Performance question: 12 CPU Cores vs. 8 Cores

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Daniel Böttcher
Hello guys,

i do have a general question on whether which CPU would be faster..

I recently got myself a Mac Pro 2013.. its an older machine but it is so damn fast still.. I am really amazed. It is way way faster than my 2016 MacBook Pro.
At the moment I got the 3,5Ghz 6 Core CPU but am thinking about a CPU Upgrade (not that expensive at the moment and I want to "play" a little and tinker around).

My main Application is C1 on that machine so the question is: Is a 12 Core CPU with less base frequency (2,7Ghz Base, 3,5 Boost) a better option? Or an 8 Core CPU (3,3Ghz Base, 4Ghz Boost)?
In general I'd pick the 8 Core because it is the best mix between single core Performance and Multi Core.. but does that apply to C1 as well?

Thanks in advance!
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3 comments

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  • Abbott Schindler
    From my experience with a couple of 4-core Macs (MP and MBP) and an 8-core MBP (all with hyperthreading), it looks like C1 performance is related more related to per-core speed, TOTAL core clock speed (# of cores multiplied by GHz/core) and per-core speed as well as number of cores.

    In your case, 12*2.7 = 32.4 GHz total vs 8*3.3 = 26.4 GHz (I don't know how much TurboBoost really helps C1). You can roughly double those numbers when adding the virtual cores. I think that for most things, the faster per-core 8-core would be a better choice, but if you're doing a lot of batch processing, go for the 12-core.
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  • asathor
    Nature Isme brings up a number of good points. And yes fever faster cores are frequently better
    * In my experience HyperThreading is most beneficial when multitasking small tasks, it does not add much/anything when the CPU is at 100% because each core is fully loaded and all the hyperthreaded instructions have to wait their turn (hyperthreading means that there are two cues for each CPU core). My server experience make me want to say that you should not count on more than 20% benefit under heavy loads.
    * Core Speed is everything if the application does not load all the cores equally.
    * Turbo boost on many CPU does not run simultaneously on all the cores because it is by design limited due to Power and Heat constriction. Again a smaller than expected benefit at full load.
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  • Daniel Böttcher
    I recently did the CPU Swap from the 6 Core to the 8 Core. In some Applications the 8 Core is around 30% faster in real life tasks but I didn't notice a noticeable performance increase in Capture One. Import and Export are around the same speed (8 Core is a few seconds faster, but not worth mentioning). Though while editing it seems a bit faster and a little snappier.
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