour reading this. Excellent stuff, thanks a lot for sharing this! Definately food for thought.

Well, if apple would just ship a new Mac Pro with 8 drive bays and 16 slots...
Click to expand...
Stop it, I just have my Mac since 3 months and do not print my own money! LOL

Hmmm, then again I wonder how many 100$ notes would fit on a 60" wide and 15 meter long roll, and I guess ultra smooth fine art paper should satisfy demanding shop keepers. :ROTFL:
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Just did the math 800 dollars would give me a nice bump
1 OWC53FB2MPK08GB 8.0GB Mac Pro Memory Matched Set (2GB x 4) PC530
2 WDGWD1500HLFS 150GB WD VelociRaptor 10K RPM 16MB SATA-II 3 GB/
1 ATI100435928 ATI RADEON 3870 512MB 16x PCIe Video Card
 
Georg Baumann

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Guy Mancuso said:
2 WDGWD1500HLFS 150GB WD VelociRaptor 10K RPM 16MB SATA-II 3 GB/
Click to expand...
Hi Guy,

not sure if you need that expense, if you don't stream a lot of data, such as high definition audio/video or do video work, they might be overkill. At least here in europe they are considerably more expensive. I would think 2 enterprise class 7,200 drives would do the same with very little difference.

just my €0,02

P.S. Be careful, if memory serves, not long ago the velociraptors would not fit in a Mac afaik, or they changed the connector in the meantime.
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I have a 300 GB one now running the OS and another 300 gb partitioned with a 100 gb of scratch. I was thinking running 2 150 gb as Raid O and put my working raw files on a 300 gb so the process times run faster. I do some pretty big files a lot and also open a lot of 128mg files at once too. The hard drives are a question mark the Ram i could certainly use and bump up. The graphics card i need a better answer on this card if it solves the Open Gl warning I am getting. Frankly bumping my MB Pro to 6 gb would be the most handy but that is 429 dollars . Not cheap to do that one. I run big shows off that laptop and more Ram would help. Just no money right now with the holidays so will wait it out.

yes they sell them now with the correct back spline for the Mac Pro racks
 
J

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
Oh wow, I can put 6GB in my Macbook Pro (Core 2 Duo)? I currently have 3GB (1+2), so I could just replace the 1GB stick with the OWC 4GB?! That would be awesome. :bugeyes:
 
Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Jan Brittenson said:
Oh wow, I can put 6GB in my Macbook Pro (Core 2 Duo)? I currently have 3GB (1+2), so I could just replace the 1GB stick with the OWC 4GB?! That would be awesome. :bugeyes:
Click to expand...
According to Lloyd you can if you have one of the later MBP's! :D
(Unfortunately those 4G sticks are pricey. :()
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
This module is compatible with the following MacBook Pro "Intel Core 2 Duo" systems:

2.4GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" - February, 2008)

2.5GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" - February, 2008)

2.6GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" - February, 2008)

2.5GHz MacBook Pro 17" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" - February, 2008)

2.6GHz MacBook Pro 17" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" - February, 2008)

Machine can address up to 6GB of RAM


2.2GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" - June, 2007)

2.4GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" - June, 2007) This is mine it looks like

2.6GHz MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" - November, 2007)

2.4GHz MacBook Pro 17" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" - June, 2007)

2.6GHz MacBook Pro 17" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" - November, 2007)

Machine can address up to 6GB of RAM


This module is compatible with the following MacBook "Intel Core 2 Duo" systems:

2.1GHz MacBook 13.3"(Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" February 2008)

2.4GHz MacBook 13.3" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Penryn" February 2008)

Machine can address up to 6.0GB of RAM


2.0GHz MacBook 13.3" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" Late 2007)

2.2GHz MacBook 13.3" (Intel Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" Late 2007)

Machine can address up to 6.0GB of RAM


This module is compatible with the following PC/Wintel Computers:
Compatible with Intel / AMD Process based PCs capable of using a module of the Specifications listed below. Our modules comply with JEDEC Specifications, document JESD79-2A.
Special Notes:
Apple's Intel processor Mac models use "one of the fastest memory technologies available today—667 MHz, double data rate (DDR2), synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). It ensures high performance and reliability by synchronizing memory speed with the speed of the central processor so that data can be delivered continuously and more rapidly to the processor. And if both slots are loaded with an equal amount of RAM, you can take advantage of the system's dual-channel memory architecture for an additional performance boost. With a dual-channel memory interface, both banks of SDRAM can be addressed at the same time, enabling Intel based Mac systems to reach a memory throughput of up to 10.7 GBps."
The above quoted portion is from Apple's website.

For a detailed comparison showing real-world performance gains, OWC has this page "Upgrading Memory in your MacBook - To Pair or Not to Pair". Click here to read that informative article.


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Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
escription: Ships: Price:
6.0GB (2GB + 4GB Module Set) Upgrade kit MacBook (13-inch Late 2007, or Early 2008) and MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch Mid/Late 2007, or Early 2008) systems with Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa or Penryn processor. Lifetime Warranty. (OWC5300DDR2S6GP) Same Day $459.99
 
H

Homey

New member
Jan Brittenson said:
Aww, too bad - mine's a Late 2006 2.33 MBP 15" Core 2 Duo. :(
Click to expand...
Yeah I think I am with you.
Mine is stated as the 15" 2.4 core duo but in the actual machine it tells me that its actually a 2.33 dual core and I bought the Mac Book Pro in May of 2007 so its 2 months older than those new fangled Santa Rosa models. :cussing:

So I guess I will have to get the 4 gig upgrade and be happy with that. $300 isn't that bad I guess.

Looks like I will have to make up for it when I build my new Mac Pro for the office :thumbs:
 
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