Apple Mac Pro (Mid 2010) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 6, 2010 9:26 PM ESTPower Consumption
The big advantage of Westmere is power consumption. If we compare last year’s Mac Pro with the GeForce GT 120 idle power consumption is actually lower than the new Westmere system thanks to the Radeon HD 5770 drawing more power at idle. If you look at the 2009 Mac Pro with a GeForce GTX 285 however, the 5770/2010 Mac Pro has a significant idle power advantage.
The same is true under load, although the GPU plays less of a role in our Cinebench render test for load power. The Mac Pro we’re testing here is clocked much lower than our 2009 Mac Pro, which explains some of the power advantage but not all of it.
We’ve been tracking Mac power consumption in OS X vs. Windows for quite a while now. I decided to see how power consumption changed under Boot Camp. As expected, idle power was a bit higher while load power consumption was identical:
| Power Consumption Comparison | ||||
| Mac Pro (Mid-2010) | Mac OS X 10.6.4 | Windows 7 x64 | ||
| Idle | 144W | 159W | ||
| Load (Cinebench 11.5) | 256W | 253W | ||
The 15W difference in idle power usage is significant, but honestly it matters a lot less in a system like the Mac Pro than a mini or MacBook Pro. The Cinebench scores are identical under both OSes in case you were wondering. This wasn't always true, Apple has significantly improved OS X performance with 10.6.x vs Leopard.
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Stas - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
No need for 750W PSU in the custom build. 500W would do just fine.$250 for a case... only Fortress 2, otherwise, GTFO. $150 LianLi would do just fine (oh, look, brushed aluminum, too O.O lol).
I say, you could build the custom for $1600 WITH the OS (especially if you shop around for MIR, coupons, etc.).
Nonetheless, very useful article. As a PC builder, I will forward this to my customers :D
DaveGirard - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link
If you actually put some newer GPUs in that machine and used them for rendering, you'd be cutting it too close at 500W.beammeup - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
So what Mac only workstation software is now out there that isnt available on a PC?Just wondering what the incentive is in a business environment to pay extra unless there are real tangible benefits to be had.
Also there is more price difference than just the GFX. The Dell comes with a 3 year warranty including on site support where as the Mac only comes with 1 year (its an extra $249 to upgrade that to 3 years)
xype - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
OS X? Apple Final Cut and Logic suites?mattgmann - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
nothing too special. Final Cut is the one everyone sites, but the fact is that premiere pro is just as, if not more capable. People just don't like (to learn) the interface.OSX is a cop-out excuse. It's just an operating system and doesn't increase productivity. In fact, it's horrific storage tools make file management a pain.
Stuka87 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
The MacPro (And MacBook Pro) is used heavily in audio work as well. Take a step into most recording studios and you will see a Mac being used to edit and mix the tracks.Final Cut is used heavily in the movie industry, as is Aperture (photos are taken of the set, colors are adjusted, and once approved, the video is adjusted to match the colors in the photo).
DaveGirard - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link
No one uses Premiere in the professional world anymore. And it would just be a test of CUDA.seanleeforever - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link
final cut is pretty nice, but aperture is not a killer software.jags - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link
you really cannot argue with mac fanboys! they are pretty blind in their unwavering worship of apple. logic is NOT going to win here my friend.jags - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Sorry this is a little out of context here and I apologize.This is a pretty good website and I come here frequently to check out new stuff. But is Anand a little obsessed with Apple or what? It seems Apple's the "only" thing he considers worth reviewing these days (for the most part). Come on, is everything else so low for you now? I know this is "anandtech" and you can write what you care about, but I am just asking.