Bare Feats has pitted a Quad Xeon 3.0GHz Mac Pro vs. a Quad G5 2.5GHz Power Mac in a benchmark shootout.
“The Mac Pro ships with 1GB of memory. We ordered with no memory options to avoid the two week wait for the added memory. But, thanks to Other World Computing, two days after receiving the Mac Pro we had 2GB more to add for a total of 3GB. The only other difference in configuration between the Mac Pro and the G5 Power Mac was that the Mac Pro had the GeForce 7300 GT while the Quad-Core G5 had the GeForce 7800 GT. However, our tests were CPU intensive and were not affected by the GPU difference. (When the Radeon X1900 XT arrives, we plan to do some GPU tests like Motion, iMaginator, Quake 4, Doom 3, etc.),” rob-ART morgan reports for Bare Feats.
See the benchmark results here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple Mac Pro dissection photos – August 16, 2006
Ars Technica reviews Apple Mac Pro Quad Xeon 64-bit workstation – August 11, 2006
Apple Mac Pro Quad-core Xeon easily beats Power Mac G5 Quad – August 11, 2006
OWC offers Apple Mac Pro memory upgrades; rebate trade-in of Apple factory memory – August 11, 2006
Benchmark duel: Apple Mac Pro vs. Power Mac G5 – August 10, 2006
Apple unveils new ‘Mac Pro’ featuring quad 64-bit Intel Xeon processors – August 07, 2006
Pretty impressive that it was only about a second behind the G5 in the Photoshop test with a UB version of Photoshop. Even more impressive that it bested the G5 using After Effects without a UB version.
I’m gonna have a hard time deciding between a Mac Pro and a MacBook Pro next spring!
Supposed to add memory in blocks of 4….
Quote Apple:
Because accessing data from memory is much faster than accessing data from the hard drive, the more memory your system has, the faster your system can manipulate your data, resulting in greater application performance especially when working with large files and memory-intensive applications, such as graphics, audio, video and scientific applications.
Mac Pro uses 667MHz DDR2 fully buffered ECC memory, a new industry-standard memory technology that allows for more memory capacity, higher speeds, and better reliability. To take full advantage of the 256-bit wide memory architecture, four or more FB-DIMMs should be installed in Mac Pro.
Please note: Apple created a more robust thermal specification for the Mac Pro FB-DIMM heat sinks that provide more efficient cooling than many other FB-DIMMs. These FB-DIMMs require less airflow to stay cool and allow the internal fans to spin at slower speeds, improving system acoustics. FB-DIMMs made by other manufacturers that do not include a sufficient heat sink may cause the fans to run faster (and louder) or the memory chips to run slower so as not to overheat.
Sadly, we’ll never know how hot a G5 Powerbook would have run.
to tHE dUDE, maybe in a few years, some expert will dod one up out of a g5 imac lol, id love to see that
Considering that the Quad Core Xeon Mac Pro was only a tiny bit slower in Photoshop than the Quad PowerMac G5, I think graphics professionals really have no reason to hold back on replacing their desktops.
With the new Mac Pros, not only will you not lose very much performance with non-Universal apps, any UB apps will gain a huge performance advantage, all for significantly less.
This is exactly what the pros have been waiting for.
Is that the sound of cash registers ringing at the Apple Stores?
NewType “Is that the sound of cash registers ringing at the Apple Stores?”
When was the last time a cash register was ringing? All the ones I have seen in the last 20, 30 years have been electronic…
HOLD THE FSCK ON!
Barefeats is GUILTY of fudging!
Look at the charts carefully, that’s a Mac Pro Quad 3 Ghz against a Quad PPC 2.5.
There is a whopping clock speed difference between the machines tested.
Of course the Quad 3 Ghz is going to do better than the Quad 2.5.
But you’ll notice it doesn’t beat the G5 quad by very much. Which means kiddies…
EXPECT A MONSTER DUAL QUAD KENTSFIELD TO COME SOON!!!
Sony is shipping 50GB BlueRay DVD disks to the US right now, so we should be seeing a BlueRay DVD “Build to Order” option coming soon in the online store.
I can suddenly hear the crying of thousands of fools who bought a Mac Pro without a BlueRay drive.
I can also see them weep again when the Dual Quad is released.
Prepare your wallets, get set… GO!!!
speed daemon, they already tested against the stock model, this is the ex top of range ppc against the new top of range intel, a very interesting inciteful benchmark test
I can suddenly hear the crying of thousands of fools who bought a Mac Pro without a BlueRay drive.
——-
Why would they cry? The MacPro has an extra optical bay. Easy to upgrade. The blu-ray media and drives are going to be to expensive in the beginning anyway.
The MacPro is a fine machine and these benchmark results prove that it is a worthy sucessor to the Quad G5. Especially on UB apps.
Just imagine how fast the Adobe items will run once they become universal binaries. I have to admit that I am impressed with both the quad G5 and the quad Xeon.
“Considering that the Quad Core Xeon Mac Pro was only a tiny bit slower in Photoshop than the Quad PowerMac G5, I think graphics professionals really have no reason to hold back on replacing their desktops.”
Photoshop is NOT optimized for for intel yet, it is under emulation now! Therfore the test does not tell a graphics pro what you said! It simple says that when the UB comes out for adobe they would be a fool to not have switched to the Mac Pro!
Adobe is not a UB yet Folks! This pisses me off when people compare the two when it isn’t even fair yet! Be shocked that it was so close under emulation and then buy a Mac Pro!
Why would they cry? The MacPro has an extra optical bay. Easy to upgrade. The blu-ray media and drives are going to be to expensive in the beginning anyway.
‘fraid not., unless one goes with a lesser external option. One will need a OEM drive to get all the goodies. You’ll see.
Wonder why Apple has discounted the present Apple Displays? I know why. Old Apple has something cool in store and it will need a DRMed monitor with iSight camera built in.
The MacPro is a fine machine and these benchmark results prove that it is a worthy sucessor to the Quad G5
It’s CRAP!! of a performance upgrade, but it’s a cheap option. Soon to be dwarfed by the MOTHER OF SATAN DUAL QUAD.
Oh blessed be the Jobs, give me the POWER!!!
Amen.
“Sadly, we’ll never know how hot a G5 Powerbook would have run.”
You would’ve been able to cook more than an egg on that one!
Heat sinks for the memory?
The memory needs heat sinks?
Well … that says something about my dual 2.3 G5, I guess.
Wonder why Apple has discounted the present Apple Displays? I know why. Old Apple has something cool in store and it will need a DRMed monitor with iSight camera built in.
Doubt it. Most pros have multiple displays, which would mean having to have multiple built-in iSights. That’s not gonna be very practical and Apple won’t do it…
The external iSight will remain for the Cinema displays.
“Wonder why Apple has discounted the present Apple Displays?”
Uh, because, at $799, they were not cost competitive? Even at $699, they’re kind of pricey.
Foor for thought:
How would it compair with the new AMD chips?
http://www.physorg.com/news74881852.html
What? No exabyte HDs? Lame.
“Sadly, we’ll never know how hot a G5 Powerbook would have run.”
If you really want to know, buy a dell.
Sorry, this review is crap. They hobbled the Mac Pro by putting in 3 sticks of ram- they have to be put in in matched pairs- you do not get the full bandwidth of the memory channel with an odd number of sticks.
Unless they’re morons, they know this. So why did they do it??
There is a much more intelligent (and comprehensive) review at Anandtech tonight:
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2816&p=2
“I’m sorry, Dave, but in accordance with special subroutine C1435-dash-4, quote, When the crew are dead or incapacitated, the onboard computer must assume control, unquote. I must, therefore, overrule your authority, since you are not in any condition to exercise it intelligently.”
O.K. I understand why the Mac Pro costs what it does but why the hell is beef jerky so expensive? Someone please tell me.
Sorry, this review is crap. They hobbled the Mac Pro by putting in 3 sticks of ram- they have to be put in in matched pairs- you do not get the full bandwidth of the memory channel with an odd number of sticks.
Unless they’re morons, they know this. So why did they do it??
———–
Actually dave the moron is you! They used the stock 1 gig ram which was two 512 sticks plus, two additional 1 gig sticks for a total of 3 gigs of ram.
“Photoshop is NOT optimized for for intel yet, it is under emulation now! Therfore the test does not tell a graphics pro what you said! It simple says that when the UB comes out for adobe they would be a fool to not have switched to the Mac Pro!
Adobe is not a UB yet Folks! This pisses me off when people compare the two when it isn’t even fair yet! Be shocked that it was so close under emulation and then buy a Mac Pro!”
AK Mac, read NewType’s post again. He’s saying that, while many pros were holding off getting a Mac Pro until Adobe released CS3 with UB, they don’t need to because the performance hit is very small, and when CS3 does come out, it will be a big leap on the same box. You’re arguing his point, you just don’t realize it.
Dave, as Trevor explained is was 3 gigs not 3 sticks.
512mb + 512mb = 1 gig pair
1gig + 1gig = 2 gig pair
again… 4 dimms at a time…
Quote Apple:
“To take full advantage of the 256-bit wide memory architecture, four or more FB-DIMMs should be installed in Mac Pro.”
(doing best Ampar impersonation)
ok… killBill… so I’m lost here… who is the moron. Dave or Trevor?
Not taking sides… but if you really want to test the metal you’d be wise to run with the hottest configs… especially when you try to compare the current “top of the line” with the previous top gun.
AnandTech says it well enough:
For the most part, there’s no benefit to having all four channels populated, but in some rare cases the performance boost can be tremendous. Given that lmbench showed us an increase in memory write speed when going from dual to quad channels, we can assume that the scenarios where we do see a large performance gain are write bandwidth bound.
If you’re going to upgrade the memory in your Mac Pro anyways, you might as well stick to four FB-DIMMs as it will give you the best possible combination of latency and bandwidth (as good as you can get with FB-DIMMs that is).
Ampar…
Beef Jerky is expensive because of the little known phenomenon called “Oral Happiness Massaged Your Genes Amazingly While Dallas Texas Heart Institute Sceintifically Theorized Asymetrical Sequencing That Easily Simulates Getting Really Ecstatic About Taste”
or as you’ve probably heard it mentioned many times, the
OHMYGAWDTHISTASTESGREAT
Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Please Don’t forget to tip your waitress.
MDN word is Audience…. you’re getting just a little too scary MDN… knock it off.
Wow, I hope these crack-head posts are all by the same freak. It would be pretty sad if there was more than one nutjob of that caliber.
Jim: LOL! Nice!
Nick: You’re the only human here. The other threads were generated by Experimental AI Test Expectation Nodes (EATEN).
You want to help show the world the power of the Mac? Install and run a grid computing project on your computer. Especially the quad core Macs – those have a massive amount of computational power. Here is a link to one such grid computing project:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/viewJoinNow.do
The project organizers keep all sorts of statistics on which platforms is contributing the most and how fast they are on average. Show them the speed of the Macs, both PPC and Intel…
MDN word: “Quality,” as in Apple makes quality computers….