Macbook Pro Revisited: Processor, Pro Tools, & Work Flow

Scribbled by Lethal Illness @ 5:22 PM on June 14th, 2010.

A few weeks ago I first posted a review of my new Macbook Pro. In addition to the original review I have three sections to add about the Macbook Pro’s processor, Pro Tools capabilities, and work flow experience.

Processor

This April, Apple decided to introduce the Arrandale chips into it’s Macbook Pro line during it’s refresh. I choose the 2.4GHz Core i5 processor with 3MB shared L3 cache. Sure it is technically the “low end” of the Macbook Pro 15” model, but is it really worth $200 for a 7-13% boost in processor speed? No it most definitely isn’t, but let me explain why it isn’t.

There are three things that make a processor faster; clock speed, IPC, and thread count. However between the 2.4GHz i5 and the 2.53 GHz i5 there is only one difference, clock speed.The i7 possess a bigger difference for a little bit more power, but the difference isn’t necessarily worth Apples $200+ tax.

Clock speed is simple, it is the frequency at which the chip may run. If you increase the frequency of the chip then you increase the rate the chip is working at. See here is the thing though, Arrandale chips have introduced Turbo Boost. Turbo Boost is a long, complicated process that takes ever longer to explain, but what it basically means for you is an increase in clock speed. When the system needs it, the Turbo Boost can boost the 2.4GHz i5 to 2.93GHz while it boosts the 2.53GHz i5 to 3.06GHz, not really a big difference between the two different i5′s. This clock speed is the only difference between the 2.4GHz i5 and the 2.53GHz i5.

Intel Core i5 (Arrandale)

Now IPC (instructions per cycle) is basically the amount of work load a CPU can handle per cycle. Arrandale sports a dual-channel memory controller on its GPU which improves the bandwidth that will keep the cores of the chip with enough data and increase it’s IPC. Both i5′s and the i7 share this common feature. The last but not least improvement to increase chip speed is thread count.

Both the i5s and i7 feature Hyper Threading (which some may remember from the Pentium 4, how old is that .. lol). Each chip has 2 threads automatically because they both have 2 cores, but Hyper Threading creates an extra virtual thread on each core, thus leaving us with 4 threads. Unfortunately, the 4 threads doesn’t give the same performance boost as if there were 4 cores in the chip, but it does give a hell of a better performance then just 2 cores for a chip that doesn’t require the same amount of power as 4 cores. The one question left? What is the difference between the two i5 chips and the i7 chip? Well, the i5 handles somethings a little differently then the i7 like Hyper Threading and Turbo Boost. Another big thing that the i7 has over the i5 is a better/bigger cache, the two i5 chips only have L3 cache while the i7 have L4.

Overall, there isn’t big changes between these three chips and therefore the performance boost in the Macbook Pro between these chips is minimal because a lot of the variables are the same. Yes the i7 is faster then both the i5 chips, however if you want to see a real difference I recommend saving the cash by getting the i5 like I did and putting the cash to a SSD and RAM upgrade.

Pro Tools

Unfortunately, in my personal studio I only have 4 inputs, so doing a real world 16 channel recording test isn’t possible. However, a 1 track recording with my ST79 going through my Avalon 737sp into my ProFire 610 did go beyond well (as it most certainly should) with excellent quality. Though I’m sure not one person will consider that a valid Pro Tools test because it’s not. I came up with a solution, the “D-Verb Test”. There are many “D-Verb Test”s out there but in order to have valid results I tweaked a few I’ve found to make more sense in a real world environment. Here is how it works;

LI’s Pro Tools D-Verb Test:

• Turn off all programs, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ETC.
• Open Pro Tools M-Powered 8.
• Create new session named “D-Verb Test”.
• Session will be a 24 bit/48k file.
• In “Playback Engine” settings Buffer set to 2048 samples, CPU 90%, uncheck Ignore Errors…
• Grid Mode, 1 second intervals.
• Add 32 mono audio tracks.
• In track 1, highlight 5 minutes of audio.
• Add the Signal Generator from Audiosuite.
• Default Signal Generator settings and process. Track 1 should now be filled with a solid tone.
• On the other 31 tracks add D-verb (default settings) to insert A.
• Record enable the 31 tracks and start recording.
• If the while recording the tone’s playback is not chopping up or bugging out proceed to add D-Verb into the insert B’s.
• Keep inserting into C and so on until the signal is no longer solid during record/playback.
• Count up how many D-Verbs there are in total, that is your results for this test.

This is my customized Pro Tools “D-Verb Test”. Let me explain some of the properties. Everything except Pro Tools is disables and/or closed out because then the CPU can focus 100% (well 90% according to Pro Tools settings, you also need enough for the system to run ) on running Pro Tools. The 48k sample rate (DVD audio quality) is a step above the average 44.1k (CD quality) to test run more then average. The reason we max out the buffer is to see how much the CPU can handle at max performance, in a real recording environment we’d want to have the lowest sample rate that we can handle to avoid latency. Why 32 tracks? I don’t have the Production Tools Kit 2 and don’t have the money for it right now, so I am limited to max tracks, no worries though almost no ones test results will even exceed the 32 tracks with 10 inserts of D-Verb on all 31 tracks* (because track one is the test tone).

Now that you should mostly understand the test, what may be the results? The Macbook Pro with the i5 held up to 120 D-Verbs in total. Are these results good? Well the answer varies, let me explain further. On a Quad2Core desktop system with 4GB of ram this test could have probably pulled 200-300+ D-Verbs. Macbook Pro with an i5 is supposed to be superior to the Quad2Core. Well there are more then just processor speeds that effect this test. It has been noted that Pro Tools 8 D-Verb is more CPU intensive then 7.4′s, thus making each D-Verb count for more. Lets keep in mind that Digidesign/Avid recommends you have a formatted audio drive/partition, just for sessions. I do not have such drive. One more BIG setback aside from this partition for sessions is if you remember in the Macbook Pro I only order with a 5400 RPM drive, due to I will be buying an SSD in the coming months. This test goes to show that an audio drive and proper drive speed make a significant difference in performance! Due to a slow drive and no dedicated audio drive I think the Macbook Pro held up pretty decent for being a mobile recording rig. One thing I would definitely like to do is revisit this same test when I have an SSD/FireWire HDD connected.

Work Flow

Since purchasing my Macbook Pro I’ve installed my large [legal] array of software [in addition to the audio ones] for work including a few Adobe programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. My work flow has improved tremendously [obviously] over using the Acer AOD150. The “Hi-Res” option really has helped my work flow by allowing more on a single screen then I’ve ever experienced. I can quick edit a file from my FTP and browse the changes on Firefox without having to move window. I can type enormous amount of coding without having to scroll down and design a header in Photoshop at the same time.

Hi-Res Screen Advantages - Text Edit, FireFox, Reason 4

Another improvement to my work flow has been the trackpad .. kinda. In coding and things that require less precision and movement the trackpad is great, and the multi-touch helps tremendously in web browsing. The downside is when using Photoshop or Pro Tools you need more precision then your fingers can handle, not really the trackpad’s fault my fingers just aren’t precise enough over a mouse. Nothing my Logitech MX Anywhere can’t fix!

The most obvious work flow improvement is speed. As I’ve stated before the i5 chip has Turbo Boost which is great when I’m running a lot of audio plug-ins. Overall my work flow has been great and I haven’t experienced ANY downtime nor lag, unlike a month of after buying any new Windows systems. My verdict still stands that on the scale of one to dope, the Macbook Pro is dope.