In a Final Cut Pro 4 file named "FCP RT Software DV Enabler", it seems Apple has determined precisely the real time calculation capacities of all their supported machines. A script determines the costs of all effects according to bus speed and CPU power.
Jeannot realized a graph displaying the results.
This way some things we'd been aware of for long are confirmed:
- A 733 G4 without L3 cache is as powerful as a 500 G4 with L2 cache.
- Switching from SDRAM 133to DDR on MDD G4s only slightly improves performances.
The most interesting thing seems to be the way Apple has ranked their G5s.
A 1.6 GHz G5 has the same CPU cost a Dual 1 GHz G4 has.
A 1,8 GHz G5 has a more important CPU cost than a Dual 1.25 GHz G4 (being therefore less powerful)
The Dual 2 GHz G5 is the only one more powerful than the dual 1.42 GHz G4 (around 30% better).
We're far from Steve Jobs's exalted announcements.
