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8 core date???

tunerX

tunerX

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Original poster
Nov 5, 2009
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I bought a core 2 duo iMac in 2006 and said that I would upgrade if and only when a quad core came out.

Then I pre ordered the late 2009 quad core as soon as it was announced that it had 4 cores. When I upgraded I said that I would not upgrade again until I get 8 cores.

What is the likelihood that Apple will release an 8 core iMac at the end of this year? 6 core will not cut it, I can out wait Apple for a new iMac.

I did the same thing with laptops but with a Laptop I made the decision that I would upgrade at a 6 core upgrade.
 
MacOG728893 said:
An 8 core iMac? Not a chance at all this year and probably not next year either.
Click to expand...

I figured as much. I was hoping that Apple would eventually move to smaller desktop based motherboards that accept the current intel 980x with 6 cores but match the introduction of intels 8 core which should happen in the next couple of quarters.

The desktop replacement system providers are supporting the current 6 core in laptop format and my pipe dream will just remain a dream for the next several quarters.
 
bniu said:
Perhaps two architectures post Haswell?
Click to expand...

I am hoping sooner than later. I was thinking that Ivy bridge would scale to 8 cores by the end of the year. It Sucks for people who wait for major architectural changes before they update.

I was hoping that a 4 or 6 ivy would be announced/released during Q2 with an 8 core addition by the end of 3Q which should match with the refresh of the iMac.
 
If you need that many cores, why not just get a 12 core Mac Pro?

Unless of course desk space is a concern.
 
Did I miss an anoucement on 6 core ivy bridge? The lists I have seen only show 4 cores....
 
You won't be seeing that until maybe one or two releases after haswell. So about 2014-15 and even then that's a big maybe. Ivy Bridge won't even be getting a six core so you'll be waiting awhile. If you need 8 cores now get a proper workstation like a Dell Precision or a Mac Pro.
 
tunerX said:
I am hoping sooner than later. I was thinking that Ivy bridge would scale to 8 cores by the end of the year. It Sucks for people who wait for major architectural changes before they update.
Click to expand...

There are other "major architectural changes" other than core count.

I mean, Core2 Quad vs Core i7 - both quad cores, both running at same clock speed, the Core2 will get blown into the weeds. A core i3 (dual core) is about the same speed as a Core 2 Quad...
 
I am pretty sure there is gonna be an 8 core Haswell CPU - The question is however if you could put that in an imac. Between Power and Heat issues there might be an economical one as well. Intel's Top Processors normally don't come cheap, so you might not see a >1000$ CPU in an iMac.

Also I agree with others, the architecture is important as well, so the number of cores is about as reliable as an indicator for speed as the core frequency. With more and more different models you have to rely on benchmarks to really see how fast the CPUs are.

Another Problem for me at least is that in everyday use even Intels Core 2 Duo CPUs are plenty sufficient and speed problems are most likely caused by other components. So in order to really make use of those superfast processor chips everything inside the computer should develop in the same pace - and in my opinion that hasn't happen since 2006. And I'm not saying with this that CPUs should develop slower (If you do a lot of Video editing for example a CPU can't be fast enough) - I'm just saying that a lot has to go along with it - soft & hardware - to truly benefit from new superfast CPUs.
 
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