Installation & update
About program installation and update, hardware, operating systems, setup, etc.

Intel i7

Anonymous
Not applicable
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.
20 REPLIES 20
Anonymous
Not applicable
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
Anonymous
Not applicable
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.
Anonymous
Not applicable
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!)
Anonymous
Not applicable
ok great, i expect that mac os x will be lightning fast on it, & yes artlantis, cinema 4d should run really well!
owen
Newcomer
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

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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
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5
Anonymous
Not applicable
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)
Anonymous
Not applicable
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...)
Anonymous
Not applicable
i see, well i wonder if the extra graphics grunt will be worth the extra $$$
owen
Newcomer
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.
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5