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Mac Mini or Pro

Buying or building computers for Hauptwerk, recommendations, troubleshooting computer hardware issues.
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FJL

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Mac Mini or Pro

PostMon Oct 25, 2021 10:42 am

It's time to replace my 2011 MacPro as IO ca no longer update the OS. I wonder whether anyone has an opinion about the choice between a current Mac Mini (with 2 TBs and maximum RAM) and a MacPro cylinder. I am asking because the cylinder has been discontinued but one can still get it new with what look like very good features.
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larason2

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Re: Mac Mini or Pro

PostMon Oct 25, 2021 11:24 am

I would wait until you can buy one with one of the new processors. You will have to wait until next year, but it will last you a lot longer.
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FJL

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Re: Mac Mini or Pro

PostMon Oct 25, 2021 1:19 pm

Thanks. I don't think I can afford a new generation MacPro, but that's exactly why I was asking. Perhaps it's better to go with a Mini.
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IainStinson

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Re: Mac Mini or Pro

PostTue Oct 26, 2021 5:56 am

I find that there are a few questions to answer when choosing a new system to run Hauptwerk (or indeed any application).

1.Does HW support the computer system (ie. processor and operating system needed by the system)? If it doesn’t, does it work and is it likely to be supported soon?
What do you think the supported lifetime will be for the new system? Will operating system support continue?

2.Are the required device drivers for your iLOK, audio and Midi interfaces and displays (particularly touch screens) available and supported by their respective manufacturers on the new system and is there an ongoing commitment to support these devices on the new system?

3.Will you need to replace any devices you use if you buy the new system., because the old ones are not supported by the new system. You should include such replacements in your costs.

4.What are the limits of the proposed new system? Will it have enough memory and storage space and can these be upgraded during the lifetime of the new system? Do you understand what these limits are and are you content to accept them?

5.What is the migration path to replacing the current system with the new system?

6.Are there any physical consequences of replacing the system does the new system require any physical setup changes?

7.Do others use the new system? What do they say? (Treat with care…)

For the new MAC devices, System on a Chip, the memory is shared between the cpu cores, the other processors(the neutral processor for example) and the GPUs. The are all on one chip. This increases performance but the memory can’t be upgraded, the maximum you can have is the amount you initially purchase. Some of the memory will be used for the various processors, this will reduce the memory available for Hauptwerk. I don’t know how much this reduction will be but if I were purchasing one of the new MACs I would want to know this.

Because HW essentially runs using real memory (to avoid delays from virtual memory paging, which could cause audio glitches), the amount of physical memory available for applications when the all various processors are running will be the maximum available for sample sets. This could be a significant amount of memory. For applications which use can work with paging this is unlikely to be an issue. I suspect this memory usage will vary (be dynamic) however for HW ideally you need to know the maximum amount which they will use when running (HW).

At present HW is an Intel binary and so runs under the Rosetta emulator on the new MAC chips. Reports are favourable about the performance in this mode, if HW were to run natively, then the performance would be better.

I hope this gives you some points to consider.

Iain
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FJL

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Re: Mac Mini or Pro

PostTue Oct 26, 2021 7:46 am

Thanks!

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