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2007 Harpertown Stoakley-Seaburg Motherboard With New Graphics Cards 8-Core Mac Pro
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No, putting a single quad core chip in that humongous Mac Pro maxi-tower is not logical - IMHO.
A quad Yorkfield in a mini-tower that's a third of the volume of the Mac Pro would be a better idea. It would need:
- One 3.5" hard drive slot
- One 5.25" DVD slot
- One spare 5.25" slot for either a second optical or second hard drive
- Two eSATA rear panel ports
- Four DIMM slots for 8-16 GiB of RAM
- Intel embedded graphics (for a lower cost entry system)
- PCIe x16 slot for full-sized graphics card (for those who need 3-D)
- two PCIe x1 slots for video tuner or other expansion cards
No, putting a single quad core chip in that humongous Mac Pro maxi-tower is not logical - IMHO.
A quad Yorkfield in a mini-tower that's a third of the volume of the Mac Pro would be a better idea. It would need:
- One 3.5" hard drive slot
- One 5.25" DVD slot
- One spare 5.25" slot for either a second optical or second hard drive
- Two eSATA rear panel ports
- Four DIMM slots for 8-16 GiB of RAM
- Intel embedded graphics (for a lower cost entry system)
- PCIe x16 slot for full-sized graphics card (for those who need 3-D)
- two PCIe x1 slots for video tuner or other expansion cards
If Apple went a Mini-Tower root, would that screw us with the prices and have the MacPros jump up in price, maybe starting at 2,999?
I would be happy with a 2.8Ghz for $2499 as long as it came with some decent video i.e. 8800 series Nvidia. I really think that the only memory that could support a 1600Mhz FSB is DDR3.
As you can see this is extremely expensive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...10170147+1052429371&name=DDR3+1600+(PC3+12800)
Regarding my comment, what would be nice is if apple offered say a 3.2Ghz configuration with only 1 of the 2 CPU sockets on the motherboard occupied. At least this way you could start off with a single quad and upgrade to 8 cores later if needed.
Get rid of the embedded gfx and make an option for a nice video card and I am sold.
read the 2nd to last line you quoted
I'm struggling with my G5 right now. I've been doing a lot more editing/encoding lately, even more intensive stuff to come. These new Mac Pro's can't come soon enough.
Just to clarify. Stupid Expensive is spending 4-5k on something that should only be costing me 2-3k.
I really have no use for 8 cores. 4 would be more then sufficient.
Right now I can build a PC with high quality components and a single Quad Chip for around $2k with almost a terabyte of space, an 88xx series card and 4GB of Ram. I am ok with paying a premium of 600-1k, but more then that is stretching my limit. Sure there is the iMac but I am not interested in integrated displays.
Perhaps I would be better off buying a powerbook in addition to my PC.
I feel if Apple are buying Yorkfield processors that it's more likely they will offer a quadcore version of the MP with a lower entry point than a new mini-tower system. Not that I think what you are suggesting is out of the question, just doesn't seem as logical to me considering how Apple have approached the consumer and professional markets.
1600MHz FSB will be supported by DDR2 800MHz FB-DIMMs. It's unlikely Apple will offer the 8800 as standard, remember at the moment they offer 8 display support, four 8800s would probably not be suitable for this. They are also expensive when many don't need more GPU power than that offered by a sub $100 card.
I can't see Apple doing this as it doesn't seem to fit with their ethos, technical performance and financial issues aside.
It will be fully buffered and ECC I'm affraid, there is no other alternative.
This is my original guess (but I now think it is wrong) on the new Mac Pro configuration:
E5420 2.50GHz 80W 1333Mhz FSB Mac Pro - $2200
E5440 2.83GHz 80W 1333Mhz FSB Mac Pro - $2499
E5472 3.00GHz 80W 1666MHz FSB Mac Pro - $3298
X5482 3.20GHz 120W 1666MHz FSD Mac Pro - $3997
But you bring up a good point.
A 1333MHz FSB Harpertown takes different memory than a 1666MHz FSB Harpertown.
I don't think Apple will want to have two different types of memory chips to configure the new Mac Pro.
As you say there is no low-end 1666MHz FSB Harpertown at this time so what will Apple use for the low-end and middle-ground processors?
From what I am hearing the lowest-end 1666MHz FSB Harpertown will be a 2.80GHz E5462.
I think Apple would have to up the base unit price of the Mac Pro to $2599.
Then it would look like this which doesn't seem to make too much sense..
E5462 2.80GHz 80W 1666Mhz FSB Mac Pro - $2599
E5472 3.00GHz 80W 1666MHz FSB Mac Pro - $3298
X5482 3.20GHz 120W 1666MHz FSD Mac Pro - $3997
Why are you afraid of that? I am not sacrificing a 3% performance deficit due to having none Fully-Buffered Error Correction Code memory. This is a workstation and not a toy, stability foremost while still maintaining the majority of the performance.
He obviously wanted cheaper memory and I was trying to be sympathetic, it matters not to me personally.
I can't see Apple bringing the numbers that close in Ghz. 2.8 would be the popular one by far.
Maybe they'll drop the middle option if the GHz numbers all so close. I know they like to do things in 3's (good, better, best), but it may make more sense to offer just "standard" and "enhanced".
Well, there are 4 models now, so dropping 1 would actually restore the Good, Better, Best paradigm concerning Mac Pro marketing.
Why Do You Think They Have To Be So Stupid Expensive?
2.66 @ 1333 DDR2 666MHz FB-DIMMs $2199
3.0 @ 1600 DDR2 800MHz FB-DIMMs $2599
3.2 @ 1600 DDR2 800MHz FB-DIMMs $2999
I think you can use the slower Clovertowns and RAM in the same motherboards.
They're 1600 not 1666 Topper. I don't see why this set won't be the offering:From what I am hearing the lowest-end 1666MHz FSB Harpertown will be a 2.80GHz E5462. I think Apple would have to up the base unit price of the Mac Pro to $2599. Then it would look like this which doesn't seem to make too much sense..
E5462 2.80GHz 80W 1666Mhz FSB Mac Pro - $2599
E5472 3.00GHz 80W 1666MHz FSB Mac Pro - $3298
X5482 3.20GHz 120W 1666MHz FSD Mac Pro - $3997
2.66 @ 1333 DDR2 666MHz FB-DIMMs $2199
3.0 @ 1600 DDR2 800MHz FB-DIMMs $2599
3.2 @ 1600 DDR2 800MHz FB-DIMMs $2999
I think you can use the slower Clovertowns and RAM in the same motherboards.
I think the E5462 would offer an excellent price/performance and performance/watt ratio.
2.8 GHz, 1600 FSB, 80 watt TDP, 12 megs cache, $797.00
If they offer that chip, I'll get that. I hope they don't limit the 1600FSB to the more expensive X-series chips.
However, if I was in charge of marketing, that's what I would probably do
2.8 GHz, 1600 FSB, 80 watt TDP, 12 megs cache, $797.00
If they offer that chip, I'll get that. I hope they don't limit the 1600FSB to the more expensive X-series chips.
However, if I was in charge of marketing, that's what I would probably do
That's alot of component for such prices. 2.8Ghz almost guaranteed I would think for $2499 and a huge price increase ($800-$1500) for the 3.2GHz.
It would be incredibly awesome if the middle one was 3.0ghz. That would be an insane machine for that price.
My idea of the new Mac Pro:
Base Mac Pro - $2500
$900? - 2.8ghz E5462 Harpertown 12MB cache 1600mhz fsb
$100 - 16x double-layer Superdrive
$400 - nVidia 8800gts 640mb
$150 - 500GB Western Digital SE16 high performance hard drive, 16mb cache
$400 - 4gb fb-dimm (2x2) 667mhz RAM
$50 - Apple Keyboard
$50 - Mighty Mouse
$130 - Leopard
$80 - iLife 08
$240 - other (case etc...)
Base Mac Pro - $2500
$900? - 2.8ghz E5462 Harpertown 12MB cache 1600mhz fsb
$100 - 16x double-layer Superdrive
$400 - nVidia 8800gts 640mb
$150 - 500GB Western Digital SE16 high performance hard drive, 16mb cache
$400 - 4gb fb-dimm (2x2) 667mhz RAM
$50 - Apple Keyboard
$50 - Mighty Mouse
$130 - Leopard
$80 - iLife 08
$240 - other (case etc...)
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