[The Great Waka]

I was wondering, what is the real-life difference between a single and a dual processor system? I mean, I know some programs are optimized for it, but how about things that are not? For example, which would be faster, the now-one-generation-old 867DP or the new single 1Gig? I'm still shopping around for my first mac, and wanted clairification on this point. I'll be using FCP3 which I know is optimized, but how much of a speed difference is really seen?

Thanks.

 

[Heart]

Mac OS X is optimized for DP.

That speeds everything up. I will look for some comparisons online.

Here is a Macworld review. http://www.macworld.com/2002/12/reviews/g4/

Some points they raise:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Top-of-the-Line System Offers Impressive Performance -- at a Premium Price
<LI>The new G4 also has all the amenities
<LI>With the dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4's impressive overall performance, you really do get what you pay for. If you simply must have the world's fastest Mac, do lots of video and graphics work, and can pony up the dough, this is the ultimate Mac. [/list]

 

[dthompson101]

The newer systems as heart states have all the latest technology.

The dual 500's in theory would run the same as a single 1Ghz until you take into consideration the IDE bus speeds that have been upped with the drives, the higher amount of L3 cache on board the processor, the replacement of the older SDRAM for the faster DDR ram and so on. While the G4 does take advantage right out of the box for up to 32 processors I believe and it is a multi-processor OS, in the end it is up to the developers to design the apps to run on dual processors to add feul when the system comes under load.

The older dual 867 would probably still smoke the single gig even with the newer technology in the single as there is just that much more horsepower in the dual as the single and not that much speed difference between the 2 chips.

of course it is saturday morning, I do have a headache from too many beers last night and I might be talking like an idiot here...

 

[Tomac]

After using my DP 1.25 GHz Power Mac for less than a week, I find that I NEVER WANT TO USE A SINGLE PROCESSOR SYSTEM AGAIN. However, when the 970s come out, maybe a single 970 will do a comparable job to the duals of today. I don't know, I'm just speculating.

Anyhow, I love my current machine! Both processors share the load -- viewing the CPU monitor -- no matter what app I'm using. There always seems to be a nice amount of reserve processing power. If I just had a new single 1 GHz Power Mac, the processor would be taxed at all times. VPC, encoding a DVD to Divx, iTunes, Safari - some streaming video, Photoshop and Indesign -- these would tax a 1 GHz for sure, if used all at the same time. My DP does a great job when using all of them simultaneously.

Having a DP system speeds up everything, and I couldn't be more impressed with Apple's implementation of DPs into OS X.

The 1 GHz Power Mac is an embarrassment to Apple's pro lineup -- they should have made the low-end a dual 1 GHz or kept the dual 867 MHz system. They should lower the 1 GHz Power Mac's price to $1999 -- sure it's expandable, but will forever lack in horsepower. It's just not that appealing when looking at how powerful Intel and AMD's chips are. If you want to get ANYWHERE NEAR the oomph of the dark side, at this point in the Mac world, you've gotta go big or go home.

Think longevity; therefore, get a dual Power Mac.

 

[The Great Waka]

Got the message. Thanks. DP all the way I guess. I guess I'll be looking for a 867DP, anyone got one they want to get rid of?