14" M3 Max 14 Core 30 Core GPU Users - happy?

[Onimusha370]

Hi wubdie,
I'd really like to know more, since I am also caught in the decision between 14 m3 max and m3 pro for audio production .. and fan noise (basically anything above the first stage of fan activity, i.e. above 1800rpm) is becoming problematic.
Are you running a lot of virtual instruments and sample libraries at the same time?
Did you do some audio related stress testing, i.e. trying to push a lot of virtual synth instances, i.e. U-he Diva or sth. similar.
Which sample rate and buffer size are you using?

Would appreciate you sharing some more experiences.

Kind regards!

If you run the M3 Max in low power mode you will really struggle to get the fans to come on (at the cost of some performance) - in lower power mode it performs much more like an M3 Pro, which is pretty neat

 

[Burnincoco]

if you have 128GB of ram your Mac will try to use all of the 128.
Memory pressure is what matters.

 

[Burnincoco]

Anyone experience high RAM usage when performing basic tasks in MCB pro 16" M3 pro 32GB?

if you have 128GB of ram your Mac will try to use all of the 128.
Memory pressure is what matters.

 

[iCyprus]

if you have 128GB of ram your Mac will try to use all of the 128.
Memory pressure is what matters.

Could you please elaborate more on what "memory pressure" is?

 

[Burnincoco]

Could you please elaborate more on what "memory pressure" is?

MacOS will store everything you have recently used in RAM for fast access if you want it. But it also uses RAM to render pages or render video or make anything you ask from it really.
But if you're rendering a video in Davinci and Making some AI images, importing them to Photoshop while more images render in the background and then everything back to Davinci that is open, then you're gonna be running into some memory pressure if you don't have enough for the computer to complete these tasks. So then the computer starts writing to disk what was supposed to go to RAM because it's being used now and not just in ram storage.

more or less, I hope it was a decent explanation

 

[iCyprus]

MacOS will store everything you have recently used in RAM for fast access if you want it. But it also uses RAM to render pages or render video or make anything you ask from it really.
But if you're rendering a video in Davinci and Making some AI images, importing them to Photoshop while more images render in the background and then everything back to Davinci that is open, then you're gonna be running into some memory pressure if you don't have enough for the computer to complete these tasks. So then the computer starts writing to disk what was supposed to go to RAM because it's being used now and not just in ram storage.

more or less, I hope it was a decent explanation

You are a champ! Thank you!

 

[xraydoc]

I've got the 14" 14/30-core with 36GB of RAM. I'm very satisfied with the performance. Only a couple of times have I pushed it to where the fans audibly spin up, and even then it wasn't full blast (doing some 3D CT rendering with Falcon MD).

Otherwise, for general computing, the performance is extremely responsive. I never wait for it; it waits for me. Even my Windows 11 for ARM Parallels virtual machine runs pretty well. That on my previous M1 Pro was kind of pokey.