MacBook Pro: Updated build timings
In a previous post, I provided some build timings that showed the MacBook Pro wiping the floor with my PowerBook G4 and holding its own against beefier hardware, including a loaded Power Mac G5. My RAM upgrade arrived (a 1GB SODIMM, bringing the total installed memory to 1.5GB), and it makes a big difference in the overall usability of the MacBook Pro — at least for my needs.
I have added times for the MacBook Pro with its upgraded RAM configuration, as well as timings for an Intel iMac (also a 1.83GHz Core Duo with 1.5GB of memory), and the use of the office build farm(*) for the Power Mac G5, and a "build farm" consisting of the Intel iMac for testing distributed builds with the MacBook Pro.
Here are the results of a "time xcodebuild clean build -target BBEdit -configuration Release
":
PowerBook G4 1.67, 2GB, local build | 46:28 |
MacBook Pro 1.83, 512M, local build | 23:35 |
Power Mac G5 dual 2.0, 2GB, local build | 21:29 |
Power Mac G5 dual 2.0, 2GB, distributed build | 17:36 |
MacBook Pro 1.83, 1.5GB, local build | 15:26 |
Intel iMac 1.83, 1.5GB, local build | 14:36 |
MacBook Pro 1.83, 1.5GB, distributed build | 12:21 |
(*) In this case, "build farm" refers not to a rack of machines purpose-built for compiling, which I know some shops use; rather, these are desktop machines put to various uses in the office, and Xcode makes use of them if they're available: engineering workstations, office computers, etc. Clearly, distributed builds are a win if you've got the horsepower otherwise sitting idle, but on a cost-to-benefit basis I wouldn't recommend that you run out and buy machines to make a build farm.
Regardless, the Intel machines remain impressively fast in comparison, and as I said the other day, this has me looking forward to the Intel "pro" desktop iron.