Mac Pro 2012 Upgrade

Hi all,

I'd appreciate your advice:

I have a Mac Pro 2012 Quad Core 3.2GHz w/ 3x 4GB 1033Mhz RAM. A 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s HDD and a Samsung 850 EVO SSD.

The SSD is the boot disc running OSX Yosemite 10.2.

I have samples and audio running off both discs. I know this isn't ideal - you should run applications, audio and samples off three separate discs. This is something I will address: I'm thinking of getting a Hybrid Hard drive to run Samples off. Then I will run audio from my HDD and applications from SSD.

I'm a Producer running Logic X, with Quad UAD-2 and Apogee Ensemble.

I frequently have the CPU in Logic Pro X in the red, even maxing out to CPU Overload in big projects with Omnisphere, Absynth etc - also giving me big latency issues.

What is the best I can do to upgrade my system? : RAM? CPU? Faster HDD/SSD?

Or is it worth saving my bucks for the new Mac Pro, considering the lack of thunderbolt connectivity?

I'd really appreciate your advice.

Kind regards,

Alex

I have two MacBook Pro's…one has 8gig of ram and the other 16gig of ram. You're doing FAR MORE with your Mac Pro than I am on my computers…and you have 12gig if ram. Before making a BIG purchase decision (new Mac Pro)…I would try a nice healthy ram upgrade…and see if that helps.

- Nick

Thank you for your reply, Nick. So is it likely that RAM is the deciding factor for speed in this context over CPU?

Alex

From what you described…sounds like you're doing quite a bit with your 2012 Mac Pro. Any performances issues could be a combination of storage setup (you said running three separate drives is best for your work), number of cpu cores, and amount of ram. Addressing the storage & ram components is the least expensive option to try (around $210 for 24gig of ram). Of course you could probably use more cores (6, 8, or 12 cores)…but that's going to cost big bucks.

Just as an FYI. The cpu benchmark score for a 2012 3.2ghz Quad-core Mac Pro is 9541. I have an original 2006 2.66ghz 8-core Mac Pro…and it's cpu benchmark score is almost 10,000 (just slightly faster). Of course a 2012 Mac Pro has many other hardware improvements vs. a 2006 Mac Pro. But just comparing cpu scores…you can see how the extra cpu cores (4 vs. 8) really makes a difference.

- Nick