SHOOTOUT: 2019 Mac Pro 12-Core versus 2010 Mac Pro 12-Core
December 20th, 2019 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
How far have we come since 2010? We have flogged and upgraded the 2010 classic Mac Pro tower in ways Apple may have never imagined. But will the re-imagined Mac Pro tower leave it in the dust?
GRAPH LEGEND
2019 Mac Pro 12-Core = 2019 Mac Pro 12-core 3.30GHz W-3235 CPU, 48GB of 2933 MHz DDR4 ECC memory, AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo GPU (64GB of HBM2 memory), 1TB flash based internal storage (dual 512G modules).
2010 Mac Pro 12-Core = 2010 Mac Pro 12-core 3.33GHz Xeon X5680 CPU, 96GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC memory, AMD Radeon VII GPU (16GB HBM2 memory), Samsung 970 Pro 1TB PCIe-based flash module mounted on a Lycom M.2 x4 card in slot 4.
TEST NOTES: Both Mac Pros were running MacOS 10.15.1 Catalina.
Cinebench 20 - CPU Multi-Core Render of 3D Sample Scene
See more Mac comparisons on our Cinebench Shootout page. (HIGHER Score = FASTER)
Blender 2.81 - CPU Multi-Core Render of BMW Demo Scene
(LOWER Time in Seconds = FASTER)
DaVinci Resolve 16 - Looping Noise Reduction
Using the 1080p Candle Project, we applied the "3NR" preset and started a looping playback. We rendered using Metal. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
DaVinci Resolve - Transcode RED 5K to ProRes
Delivered a RED 5120x2160 project to ProRes 4444 XQ. (LOWER Time in Seconds = FASTER)
Motion 5.4.5
Performed a Render RAM Preview on the 600 frame KT Open project. (LOWER Time in Seconds = FASTER)
X-Plane 11
Our SR-71 took off a grass runway, buzzed over trees, and did barrel rolls through the clouds. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
We purposely chose the 2010 Mac Pro with a 12-Core processor running at essentially the same base frequency as the 2019 Mac Pro 12-Core tower. Would the new tower 'smoke' the old tower? Umm YES -- at least in the tests we featured here.
In terms of GPU, the 2010 was outmatched even though most apps only used one of the dual Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs in the "Duo" MPX module. But we gave it our best shot by installing a Radeon VII in the 2010 Mac Pro.
By the way, we installed the Radeon VII inside the 2019 Mac Pro just to see if it could be done easily and how its performance inside the new Mac Pro compared to a single Radeon Pro Vega II. The Radeon VII had the edge in two out of three tests -- which reinforced our choice to use it in the 2010 Mac Pro.
The 2010 Mac Pro 'tower of power' is not dead but is certainly out-classed in this round of testing.
Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me,
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OTHER GOOD SOURCES
Trans International sells memory and storage for Macs.
Other World Computing sells memory, eGPUs, storage, and used Macs.
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copyright 2019 Rob Art Morgan
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