MacOS x.y Performance

Getestete Anwendungen * Tested applications:

Zu MacOS 9: MacOS 9 besitzt einen Anteil von 51.7% PowerPC-nativer Systemroutinen, das ist leicht mehr als in 8.6 (51.2%), jedoch etwas weniger als die Betaversionen zuvor besassen, 9.0b7 beispielsweise hatte einen Anteil von 53.5%. Es ist jedoch nicht unüblich, dass ein Produkt während der Beta-Phase Funktionen besitzt, die in der finalen Version nicht bzw. in einer anderen Form (hier also als 68k-Code) vorliegen. (macinfo OS Native %)
Bezüglich der Arbeitsgeschwindigkeit muss man bei MacOS 9 im Vergleich zu seinen Vorgängern eine leichte Einbusse feststellen. Je nach Anwendung fällt dieser Unterschied mehr oder weniger stark aus, er kann sich allerdings auch zu gunsten des neuen Systems auswirken (Benchmarks sind wirklich etwas sehr Relatives). Wir haben unsere Benchmarks diesmal nicht nur mit unserem üblichen minimalen Set an Systemerweiterungen durchgeführt (AppleScript, ATI Treiber, OpenGL, QuickTime, Shared Library Manager, SOMobjects), sondern auch mit den beiden MacOS 9 Standardsets "Komplett" ("All") und "Standard" ("Base") sowie eine Konfiguration mit ziemlich vielen Erweiterungen von Drittanbietern (Kaleidoscope, Kineticon, GoMac, ...). Gerade bei den Systemerweiterungen lädt man sich z. T. ziemliche Resourcen- und Speicherfresser ins System, so dass es sich durchaus lohnt, gewisse unter ihnen bei Nichtbedarf zu deaktivieren. Die mit dem Norton System Info Utility festgestellte schwache Grafikleistung von MacOS 9 konnten wir mit dem Timedemo des 3D-Shooters Unreal übrigens nicht feststellen. Anmerkung: Im Allgemeinen variieren die Testergebnisse 0-2%, wenn man die Applikationen mehrmals durchtestet, solche Abweichungen zeugen nicht von einer wirklichen Überlegenheit eines Systems, und "subjektiv erleben" kann man einen derart geringen Unterschied auch nicht.

On MacOS 9: MacOS 9 has 51.7% PowerPC native traps, that's slightly more than in 8.6 (51.2%), but less than the beta versions had, 9.0b7 for example had 53.5%. It's not unusual that a product features functions which are not - or not in this form - present in the final version (here these traps are in 68k code again). (macinfo OS Native %)
The performance of MacOS 9 is slightly below the speed of its predecessors. Depending on the benchmark or application you run this difference will be more or less dramatic, and it may also change to the advantage of MacOS 9 in some cases (benchmarks really are relative). This time we didn't run the benchmarks only with our typical minimal set of system extensions (AppleScript, ATI drivers, OpenGL, QuickTime, Shared Library Manager, SOMobjects), we also tested them after booting the MacOS 9 sets "All" and "Base" as well as a configuration with a lot of 3rd party extensions (Kaleidoscope, Kineticon, GoMac, ...). Be careful when choosing your system extensions - some of them will consume a lot of CPU time and RAM even if you do not need them. We discovered a weak graphics performance with the Norton System Info utility in MacOS 9, however the Unreal Timedemo did not run significantly slower than under previous MacOS versions. Note that the benchmark scores differ 0-2% each time you run the applications, so a difference of 1-2% isn't really significant, and you won't "feel" this difference anyway.

Zu MacOS 8.6: Wie wir bereits berichtet haben, besitzt System 8.6 als erste MacOS-Version mehr als 50% der Systemroutinen in PowerPC-nativem Code. Wir haben die Leistung des neuen Systems mit den Vorgängerversionen verglichen (Macbench 4, Cinema 4D XL, PhotoShop, POVray, NeuroNet, Pentium-Emulation). Die Vergleichsliste beinhaltet die Werte eines PowerMac 8500/180/1MB (PowerPC 604e; getestet ab System 7.5.5) und eines G3/350 (b&w; MacOS 8.5.1 und 8.6 - siehe hellblau unterlegte Zeilen in der Tabelle). Das Erstaunliche: Trotz höherem Native-Anteil schneidet MacOS 8.6 in den meisten Fällen schlechter ab als die älteren Systeme! Dies liegt eventuell am neuen Nanokernel, der zwar schnelleres Wechseln zwischen den laufenden Applikationen ermöglicht, deshalb aber generell etwas mehr CPU-Zeit beansprucht (Vorschläge?). Die Maschine ohne Backside-Cache wird durch das neue MacOS i.d.R. stärker benachteiligt (bis 15% in unseren Tests) als der G3-Mac. Glaubt man den Macbench-Werten allein (Version 4; Macbench 5 werden wir in Kürze nachtragen), dann ist MacOS 8.6 in etwa gleich schnell wie bisherige Systeme, was durch unsere Real World Tests klar widerlegt werden kann.

Comments on MacOS 8.6: As we already noted here MacOS 8.6 is the first Mac system to have more than 50% of its system traps in PowerPC native code. We compared its performance to older systems using Macbench 4, Cinema 4D XL, PhotoShop, POVray, NeuroNet and Pentium emulation. Our comparison includes a PowerMac 8500/180/1MB (PowerPC 604e; tested up from system 7.5.5) and a G3/350 (b&w; MacOS 8.5.1 and 8.6 - see rows with light blue background in the table). The result: In most applications MacOS 8.6 is slower than its predecessors! This may be an artifact of the new Nanokernel, which allows faster switching between running applications but consumes a bit more CPU time overall (Any ideas?). Under the new system the machine without backside cache is more disadvantaged (up to 15% in our tests) than the tested G3-Mac. Looking at the Macbench scores alone (version 4; Macbench 5 will be added soon) one could think MacOS 8.6 is as fast as older versions, this cannot hold against our real world tests.

Zu MacOS 8.6 und POVray: In unseren ersten Tests zu MacOS 8.6 lief der 3D-Renderer POVray auf dem G3-Rechner fast 23% schneller als noch unter MacOS 8.5.1 (aber 0.2% langsamer auf dem 604e-Mac) - Ursache dafür war eine korrupte Preference-Datei, in der die Prozessorzuteilung zum Programm auf maximaler Stufe lag (POVray Monopolisierungs-Level "tyrannical"), Hintergrundprozessen wurde so kaum Zeit abgegeben. Die korrigierten Ergebnisse bescheinigen 8.6 mit POVray gerade einmal noch 2.2% Vorteil gegenüber 8.5.1. Damit wird das Bild wieder einheitlich, trotz bisher höchstem Native-Anteil ist 8.6 kaum schneller bzw. teilweise sogar langsamer als ältere Systeme.
In einer separaten Tabelle am Seitenende vergleichen wir 8.5.1 und 8.6 mit unterschiedlichen CPU-Monopolisierungs-Stufen (anhand des Freeware-Renderers POVray, welcher diese Einstellung erlaubt) auf dem G3-Mac. Es zeigt sich, dass der Monopolisierungs-Grad der laufenden Applikation keinen Einfluss auf die Leistung hat, in diesem Vegleich bleibt der prozentuale Unterschied zwischen den beiden MacOS-Versionen relativ konstant, was eigentlich gegen die allgemeine Annahme spricht, MacOS 8.6 würde dem Finder mehr Prozessorzeit zur Verfügung stellen (und daher andere Applikationen leicht bremsen).

MacOS 8.6 and POVray: In our first report on MacOS 8.6 performance we noted almost 23% perfomance improvement when running the 3D renderer POVray on the G3, compared to 8.5.1 (it was 0.2% slower on the 604e machine) - a corrupt preference file was the cause, it gave POVray maximum CPU time (POVray monopolization level "tyrannical"), background processes were almost stopped. The corrected results show only a 2.2% improvement over 8.5.1, this fits to other results and shows almost no performance gain over older systems, in fact 8.6 is sometimes slower.
In a separate table at the bottom of the page we compare 8.5.1 and 8.6 running the freeware renderer POVray (on the G3 Mac) set to different CPU monopolization levels. The comparison shows no effect through monopolization levels, the difference between both MacOS versions stays constant over all settings. This is no explanation of the fact that 8.6 has quicker switching between running applications - there's no proof the new Finder really gets more CPU time.

Blaue Balken: Referenzsystem MacOS 8.6 Blue bars: reference system MacOS 8.6
Grüne Balken: Bessere Leistung als Referenzsystem Green bars: better performance than reference system
Rote Balken: Schlechtere Leistung als Referenzsystem Red Bars: lower performance than reference system
 

Je mehr rote Balken in einem Vergleich zu sehen sind, umso besser schneidet das Referenz-System ab (rot bedeutet schlechter als das Referenz-System). Je mehr grüne Balken, umso schlechter ist das Referenz-System. Blaue Balken bedeuten gleiche Leistung wie das Referenz-System.

 

The more red bars you see in a comparison, the faster the reference system is (red means lower performance than reference system). The more green bars, the worse the performance of the reference system. Blue bars represent the same performance as the the reference system.

 

Referenz: PowerMacintosh 8500/180: PowerPC 604e 180MHz, 45MHz Bus, 1MB L2-Cache (45MHz), 96MB interleaved RAM, VM off, 1024x768 Pixel @16Bit.
G3-Referenz: PowerMacintosh G3/350: PowerPC 750 350MHz, 100MHz Bus, 1MB L2-Cache (175MHz), 256MB RAM, VM off, 1024x768 Pixel @16Bit.

 
Macbench 4.0 CPU-Test
MacOS 7.5.5 406 84.2%
MacOS 7.6 484 100.4%
MacOS 8.0 482 100.0%
MacOS 8.1 483 100.2%
MacOS 8.5 480 99.6%
MacOS 8.5.1 475 98.5%
MacOS 8.6 482 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 1203 99.1%
G3 MacOS 8.6 1214 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 1140 93.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 1120 92.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 1133 93.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 1092 90.1%
G3 MacOS 9.1 1141 94.0%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Macbench 4.0 FPU-Test
MacOS 7.5.5 364 76.6%
MacOS 7.6 364 76.6%
MacOS 8.0 364 76.6%
MacOS 8.1 479 100.8%
MacOS 8.5 477 100.4%
MacOS 8.5.1 477 100.4%
MacOS 8.6 475 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 859 99.7%
G3 MacOS 8.6 862 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 846 98.1%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 843 97.8%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 846 98.1%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 824 95.6%
G3 MacOS 9.1 864 100.2%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Macbench 4.0 FPU-Test mit Libmoto
MacOS 7.5.5 LM 591 (124.4%) 100.2%
MacOS 7.6 LM 593 (124.8%) 100.5%
MacOS 8.0 LM 591 (124.4%) 100.2%
MacOS 8.1 LM 596 (125.5%) 101.0%
MacOS 8.5 LM 590 (124.2%) 100.0%
MacOS 8.5.1 LM 590 (124.2%) 100.0%
MacOS 8.6 LM 590 (124.2%) 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 1102 (127.8%)  99.9%
G3 MacOS 8.6 1103 (128.0%) 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 1081 (125.4%) 98.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 1080 (125.3%) 97.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 1080 (125.3%) 97.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 1052 (122.0%) 95.4%
G3 MacOS 9.1 1111 (128.9%) 100.7%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 (0%) 0%
 
Macbench 5.0 CPU-Test
MacOS 8.5 425 99.3%
MacOS 8.5.1 428 100.0%
MacOS 8.6 428 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 1127 98.1%
G3 MacOS 8.6 1149 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 1126 98.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 1118 97.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 1123 97.7%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 1086 94.5%
G3 MacOS 9.1 1127 98.1%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Macbench 5.0 FPU-Test
MacOS 8.5 650 100.2%
MacOS 8.5.1 653 100.6%
MacOS 8.6 649 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 1144 99.6%
G3 MacOS 8.6 1149 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 1127 98.1%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 1120 97.5%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 1120 97.5%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 1098 95.6%
G3 MacOS 9.1 1154 100.4%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Macbench 5.0 FPU-Test mit Libmoto
MacOS 8.5 LM 807 (124.2%) 100.2%
MacOS 8.5.1 LM 811 (124.2%) 100.7%
MacOS 8.6 LM 805 (124.0%) 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 1457 (126.8%)  99.5%
G3 MacOS 8.6 1464 (127.4%) 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 1432 (124.6%) 97.8%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 1430 (124.5%) 97.7%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 1430 (124.5%) 97.7%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 1397 (121.6%) 95.4%
G3 MacOS 9.1 1476 (128.5%) 100.8%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 (0%) 0%
 
NeuroNet - FPU-intensiv
MacOS 7.5.5 600 sec. 110.7%
MacOS 7.6 600 sec. 110.7%
MacOS 8.0 599 sec. 110.9%
MacOS 8.1 577 sec. 115.1%
MacOS 8.5 578 sec. 114.9%
MacOS 8.5.1 581 sec. 114.3%
MacOS 8.6 664 sec. 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 309 sec. 102.3%
G3 MacOS 8.6 316 sec. 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 312 sec. 101.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 313 sec. 101.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 312 sec. 101.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 336 sec. 94.0%
G3 MacOS 9.1 311 sec. 101.6%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 --- sec. 0%
 
POVray 3.0 - FPU-intensiv
MacOS 7.5.5 607 sec. 85.8%
MacOS 7.6 729 sec. 71.5%
MacOS 8.0 528 sec. 98.7%
MacOS 8.1 532 sec. 97.9%
MacOS 8.5 506 sec. 103.0%
MacOS 8.5.1 520 sec. 100.2%
MacOS 8.6 521 sec. 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 214 sec. 97.2%
G3 MacOS 8.6 208 sec. 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 205 sec. 101.5%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 206 sec. 101.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 205 sec. 101.5%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 225 sec. 92.4%
G3 MacOS 9.1 203 sec. 102.5%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 --- sec. 0%
 
Cinema 4D XL
MacOS 7.5.5 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 7.6 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.0 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.1 1259 sec. 108.8%
MacOS 8.5 1264 sec. 108.4%
MacOS 8.5.1 1272 sec. 107.7%
MacOS 8.6 1370 sec. 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 596 sec. 103.2%
G3 MacOS 8.6 615 sec. 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 592 sec. 103.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 593 sec. 103.7%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 597 sec. 103.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 616 sec. 99.8%
G3 MacOS 9.1 596 sec. 103.2%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 --- sec. 0%
 
Official Cinema 4D XL Benchmark Suite v1.0 SP-Score
MacOS 7.5.5 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 7.6 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.0 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.1 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.5 2.02 98.0%
MacOS 8.5.1 2.02 98.0%
MacOS 8.6 2.06 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 4.73 100.2%
G3 MacOS 8.6 4.72 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 4.76 100.8%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 4.67 98.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 4.68 99.2%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 4.50 95.3%
G3 MacOS 9.1 4.77 101.1%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
PhotoShop (50MB PhotoShop-RAM)
MacOS 7.5.5 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 7.6 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.0 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.1 309 sec. 103.2%
MacOS 8.5 nicht getestet * not tested
MacOS 8.5.1 325 sec. 98.2%
MacOS 8.6 319 sec. 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 165 sec. 101.8%
G3 MacOS 8.6 168 sec. 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 182 sec. 92.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 182 sec. 92.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 182 sec. 92.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 187 sec. 89.8%
G3 MacOS 9.1 172 sec. 97.7%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 --- sec. 0%
 
Norton System Info Graphix Index
MacOS 8.1 150 96.2%
MacOS 8.5 155 99.4%
MacOS 8.5.1 156 100.0%
MacOS 8.6 156 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 542 96.6%
G3 MacOS 8.6 561 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 397
(no QD3D RAVE Extension loaded)
70.8%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 521
(low score: CopyBits Subtests)
92.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 402 71.7%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 399 71.1%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 336 59.9%
G3 MacOS 9.1 0%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Unreal Timedemo (Castle Flyby @640x480)
G3 MacOS 8.5.1 33.1 FPS
(13.3-67.7)
99.7%
G3 MacOS 8.6 33.2 FPS
(13.6-67.4)
100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 12.3 FPS
(9.0-16.9)
37.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 32.3 FPS
(13.3-69.4)

(+ QD3D RAVE Extension loaded)
97.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 32.3 FPS
(13.0-69.3)
97.3%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 32.4 FPS
(12.6-69.4)
97.6%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 31.8 FPS
(12.2-68.7)
95.8%
G3 MacOS 9.1 0.0 FPS
(0.0-0.0)
0%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 --- FPS
(0.0-0.0)
0%
 
Intel-Emulation 32Bit - VirtualPC 2.x mit Winbench 97
MacOS 7.5.5 76.1 102.7%
MacOS 7.6 74.3 100.3%
MacOS 8.0 75.9 102.4%
MacOS 8.1 79.0 106.6%
MacOS 8.5 76.9 103.8%
MacOS 8.5.1 77.6 104.7%
MacOS 8.6 74.1 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 206.0 100.0%
G3 MacOS 8.6 206.0 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 198.0 96.1%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 192.0 93.2%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 199.0 96.6%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 181.0 87.8%
G3 MacOS 9.1 0%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%
 
Intel-Emulation 16Bit - VirtualPC 2.x mit Winbench 97
MacOS 7.5.5 54.7 96.0%
MacOS 7.6 53.0 93.0%
MacOS 8.0 59.0 103.5%
MacOS 8.1 55.0 96.5%
MacOS 8.5 54.9 96.3%
MacOS 8.5.1 57.4 100.7%
MacOS 8.6 57.0 100.0%

G3 MacOS 8.5.1 128.0 99.2%
G3 MacOS 8.6 129.0 100.0%
G3 MacOS 9.0 minimum 127.0 98.4%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "Base" 125.0 96.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 "All" 125.0 96.9%
G3 MacOS 9.0 3rd Party 117.0 90.7%
G3 MacOS 9.1 0%
G3 MacOS 9.2.1 0%

 

MacOS 8.5.1 vs. 8.6: CPU Monopolization Level (POVray 3.0)

CPU Monopolization Level Run Time % % TOTAL
tyrannical - 8.5.1 214 sec 97.2% 123.4%
tyrannical - 8.6 208 sec 100.0% 126.9%
tyrannical - 9.0 (minimum) 205 sec 101.5% 128.8%
selfishly fast - 8.5.1 225 sec 97.3% 117.3%
selfishly fast - 8.6 219 sec 100.0% 120.5%
cooperative - 8.5.1 270 sec 97.8% 98.9%
cooperative - 8.6 264 sec  100.0% 100.0%
polite - 8.5.1 529 sec 97.4% 49.9%
polite - 8.6 515 sec 100.0% 51.3%
lazy - 8.5.1 6519 sec 97.8% 4.0%
lazy - 8.6 6373 sec 100.0% 4.1%
Referenz: POVray 3.0, Power Macintosh G3/350, 256 MB RAM, VM off