These new Macs are legit
I was at the mall yesterday, so of course I went in the Apple Store and ran Cinebench on the new Macbook Pros. Here are some results.
First, the 15". The has a new quad core 17 and renders about as fast as an AMD 1055T 6-core, and does the OpenGL test about as fast as a Radeon 4870. This CPU is about twice as fast as last year's model. The new 17" model has the same hardware.
The 13" is also twice as fast as the previous model. What's not impressive is the OpenGL score - this isn't really going to cut it for 3D app use, though it's fantastic for, say, a photographer. Still, remember that this is using only the new Intel integrated graphics, so at least it's low power.
These CPUs are tough to find in Windows laptops, but should be showing up sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, it's a great time to buy a Macbook Pro - I like the Apple web site for ordering these, since you can customize, but if you want one of the off-the-shelf models you might save some tax money by buying this or this or this.
First, the 15". The has a new quad core 17 and renders about as fast as an AMD 1055T 6-core, and does the OpenGL test about as fast as a Radeon 4870. This CPU is about twice as fast as last year's model. The new 17" model has the same hardware.
The 13" is also twice as fast as the previous model. What's not impressive is the OpenGL score - this isn't really going to cut it for 3D app use, though it's fantastic for, say, a photographer. Still, remember that this is using only the new Intel integrated graphics, so at least it's low power.
These CPUs are tough to find in Windows laptops, but should be showing up sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, it's a great time to buy a Macbook Pro - I like the Apple web site for ordering these, since you can customize, but if you want one of the off-the-shelf models you might save some tax money by buying this or this or this.
Labels: 3D, apple, architectural, benchmark, cinebench, cinema4d, core i5 visualization, core i7, cpu, gpu, hardware, mac, macbook pro, radeon, sandy bridge, workstations
posted by Andy Lynn at 2:00 PM
4 Comments:
Hi Andy,
Have you ever ran 3ds max on a Mac? If so how did you (bootcamp, paralles)? Thirdly how did it perform?
Thanks
Brent, good question. For running Max on a Mac, you have two options - Parallels and Boot Camp. Parallels runs Windows under software while the Mac is running OSX. Boot Camp lets you hold a key while the computer boots and choose between Windows and OSX. Boot Camp is less convenient, because you have to reboot to go between Mac and Windows, but it's much better for resource intensive apps like Max because it gives Windows access to the full system resources.
But, as you can see, unless you have a reason to want the Mac specifically, using it as a Windows computer has disadvantages. If what you really want is a Windows laptop with the new CPU, you're probably better off waiting for a PC manufacturer to come out with something. Unfortunately, the new models are slow getting to market and I haven't seen anything I actually like yet.
For example, this looks nice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246006 but the screen is very low resolution.
This one has unbeatable specs: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZHTQ4Q/?tag=andylynnnet-20 but it's huge, heavy and catastrophically ugly.
I guess this one is the current winner: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I1J864/?tag=andylynnnet-20 - it's big and heavy, but the specs are all there and you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with it.
Hi Andy,
On the Apple website, the 17" has an optional upgrade from 2.2GHZ CPU to a 2.3GHZ the difference also being that the 2.2 has 6MB shared L3 cache and 2.3 has 8MB shared L3 cache. It costs an extra $230 for the 2.3GHZ.
What do you think the performance difference will be for a 3DS Max and Vray user?
Thanks
There's not going to be much difference. Single-digit percentage. If you have the money and are psyched to spend it, go for it you're not going to find anything faster.
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