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New Mac Pro Tech Specs

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Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#101

Post by bgentry »

lliamander wrote: post #49

Slightly off-topic, but who here uses a HEDT (high-end desktop) or workstation computer for software development? Does it make a significant difference in comparison with a standard business laptop?

I use an 8-core iMac Pro with 64GB RAM; it’s wonderful.

When I bought it I was doing some embedded device work involving a Windows VM, as well as heavy web dev on a frontend JS app and a backend app with tons of Chrome tabs open. All these things crave memory, and my 16GB MacBook Pro was swapping itself to death. This was pre-32GB MacBook Pros, so I bit the bullet and couldn’t be happier with the setup. It’s dead silent basically no matter what I do and doesn’t get thermally throttled during heavy workloads. Having the extra RAM also makes a huge difference.

Now that I’m doing more regular web dev on an Elixir & React app, I benefit from the 16x parallel compilation & test suite, as well as the ability to keep basically anything open without resource issues.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#102

Post by ac29 »

benburleson wrote: post #51
CDSlice wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes? I love my wireless keyboard and mouse, although they run off of AA batteries so I don't need to recharge them.

In this case, is the freedom of wireless worth the hassle+cost of batteries?

They work just fine with rechargeables, 4xAAA good quality NiMH cells with a charger costs only $35, and advertise 2000+ recharge cycles. The batteries in my mouse are probably a decade old and still last months between charges.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#103

Post by Corrado »

I think they should include Apple Care for their professional equipment. This won't put any any more money in Apple's pocket but I could see it being another differentiator and a good bit of PR, especially to all of those price arguments. Plus, it's only $300 and I'm sure Apple could suffer that "loss" on a $6,000 - $30,000 purchase.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#104

Post by baroffoos »

joshgachnang wrote: post #13
baroffoos wrote: post #7

The only shocking things here are the lack of ports. Only 2 usb A and 2 usb c ports. Its basically required to use a usb hub on this device since once you plug in a proper mouse and keyboard you only have the usb c ports left

I don't think they're expecting you to plug in a "proper" keyboard and mouse since it comes with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Plus it appears you get another 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the front as well.

When price and space are not an issue with this device you would think they would just throw every thing on it so it suits everyone since there is no need to compromise here.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#105

Post by baroffoos »

lliamander wrote: post #49

Slightly off-topic, but who here uses a HEDT (high-end desktop) or workstation computer for software development? Does it make a significant difference in comparison with a standard business laptop?

I could do with one since vscode + sql server in docker brings my new high end laptop to a halt every now and then until I restart them

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#106

Post by baroffoos »

29_29 wrote: post #90
kristianp wrote: post #2

Still no Nvidia cards?

exactly how I felt. My last mac pro was useless to me without CUDA.

There is open CL now which blender and other programs have started using. Hopefully the lack of nvidia cards in these mac pros means proprietary tech like cuda gets left behind.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#107

Post by joncrane »

Why do the different processor quantities have different base frequencies (higher for lower CPU count) but the same "Turbo Boost" frequency of 4.4 GHz?

If you ran Folding@Home on one of these, would you get sustained 4.4GHz clock speeds?

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#108

Post by sedatk »

joncrane wrote: post #107

Why do the different processor quantities have different base frequencies (higher for lower CPU count) but the same "Turbo Boost" frequency of 4.4 GHz? If you ran Folding@Home on one of these, would you get sustained 4.4GHz clock speeds?

I guess Turbo Boost works only for short intervals, not continuously.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#109

Post by bgentry »

joncrane wrote: post #107

Why do the different processor quantities have different base frequencies (higher for lower CPU count) but the same "Turbo Boost" frequency of 4.4 GHz? If you ran Folding@Home on one of these, would you get sustained 4.4GHz clock speeds?

Thermal limits. Lots of cores in a tiny space will generate lots of heat under a full workload. They can do full speed in short bursts (or when only one core is working hard) but can’t sustain full performance indefinitely without damaging themselves. The more cores in a small space, the lower the clock speed they can sustain for long periods of time.

Re: New Mac Pro Tech Specs

#110

Post by kbumsik »

lliamander wrote: post #49

Slightly off-topic, but who here uses a HEDT (high-end desktop) or workstation computer for software development? Does it make a significant difference in comparison with a standard business laptop?

I don't have an HEDT but an outdated Haswell i5 laptop (not an Ultra Low Voltage model at least, so it's quite fast). Last year I spotted a bug in Firefox and I though it was time to put a line in the contribution section in my resume.

The contribution experience was a nightmare because a full build of Firefox took 3 hrs and running the entire testing framework took 4 hrs, though it turned out that I needed to run only a part of the testing framework. Changing a single line and building it again still took more than 30 minutes.

That was the first moment that I wanted a HEDT in my life. It feels like devs who work with big C++ projects would want a bigger workstation because of the significant build time.

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