Computer: Apple 6 core vs 12 core

[CelticKC]

Hi.

I am a digital retoucher and the university department I work for is about to purchase new computer equipment. This is a big upgrade for me (finally!), from CS3 to CS5 and from a Mac Pro 2x2.66 Dual Core to either a 6, 8 or 12 core Mac Pro. I've read some posts that say the 8 and 12 core's are slower than the 6 and the 6 is the best option for Photoshop. Would love some opinions and feedback from anyone who has addressed this decision. Thanks in advance!

Kevin

[Flashtones]

I don't know much about it either. What I've heard is PS doesn't make great use of multiple cores so clock speed is more important than number of cores.

However, it's also been suggested that PS might make better use of cores in the future.

[creativeretouch]

Hi Kevin,

you can find a lot of useful informations here:

http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html

[CelticKC]

I've been reading the articles there. All signs seem to point to 6-core. Thanks.

[creativeretouch]

I am glad I could help. I think it should be enough for Photoshop. As long as you are not going to work with video or rendering 3d images and animations.

[mistermonday]

CPU capability is one important factor but remember that PS is an I/O intensive application. Sufficient RAM, adequate bus bandwith and speed, fast hard drives for scratch disk or even better Solid State Drives, are differentiating factors. Also the efficiency of the 64bit version of PS in a 64bit operating system has a very significant impact.
Regards, Murray

[kyo]

As posted above, higher clock speed wins out over number of cores for PS work.

I wouldn't recommend solid state drives for scratch disks.. they don't typically have very high write speeds, although they read extremely fast. You're better off using a fast hd for a scratch disk, and a SSD to launch programs from if you want to go that route.

A pile of RAM is also extremely helpful. I suggest buying the system with the bare minimum if possible, then adding your own from a 3rd party source like other world computing.. you'll save hundreds, or more.

Kyle

[mistermonday]

Originally Posted by kyo

I wouldn't recommend solid state drives for scratch disks.. they don't typically have very high write speeds, although they read extremely fast. You're better off using a fast hd for a scratch disk, and a SSD to launch programs from if you want to go that route.
Kyle

I would disagree with the comment. Check out the specs of the latest SSDs, especially block write size vs speed. Moreover when you take into account a HD's spin up, seek, and aligment latencies you are way ahead with SSDs. Defragmentation does not need to be contended with in SSDs. I believe that the latest MacOS supports TRIM which allows the optimization of SSDs. Windows 7 also recognizes presence of SSDs and optimizes itself for SSD use (disabling defragmention, sector erase/writes, and garbage colleection.

I would not be surprised if in the not too distant future, all Mac Pros as well as high end Windows machines will ship with SSDs as standard.
Reagrds, Murray