Single CPU Mac Pro Nehalem

I’ve updated my review of the Mac Pro Nehalem to include test results comparing the single CPU to the dual CPU model (both 2.93GHz).

The results are generally what one might expect, but with some perverse results for Photoshop CS4, which I explain in When More is Less. We’ll probably have to wait for a (hopefully) 64-bit CS5 to see this problem go away, as milking the cows seems to be the priority for now.

As shown below, a single-CPU Mac Pro handily beats a dual-CPU Mac Pro on the diglloydMedium benchmark by 45 seconds to 61 seconds. Anyone working with large file(s) that use the scratch volume should sit up and pay attention here.

Dual CPUs are slower than a single CPU!
"1/2 cores" means that half the CPU cores were disabled

I also intensively tested the OWC 4GB modules in the single-core Mac Pro and they show no issues whatsoever—rock solid, just as in my dual-core Mac Pro. At $1749 for 32GB versus $6100 from Apple, the OWC product is the right choice. Single-CPU Mac Pro Nehalem users have only 4 slots, so four 4GB modules are the only way to get to 16GB (or 12GB).