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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New MacPro when Snow Leopard is released -

D

doondoon

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I know the macpro tower was updated not long ago but it wasn't much of an upgrade. In light of the soon to be released Snow Leopard OS (which is reported to be a huge in terms of taking advantage of multiple core processors).... Will there be a new mac pro to go along with it? Perhaps that will work especially well with the new OS.
 
Well it's not neccessary, any present model Intel Mac should work perfectly well with Snow Leopard. That said, it's also not a bad excuse to release new hardware. Perhaps a built-in Blu-ray burner would be in the cards now that it has at least a little support in FCS.

Noah
 
They goofed with the latest MacBookPro models and hopefully they got the message in the many magazines and forums that the models should have more to be really pro! For example USB3, more RAM, better CPU, Bluray writer, ExpressCard slot! Especially the latter is important for eSATA drives and RedRocket.

I hope they will use the advent of the SnowLeopard to correct this... but somehow I don't think they understood this...

If they won't show a decent Notebook this year I will buy a Lenovo, I can't wait forever.


BTW: Apple always uses the student rebates for the universities in fall to get rid of their old stock. And that's why they usually present new or updated models in fall :D so count on it!
 
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Noah Kadner said:
Well it's not neccessary, any present model Intel Mac should work perfectly well with Snow Leopard. That said, it's also not a bad excuse to release new hardware. Perhaps a built-in Blu-ray burner would be in the cards now that it has at least a little support in FCS.

Noah
Click to expand...


Yeah I know it's not necessary... but Apple has a tendency to release things a couple at the same time (or close)... so I was hoping.

Do you think they'll support Blu-Ray ? I thought Apple wasn't committed to Blu-Ray.
 
How about just adding the option for a 3.2Ghz Nehalems or 3.33Ghz Bloomfileds to the existing Mac Pros?

Maybe that is simple enough for them to understand?

though it would be nice if someone told them about DDR3... I mean get a !#@$ing clue... 6 RAM DIMMS on the single CPU and 12 on the dual... I don't get it... am I missing something or are they really that retarded?

Then again they might not be morrons, just in the business of business ($$$) with a morphine drip of upgrades tactic in order to drain the most out of our pockets.
In which case Doondoon might be onto something good here. In that likely case it would make sense if they messed up the current Mac Pros in order to sell a few extra before the new OS, which is also when they plan to give us what the computers were really supposed to be to begin with.
 
Blu-ray is now baseline supported in the new version of FCS via the new Share function, but you need a third-party burner to actually use it. So it sort of begs the question of where is Apple's official Blu-ray player/burner. Blu-ray playback isn't supported on an OS level currently so one would gather that it will be supported in Snow Leopard. Or at least it would be a good opportunity to do so. Also, Apple can only update their hardware according to Intel's processor map so I wouldn't put this all on Apple as far as faster machines, etc.

Noah
 
Well it's not just drop in the new chips and put it in a box for sale. It's get them in reliable quantity, test them with OS X, upgrade the surrounding hardware to offset the increased heat, start up a new manufacturing line at the factory, start shipments to stores, etc. I'm not a hardware designer but it's pretty obvious to me these things are not instantaneous and also I find any of the current machines are often overkill for most tasks anyway. And when you really need the firepower, a network render is often the way to go anyway.

-Noah
 
I'm really surprised Apple hasn't added the 3.2GHz Nehalems to the line-up, considering they were the first system vendor to ship the 2.93GHz Nehalem Xeons...

I'm expecting a spec bump with the release of Snow Leopard.

My prediction is that the price for the Mac Pro will remain the same, but the 3.2GHz CPU will replace the 2.93, the 2.93 will replace the 2.66 and so on down the line.

1TB HDDs will probably replace the 640GB as standard. I suppose we can hope for updated video cards, but I think it unlikely at this point.

Blu-Ray? Yeah, that will only happen when pigs fly, hell freezes over and Jobs gives up on iTunes movie sales. ...I've given up on Blu-Ray drives included on the Mac. And considering the complete joke of Blu-Ray support in FCS3, that only seems to reaffirm my point of view here. Yes, my glass is half empty...
 
I can understand that they were going with Xeons, and not "desktop" CPUs like the 920 or 965 that were out long ago. I very well understand the sense in only testing Xeons if you have a single and a dual CPU machine, test once and be done, save money make more for your stock holders... but what about the 3.2GHz Xeons? Is there an argument for not dropping those right in? Keep in mind this is a "pro" line.

If Apple can't get them in quantity then they have bigger problems.

The excess heat is all too easily dealt with to be considered an issue. A very small R&D team with three months should be more than enough, so I'll give them 5 months. When were the 3.2Ghz Xeons released? Weren't they available about that long ago?

Also, Apple should be able to get them a bit before release date since they would be buying thousands upon thousands.

Adding them to the line up along with the release of Snow Leopard is as much benefit of the doubt as I can give them. Any later is late.
 
No good reason for not having the 3.2GHz Xeons yet that I'm aware of. They do run just a bit hotter than the 2.93GHz, but heat doesn't seem to be a problem inside these systems, they have pretty good airflow. Then again, this is typical Apple product cycling. They like to be first to market with a specific offering and then as updated hardware enters the market, they drag their feet and then offer an update late in the cycle or even skip over certain CPU or other hardware offerings in favor of an updated model.

I suppose I'm still expecting a spec bump like I mentioned above, but I won't be surprised if it happens or if it does not. We can probably expect a completely new Mac Pro sometime early next year (I'm thinking by April) because we should see mass shipments of the next Xeon product cycle around then. Or at least that's what it was sounding like a couple months ago. The 3.2GHz Nehalem Xeons are relatively new. I think they've been available in retail channels for about 2~3 months now.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
No good reason for not having the 3.2GHz Xeons yet that I'm aware of. They do run just a bit hotter than the 2.93GHz, but heat doesn't seem to be a problem inside these systems, they have pretty good airflow. Then again, this is typical Apple product cycling. They like to be first to market with a specific offering and then as updated hardware enters the market, they drag their feet and then offer an update late in the cycle or even skip over certain CPU or other hardware offerings in favor of an updated model.

I suppose I'm still expecting a spec bump like I mentioned above, but I won't be surprised if it happens or if it does not. We can probably expect a completely new Mac Pro sometime early next year (I'm thinking by April) because we should see mass shipments of the next Xeon product cycle around then. Or at least that's what it was sounding like a couple months ago. The 3.2GHz Nehalem Xeons are relatively new. I think they've been available in retail channels for about 2~3 months now.
Click to expand...


Jeff when you say completely new macpro do you mean a new processor or maybe other significant changes? Perhaps an all new design ?
I'm trying to figure out if I should buy now or wait a few months. I know it's usually rumors and speculation but I'm still keeping my ear to the ground in an attempt to make a relatively informed purchase.
 
keep in mind the "mentality" was that the i7 processors overclock themselves according to work load on the system to save on processor life and power consumption + heat. the 2.93 ghz actually clocks itself up to 3.2 ghz when it feels like it really needs it.


silly? good? awesome? who knows, but u can get 3.2 ghz power out of it if you want to from my understanding.
 
Tom.Wong said:
keep in mind the "mentality" was that the i7 processors overclock themselves according to work load on the system to save on processor life and power consumption + heat. the 2.93 ghz actually clocks itself up to 3.2 ghz when it feels like it really needs it.


silly? good? awesome? who knows, but u can get 3.2 ghz power out of it if you want to from my understanding.
Click to expand...

Throttling only happens downwards, to save power and life like you mentioned, and not up above spec.
 
Tom.Wong said:
keep in mind the "mentality" was that the i7 processors overclock themselves according to work load on the system to save on processor life and power consumption + heat. the 2.93 ghz actually clocks itself up to 3.2 ghz when it feels like it really needs it.
Click to expand...

It's true that the Nehalem CPUs do have some speed throttling ability. But no, they don't "overclock" themselves. The 2.93GHz don't ramp up to 3.2GHz. If you want 3.2GHz, you need to buy a 3.2GHz CPU. Or put in a better cooling system and overclock yourself, which is kinda hard to do since Intel has all but effectively disabled overclocking on the Nehalems. :hand:
 
doondoon said:
Jeff when you say completely new macpro do you mean a new processor or maybe other significant changes? Perhaps an all new design ?
Click to expand...

Who knows...? What we do know is that it looks like 8-core Xeons (essentially two quad-core i7 Nehalems glued together on a single 35nm CPU) should arrive early next year. They require a new socket design and revised memory bus. So that means new logic board, etc.. inside any systems from Apple (or anyone else) that will be using them.

Continued evolution is a given. If I were to say that there will be a new Mac Pro with a new logic board within 6 months, I'm pretty much guaranteed to be 99% accurate with that statement. All I was saying is that we can expect "bigger" upgrades with new CPU offerings following a new CPU release from Intel. And we get that info by looking at their roadmap for upcoming products.

If you need a system now, then buy one. If you don't need one, don't buy one until you have to. Simple... But that's the way it always is with computers. For a home computer or system that I know won't generate enough $$$ to pay for itself within one year, I never buy the latest and greatest. But for a pro workstation that can never be fast enough or powerful enough and something that generates revenue, I tend to buy a new one of those every 12 to 18 months and such a purchase usually times itself with major CPU upgrades. I actually was skipping this first round of Nehalem CPUs in favor of the two 3.2GHz '08 Mac Pros I already had, but one of them died. Now I have a 2.93GHz Nehalem Mac Pro as a replacement for that unit, courtesy of Applecare. :thumbsup:
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
which is kinda hard to do since Intel has all but effectively disabled overclocking on the Nehalems. :hand:
Click to expand...

What do you mean? You are talking about Xeons right?

I think people OC Xeons too... not 100% though. However 920's are Nehalems, and everyone and their mothers OC those $280 processors over 4Ghz with perfect stability.
 
Yes, talking about Xeons. But still possible to overclock them.
 
Yea, for a while I looked for a dual Xeon board that would allow some overclocking but I guess there are none.

Meh... I a so frustrated with computers right now. I think I am going to have to get a P6T Deluxe V2, an i7, one 3 x 2GB of ram and a 275 and test an install to see if it likes it. Then if it does... test some more and make sure FC is stable. Then if it is... get a RAID card and test that. Then if that is all good, get the rest of the RAM, a water loop and OC the bejesus out of it. Otherwise I won't stop complaining. But if I do I will pwn noobs and see if I get more serious about a little low level editing as a line of income.
 
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