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2013 Mac Pro: Which CPU and GPU?
Related: 2013 Mac Pro, CPU cores, GPU, Lightroom, Mac Pro, Photoshop, video tech
An excerpt from my Mac Pro 2013 Choosing the CPU / GPU page:
Not sure? Consult with Lloyd Chambers.
Here’s a specification that caught my eye, just in case I feel like computing in Nepal:
Maximum altitude: 16,400 feet (5000 meters)
And 12 dBA at idle acoustics is simply amazing for a workstation-grade computer.
Choosing the right CPU for your needs
See the discussion.
| CPU Cores | Clock Speed | Cache Memory | Mainstream Task Speed* | Core-Friendly Speed** | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher numbers are faster | |||||
| 4 | 3.7 GHz +37% / +5.7% |
10 MB 2.5MB/core |
14.8 | 14.8 |
Fastest for general use due to highest clock speed, but certain operations in programs like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom will be slower than with 6-core or 8-core options—and others will be faster! It all depends. |
| 6 ~ 5.6 ± |
3.5 GHz +30% / + 16% |
12 MB 2MB/core |
14.0 | 18.9 | About 5% slower than the 4-core in clock speed, but the two extra CPU cores are WELL worth it for programs like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Best all-around solution. |
| 8 ~6.5 ± |
3.0 GHz +11% |
25MB 3.1MB/core |
12.0 | 19.2 | With a 14% drop in clock speed, the 8-core model is not likely to outperform the 6-core model for most tasks, but it has more cache memory and this might mitigate the clock speed losses. And it’s a good middle ground for workflows which mix video with other tasks. Still, Photoshop hardly ever uses even 4 cores for common tasks. The 8-core is really for video processing or other specialty tasks which can use all the cores. |
| 12 ~8.7 ± |
2.7 GHz |
30MB 2.5MB/core |
10.8 | 22.7 | Appropriate only for video users, unless big changes accrue, Photoshop and Lightroom and all productivity software will run slowest on this machine. |
* Ordinary Task Speed = expected speed with mainstream tasks which typically use four CPU cores or fewer and rarely more except for brief spikes.
** Core-Friendly = Estimated real-world best-case performance taking into account clock speed and CPU cores, application multi-threading efficiency, memory contention.
± Taking clock speed into account, the equivalent number of 3.7 GHz CPU cores (multiplier of # of cores times the clock speed). This does not take the inevitable multi-core overhead into account (hardware and software factor), which degrades performance as the number of CPU cores increases.
