8-Core Mac Pros have arrived.

[liv4Mac]

It seems like Apple just slipped in the clovertown chips in their already build Mac Pros.
Hey, Just sell us the chips we can do it on our own.
Something does not feel right about this new computer.

 

[whatever]

Funny Real World Story

We bought two 3GHz Mac Pros for two girls in the office and they both refused to switch from their G5 PowerMacs, because they have been brainwashed into thinking that Adobe's CS2 would be slower. I got into several arguements with them over this, but just threw my hands up in the sky and walked away. And from what I'm hearing this is the norm else where. Designers aren't switching over until CS3.

What's funny is that their new machines have more memory and they both have dual 23" ACDs, but since the G5 only has one DVI port the second monitor sits on their desks off.

I'm about to give up the fight and wait for CS3, but if anyone knows of a good benchmark site about CS2 on Mac Pro, please let me know.

 

[SilentCrs]

The graphics card is a dealbreaker. Why Apple continues to saddle these machines (which are otherwise stellar) with standard or substandard cards is beyond me.

It's a premium machine at a premium price -- put a decent graphics card in it Apple!

 

[O and A]

How shameful of Apple! The current quad line has been the same price for almost a year! Same crappy ram, hd space, and graphics card! WTF! What computer stays the same price with no upgrades for almost a year! What a complete rip off. I love Apple but F this. seriously. An expensive "super computer" with non super parts!

Should we see some well deserved price cuts or upgraded components in the next few months?

I totally agree with you. This update is not satisfying. Sure the 8 core is nice but they are selling the same machine they releasaed long ago witht eh same config for the same price. The ram is uber expensive for this machine. The graphics card isn't great either. And no BLURAY burner.

It would make sense if it was same price but they added a BLURAY burner but they didn't so i'm very dissapointed.

 

[wavelayer]

Is it just me or does it seem like we're really not seeing the performance boost we were promised with the Intel processors? So the 8-core 3Gz Intel Xeon is between 1.3x to 2.1x faster than the 4-core G5?!? Aside from running Windows and just the overall conversion to Intel, there doesn't seem to be a lot of benefit. Sure, cooling and power consumption are much better on the Intel chips, that is definitely great.
But I have to agree with a previous poster here... 1 year for updates and only a top-end addition that is ridiculously over-priced. All models should have dropped about $500 and this should be a good $1K cheaper. The fact that these are priced the way they are makes you kind of wonder if the extra processing power is even justified. Never mind... why couldn't they make ALL PMs 8-core? It seems that there is just too much "margin" on these machines...

I think we'll see more improvements when Leopard is released.

 

[MacSA]

thats nothing, the Adobe CS3 prices made me swear alot...

US Store...

UK Store...

i was gonna get it but, now they can stick it right up their...

Sigh, no wonder software piracy is rampant.

 

[Swarmlord]

<snip> Hopefully this will bring down the price of some old power macs.

That's what I'm thinking too. I was checking eBay yesterday and noticed the discrepancy between units sold there and the refurb units from Apple. What's up with that? I would think that Apple would want to blow out those older G4 units as fast as possible.

 

[O and A]

We bought two 3GHz Mac Pros for two girls in the office and they both refused to switch from their G5 PowerMacs, because they have been brainwashed into thinking that Adobe's CS2 would be slower. I got into several arguements with them over this, but just threw my hands up in the sky and walked away. And from what I'm hearing this is the norm else where. Designers aren't switching over until CS3.

What's funny is that their new machines have more memory and they both have dual 23" ACDs, but since the G5 only has one DVI port the second monitor sits on their desks off.

I'm about to give up the fight and wait for CS3, but if anyone knows of a good benchmark site about CS2 on Mac Pro, please let me know.

CS2 is slower on mac pros then a g5 from what i understand. Thats why we haven't upgraded in my office yet either.

 

[whatever]

Mini Tower=BAD!

I think the time is right for this idea. They've never done it because it would eat into iMac sales. And that's true. It would.

But we're getting to the point where they can afford that. In other words, such a system could hypothetically cut iMac sales in half, but it's ok because they've grown 300% over the last few years anyway. Or something like that. I have no real numbers to back this up but I have to think that over the next 3 years something like what I described COULD happen.

I'd love to see it too.

I would hate to see a mini tower. It would confuse the market to much. I would like to see a more powerful Mac Mini, but a mini tower no!

 

[AidenShaw]

Apple's OverClocking again...

Since Intel lists the fastest quad Xeon as the X5355 at 2.66 GHz, it looks pretty obvious that Apple is overclocking the 2.66 chips.

Intel has a utility to compare the actual clock speed to the rated speed (Windows or bootable) http://support.intel.com/support/processors/tools/frequencyid/ - so soon we'll know if Intel produced a special bin for Apple, or if the Cupertino boys and girls have been "mod'ing"

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/frequencyid/sb/cs-007627.htm

Reliability Issues
Overclocked processors can produce unpredictable results or system instabilities, which might not be readily apparent. The life of the processor may also be shortened. The expected frequency is the frequency at which Intel warrants the reliable performance of the processor. If you have not intentionally changed the system bus frequency or ratio, Intel suggests you contact your PC system manufacturer or reseller to resolve the problem. If you bought an Intel processor that appears to be overclocked and installed it yourself, you should contact the processor place of purchase.
...
Returning Overclocked Processors
If you believe your processor is overclocked, you must return it to the place where you purchased your system. If they are no longer in business, or will not help you, Intel recommends that you contact the PC system manufacturer.

 

[Rocketman]

Hey, Just sell us the chips we can do it on our own.\

People were already successfully doing that in 11-06. People who needed the cores and speed, then at 2.66 Ghz.

The motivating factor for Apple doing it now was the 40% price drop so they can maintain stockholder mandated margins near 30%. For those of you complaining about Apple not employing Dell-like 10% margins, remember Apple provides more features in software, a rapid OS upgrade path, featuritis out the wazoo, and support (1st and 3rd party) for EVERY OS, for that very slight premium.

Rocketman

 

[Jarcrew]

thats nothing, the Adobe CS3 prices made me swear alot...

US Store...

UK Store...

i was gonna get it but, now they can stick it right up their...

That's outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. Can you not eBay it from the US? I think a lot of people will do that at this rate.

(Also, I really like the pictures on your Flickr page - how's the picture on that TV?)

 

[Mgkwho]

I totally called that it would be before NAB .

No one believed me! [cries]

-=|Mgkwho

 

[Swarmlord]

thats nothing, the Adobe CS3 prices made me swear alot...

<snip>
i was gonna get it but, now they can stick it right up their...

You should see the full retail price then! Fortunately, the education discount looks the same as that upgrade price (at least in USD) so it's tempting to get the native code version that should run a LOT faster than the version I use now.

 

[Maccus Aurelius]

If it's faster than my macbook I'm sold

Eh, I was sorta kinda hoping for a slight price drop on the dual, but I was just playing with the idea, I didn't actually expect it to happen. Whatever, to the refurb lot I go!

 

[SaxPlayer]

thats nothing, the Adobe CS3 prices made me swear alot...

You're quite right of course. Why not sign my petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/adobecs/) - sorry this is slightly off topic!

If it's any good to you, you can buy CS2.3 Premium for about £900 and get a free upgrade to CS3 Design Premium. Works out about the same price as customers in the US will pay for the full version alone.

Back on topic: Still no 8-cores on the UK store. I've been waiting to buy since last October hoping for an improved spec for the 4-cores (8-cores is probably overkill for me). Looks like I should've "done the deed" last Autumn after all... Oh well, at least the wait is (nearly) over!

 

[sdhollman]

We bought two 3GHz Mac Pros for two girls in the office and they both refused to switch from their G5 PowerMacs, because they have been brainwashed into thinking that Adobe's CS2 would be slower. I got into several arguements with them over this, but just threw my hands up in the sky and walked away. And from what I'm hearing this is the norm else where. Designers aren't switching over until CS3.

What's funny is that their new machines have more memory and they both have dual 23" ACDs, but since the G5 only has one DVI port the second monitor sits on their desks off.

I'm about to give up the fight and wait for CS3, but if anyone knows of a good benchmark site about CS2 on Mac Pro, please let me know.

Tell them they are stupid and send the monitor and computer to me please.
http://barefeats.com/quad13.html

 

[akadmon]

3GHz Quad $2499

Good guess. Only $699 off

 

[DeepIn2U]

Pure Braggin Rights here.

3 things.

> Who's the first to ORDER & GET the 8-Core "Silver Surfer", and display it?!

> Wondering how this will perform with a 64-bit install of Win-Vista comparative to OS X Leopard. Audio Production/Composition, Artistry (Photography/Video HD).

> I'm more interested to see the Mac Book Pro's & iMac cpu upgrades & internal gpu's (Standard 256MB, Optional 512MB in Mac Book Pro's, 512MB gpu on top 2 tiered iMacs).

ShOULd've offered to 8-Core in sleek glossy black metal

 

[MacSA]

You should see the full retail price then! Fortunately, the education discount looks the same as that upgrade price (at least in USD) so it's tempting to get the native code version that should run a LOT faster than the version I use now.

Why isnt the EU investigating Adobe for this like they are iTunes?

 

[Swarmlord]

That's outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. Can you not eBay it from the US? I think a lot of people will do that at this rate.

(Also, I really like the pictures on your Flickr page - how's the picture on that TV?)

I wonder if you can on-line register a US version over there.

Why isnt the EU investigating Adobe for this like they are iTunes?

A legitimate question...

 

[mwswami]

Maybe its the Xeon X5365

Since Intel lists the fastest quad Xeon as the X5355 at 2.66 GHz, it looks pretty obvious that Apple is overclocking the 2.66 chips.

Maybe its the Xeon X5365 which was supposed to be released in Q3. Intel has been sitting on these waiting to see how Barcelona performs. Apple may have gotten their hands on it earlier ...

 

[Sunrunner]

Check out the display prices the 30 inch a drop of 200 Dollars!!!

Education price now at 1599 for a 30" Apple Display!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you guys think the current display spects (contrast, brightness, etc) justify the cost? I was under the impression those things were in need of an improvement...

 

[yurarse]

8 cores

I believe I read somewhere that thos quad core chips are pin compatible with the existing Mac Pros. Can I go somewhere and buy 2 Clovertown CPU's and drop them in my Mac Pro?

Yeah, it better for me to upgrade from 3.0 dual to Quad instead of buying a macpro...I would like to know if Apple would do it?

 

[paulvee]

I'm kind of glad I'm on my own particular buying cycle - and everyone is on a different one. Those with the liquid-cooled Quad G5's might want to update now.

I have a two machine setup and updated to the Quad 3.0 Xeons as soon as they came out, bumping my Dual G5 to the photo/sound and secondary crunching machine. I have happily using the Quad MacPro to finish a feature movie since August and will continue to use it for a long time, hopefully..

In the next iteration of the Octo Core machine, or perhaps the one after that, in a year and a half, I'll spring for one and the Quad core machine will move to number two.

Now, all the people who have been saying they would buy this one in a heartbeat can run out and buy it, then start working instead of posting and whining.