It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:48 am


Continuing MacPro problems.

Buying or building computers for Hauptwerk, recommendations, troubleshooting computer hardware issues.
  • Author
  • Message
Offline

Antoni Scott

Member

  • Posts: 982
  • Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:18 pm

Continuing MacPro problems.

PostMon Jan 12, 2015 7:20 pm

One of the great things about this Forum is that there is a wealth of information available from all of the members and that they are willing to help others. Just today, my MacPro went down again, less than a week after the other incident.


I was able to self diagnose the memory ram strip problem despite the fact that Apple won't look at computers that are five years old. I discovered that one, or both, of the two RAM strips ( one upper and one lower) was bad. Other World Computing informed me that they must be replaced in pairs. I was able to replace them with two of the remaining strips ( since I had eight in total) to give me 24GB. I am waiting for the replacement RAM to come from OWC. Today, I had the same problem. Again it was the RAM strips. I was able to get the computer going again by substituting two strips. Now I am down to four x 4GB = 16GB.

Because of the closeness of the previous RAM incident to this one, I was wondering if something else was causing the RAM to go bad. Does anyone have any ideas ?
Offline
User avatar

IainStinson

Member

  • Posts: 1391
  • Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:08 pm
  • Location: NW England, UK

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostMon Jan 12, 2015 8:06 pm

Is the air flow / cooling through the system working correctly? I had problems with the memory on a MAC caused by poor air flow through the unit. Check the fans and vacuum the filters / grills,
Offline

Antoni Scott

Member

  • Posts: 982
  • Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:18 pm

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostMon Jan 19, 2015 8:23 pm

Not to flog a dead horse but I do have a technical question regarding MacMini performance comparisons. Back in 2011-12, the MacMini was available with a 2.3GHz quad-core i7. I purchased one and replaced it with a 2.8GHz dual -core i7 because the quad-core was a "server". At the time I did not know (and Apple certainly wouldn't bother to inform me) that I could have deleted the server software and installed OSX 10.7.
When I contacted Apple about an exchange and told them that my software needed OSX 10.7, you think they would have told me that all I had to do was replace the operating system. Today, Apple only offers a dual- core 3.0 GHZ i7 rather than a quad-core i7. However, the 2011 quad-core did have a slower processor speed (2.3 GHz).

My question is : Would a 2.3 GHz quad-core i7 be better for Hauptwerk than a new 3.0 GHz dual-core I7 ?
I see used ( and sometimes new) 2011 quad-core MacMini's available. Since my MacPro has had several issues with RAM going bad, a used 2011 might be a better deal since the RAM is replaceable rather than the new ones where it is permanently soldered in.

Antoni
Offline
User avatar

pat17

Member

  • Posts: 1149
  • Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:53 am
  • Location: La Rochelle, France

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostTue Jan 20, 2015 1:46 am

Antoni Scott wrote:Back in 2011-12, the MacMini was available with a 2.3GHz quad-core i7. I purchased one and replaced it with a 2.8GHz dual -core i7 because the quad-core was a "server". At the time I did not know (and Apple certainly wouldn't bother to inform me) that I could have deleted the server software and installed OSX 10.7.
When I contacted Apple about an exchange and told them that my software needed OSX 10.7, you think they would have told me that all I had to do was replace the operating system. Today, Apple only offers a dual- core 3.0 GHZ i7 rather than a quad-core i7. However, the 2011 quad-core did have a slower processor speed (2.3 GHz).


Hello Antoni,

Not sure you still have the Mac Mini Server 2012, but actually you can use it for Hauptwerk - this is actually the very same model on which I am myself enjoying it, which I bought by mistake.

The only trick is that during the initial configuration, you must not activate the server part of the OS. It therefore becomes a "standard" Mac Mini, without any issue for Hauptwerk. This additional software, useless for us, is to my knowledge the main - if not the only one - difference between server and regular Mac Mini versions.

If you still have the Mini, I would suggest you try to make a clean install - from scrap - of the current OS X 10.10 version, making sure if you are proposed it to refuse its configuration as a server. :wink:

The beauty of using OS X 10.10 together with Hauptwerk 4.1.1 is you will be able to use most of your installed RAM for your sample sets. In my personal case, I can use up to 14.9 or 15 out of the 16 GB RAM installed in the machine.
Offline
User avatar

ldeutsch

Member

  • Posts: 628
  • Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:02 pm
  • Location: Chatsworth, California, USA

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostTue Jan 20, 2015 3:43 am

Actually, I have found that Apple is happy to help with older computers. My studio is based on a fairly old MacPro (including hosting my development environment for HW, and my recording equipment.) When its graphics board stopped working a few months ago. I called my local Apple store. They said they would be happy to service the machine - but of course it would not be covered under any warrantee at this point. I made an appointment at the Genius Bar and the agreed with my diagnosis. They ordered a replacement board and did the installation and test. It took a couple weeks, because these boards are not easily available. However, the cat was extremely reasonable - comparable to what it would have cost me to order and replace the board myself. It was better to let them do the work because they have better diagnostic software.

Hence, it is definitely worth calling your local Apple Store.

Les
Offline

Frank_VTPO

Member

  • Posts: 60
  • Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 2:32 pm
  • Location: Germany

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostTue Jan 20, 2015 4:43 am

Hello together!

Regarding to estimate how much two processor arrangements differ in their performance for Hauptwerk (which supports parallel computing in multiple processor kernels), I would like to recall an answer given by Martin Dyde on this topic:
http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13545&p=100246&hilit=%27GHz+cores%27#p100246

For the specific case, Antoni mentioned above, the quad-core option would result in an approx. 50% greater 'GHz*cores' value compared to the dual-core processor.

Best regards,
Frank
Offline
User avatar

mdyde

Moderator

  • Posts: 15443
  • Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2003 1:19 pm
  • Location: UK

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostTue Jan 20, 2015 5:19 am

Antoni Scott wrote:My question is : Would a 2.3 GHz quad-core i7 be better for Hauptwerk than a new 3.0 GHz dual-core I7 ?
I see used ( and sometimes new) 2011 quad-core MacMini's available. Since my MacPro has had several issues with RAM going bad, a used 2011 might be a better deal since the RAM is replaceable rather than the new ones where it is permanently soldered in.


Hello Antoni,

If the CPUs were of the same generation/technology, and all else was equal, then yes -- I would easily expect a 4-core 2.3 GHz CPU to outperform a 2-core 3.0 GHz CPU. However, successive generations of CPUs get more and more powerful for a given clock speed and number of cores ('Moore's law'). If comparing a 4-year old CPU model to a current one then the current one will have a significant inherent performance advantage because of that.

Overall, my guess is that the 4-core i7 CPU from 2011 would perhaps just beat the 2-core i7 one from 2014, but probably only by a fairly small margin.

Also the current 2-core 3.0 i7 CPU has 4 MB of shared CPU cache, compared to 6 MB for the 2011 quad-core model ( http://support.apple.com/kb/SP633 ). Although that's less overall, it is still more per core.

Since computer hardware typically has a 3-5 year working/useful lifespan (also in terms of support for operating systems, drivers and applications, given that each has to depend on the others), personally I wouldn't buy computer hardware that was more than 3 years old (unless it was very cheap!), since you could fairly soon end up back in your current situation.

P.S. From some quick research on the Internet, it seems that the 2.3 GHz quad-core was actually introduced in late 2012: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP659 , and also that there was a 2.6 GHz quad-core option. Hence that might skew things a bit more in favour of the quad-core model (being not quite so old, and available with a higher clock speed).
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
Offline

Antoni Scott

Member

  • Posts: 982
  • Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:18 pm

Re: Continuing MacPro problems.

PostTue Jan 20, 2015 4:40 pm

Martin:
Thank you for your prompt and candid opinion, plus technical know-how. My gut feeling ( without the benefit of personally testing) is that newer technology would be better (everything being the same, but I rarely ever see everything being the same !!!).

I did see some "new-in the box" 2012 quad cores, even with 16GB of RAM in them. My personal experience with a 2012 (2011) 2.8GHz i7 dual-core with 16GB of RAM was quite positive. It was 100% audio-glitch free, and allowed some fairly large organs (direct, not surround). Excellent as a back-up. I have some good choices, thanks.

Antoni

Return to Computer hardware / specs

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests