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MillimeterTest Drive: Apple Mac Pro Memory
Jul 13, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Table 9. Final Cut Pro results, one 2GB and one 4GB DIMM per side compared to six-2GB.
Six-2GB compared to one-2GB and one-4GB Per Processor
In this set of tests, I compared the 12GB in the ideal configuration (six-2GB) to a makeshift configuration of one 2GB and one 4GB DIMM per side. Again, not sure how you’d arrive at this latter configuration, but I was curious to see the results (Table 9).
In Final Cut Studio tests, the results were surprisingly mixed. Here, H.264 encoding was actually slower in the supposedly optimal configuration, while all other results were faster, though none significantly.
Premiere Pro real-world tests showed a similar anomaly, with MPEG-2 tests significantly slower in the optimal configuration, and other tests about the same (Table 10).
Table 10. Premiere Pro real-world tests, one 2GB and one 4GB DIMM per side compared to six-2GB.
Premiere Pro synthetic tests were a big yawn, though where there was a significant difference; the “optimal configuration” was slower (Table 11).
Table 11. Adobe Premiere Pro synthetic tests, one 2GB and one 4GB DIMM per side compared to six-2GB.
Even Episode Engine showed little difference in comparative performance (Table 12).
Table 12. Telestream Episode Engine synthetic tests, one 2GB and one 4GB DIMM per side compared to six-2GB.
Why would this be? Impossible to tell.
What does it all mean? I’d probably buy memory in the optimal configuration when purchasing the system new or making major upgrades. On the other hand, if I had a system with six 2GB DIMMS and found two 4GB DIMMS in my Chanukah stocking, I probably wouldn’t lose any sleep that in my day to day editing and encoding chores, working outside the optimal configuration was costing me significant performance one way or the other.
Continue the discussion on Crosstalk the Millimeter Forum.