Upgrading and Analyzing Apple's Nehalem Mac Pro
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 13, 2009 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Mac
The Alternative: SSD in an Older Mac Pro?
I hate to sound like a broken record but I can’t stress the upside to having a SSD in any machine, especially the Mac Pro. I’ll give you my history with the Mac Pro before diving into some of the details on what a fast SSD will do for one of these systems.
One thing I always appreciated about OS X was that it seemed to keep things in memory in a more intelligent way than Windows ever did. I could leave most applications active and I was rarely bogged down by the inexplainable disk crunching that I got in Windows. Because of this I always outfitted my Macs with as much memory as possible. My Mac Pro started with 2GB, then 4GB then 8GB. For the most part the machine remained nice and snappy, but over time it lost that fresh-out-of-the-box feeling. Applications didn’t launch quite as snappily, not to mention how painful it was to launch anything immediately upon reaching the desktop.
Admittedly my Mac Pro lasted longer before I started to feel that it was slow than any PC I’d used up to that point, but it eventually got to where I was frustrated. That’s when I turned to an SSD to solve my problems.
You can read about the history behind SSDs in my Mac Pro here, but eventually I ended up with an Intel X25-M in the system.
Now Apple won’t ship a X25-M or any Intel SSD in its systems. The reasoning isn’t public, but it’s not exactly a technical limitation or performance issue. The why doesn’t really matter, because the drive works just fine in any Mac Pro, whether the original one from 2006 or the newest model from 2009. You have to come up with a clever way to mount the drive in the system, but assuming you’re good with metal (or rubber bands) you’ll find a way to get the drive in there.
The benefits of using the X25-M in a Mac Pro are just like that of any system: huge. Allow me to make my point.
One of my benchmarks for this review is a test that developers will appreciate. I use the latest version of Apple’s Xcode tools to compile the Adium project and I time the build. This particular test is quite CPU intensive, it will actually tax all 16 threads on a dual-socket Nehalem Mac Pro. The CPUs don’t stay at 100% for the entire time, but there are periods when they do.
The graph below shows you the build time on three systems, the original Mac Pro running at 3.0GHz (in both four and eight core varieties) and the new eight-core Nehalem Mac Pro running at 2.26GHz:
Parallel processing to the rescue. Despite the significant reduction in clock speed, Hyper Threading gives the new Mac Pro an advantage in build time. The Nehalem system completed the test in 19% less time than the old 8-core Mac Pro.
Now both of these machines used the drive that comes with the new Mac Pro. It’s a 7200RPM 640GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 SATA hard drive. By no means a slouch. Now let’s look at what happens if we throw an Intel X25-M into the old Mac Pro:
Ah ha! Remember that I mentioned the Adium compile test isn’t entirely CPU bound. Well, when the benchmark isn’t taxing all cores it is bottlenecked by IO; it’s accessing the disk. Simply putting a SSD in the old Mac Pro makes it as fast as the new one with its stock hard drive. Now if you combine the new Mac Pro with a SSD, you get an even faster system - it’ll complete the same test in 87 seconds.
So adding a SSD to an older Mac Pro can breathe new life into it, and in some cases make it faster than a new Mac Pro with a standard hard drive. But let’s look at this another way. Is Apple doing the new Mac Pro a disservice by not putting a SSD in it as a boot/applications drive?
The table below shows the performance improvement from the old Mac Pro to the new Mac Pro using a HDD and using a SSD. I'm simply comparing how long it takes to build the Adium application using Xcode on my old Mac Pro vs the new one using a HDD and then using an Intel X25-M SSD:
| Xcode Adium Build Test | Stock HDD | Intel X25-M SSD |
| 8-core Mac Pro 2006/2007 3.0GHz (Clovertown) | 139.5s | 113.0s |
| 8-core Mac Pro 2009 2.26GHz (Nehalem) | 112.7s | 87.0s |
| % Increase in Performance | 23.7% | 29.9% |
With a standard 7200RPM hard drive, the new Nehalem Mac Pro is nearly 24% faster than the original 8-core Mac Pro. However, swap in Intel’s X25-M and the new Mac Pro is almost 30% faster.
In other words, with a faster IO subsystem the Nehalem Mac Pro is able to outperform its predecessor by a wider margin. Or to answer my loaded question from above: yes, Apple is limiting the performance of its latest Mac Pro by not outfitting it with a high performance SSD.
The explanation is simple. Nehalem is more data hungry than any previous generation Intel microprocessor. It can operate on twice as many threads as Penryn and Conroe and it has much deeper buffers internally. To fill them with instructions it needs fast access to memory, which it has. Unfortunately not everything you ask of it is already in memory, and that’s where the burden gets pushed down to the hard drive. Speed up the hard drive and you’ll help Nehalem shine.
What’s the practical recommendation? If you need more processing power, the new Mac Pro will give it to you. Here’s another test where switching to a SSD does absolutely nothing:
Not all applications are going to be as sensitive to random IO latency as building a large project in Xcode. But I will stress this, it’s ridiculous for any OEM today to be selling a machine costing over $3000 without outfitting it with an SSD.
The table below shows application launch times for the two Mac Pro configurations I’ve been using with and without an SSD:
| Xcode Adium Build Test | Mac Pro 2006 (3.0GHz) - HDD | Mac Pro 2006 (3.0GHz) - SSD | Mac Pro 2009 (2.26GHz) - HDD | Mac Pro 2009 (2.26GHz) - SSD |
| Adobe Photoshop CS4 | 7.4s | 3.2s | 7.9s | 3.3s |
| Adobe Premier CS4 | 28.1s | 15.7s | 28.7s | 17.0s |
| Microsoft Office 2008 (Word, Excel & PowerPoint) | 13.0s | 4.7s | 13.3s | 5.1s |
If you’ve never seen a table of what a good SSD can do for application launch times, the one above is just as good as any. And yes, the third test in the table is launching all three applications at the same time.
Let’s look at what’s happening here. Both my old eight-core Mac Pro and the new eight-core Nehalem Mac Pro launch these applications in about the same amount of time. The older system is slightly faster simply because of its higher clock speed. Launching an application is generally not very CPU intensive and definitely doesn’t consist of many high CPU use threads, so there’s no benefit from Hyper Threading here. Now if you launched 20 or 30 applications at the same time we’d be telling a different story, but firing up a single app is going to be mostly a product of ILP and clock speed, the combination of the two is going to favor the older Mac Pro in this case thanks to the higher clock speed.
The launch times aren’t very impressive regardless of which system you look at. Premier takes nearly 30 seconds to load. Blech. But now look at what the X25-M does for both systems. Basically cut the time it takes to launch an application in half and that’s what a good SSD will do for you.
Application launch time is one of those things that helps contribute to how snappy a system feels and if you want to make your system feel faster, you'll need an SSD.
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TonkaTuff - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
Hello Mr Anandtech,My name is Alfredo and I am from Denmarksland.
I have recently started a computer company called Lemon computers.
I wish to send you my top of the line LemonPro for review.
LemonPro Specs.
1xLemonPro superwhizzbanger professional motherboard (series 2)
Supports up to superfast DDR3 1066mhz ram. Has 2! Yes you read it right the first time 2! PCIE slots for the true computing professional.
1xLemonPro Core i7 920 cpu at 2.66ghz
Custom built by intel for lemon computers, you maybe able to get this cpu in other computers but ours are very "special" i7 920 cpu's.
3 Gig of Lemon DDR3 1066mhz ram
Super high performance memory hand picked from corsairs finest value select batchs.
1x Lemon 640gig 5400rpm High Performance Hard drive
Theres not enough porn on the net to fill this puppy up. Ultimate storage for the true professional.
1x Lemon/Nvidea 9500GT Graphics
Experience awesome crysis in ultra high detail at blazingly fast frame rates of up to 3 (a minute). It just doesnt get better than this.
1x LemonRay 18x Read 1x Write DVD player
For the true computing professional
Lemon computers, for the true computing professional, professional's need only apply. P.S. PROFESSIONAL!
*LemonPro pc's are fitted with the trademark LemonDP display connection, Unfortunately there is only one Monitor on the planet that has this style of connection (where that far ahead of the competition its SCARY!) and is available through Lemon for RRP $1200 (20inch display). Or a special custom built adapter can be used, available through Lemon RRP $100.
Hopefully you will supply my system with as good a review as those MacPro's. Also My system is 50 dollers cheaper than the Apple system, only $2449 RRP
Yours Professionally, Alfredo
Ok, I am not going to go down the biased track here, I am not a fanboi and never have been, I judge something on what it delivers at its given price.
But Honestly if this bloke from Lemon computers gave you the above system with a vista o/s for review with a $2500 price tag we all know what the resulting article would have to say about it.
Do I think your biased? No I don't. Do I think there are very large double standards at play? Absolutely.
I mean honestly what apple is providing is the equivalent of an $1000 PC. FOR $2500. This is a hardware analysis site is it not?
How can you possibly justify paying that sort of coin over and above an equivalent PC? Where is that extra $1500 worth of justification?
Answer me that question and I will eat my words.
gorbag - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
There's a difference between tossing a bunch of parts in a bag and calling it a $1000 'system', and the kind of components and design you get from Apple (or other prime tier vendors for that matter). So let's not compare what you buy from the showroom floor with what you can do with the back room sweepings OK?JimmiG - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
I wouldn't exactly define an i7 920 and an Asus or Gigabyte mobo "back room sweepings" though.You must be talking about the housing, because the actual components (you know, those boards and chips that make up the computer) are the same (minus the heat spreader).
So yeah, for your own home built i7 system to match the Mac Pro in terms of "design", you might have to add a couple of hundred to your budget for a quality case and a quiet aftermarket CPU cooler, then spend 30 minutes doing some cable management after the built is finished. But a $1000 PC will *do* all the things the Mac Pro does, except look shiny and "professional" on the outside, which is not worth a $1000 - $1500 premium + no easy upgrade path, IMO.
erple2 - Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - link
The problem is that you can't actually buy a Core i7 computer from apple. You MUST buy the Xeon equivalent. Which drives the cost of the home built computer up significantly. That means that the Apple tax is no longer 1000+ dollars, and closer to about 750 dollars.The other problem is that you're probably also the person who will complain that Alienware computers are overpriced. Or Falcon Northwest. Of COURSE they cost more - they're for a particular niche of the population that wants to run a fast computer and wants someone else to put them together and support them. In my experience, the support you get from Falcon Northwest or Alienware IS worth the cost if you aren't the type that likes to crack open your case.
The other problem is that the Apple hardware is also the only hardware that you can "easily" run OSX (after fighting trying to get OSX running with an i7 920, I can't say that it's easy at all).
You are essentially arguing that all high end workstations are the same. This is, unfortunately, not entirely true - the integrated package does matter to a significant number of businesses that want to run hardware. The initial cost of hardware is insignificant relatively to the support costs. Maybe Apple is cheaper than a home built computer that you'll have to employ someone to support the home builts. maybe it's cheaper to buy a bunch of Apples, and have a "dumber" tech to administer them with Apple's help.
Hxx - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
theres no difference service/quality between "prime tier vendors" and a DIY built except for the warraty, which is useless in most cases. As far as Apple goes, they target a niche market which is why they can afford to charge this much for a box. Nobody in their right mind would pay this kind of money just to have a fast computer for everyday use.BushLin - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
Yep, the difference is $1500 and no amount of shininess, (almost) proprietary connectors or badges saying "Designed in California" (Made in China) can add enough value to justify the cost of what is relatively cheap hardware. Still, if you've got the money to burn and love Apple regardless...I'd like to see if a $1000 Hackintosh would offer such a reduced experience, those who swear by Apple's OS shouldn't have to be so routinely taken from behind by a company they apparently love to the point of promoting the products for free (and ignore all the shortcomings).
zsdersw - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
How dare you criticize Apple for not including SSDs! Apple is perfect. Apple is God!All must genuflect to Pope Steve Jobs and all must buy his Jesus Phone.
Those who speak anything negative about Apple and/or those who do not recognize their supreme awesomeness will be excommunicated.
michal1980 - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
WTF?how is it awesome, for the most part you have to use an adaptor, at a cost of 100 bucks.
oh and if you need to run a high res, since apple is 'cute' (why a mini display port on a desktop? why?) you need 2 cables just to get it connected? LOL
and if you need to use the adaptor you still have screws for dvi & vga.
Finally, do people really hate the screw contections? personally I love them, since there is almost zero chance of them falling out
MrPIppy - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
Two questions:1) You suggest that for someone wanting higher clocked processors in a Mac Pro, it's a better value to buy the base model, upgrade the processors, and eBay the old ones. But on the 8-core models, the stock CPUs don't have IHSs. Is there any market for these chips on eBay (besides other Nehalem Mac Pro owners who have fried their original processors ;-)?
2) Can a single socket Mac Pro be upgraded to a dual socket just by replacing the CPU board?
Starting from the base single-socket ($2500), you could get another W3520 off of eBay cheap ($~350) (possibly one already de-lidded), a dual-socket CPU board ($400), another heatsink ($?) and RAM ($~100), and it would come out far cheaper than Apple charges ($4700) for a Mac Pro with dual X5550s at 2.66 GHz. The total system TDP would be higher, but the already over-specced cooling system would just have to run a little louder.
The hard part of this plan is convincing a reseller or Apple Store to sell you a 2-socket CPU board and a heatsink, with only a 1-socket CPU board to trade. But, even if some cash had to be discreetly slipped into pockets to make it happen, you still stand to save $1000, which could buy a nice SSD and 24" monitor.
BoboGO - Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - link
Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processors12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) memory
1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drives
250GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)
22X DVD/CD double-layer writer with LightScribe support
8X Blu-Ray DVD Burner
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series 7.1 Channels PCI-Express Sound Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 with 2GB GDDR3 memory
Thermaltake Xaser VI Black Aluminum Computer Case
Piano-black 22" 2ms HDMI Widescreen w/LED Backlight LCD Monitor - w/webcam & speakers
Bonus! Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound Light Weight Circumaural USB Gaming Headset
Ships: 3 days
Total Cost: $3,429.92