We are in the process of replacing a 2013 Mac Pro with a new iMac Pro. Does Vista 3 have the ability to use multiple cores? Is there any reason to go with a processor higher than the base 8 core?
Yes, Vista will use multiple cores for DMX processing. This was something back in Vista 2 and you can see how it is processing the universes in the Vista Statistics dockable window.
Additionally Vista will not only use the cores on the main machine but it will also use the cores on other machines connected to the Vista network and running the same build.
As for the quantity of cores, well that really depends on how many universes you are using and how intensive your show is programmed. I personally don’t think I have seen a single Vista machine with over 8 cores but really the only thing that would stop you is how much you want to spend 