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Apple Introduces New Mac Pro with Nehalem Xeon Processors
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2 FW800 ports. It's not every day I get to correct you
The full count is 2x FW800 and 2X FW400 (one of each on the front and back) for a total of 4 FW ports.
Actually its 2x FW800 ports in the front and 2x FW800 in the back
not so fast
From Apple's page-
Front and back I/O.
There are plenty of places to connect external devices to your Mac Pro. Youll find two FireWire 800 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a headphone minijack right up front where its more convenient to connect storage, multimedia devices, and high-speed peripherals.
And there are even more ports on the back: three USB 2.0, two FireWire 800, optical audio in and out, analog audio in and out, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Evidently no FW 400 ports.
2 FW800 ports. It's not every day I get to correct you
The full count is 2x FW800 and 2X FW400 (one of each on the front and back) for a total of 4 FW ports.
From Apple's page-
Front and back I/O.
There are plenty of places to connect external devices to your Mac Pro. Youll find two FireWire 800 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a headphone minijack right up front where its more convenient to connect storage, multimedia devices, and high-speed peripherals.
And there are even more ports on the back: three USB 2.0, two FireWire 800, optical audio in and out, analog audio in and out, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Evidently no FW 400 ports.
Pretty cool upgrade; Nehalem is a brilliant chip, no doubt.
Mini Display port is annoying, since you have to buy a $30 adapter to use two regular DVI monitors
All in all, a great machine, if a little expensive (macs always are)
The thing that's really annoying is all these fine MacRumors patrons bitching about the cost. If you can't afford it, you can't buy it. I want a Bugatti Veyron. Can I afford it? No, of course not. Does it help my cause if I complain about "value" and wish that the price was only $50? No.
Just shut up already please!
On another note, my poor 2008 Mac Pro is gonna need some RAM to make it feel better
Mini Display port is annoying, since you have to buy a $30 adapter to use two regular DVI monitors
All in all, a great machine, if a little expensive (macs always are)
The thing that's really annoying is all these fine MacRumors patrons bitching about the cost. If you can't afford it, you can't buy it. I want a Bugatti Veyron. Can I afford it? No, of course not. Does it help my cause if I complain about "value" and wish that the price was only $50? No.
Just shut up already please!
On another note, my poor 2008 Mac Pro is gonna need some RAM to make it feel better
Snow Leopard should run just fine on all of Apple's muticore offerings. If you check Intel's prices you will find that the Nehalem chips are significantly more expensive than the previous generation, I'm guessing that's because it's a completely new architecture, you also cannot write-off some kind of Apple tax.
The Xserve is now significantly cheaper than the Mac Pro in NZ. This is fun, Apple products are overnight completely unaffordable. University just started and the base model iMac just leapt in price by $800!
Maxing out the Mac Pro totals to $43,000! I can buy almost 3 new cars for that.
Maxing out the Mac Pro totals to $43,000! I can buy almost 3 new cars for that.
1) We will only know when snow leopard releases. But isn't it supposed to use threads more efficiently. Nehalem has 2 threads per core. So it theoratically should run better with new Mac Pro
2) Nehalem xeon is definitely faster and I guess apple is exploiting that for sure.
3) I think Nehalem is worth the upgrade. Plus since nehalem uses DDR3, the overall platform should consume less power.
4) Westmere(32nm) with six core cpus should release around Q2 2008. That should be another good leap since number of cores increase by 50% plus 32nm should be more power efficient. But it is going to be another long wait for westmere.
Well, darn.
I was planning on possibly selling my iMac, and paying the difference to upgrade to the new Mac Pro. But it just doesn't seem worth it to me at all.
I think at this point, I'll hope that my University's bookstore clearances out their old Octo 2.8 models. They're still $2599 right now, but if they hit the $2000 mark, I'll bite. And then I'll buy some third-party RAM and a 4870.
I'm still taking it all in, but it's a shame when it seems the new model is in many ways worse than the last one.
I was planning on possibly selling my iMac, and paying the difference to upgrade to the new Mac Pro. But it just doesn't seem worth it to me at all.
I think at this point, I'll hope that my University's bookstore clearances out their old Octo 2.8 models. They're still $2599 right now, but if they hit the $2000 mark, I'll bite. And then I'll buy some third-party RAM and a 4870.
I'm still taking it all in, but it's a shame when it seems the new model is in many ways worse than the last one.
An upgrade
I've been waiting a long, long time for this Mac Pro upgrade. I have my concerns with the price bump, but hey, a MP upgrade still is the best way to start my day. I'm a 3-d animator/film editor and my dual G5 has run its course.
As to the concerns that people have that the new entry-level MP has 4-cores less than the 8-cored 2.8... Keep in mind that the old entry-level MP (late 2008) was still a 4-cored penryn. I don't get why people are comparing the quad i7 to the octo-2.8.
On the other hand, I understand people's concerns regarding the 500$ price increase from the octo-2.8 to the octo-2.26.
http://barefeats.com/nehal01.html seems to indicate that an octo-2.26 will perform equivalently/minorly better than the octo 3.2, so with that preliminary judgement, the octo-2.26 is most likely an upgrade. Barefeats runs great benchmarks and I'm still waiting for them to run all their needed tests to know for sure.
To me, Apple is worth the extra-$$$. I work on both windows and Apple OS', and I just have to say that I absolutely cannot stand the Windows interface.
-two cents from insense
I've been waiting a long, long time for this Mac Pro upgrade. I have my concerns with the price bump, but hey, a MP upgrade still is the best way to start my day. I'm a 3-d animator/film editor and my dual G5 has run its course.
As to the concerns that people have that the new entry-level MP has 4-cores less than the 8-cored 2.8... Keep in mind that the old entry-level MP (late 2008) was still a 4-cored penryn. I don't get why people are comparing the quad i7 to the octo-2.8.
On the other hand, I understand people's concerns regarding the 500$ price increase from the octo-2.8 to the octo-2.26.
http://barefeats.com/nehal01.html seems to indicate that an octo-2.26 will perform equivalently/minorly better than the octo 3.2, so with that preliminary judgement, the octo-2.26 is most likely an upgrade. Barefeats runs great benchmarks and I'm still waiting for them to run all their needed tests to know for sure.
To me, Apple is worth the extra-$$$. I work on both windows and Apple OS', and I just have to say that I absolutely cannot stand the Windows interface.
-two cents from insense
Its pretty annoying that there is not a comparison of the entry level 08 (8 core) to the new entry level quad core. and that now they are only showing benchmarks of the fully loaded models. they didn't do that before and makes it look pretty obvious that the 08 8core was most likely just as good as this quad core. and why are they still comparing these machine to the G5s clearly its better then a computer from 2003. there needs to be more specs of how this new mac functions on real world computing applications. WTF im defiantly building my own HELMER COMPUTER with a hacked leopard on it LOLOL http://helmer.sfe.se/
So are one of these quad cores mac pros faster than the older mac pro 8 core? Because the new quad core macpro version is more expensive than the old 8 core!
You can ignore him or report him. If you read through his posts it's quite obvious he's trolling. No one is that dense.
As Imacmacmatian said "only on the synthetic benchmarks", and you should do YOUR homework and know that there exists a small number of highly skilled engineers working full-time only with optimizing benchmarks for new hardware so that their clients - the manufacturers of said hardware - can market their products in a more bombastic fashion.
Furthermore for customers ordering stock processor option, note the comparison between the old 3,2 Ghz and new 2,93Ghz.
Note that the BTO is 3,2Ghz only 114% (clock frequency) of the stock 2.8Ghz while the current_gen 2.93 is 30% over the stock 2.26Ghz
Assuming linear performance growth with clock frequency in respective generation (most likely not completely linear but likely worse on old one)
A 1,2 x advantage on the BTO translates to : 1.2 * (3.2/2.8) / (2.93/2.26) ≈ 5% faster with Nehalem.
Don't forget, SSE2 gave the P4 a theoretical speed-advantage of 60% to the P3, but since many programs were not SSE2 optimized the P4 was often slower at the same clock frequency. Not quite so bad with Nehalem. Nehalem is good, but it's not good to get carried away.
You can get a DELL Studio XPS 435 about $1000 less with x2 ram then the mac pro.
With the same cpu power.
750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive vs 640GB
a 640gb is $50 less on the dell
Dell 24 inch S2409W Widescreen Flat Panel vs none
ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB vs # NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
can add ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB for $100 or ATI Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 1024MB for $200 vs ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $200 more
can also get a Studio XPS 435 with No Monitor for $1,299
with x2 the ram or - $150 for the same ram
ATI Radeon HD 3650 256MB
ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB [add $50]
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB [add $150]
ATI Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 1024MB [add $250]
you can also find other dell core i7 deals as well.
With the same cpu power.
750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive vs 640GB
a 640gb is $50 less on the dell
Dell 24 inch S2409W Widescreen Flat Panel vs none
ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB vs # NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
can add ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB for $100 or ATI Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 1024MB for $200 vs ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $200 more
can also get a Studio XPS 435 with No Monitor for $1,299
with x2 the ram or - $150 for the same ram
ATI Radeon HD 3650 256MB
ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB [add $50]
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB [add $150]
ATI Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 1024MB [add $250]
you can also find other dell core i7 deals as well.
People bitching about the cost are doing so because it's $500-$1000 overpriced, not because it's "expensive".
You can buy a Dell PC almost exactly the same specs as the bottom end Mac Pro for less than half as much.
EDIT: Even (quite generously) allowing for the traditional "Apple Tax", the bottom end Mac Pro shouldn't be a cent over $2000.
No, you won't. The single socket machine uses a 3500 series Xeon which is incapable of running in a dual socket config.
The reason the dual socket config is such a big jump in price is because the single socket rig runs on the much cheaper 3500 series ($285 retail for the 2.66GHz model) and the dual socket config has to jump up to using the 5500 series (starting around $900/ea retail for the models Apple is offering for config) to run dual sockets.
no Blu-Ray and no USB 3?
If I saw Blu-Ray drive (read/write) and USB 3, I'd be jumping on this ASAP. Of course, I'm also waiting for DVDSP to support Blu-Ray authoring...
Jim
If I saw Blu-Ray drive (read/write) and USB 3, I'd be jumping on this ASAP. Of course, I'm also waiting for DVDSP to support Blu-Ray authoring...
Jim
Reminds me of this weird glitch in Activity Monitor on my old iBook:A 1,2 x advantage on the BTO translates to : 1.2 * (3.2/2.8) / (2.93/2.26) ≈ 5% faster with Nehalem.
The day 5% = 200% is the day I grow wings and fly to Fantasia.
"not across the line" huh
(205.40% CPU usage by the process WindowServer.)
How can I unlock what must be over another G4 in my Mac?
I remember the first computer I ever used that have a full one MEGAbyte of RAM. I think it was in about 1974 but the computer was not new when I saw it. It was an IBM 360/90 in the comp. sci. department at UCLA. The chassis that housed the RAM was about a large cube about 8 feet on a side. The RAM was built in 8 sub-units and they kept a spare sub-unit on site. Each sub-unit had wheels so it could be quickly swapped out for repair. I didn't pay for it but I'll bet that megabyte cost more than $1
My Experience, and future plans... I'm Switching!!
Hi,
I usually lurk here, but feel compelled to post.
I am a professional animator and designer, with my own small business.
I have always used Macs, except when forced to do otherwise...
I use a variety of graphics & visual effects software, 2d & 3d. I do a LOT of 3d rendering, which is very Cpu intensive, with the evolving demands of my field & the move to HD format, I find myself needing more and more power at a reasonable cost. I bought the first release of the 8core Mac Pro , a sweet machine which I am using right now.
I have a small 3d render farm which is composed of mostly older model macs & broken laptops, and I needed more power. After much research, I've realized that the PC platform is WAY more economical, especially with the new i7 chips.
I just bought a dell studio xps for 1150 Cdn $ (tax & shipping included)
it has:
- 2 Hard drives... total of 1 TB
- an upgraded nice 512 video card
- 6 gigs triple channel ram
- a 2.66 Ghz i7 chip (8 threads)
- Dvi & HDMI out
- optical audio out
- a 64 bit operating system
...This is a lot of good gear for the price, no?
So, to put it in perspective, this rig gives me >85% of the cpu rendering power of my 8core 3GHZ 8gig ram Raid0 VERY expensive Mac Pro.
The benchmark I used is Cinebench 10... C4d being the software I do most of my rendering in.
In my opinion, Apple has lost touch with the needs of its pro/high end users. I'd have bought an apple render node if there was one that was even remotely affordable compared to the i7 Dell, but there is no such option for us power hungry users.
I therefore, after 13+ years of being a rabid macuser, am moving my business over to PC and have no regrets doing so. I look forward to being able to custom build any system I like, big or small at a reasonable price, with cheap ram, and the latest components. No more software incompatibilities, or waiting years for a Mac version of the latest release of Zbrush or whatever... no more bootcamp, parallels or networking hassles.
I've enjoyed using Macs all these years, but as long as Apple is focused on the iPhone & expensive consumer laptops, I see no future for my needs. I'll keep using my Macbook Pro & keep my 8core for occasional use, mostly being relegated to being a rendernode, believe it or not.
I wish Apple was more competitive, but as a small creative business owner, Apple does not fit my needs anymore. How weird is that?
Cheers to all,
Null
Hi,
I usually lurk here, but feel compelled to post.
I am a professional animator and designer, with my own small business.
I have always used Macs, except when forced to do otherwise...
I use a variety of graphics & visual effects software, 2d & 3d. I do a LOT of 3d rendering, which is very Cpu intensive, with the evolving demands of my field & the move to HD format, I find myself needing more and more power at a reasonable cost. I bought the first release of the 8core Mac Pro , a sweet machine which I am using right now.
I have a small 3d render farm which is composed of mostly older model macs & broken laptops, and I needed more power. After much research, I've realized that the PC platform is WAY more economical, especially with the new i7 chips.
I just bought a dell studio xps for 1150 Cdn $ (tax & shipping included)
it has:
- 2 Hard drives... total of 1 TB
- an upgraded nice 512 video card
- 6 gigs triple channel ram
- a 2.66 Ghz i7 chip (8 threads)
- Dvi & HDMI out
- optical audio out
- a 64 bit operating system
...This is a lot of good gear for the price, no?
So, to put it in perspective, this rig gives me >85% of the cpu rendering power of my 8core 3GHZ 8gig ram Raid0 VERY expensive Mac Pro.
The benchmark I used is Cinebench 10... C4d being the software I do most of my rendering in.
In my opinion, Apple has lost touch with the needs of its pro/high end users. I'd have bought an apple render node if there was one that was even remotely affordable compared to the i7 Dell, but there is no such option for us power hungry users.
I therefore, after 13+ years of being a rabid macuser, am moving my business over to PC and have no regrets doing so. I look forward to being able to custom build any system I like, big or small at a reasonable price, with cheap ram, and the latest components. No more software incompatibilities, or waiting years for a Mac version of the latest release of Zbrush or whatever... no more bootcamp, parallels or networking hassles.
I've enjoyed using Macs all these years, but as long as Apple is focused on the iPhone & expensive consumer laptops, I see no future for my needs. I'll keep using my Macbook Pro & keep my 8core for occasional use, mostly being relegated to being a rendernode, believe it or not.
I wish Apple was more competitive, but as a small creative business owner, Apple does not fit my needs anymore. How weird is that?
Cheers to all,
Null
You know, I sit here reading all this stuff and realize I'm pinched. Apple has me by the b@lls. I'd love that the Mac Pro were $1300, but it isn't. I'm too invested in what I can do with a Mac to ever go back to a PC.
I was hoping that the new releases would be cheaper, but it will pay for itself in other ways.