Core i7 (Nehalum) Upgrades for Mac Pro (Early 2008)

[bguguen]

Well i was just wondering if this is gona work, so far i see both the current Penryn Intel Xeon uses LGA 771 socket while the New Nehalem processors are using another, so did apple like got a chance to develop Nehalem with the socket existing on current Mac Pro Early 2008s??

Looking forward for an upgrade on the CPU if thats so

 

[m1stake]

No such luck: not only is it physically bigger (1.25X or so it looks like), but it has 1366 pins instead of 771.

 

[bguguen]

No such luck: not only is it physically bigger (1.25X or so it looks like), but it has 1366 pins instead of 771.

so it means ill have to stick to my Early 2008 Mac Pro...

 

[Ploki]

What the hell do you do, too need more power?
i consider my 8-core 2,8 ridiculously fast.., i do pro audio

 

[m1stake]

What the hell do you do, too need more power?
i consider my 8-core 2,8 ridiculously fast.., i do pro audio

Agreed, if you already have a Mac Pro (ANY model), you don't need a new one just yet.

 

[nomadpass]

he might not need it but it's still nice to have the newest, top of the line mp

 

[Umbongo]

Agreed, if you already have a Mac Pro (ANY model), you don't need a new one just yet.

Well that depends on what you are doing. Going from a 2006 quad 2.66GHz to a Nehalem 8 core 2.66GHz might offer massive speed gains if you are doing things like video encoding where you could get improvements from SSE4, architecture improvements and the doubling of cores.

 

[DualShock]

No such luck: not only is it physically bigger (1.25X or so it looks like), but it has 1366 pins instead of 771.

Not to mention that a complete redesign of the motherboard is required, since the Core i7 has an integrated memory controller, which would mean a completely different chipset as well. Oh yeah and it uses triple channel DDR3 memory, while the current Mac Pro uses DDR2.

No doubt Apple already has prototypes, but there's no way it'll be out anytime soon, nor can it be a "minor" update to the existing Mac Pro motherboard.

 

[98707]

he might not need it but it's still nice to have the newest, top of the line mp

Lets not forget about a possible graphics card update with snow leopard.. It will be that much better. GTX 280? I can only hope at this point.

 

[Chaos123x]

Check it out.


http://www.techradar.com/news/compu...socket-nehalem-ep-platform-benchmarked-487131

 

[jjahshik32]

Wow the new 2.8ghz i7 are already so damn fast. I think the 3.2ghz 8 core model right now is about 80 points in the benchmarks as to the 2.8ghz i7 which gave 160 points in the benchmarking!

Imagine a 3.2ghz i7!

 

[nanofrog]

Wow the new 2.8ghz i7 are already so damn fast. I think the 3.2ghz 8 core model right now is about 80 points in the benchmarks as to the 2.8ghz i7 which gave 160 points in the benchmarking!

Imagine a 3.2ghz i7!

The Xeon 5500 series parts should be quite impressive for server/workstation use.

For general purpose stuff, not so much, as the bandwidth improvements can't help ATM. Maybe if the software is rewritten though.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Lets not forget about a possible graphics card update with snow leopard.. It will be that much better. GTX 280? I can only hope at this point.

There is no need for a gaming enthusiast's card in a workstation computer running an operating system made by a company whose C.E.O. doesn't give a crap about gaming.

Short version: Screw the GTX 280. The power draw is too high, and, to get all technical, the Radeon 4870 x2 is a better, cheaper card, and will also not be included in the Nehalem Mac Pro.

More like:

3870
9800 GT
Quadro 5800 (that new one with 4GB of graphics RAM. FOUR GIGS.)

 

[grue]

There is no need for a gaming enthusiast's card in a workstation computer running an operating system made by a company whose C.E.O. doesn't give a crap about gaming.

Short version: Screw the GTX 280. The power draw is too high, and, to get all technical, the Radeon 4870 x2 is a better, cheaper card, and will also not be included in the Nehalem Mac Pro.

What, worried about your battery life or something?

But anyway, as much as I'd like to see Apple offer some video card choices that don't suck… they don't care about gaming, as stated. At this point I've resigned myself to second or third rate cards in the MacOS, and a decent card sitting in another slot that'll only be used in Windows.

 

[grandmachar2002]

in these times power draw can be a major concern financially

 

[J the Ninja]

in these times power draw can be a major concern financially

Well, Apple could bother to use an 80+ PSU. It's not like they are THAT expensive.

 

[grue]

in these times power draw can be a major concern financially

if you can't afford the extra few bucks a month to run a video card, you probably shouldn't be buying a Mac Pro

 

[grue]

Well, Apple could bother to use an 80+ PSU. It's not like they are THAT expensive.

That'd make sense. Apple doesn't do things that make sense.

 

[98707]

What, worried about your battery life or something?

But anyway, as much as I'd like to see Apple offer some video card choices that don't suck… they don't care about gaming, as stated. At this point I've resigned myself to second or third rate cards in the MacOS, and a decent card sitting in another slot that'll only be used in Windows.

Your right on all counts. I hope that when Windows 7 comes out DirectX11 is available on launch. Then I'll be sitting waiting for the first generation hardware which can fully utilize the technology.