M4 Max or M3 Ultra Mac Studio for BOINC?

kasdashd · March 16

What version of the new Mac Studio will be the best value for running BOINC?

The only project with Apple Silicon GPU tasks for the latest version of BOINC is Einstein@Home, and I don't know if it can fully utilize all those M3 Ultra 60 or 80 GPU cores.

And even though the M3 Ultra has double the CPU cores of the Max, while the Max has a noticeable lead in single core speed.

Storage doesn't really matter when running BOINC, but since the Apple Silicon memory is unified, how much faster is getting more memory for the Mac Studio, in terms of boosting CPU and GPU performance/bandwidth for BOINC?

Mainly asking cause the Mac Studio is much more quiet than my base M4 Mac mini, which I have to put into low power mode at night, to eliminate the 3000RPM auto fan speed noise when it's running BOINC without low power mode enabled, which I don't mind during the day when using it for other light tasks.

Fallguye · March 16

I have no experience with Macs, but I would be tempted to go for the M4 just because it will likely be more power efficient.

If you wanted pure power you could probably get a Threadripper workstation for the price of a tricked out Mac Studio, but that would use a lot more power.

kasdashd · March 23

On 3/16/2025 at 9:32 PM, Fallguye said:

I have no experience with Macs, but I would be tempted to go for the M4 just because it will likely be more power efficient.

If you wanted pure power you could probably get a Threadripper workstation for the price of a tricked out Mac Studio, but that would use a lot more power.

Yeah, I'd rather have faster CPU and GPU cores than more, also since most BOINC projects run 1 task for each CPU or GPU core, so having each be faster means they'll be done faster, and if the projects can't utilize the studio efficiently, it's just a waste of money.

TheLANguy · March 23

16 minutes ago, kasdashd said:

Yeah, I'd rather have faster CPU and GPU cores than more, also since most BOINC projects run 1 task for each CPU or GPU core, so having each be faster means they'll be done faster, and if the projects can't utilize the studio efficiently, it's just a waste of money.

If your main goal of upgrading is better BOINC performance, staying on Apple Silicon is not the way to go since so few projects utilize it.

kasdashd · March 23

1 hour ago, TheLANguy said:

If your main goal of upgrading is better BOINC performance, staying on Apple Silicon is not the way to go since so few projects utilize it.

If you look at the "Folding on Mac" post I created in the Folding Thread/Category, there are about a dozen that work, which including the only GPU task Apple Silicon projects, einstein@Home, has more than enough tasks for many years, and a handful of them even have native support, so that's why I'm staying on Apple Silicon, want a small plug and play desktop, and not a 800-1000 watt heater in my room, which a powerful desktop PC is.