topic Re: Intel i7 in Installation & update

Intel i7

Anonymous — Sat, 08 May 2010 23:44:34 GMT

Hi
i've got a new Mac on the way with the new intel i7 chip, i've just been reading up about their "turbo boost" feature etc, has anyone had any experience with these chips & AC 13 ? as i'm expecting good things.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:46:07 GMT

Hi sdb
Sorry don't have direct experience yet, however.

What I've picked up is that are 3 flavors of i7's.
the 720,820 and 920.
The "burst" rate is best with the 920 but all are really fast.
Essentially I'm told all i7's have a effective 8core rate in burst mode.
And, they will auto cool down to quad rate when not needed, thereby
reducing heat and battery power loss.
I believe most "off the shelf" models come with i7 720's unless you specify otherwise?
lec

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:18:53 GMT

yes i see that, i can't find anywhere on apple.com what version they are.
either way i'm expecting a big improvement, especially in render times etc.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:06:31 GMT

although I've a mac at home we have peecees at work - a number of the i7 variety...and where they really benefit is paired with 64 bit OS & 64bit AC....so you'll really need to wait for AC mac version to go 64 bit to get the most benefit.
We have files just not openable on a 32 bit version...
Most impressive when rendering (we use artlantis and its pleasing to see all those cores maxed out!)

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:26:29 GMT

ok great, i expect that mac os x will be lightning fast on it, & yes artlantis, cinema 4d should run really well!

Re: Intel i7

owen — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:43:13 GMT

well according to Intel .. the only 2.8Ghz i7 is the i7-930:

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyID=28037

and the 2.66Ghz i5 would be the i5-750:

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyId=42912

.
.
.

regardless i think you would find either of these more than adequate for ArchiCAD.

I am going to buy an i7 in the next few months as a viz workstation - the Cinebench tests I have done show it is almost as fast as my office 2.8Ghz 8-Core Mac Pro, but around 1/3 the cost with a larger monitor. Of course they are only half the speed of the current top-end Mac Pro, but you are looking at $AU2900 v $AU10,000 (ex. RAM which makes the gap even larger unless you get it from someone other than Apple).

I really think the 27" i7 iMac is a no-brainer ... really, really good value for money and suitable for pretty much all but the heaviest work you can throw at it.

os

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:48:29 GMT

owen wrote:
I really think the 27" i7 iMac is a no-brainer ... really, really good value for money and suitable for pretty much all but the heaviest work you can throw at it.

i agree, amazing screen, & lighting fast.... i'm not sure why anyone on this forum would buy a Mac Pro instead?? (unless of course you just want the fastest machine money can buy)

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:36:57 GMT

i'm not sure why anyone on this forum would buy a Mac Pro instead??

.. because according to another thread on this forum someone has noticed GS & NVIDIA seem to be developing dedicated drivers for AC14...and if you want a Quadro type workstation card you have to get a Mac Pro....(or go to Windows...)

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:43:47 GMT

i see, well i wonder if the extra graphics grunt will be worth the extra $$$

Re: Intel i7

owen — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:45:11 GMT

sdb wrote:
owen wrote:
I really think the 27" i7 iMac is a no-brainer ... really, really good value for money and suitable for pretty much all but the heaviest work you can throw at it.
i agree, amazing screen, & lighting fast.... i'm not sure why anyone on this forum would buy a Mac Pro instead?? (unless of course you just want the fastest machine money can buy)

Well they are expandable/upgradeable .. so i can understand a little bit of the attraction, but really who does this? Internal RAID is about the only thing I can think of that would need a Mac Pro ... RAM is user-upgradable on iMacs and for storage (v performance) an external RAID solution like the OWC Mercury Elite 4-drive enclosure is a better idea.

You could get 2 iMacs to sit side-by-side and still have change from a Mac Pro - just need a decent keyboard/mouse switching option to swap back and forth.

Re: Intel i7

owen — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:49:54 GMT

sdb wrote:
i see, well i wonder if the extra graphics grunt will be worth the extra $$$

indeed .. those Quadro's are not cheap ($2500>). Unless there is going to be some significant hand-off to the GPU in AC14+ they don't make that much sense to me .. but maybe i'm missing something.

Re: Intel i7

Brett Brown — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:35:59 GMT

sdb wrote:
amazing screen

From what I have read on various forums this can be pot luck with the Imac. Some people have gone through 5 of them and given up and brought a MacPro. They are only good value (if you get one with a perfect screen) if you don't already have a 30" screen.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:39:34 GMT

yes i've heard that too.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:55:31 GMT

Unless there is going to be some significant hand-off to the GPU in AC14+ they don't make that much sense to me

If in fact this is the case I hope it is not one of the <<killer features>> of AC14 - IMHO there are many foundational issues to address rather than "arranging deck chairs on the titanic"....

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:35:46 GMT

My i7 arrived yesterday, i haven't had a chance to put it through a huge test (as it going to take 4hours! to transfer my info across). Still the start up & shut down is super fast! haha

Re: Intel i7

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:50:58 GMT

That speed might have to do with the hard drive as well, not only the processor.
Are you using SSD drives?

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:41:57 GMT

"Are you using SSD drives?"
Faster than a speeding bullet.
Able to leap tall.............
lec

Re: Intel i7

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:44:27 GMT

Yes, I have heard very nice things about SSD.
Will probably get one for my next machine next year.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:09:27 GMT

laszlonagy wrote:
That speed might have to do with the hard drive as well, not only the processor.
Are you using SSD drives?

yes ture!
No i opted for the 7200rpm 500gb, so still really fast (higher than normal).
the 256 SSD was going to add an extra NZ$2000 to the build & Apple said it would only give a 15% speed increase, so i didn't think it was worth it....
However they will no doubt start dropping in price soon.

Re: Intel i7

Anonymous — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:11:13 GMT

Of some interest?
White paper.
http://ssd.compellent.com/?cid=897439A5-8762-DE11-BC44-000E0C5C0830&tid=Google-SSD-LP&gclid=CIyS4YyQ8aECFQgSawod6jnboA

lec