2007 Harpertown Stoakley-Seaburg Motherboard With New Graphics Cards 8-Core Mac Pro

[AidenShaw]

And yes, 2.0ghz is old school now. Who uses 2.0ghz?

iMac and MiniMac, for two .

Intel maintains a low power line for those applications where heat and power consumption are important.

Even for the MaxiMac - wouldn't it be nice if it used only 50-80 watts when surfing, and only cranked up the power bill when it was under load?

 

[GregPacker]

And yes, 2.0ghz is old school now. Who uses 2.0ghz? lol And here I am still in Megahertz land.
PowerMac G4 Dual 800mhz

Maybe you'll feel better if you think of your machine as dual 0.8GHz !!
Maybe not...

 

[tristan]

If I go to this link for CPU pricing:

http://www.intel.com/intel/finance/pricelist/processor_price_list.pdf

It looks like 2.66ghz Quads are about $260 ea now, as are 3.0ghz duals... That's what should be in the Mac Pro IMO, right?

 

[Multimedia]

No That Is Not A Relevant List

If I go to this link for CPU pricing:

http://www.intel.com/intel/finance/pricelist/processor_price_list.pdf

It looks like 2.66ghz Quads are about $260 ea now, as are 3.0ghz duals... That's what should be in the Mac Pro IMO, right?

No those are Kentsfields - nothing to do with Clovertown nor Woodcrest Xeons. We're waiting for 45nm Harpertowns. That list is not relevant to our wait.

 

[AmericanJustin]

Advice question for Multimedia et al.

So I currently have a Dual Core 2.0 GHz G5 4 GB RAM tower now, but am finding it rather slow these days, especially after moving to the latest versions of Aperture, iLife '08, iWork '08, Maya, and the like. I'm also finding Skype unbearably unstable (perhaps Skype is a PPC vs Universal/Intel issue?).

I'm also starting to wonder if we've peaked in our transition for Apple's applications/OS starting to work more stably on Intel-based Macs rather than PPC-based ones now and more so as we move forward. It seems to me that at least up until recently, the opposite held true.

I'm very tempted to buy a new tower now, but when I do it will most certainly be the fastest 8-core machine available, since a big call for the speed I need lies in 3d Rendering which is fully multithreaded and makes excellent use of every ounce of speed in every processor core. I'd like order the 3GHz 8-core machine with only 1 gig of ram and then put 8 GB of RAM from otherworldcomputing.com in it given Apple's pricing on RAM.

My question is, what would I be loosing by purchasing this 8core Mac now versus ~November if/when new 8core Seaburg platforms ship? I'm about at my limit with this 2-core PPC G5. Alternatively, since Macs hold their value reasonably well, I'm entertaining the purchase of a new 2.8 GHz iMac to hold me over for a few months until whenever the new 8core towers come available.

I do realize that the X1900 card in the current Pro is very old, and a new ATI HD or nVidia card is likely going to find its way bundled with a new Pro very soon as well. Though I've found my current nVidia GeForce 7800GT card sufficient for the model complexities I've been working with onscreen, but I do hate the idea of spending $7k or so on a new machine that contains old technology.

Appreciate any advice y'all could offer. Thanks!

 

[Multimedia]

Wait.

Appreciate any advice y'all could offer. Thanks!

Wait. I went through three G5 PMs in two years to get to the Quad G5. A 2GHz Dual Processor in '04 and two 2.5GHz Dual Processor systems in '05 (sold one for a huge profit while it was still almost top dog (dual 2.7 had just come out), then the Quad G5 February '06. Your "error" was hanging on to the dual 2 G5 and not selling it while it was still current to move on to the next more powerful model. Now you're paying the price for not rolling over that older model for a newer one when your upgrade cost would have been a couple of hundred dollars or nothing. I sold my last dual 2.5GHz G5 for $200 less than it cost me to buy the Quad G5.

The people on here still on a G4 have no sense of when to let go of what they have in order to keep their Macs getting more powerful for only a few hundred dollars more each step of the way.

 

[toru173]

Prolly the wrong thread to ask in...

 

[AmericanJustin]

Thanks.

I realize I've lost money on the G5 tower I have now, but are you suggesting that it's wiser to stick with this old G5 rather than going to an interim iMac 2.8 and then in around 6 months or so a new 8core?

I'd like to purchase the 8core and 1 or 2 new Cinema displays at the same time, but I understand those displays are also due for replacement soon.

 

[AidenShaw]

flip side

The people on here still on a G4 have no sense of when to let go of what they have in order to keep their Macs getting more powerful for only a few hundred dollars more each step of the way.

The flip side is that some of those people still on G4s are web surfing, emailing, and maybe doing occasional JPEGs from their 2 Mpixel digital camera.

The G4 is plenty fast for that, and they're saving a boatload of money by hanging onto the older system.

Not everyone needs to stay close to the leading edge....

By the way, is this the only active thread on MacRumors that is discussing Apple computers? Everything else seems to be about telephones and music players - and now automobiles.

Apple. Focus. Lost.

 

[GregPacker]

Often the expensive part of upgrading is not the computer itself, but the other bits and pieces. I have a dual G4 1.25GHz with 4 PATA hard disks, 2GB RAM, a nice 10 channel PCI audio card and a formac monitor with an ADC connector. It has done me fine so far, but I will be replacing it with the next mac pro model. If I had bought a G5, and then the first mac pro, I would already have had to buy two more sets of RAM, replace the PATA hard disks with SATA, buy the PCI-X upgrade for my PCI audio card, and then replace the audio card completely with either a firewire or PCI-express compatible card, and replace the ADC monitor with a DVI monitor or buy an expensive adaptor for it. I'm glad I did not go down the road of upgrading each time the machines got better. It would have cost me a fortune and made very little difference to my user experience.

 

[bradc]

I have my Mac Pro from last August---4x3.0Ghz, 10Gb, 150Gb@10k RPM, 3x500Gb's & 1900XT.

It has had 99.5% uptime in the past year. I've only had it off for one day at the most. It's still running rock solid hardware wise, but OS X 10.4.10 is getting a little fudged up from all the stuff I've done. I'm really needing two clean formats.


Sooo, that said. My experience over the past year has been great! It has NEVER failed me in over 365days which is perfect. Why would I want a new one with 8 cores?

It would obviously help in speed etc but getting something new is nice? I'll wait until I hear some rumors!

 

[Eidorian]

By the way, is this the only active thread on MacRumors that is discussing Apple computers? Everything else seems to be about telephones and music players - and now automobiles.

Apple. Focus. Lost.

You're not alone in thinking that. I jump on any sort of computer hardware thread. As do you.

 

[sblasl]

The problem with that route is that it will now cost you more to make the transition. Your G4 and associated hardware has continued to diminish in value.

Often the expensive part of upgrading is not the computer itself, but the other bits and pieces. I have a dual G4 1.25GHz with 4 PATA hard disks, 2GB RAM, a nice 10 channel PCI audio card and a formac monitor with an ADC connector. It has done me fine so far, but I will be replacing it with the next mac pro model. If I had bought a G5, and then the first mac pro, I would already have had to buy two more sets of RAM, replace the PATA hard disks with SATA, buy the PCI-X upgrade for my PCI audio card, and then replace the audio card completely with either a firewire or PCI-express compatible card, and replace the ADC monitor with a DVI monitor or buy an expensive adaptor for it. I'm glad I did not go down the road of upgrading each time the machines got better. It would have cost me a fortune and made very little difference to my user experience.

 

[Multimedia]

If You Must Buy An iMac...

Thanks.

I realize I've lost money on the G5 tower I have now, but are you suggesting that it's wiser to stick with this old G5 rather than going to an interim iMac 2.8 and then in around 6 months or so a new 8core?

I'd like to purchase the 8core and 1 or 2 new Cinema displays at the same time, but I understand those displays are also due for replacement soon.

Yes. If you can just hang on for about 60-75 more days the 8-core dual Harpertown SS MP SHOULD be released by mid November with Leopard on board.

Now I'm not a predictor or making any promises 'cause I've been wrong so many times in the past my credibility is shot. If you feel the 2.8GHz iMac would help you transitionally, make sure you choose the 2.4 and then add the 2.8 as an upgrade not the 2.8 choice on the store. Saves you quite a bit of money doing it that way.

I know you will not find it a lot faster than your dual 2 G5 because I have the 2.66GHz Mac Pro and it's not much faster than the Quad G5. Only by getting more cores will you find a serious increase in speed. Compressor 3 divides each job into 8 video pieces and 1 audio piece that dual core Macs do in 4 shifts, quad core Macs do in 2 shifts and the 8 core MP does all at once. Until you get in the trenches of trying to do stuff that really needs a lot of cores - like transcoding video, appreciation for the 8 core MP just can't be a part of your mindset. It is so frustrating waiting for video to compress today. These computers cannot get faster soon enough for me.

While I should be on an 8 core MP already, all of the above reasons for waiting keep me off one yet. It's not fun, but I want to wait for Apple to give us what is current instead of what is legacy - particularly in the area of the video card(s). It's crazy what they are selling for video on the MP.

BTW I would forget about ACDs and get DELL 24" or HP 30" monitors. They are much more feature rich and cost way less than overpriced ACDs. Only reason I have one now is because it was part of the package of how I bought my previously owned loaded MP for only $2,.700. If you can find a deal like a few of us did here this Summer, get a MP instead of an iMac. You like that new glossy screen and crazy keyboard?

 

[jerrah]

Will you be keeping the G5 and MP when you get your Harpertown?

I'm holding out for Harpertown and I hope it's sooner than later because I sold all my computers except for my MBP. I was planning on buying a current 2.66 until I heard about the possible release later in the year.

 

[jrichman63]

8-core dual Harpertown SS MP 8800GTX

That's what we're dreaming of, come on MM don't forget the update on the GFX card.

 

[Multimedia]

Yes I Expect To Keep Both The Quad G5 & The Quad 2.66 MP

Will you be keeping the G5 and MP when you get your Harpertown?

I'm holding out for Harpertown and I hope it's sooner than later because I sold all my computers except for my MBP. I was planning on buying a current 2.66 until I heard about the possible release later in the year.

I am working on figuring out how to hook them all up with the DUAL Ethernet to a Managed Hub with Link Aggregation capability so that as many cores as I can assemble in one room can simultaneously process video for compression faster than real time.

So the idea of selling 4 or more core computers to get the next faster one is no longer a strategy that will help so much going forward. The new paradigm is to keep growing computer cores in order to be able to process jobs faster and faster to the point where each compression job can be done in a matter of minutes or better yet seconds not hours.

Right now I have to wait hours on end for one job to finish before I can tell if I've got what I want or have to try again a different way. Lots of wasted time. Very bad for meeting deadlines - I don't.

 

[AidenShaw]

Just keep the cube out of it

The new paradigm is to keep growing computer cores in order to be able to process jobs faster and faster to the point where each compression job can be done in a matter of minutes or better yet seconds not hours.

Great idea if you have an application or workflow that can be broken up into a set of embarrassingly parallel tasks.

If your job can only use a few cores (or if it requires the immense interprocess bandwidth available to an SMP system), then the faster system might be worth it.

But - keep the cube out of the farm!

On first glance, it might seem like "one more core" would help. However, it is more likely that your jobs will be faster without the extra core.

The reason is that the faster machines will finish their jobs and you'll be waiting for the slow machine - and all the fast ones will be idle.

For example, imagine that your farm software breaks the job up into chunks that take 10 minutes on a 3.0GHz Intel. Second, imagine that your job is broken up into 16 chunks.

With a 3 GHz octo, the job would take about 20 minutes - each core would do 2 chunks.

Add the cube to "help". Let's guess that the Intel is 6 times faster than the cube (probably much more, but let's use "6").

With the cube, the job takes 60 minutes. Without the cube, it takes 20 minutes. (9 jobs are started, 8 finish in 10 minutes and 7 more are started. The set of 7 finish in 10 minutes - but you have to wait 40 more minutes before the cube finishes its job.)

 

[GregPacker]

The people on here still on a G4 have no sense of when to let go of what they have in order to keep their Macs getting more powerful for only a few hundred dollars more each step of the way.

You still have a cube?!!

 

[darthraige]

The people on here still on a G4 have no sense of when to let go of what they have in order to keep their Macs getting more powerful for only a few hundred dollars more each step of the way.

Wait, what does this mean? ^^^^ I'm only waiting because I use the MP 2x2.66 Dual-Core at work and it's slow. I would rather double my speed come this November, or October would be nice.

 

[Multimedia]

I Never Intended To Use The Cube Or Anything Else With Only One Ethernet Port

Great idea if you have an application or workflow that can be broken up into a set of embarrassingly parallel tasks.

If your job can only use a few cores (or if it requires the immense interprocess bandwidth available to an SMP system), then the faster system might be worth it.

But - keep the cube out of the farm!

The Cube is just sitting there doing nothing. I know that. You need DUAL Ethernet for the above stuff to work.

 

[AidenShaw]

The Cube is just sitting there doing nothing. I know that. You need DUAL Ethernet for the above stuff to work.

I use dual InfiniBand for similar tasks - 80 Gbps (full duplex) gets the work done faster

 

[tristan]

No those are Kentsfields - nothing to do with Clovertown nor Woodcrest Xeons. We're waiting for 45nm Harpertowns. That list is not relevant to our wait.

Okay... Then, based upon what Intel has now and their pricing, is Apple using the fastest and the most cost-effective processors in their current lineup or not? That's what I'm curious about.

 

[Pressure]

Okay... Then, based upon what Intel has now and their pricing, is Apple using the fastest and the most cost-effective processors in their current lineup or not? That's what I'm curious about.

Let's just say the Mac Pro was a much better deal when it were released.

The Xeon 5150 (Dual-Core 2.66Ghz) was $670 at launch (Quad-Core Xeon 5355 2.66Ghz is $744 now) and the Xeon 5160 (Dual-Core 3.0Ghz) was $851 at launch.

The Xeon 5365 (Quad-Core 3.0Ghz) was $1350 back in April but now at $1171.

 

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by AidenShaw
By the way, is this the only active thread on MacRumors that is discussing Apple computers? Everything else seems to be about telephones and music players - and now automobiles.

Apple. Focus. Lost.​

You're not alone in thinking that. I jump on any sort of computer hardware thread. As do you.

There are no Apple computer or software stories on the Macrumors home page now - there hasn't been a computer or software story in the last 30 articles...