[alcimedes]

So a client ordered a Mac Pro and wanted me to help get it set up. Today it arrived.

I haven't had a chance to actually plug it in yet, but just in holding the thing....

It's nice. Can't wait to fire it up, but my god the industrial design on this thing is sick.

[Matsu]

Everything. Which one did they get and what are they using it for? I've read that in some tasks the top BTO iMac can actually be a little faster - but this is really only true for badly optimized Adobe cv/cc functions and or older single threaded operations, and probably only for moderately sized data sets. As soon as you get into more advanced calculations on large data sets, the Mac Pro smokes everything. Video or scientific use for this client?

EDIT because I realized that it's a client's machine and not yours. Do you have 6 displays lying around to plug into it? I'd love to see that...

[alcimedes]

I have two displays at home, but I have another two at work that I could bring home, so I could at least get four going at once.

guy is going to be using it for large data sets. atmospheric stuff.

I actually have no idea what i could even throw at this that would tell me anything about it's speed.

if someone has any recommendations, i'm all ears.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by alcimedes I have two displays at home, but I have another two at work that I could bring home, so I could at least get four going at once. guy is going to be using it for large data sets. atmospheric stuff. I actually have no idea what i could even throw at this that would tell me anything about it's speed. if someone has any recommendations, i'm all ears.

Guild Wars 2... It uses a "mediocre on a good day" game engine, then runs that through Cider.

[turtle]

Render my Minecraft maps.

Handbreak convert some DVD folders might be a start. Many of us use it.

I'd like to know how it handles Aperture but that's hard to do for a quick test kind of thing. I should just go to the Apple Store for that.

[alcimedes]

I actually own GW2, I could install it on here if I can find my info.

I've got Handbrake floating around as well, let me find an old DVD the kids would like and rip it quick, I'll let you know about the encode goes.

[Dorian Gray]

I’m most interested in how quiet it is at various loads. Up to expectations?

[alcimedes]

I'm really annoyed by computer noise. So far this is pretty close to silent. If there's no kids in the house, no music on, the windows are closed and I'm sitting 1' away from it on my desk while playing Civ 5 and I can't hear a thing. I have to hold my hand over the top to tell if it's running, and the only difference between idle and full load is the warmth of the air coming out the top. I'll have to see if I can stress test it harder with something like Handbrake that will use all the CPU cores, see if I can get it to make noise.

You could put one of these units in a living room and no one would hear a thing.

I love that the lip is designed to be a handle. It's kind of silly that I like it but I do.

[Dorian Gray]

Well that just sounds (literally!) fantastic. Thanks, alcimedes.

I also hate noisy computers. The sooner the lower-powered Apple notebooks go fanless the better. I think it can be done. Of course the computers emphasising high performance will need fans for many years to come.

[Matsu]

Noise was one factor that swung me towards a desktop rather than a Retina MBP plus external display. My old Macbook Pro is just loud when it spins up its fans, and hot as hell. I was completely unprepared for it coming from my old 12" Powerbook and various academic lab computers, going all the way back to gumdrops, which had CRTs. I think the bulkier windows laptops are a little better with regards to noise here, though they're compromised in other ways, and I'm sure the newest MacBooks are much quieter. But machines like the Mini, iMac and now the nMP are virtually silent and it's so nice.

Probably the MacBook Air is even quieter, and with it's low power CPUs a good candidate for a fanless update. There's another benefit too. Apple's only a couple of design tweaks away from offering a fully ruggedized computer. Once they employ passive cooling, the air exchange circuit should be easy to seal away from the rest of the unibody.* Membranes and hydrophobic coatings in the right places - under the keyboard, between some sort of bonded screen and lid, around the few ports, and the ribbon that carries power/signal to the screen - and you have a water proof, dust proof, and shock proof (SSD) computer. Perfect for travel to the Amazon, either online via Starbucks, or for real, with a backpack and bug spray...

*This can be done with a fan as well, but it will all take less space if the internals are cool enough for passive heat exchange.