But what it does mean is that, with applications that rely heavily on single-core processing speed, such as Photoshop, our review unit actually lagged behind both the 4GB and 8GB configurations of the older model. We should add that the less-expensive four-core version of the new Mac Pro has a single 2.66GHz quad-core chip, which could close the performance gap on these kinds of tests.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
 |
QuickTime encoding with blur | |
Log and transfer |
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Rendering multiple CPUs | |
Rendering single CPU |
We found a much better outlook for the new eight-core Mac Pro with programs that rely on the strength of the system as a whole, such as Apple's Final Cut Studio 2, and in our multitasking and Cinebench tests, which split the work between multiple processing cores. Keep in mind that our comparison Mac Pros also have eight CPU cores, and a faster clock speed than the new model, but the new Mac Pro was able to overtake them on all of the above tests.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Pipeline | |
Bog | |
Ambush |
The gaming prospects of our Mac Pro review unit are less exciting. Yes, the 512MB GeForce GT 120 card provides a marked improvement in 3D performance compared with the older Mac Pros. But our Call of Duty 4 time-demo tests ran at a 1,680x1,050-pixel resolution and 4x anti-aliasing -- both relatively forgiving settings -- and the new Mac Pro was unable to hit an even 30 frames per second.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters