2

I'm thinking of purchasing a MacPro and I'm wondering what the performance differences would be (in a Pr/Ae workflow) between one with the 3.0GHz 8-Core processor and Dual D500 graphics cards vs. one with the 3.5 6-Core and Dual D700. I'm only editing HD footage from my DSLRs, so no RAW or 4K.

I'm wondering if one would be better for editing and the other for rendering, or one is better for both. I appreciate any advice!

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    Adobe's software still isn't optimized for the mac pro's dual gpus. I've got a 12 core D700 at work. I see major speed gains in FCPX, C4D, and Davinci Resolve, especially when rendering prores. But at the moment, if all you're interested in is Premiere and AE, save your money. Get an iMac, or a PC, or cross your fingers and hope that Adobe jumps onboard. Just my opinion.
    – Jason Conrad
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 5:55
  • @JasonConrad that's probably what I'm going to do (keep my fingers crossed) I've also seen some rumors of a new MacPro later for this year. I don't get why Adobe is always saying on their forums that they're utilizing the MacPro basically to it's fullest potential, but almost every user say that isn't the case...
    – Circle B
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 22:48

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

8 cores is nice but unnecessary. Adobe products rarely utilize all the cores unless you have multiprocessing enabling, which if you don't know: multiple frames are being rendered at the same time using different cores for each frame. But even at that I doubt you could get all 8 cores on board to do that because you need more ram dedicated to each cores processes.

An addition of .5Ghz for a sacrifice of 2 cores sounds like a deal to me! Plus if you choose to multiprocess you can utilize almost all of your cores, given you get the 16gb upgrade.

Now the video card is simply an upgrade according to benchmarks. With the +.5ghz on the CPU and an upgrade to the D700 it basically makes it render at an equivalent speed of a 8core 3.0ghz & D500

I know you didn't ask this but I think it changes everything: get an SSD (Solid State Drive). I have one in my PC and the boot up time is 5 seconds, I can only imagine the boot time with a light weight operating system like OSX. Applications open just as fast and finding files in your project/loading your project in a second. Not going to ramble on because I don't actually know too much about SSD's other than first hand experience. I do however recommend you go to this article, it has great visuals and explanations on SSD vs HDD!

In conclusion: I would get the 3.5ghz w/ Dual D700 and if possible, a solid state drive (ssd).

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Thanks for the quick response! Sounds good, it's quite interesting that Adobe is constantly saying that their products are fully compatible with and are utilizing all the power of the new MacPro, but almost every user says that they don't see it. On the SSD, the reason I didn't mention that is because it is standard on the new MacPros, but thanks for throwing it in!
    – Circle B
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 22:45
  • @CircleB You're very welcome :)
    – Colton C.
    Commented Mar 8, 2015 at 12:26

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.