Thanks Apple...

[richards]

It looks as though part of the deal is no publicity at all about the Xeon versions until the deal expires - there is no info on Intel's site and Tyan and Supermicro's websites list no multi i7 CPU boards.

Check back there on April 1... ; )

Looking at this article, there is probably no difference between the single and dual versions:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/15818

Looks too like there may be significant i7 price cuts coming in May...

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16603

Regards,

Richard

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Andrae the memory architecture is in the i7 CPU regardless of PC or Mac. The only unique thing currently available is the dual socket motherboards. Which will expire in a couple of weeks.

Don't worry Josh. I will never have to explain why I have OSX on one of my computers either unless I find a reason to install it.

 

[Andrae Palmer]

Looks too like there may be significant i7 price cuts coming in May...

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16603

Regards,

Richard

With no information about the 2.93GHz dual quad core Nehalem that Apple is shipping... could it actually be the 3.33Gz Core i7-975?

"Power when (and where) you need it.
The new Mac Pro introduces Turbo Boost: a dynamic performance technology that automatically boosts the processor clock speed based on workload. If you’re using an application that doesn’t need every core, Turbo Boost shuts off the idle cores while simultaneously increasing the speed of the active ones, up to 3.33GHz on a 2.93GHz Mac Pro."

The only unique thing currently available is the dual socket motherboards. Which will expire in a couple of weeks.

With no information available on the current CPU's... how could you surmise that?

 

[JanneJansson]

You aren't stealing. You're breaking a EULA by installing it on unsupported hardware. You're breaking a contract. Big difference. Stealing is when you take something that isn't yours. I'm getting really sick and tired of words getting redefined at people's leisure to mean whatever is most convenient.

Amen

EULAs are meant to be broken. It just indicates WHAT is most interesting to do.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Stick to Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel, Abit... real boards David, Acers are not dogs, they are lizards.

Well, Mac Pro uses Gigabyte...

 

[richards]

With no information about the 2.93GHz dual quad core Nehalem that Apple is shipping... could it actually be the 3.33Gz Core i7-975?

"Power when (and where) you need it.
The new Mac Pro introduces Turbo Boost: a dynamic performance technology that automatically boosts the processor clock speed based on workload. If you’re using an application that doesn’t need every core, Turbo Boost shuts off the idle cores while simultaneously increasing the speed of the active ones, up to 3.33GHz on a 2.93GHz Mac Pro."



With no information available on the current CPU's... how could you surmise that?

The i7-940 (2.93 GHz) is available now:

http://techreport.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=700790020&mode=techr_checkprice

Turbo Boost is a standard feature on i7 CPU's - there is a BIOS setting for it on the Asus P6T board I have here and more information here:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3453&p=2

Regards,

Richard

 

[Andrae Palmer]

Turbo Boost is a standard feature on i7 CPU's - there is a BIOS setting for it on the Asus P6T board I have here and more information here:

Turbo boost in the amount of 400MHz is not mentioned in that article. Is it your opinion that the current Apple CPU's shipping are the i7-940?

 

[Eryc Tramonn]

Not to derail this, but have you guys seen this:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=27033&page=26

Just making sure...it's kinda knee deep in another thread, and it doesn't seem like many people are responding to it.

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

Adam, thank you for clarifying that. Could you please list the applications that behave in that manner?

Maybe a hackintosh doesn't sound so stupid anymore, does it? Then again we won't find dual 5500 enthusiast boards... cause that would be too sweet to happen.

 

[Eryc Tramonn]

Adam, thank you for clarifying that. Could you please list the applications that behave in that manner?

Maybe a hackintosh doesn't sound so stupid anymore, does it? Then again we won't find dual 5500 enthusiast boards... cause that would be too sweet to happen.

Hahahaha.

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

I didn't mean for that to sound so aggressive.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

With no information available on the current CPU's... how could you surmise that?

Because I have one. And I don't know what you mean "No information available" they've been on sale for months.

The entire CPU line uses the same memory architecture. Why would intel develop one memory architecture for Apple and one for PC? That would be developing two completely different CPUs for the exact same market.

 

[Andrae Palmer]

Because I have one. And I don't know what you mean "No information available" they've been on sale for months.

The entire CPU line uses the same memory architecture. Why would intel develop one memory architecture for Apple and one for PC? That would be developing two completely different CPUs for the exact same market.

I meant Current Mac Pro Nehalem CPU's.

The only unique thing currently available is the dual socket motherboards. Which will expire in a couple of weeks.

Is it the motherboard that is unique or is the CPU? I understand the memory architecture... somewhere you must be misunderstanding me. Apple currently has an exclusive arrangement with intel.. some of the details of which we are not privy to... is this arrangement for the CPU or for a dual socket board? If it is an exclusive CPU then what's the difference between the ones that are available to PC vendors? Since you stated "the only unique thing currently available is the dual socket motherboards"... what CPU model numbers are the current Mac Pro Nehalems using?

Opinion – You have to admit that there is a pattern. For the third time in two years, Apple announces a new computer with a processor that officially does not yet exist. Today it is the upcoming Xeon X5580 CPU with Nehalem-EP core. Does Apple get preferential treatment from Intel? Or is Apple simply Apple and does not care about non-disclosure agreements and the rest of the industry?

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41612/113/

 

[Alex Carr]

If you can google, you can install osx on anything...

I install OSX from the disc I bought from the apple store, just like the other millions of OSX users... no difference. I just dont need the shiny metal box with an apple on the side.

 

[Eryc Tramonn]

If you can google, you can install osx on anything...

I install OSX from the disc I bought from the apple store, just like the other millions of OSX users... no difference. I just dont need the shiny metal box with an apple on the side.

Copy that.

 

[Santiago Marti]

New macs are OK for most people, but some people need more, mac fanboys shouldn't get angry because of that. Macs are standard workstations, well designed for some people, maybe overpriced. You need to understand that some people enjoy building their own machines, even if they have the money to buy a mac. They enjoy liquid cooling, different brands of motherboards, like supermicro or tyan, different brands of memory, etc...The same goes for notebooks, you can buy a brand new 17" macbook pro, or, for the same amount of money, a quad core notebook with a nvidia quadro inside. I would go for the notebook with a quadro, no doubt.
It is simple, different people, different needs.

 

[Mark Ian Parkinson]

Yeah the new Intel Xeon "nehalem" model will be a great tool in correlation with editing scarlet offline footage.

 

[Mathias Erichsen]

I have a 1 year old 8 core Mac Pro with 12gb ram, is this WAY slower than the new ones or am I ok for now?

Mathias Erichsen
www.resonablefilm.no

 

[Aric F.]

If you're building a rendering farm:
For the price of one $3200 octa-2.33ghz Mac Pro we could buy:
4x quad-2.66ghz Core i7 PCs...
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...=6VAFF&oc=DXCWZY1&dgc=CJ&cid=24471&lid=566643
More than double the processing power.
Price/performance-wise, comparing Apple to PC is like comparing Sony to RED.
Sadly you guys don't make RedRushes or command line tools for PC. Just sayin'... it might help the RED revolution along if people could use PCs and cut rendering costs in half.
Guess I'd better give that new RED-enabled Avid Metafuze a go!
Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

The i7-940 (2.93 GHz) is available now:
http://techreport.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=700790020&mode=techr_checkprice

Turbo Boost is a standard feature on i7 CPU's - there is a BIOS setting for it on the Asus P6T board I have here and more information here:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3453&p=2
Regards,
Richard

Just to clarify Bruce and Richards the MacPro has a server class Xeon 5500 CPU that uses ECC memory, not a desktop class 940. Xeons are much more expensive then desktop class CPUs. You're comparing pro vs consumer level products and prices here. Not a fair comparison.

 

[Bruce Allen]

Just to clarify Bruce and Richards the MacPro has a server class Xeon 5500 CPU that uses ECC memory, not a desktop class 940. Xeons are much more expensive then desktop class CPUs. You're comparing pro vs consumer level products and prices here. Not a fair comparison.

We're talking price/performance. So it's fair.

99.99% of the time, a 2.66 quad-nehalem Xeon with ECC memory gives you NO practical advantage over a 2.66 quad-Core i7 plus non-ECC memory.

If Apple wanted to compete, they could release an i7-based quad machine. The only problem is that most people would buy that instead of their high-margin Xeon-based Mac Pros. So they don't.

AFAIK, the only way Apple fans can get Apple to do this is if they all just said "no" to buying $3000+ Mac Pros. If their sales took a nosedive, Apple might actually respond with a ~$1000 quad i7 that was price/performance competitive with PC.

But they're banking on you not doing that. They hope you'll believe that a single-cpu Xeon system is somehow "better" than a Core i7. Looks like you bought their argument, so they're in luck!

BTW, I don't buy overpriced Xeon PCs either.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com