That's entirely possible now. Surprisingly enough Apple can be a big "limited" seller of hardware.
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8-Core Mac Pros have arrived.
- Thread starter arcsbite
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its 24Ghz (ideally) combined for all Cores but in reality its about 35% of that (you have to compensate for the inefficiency of the processors and the transistors) basically the difference between a dual core and a dual processor (single core) is each processor has to communicate with the other one and they are connected via the motherboard so that drops the speed even more: a dual-core processor is about 50-60% as fast as a Single Core processor at the combined speed and a Dual-Processor is about 30-40% (this is just my ROUGH guesstimate) and a Quad Processor is prolly 15-20%. Than you have to realise that the BUS Speed is half that of the processor on the macs so you are acutally getting even less effiency...(its limited to the speed of the bus) and than the ram isn't as fast as the processor is either nor is the hard drive. when we discover super-conductors (materials that transfer 100% of the energy from one point to the other with 0 loss) our computers will speed up considerably.
mattbatt said:
I know the above mentioned chips are different, but they were essentially built off the same architecture: just modded some things, built better manufacturing processes, added cache, cores, clock speed, but its all in the same family.
The change to Nehalem will be like going from classic to OS Xwriting a new foundation. Nehalem will offer what Intel calls "a truly dynamic- and design-scalable microarchitecture." It won't have a front-side bus (integration of the memory controller into the CPU). (Yes, AMD started this in 2003). It will also have integrated graphics.
Yeah. I sort of thought that Jobs hinted that Apple would get the latest-greatest Intel stuff before everybody else when he announced the whole Intel switch. Remember that keynote? He was all, "yeah, and guess what? OS X has been running on intel chips all along, in a back room at Apple HQ" and everybody pretty much lit on fire right then and there. Or exploded. That was nice. Waiting for another keynote like that. I like to be surprised.
This really isn't the best explanation... those numbers of yours are effectively incorrect.
The real break down depends on the work loads you plan to run on the system, that is really the only reasonable measure you can have as to how well a system is going to perform for the things you do.
What about virtualization?
I think we are getting to the heart of it... this (obviously) isn't an overhaul (not possible until S-S is released), it's just an additional option. And a really exciting one at that!
One great use for multi-core machines that hasn't been discussed much is virtualization. You could theoretically dedicate half your cores to an OS each, and have in one box an outward facing web server, a db server, a test server, and a backup server each running in an isolated environment, on a very stable host OS (osx).
This is the future of server administration. I think a lot of web developers/server admin's will be very excited about a 3GHz 8 core machine. I know, it's still not a huge target market, but this isn't a consumer device people.
With the progress Parallels has been making, and VMWare now in the game for Macs (they have 64-bit Vista running), it's easy to see scenarios where those 8 cores can go to use, even outside the "video editing/rendering" community.
As a Mac lover and a server admin, i'm VERY excited about this release. I'm looking to buy after NAB. EVEN IF S-S and Nehalem are all today's nay-sayers think they will be, it may 2-3 years before there is a really compelling reason to want to upgrade beyond the current offering (and it better have 40 cores!). It just doesn't seem worth waiting any longer.
Any ideas on other markets where virtualization on an 8-core machine will be helpful?
I think we are getting to the heart of it... this (obviously) isn't an overhaul (not possible until S-S is released), it's just an additional option. And a really exciting one at that!
One great use for multi-core machines that hasn't been discussed much is virtualization. You could theoretically dedicate half your cores to an OS each, and have in one box an outward facing web server, a db server, a test server, and a backup server each running in an isolated environment, on a very stable host OS (osx).
This is the future of server administration. I think a lot of web developers/server admin's will be very excited about a 3GHz 8 core machine. I know, it's still not a huge target market, but this isn't a consumer device people.
With the progress Parallels has been making, and VMWare now in the game for Macs (they have 64-bit Vista running), it's easy to see scenarios where those 8 cores can go to use, even outside the "video editing/rendering" community.
As a Mac lover and a server admin, i'm VERY excited about this release. I'm looking to buy after NAB. EVEN IF S-S and Nehalem are all today's nay-sayers think they will be, it may 2-3 years before there is a really compelling reason to want to upgrade beyond the current offering (and it better have 40 cores!). It just doesn't seem worth waiting any longer.
Any ideas on other markets where virtualization on an 8-core machine will be helpful?
it's just way too expensive for anyone other than pro users.....
Umm I hate to break this to you but this thing IS for pro users. In the PC world this thing would be called a workstation PC.
Yeah I never really thought about it much until now... but Apple's lower volumes may allow them to be the first to pickup processors and chipsets that Intel is just ramping production of ... something that Dell really cannot do without risking a large backlog.
In other words Apple can still surprise by launching things before Intel does a full product announcement/release (at least for the lower volume end of their business, like the Mac Pro).
Your explanation of Amdahl's Law doesn't make much sense - it assumes that the single thread can run in parallel with the multi-threaded part.
A better one is to consider that of your application, 30% of the work can only be single-threaded, and 70% of the work can be infinitely multi-threaded. In that case:
Code:
Cores Single time Multi time Total time (sec)
1 30 70 100
2 30 35 65
4 30 17.5 47.5
8 30 8.75 38.75
512 30 0.14 30.14
Infinite 30 0.0 30Typically, an application has single-threaded code that has to run before and after multi-threaded sections.
All true (well, it's closer to an even $5000 using 2007 data, but all inflation conversions are rough anyway), except the last one. 32-bit color is really only 24 bits of color--so it's 16.7 million times more color fidelity.
The point still remains that there has been pretty radical progress.
Well, not only that, but Apple doesn't have to worry about backlogs in the same way (even when there is a backlog on Apple products, most customers don't switch to HP or eMachines like Dell customers would). With more comfortable margins and no direct competitors, they aren't harmed economically by delays the way other manufacturers are.
According to a couple of rumors:
In about two weeks: Intel will likely announce something Santa Rosa related at its Developer Forum in Beijing (which kicks off about the time of NAB.)
In about three weeks: ODMs are expected be shipping Santa Rosa notebooks, according to this report.
Too bad, price is dependent on what you can buy today from others rather than what you used to be able to buy, especially 20 yrs ago.
Don't deny Newegg's customer service and Return Policy, they have EXCELLENT customer service and Return poilcies on DOA's/Defects
This makes it seem very likely that Apple will announce new MacBook Pros at NAB, probably to ship in early May. Makes perfect sense. NAB is a pro event, hence the MacBook PRO. Probably will get new MacBooks by June, along with the Leopard release and all the iLife/iWork software. Sounds awesome!
New 8-core Mac Pros Now in Australia
New 8-core Mac Pros available in Australia. 2-4 Days shipping
Not sure about Cinema Display price drops, don't know the old prices. New Australian prices below:
20" - AU$899
23" - AU$1399
30" - AU$2,798
I just wonder if i can convince the IT department to upgrade my old G4 to one of these... NOT LIKELY.
New 8-core Mac Pros available in Australia. 2-4 Days shipping
Not sure about Cinema Display price drops, don't know the old prices. New Australian prices below:
20" - AU$899
23" - AU$1399
30" - AU$2,798
I just wonder if i can convince the IT department to upgrade my old G4 to one of these...
NOT LIKELY.
"update" well that is the problem... it isn't an update it is just an additional build option.
This update is not Stokley-Seaburg. If you want this Apple blessed update at 8x3ghz you could just have easily had a 8x2.66 ghz hack back in 11-07 (really some had it in 10-07). So if you were an 8-core "needer", the roughly 5 months of usage would have more than paid for the $4500 (less resale value) needed to implement that plan. Then you could have popped your old chips in and resold the MP 2x2.66 stock unit (with disclosed minor user caused internal "cosmetic damage"), and the upgrade chips, for around 70-80% of what you paid, just in tome for WWDC to roll around where some freakin surprise is likely. Or just buy a blessed system with a blessed warranty.
BTW I posted this fact to this site way back at the time referenced. So those who cared, had a need, and listened (I was not alone), made out big time for 5 months.
Rocketman
BTW I posted this fact to this site way back at the time referenced. So those who cared, had a need, and listened (I was not alone), made out big time for 5 months.
Rocketman
Understandably. There's a reason why they came with no fanfare. People that need 8-cores already know it. A $4000 workstation isn't aimed at just anyone.
Exactly. This is the best description I've seen."update" well that is the problem... it isn't an update it is just an additional build option.
Serves me right!
I guess I will just shrug my shoulders and (re)order my quad 2.66 mac pro. I am surprised like so many here that after so many months there is no change in graphic card options at the very least. I guess Apple is squeezing all they can from the mac pro line in the hope that CS3 will help them catch up on sales. The 8-core is nice at 3GHz though, regardless of the price hike, though I am unable to justify a purchase for myself.
I canceled my order last month hoping that NAB would see the release of updated mac pros but there you go, that's what you get for trying to look into the future.
In a brief moment of anger I thought about a Dell - then cracked up laughing! To think I almost considered Vista as an alternative to OS X!
I guess I will just shrug my shoulders and (re)order my quad 2.66 mac pro. I am surprised like so many here that after so many months there is no change in graphic card options at the very least. I guess Apple is squeezing all they can from the mac pro line in the hope that CS3 will help them catch up on sales. The 8-core is nice at 3GHz though, regardless of the price hike, though I am unable to justify a purchase for myself.
I canceled my order last month hoping that NAB would see the release of updated mac pros but there you go, that's what you get for trying to look into the future.
In a brief moment of anger I thought about a Dell - then cracked up laughing! To think I almost considered Vista as an alternative to OS X!
I still can't believe the Joe Publics - that have no real use for a computer this powerful - complaining about this. It's not like Apple have you over a barrel and you need this computer, chances are you don't. This is a high-end pro machine and should be treated as such
Think. We all thought that this would be the NAB announcement - and good on Apple for deploying it now, because look at the response it's gotten. So this clears the runway for something else at NAB; I don't believe that NAB will come and go without a hardware refresh of some sort. I'm looking at you, MacBook Pro...
Think. We all thought that this would be the NAB announcement - and good on Apple for deploying it now, because look at the response it's gotten. So this clears the runway for something else at NAB; I don't believe that NAB will come and go without a hardware refresh of some sort. I'm looking at you, MacBook Pro...