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Details of Core i7-980X (Gulftown) Mac Pro Processors Leaked

MacRumors said:
This means a dual configured Mac Pro will have 12 physical cores and 24 logical cores
Click to expand...


"Logical cores" is becoming the new Megapixels. And even "physical cores" is on the same road.

Intel, what about faster single core performance? Would help everyone and not just the video encoding guys. What about a decent Atom replacement that doesn't majorly suck performance-wise?

I hate monopolies.
 
Speedy2 said:
"Logical cores" is becoming the new Megapixels. And even "physical cores" is on the same road.

Intel, what about faster single core performance?
I hate monopolies.
Click to expand...

Agreed. But lets get real. Monopolies are highly taxed bosses of business. Also, isnt apple using tech to manage single v multi core usage clock speeds?
 
Setmose said:
The fans in the oversized cooling towers on the Mac Pro CPUs are called BOOSTA and BOOSTB, meaning that Apple has purposefully designed in order to get maximum Turboboost from the Intel processors. :apple:
Click to expand...

I think they just wanted the SMC report sheet to have the word "Boosta" on it. :p
 
macbook pro update????

can someone please tell me when the macbook pro 13" will have an update? it now says march so should we expect an update in jan-feb or in march? because im going to buy one but if its not going to change till march then i will just buy one now, thanks in advance:apple:
 
scroto said:
Sure it will
Click to expand...

After the failed components have been replaced.

My company does products for Storage Area Network Management. Our IT guys are constantly replacing components in our ~100 Dell machines. Crappy cooling design, and components bought in bargain-basement cheap lots.

The four Mac Pros we use in the same production environment have never had a component replaced in 4 years. :apple:
 
alent1234 said:
intel hit 5GHz with the Pentium 4 years ago and it sucked. the chip was designed only for GHz and the performance was crap. AMD Athlon 64 was cheaper and faster at the time. This is why Intel went to the Centrino design that was based on the P3 for all future CPU's. it might not be as fast in GHz, but it's a lot more efficient and performs faster than the "faster" GHz CPU's.

except for late 1990's marketing, GHz has never been a good way to measure performance
Click to expand...

Intel could hit 4GHz on air now. They choose not to because they don't see other CPU manufacturers ac competition. IIRC with phase change cooling you can hit 6+ Ghz.
 
Unique Visuals said:
I like the case as it is. Its a great combination of form and function. Its cool that it looks nice as it is, but to sacrifice function for form then you screw it up.

As a Tool & Die maker/designer for over 25 years there are tons of things that can be done to modify ones own case. Since its aluminum there are many things you can do with it easily. If you want people to know you have the latest then write the specs on the case. Some of these ideas will warrant you having to tape up and seal all gaps and holes and others you will need to strip out the guts. Yes it involves work. :D Want a shinny new mac? Alum is very easy to polish till it shines like chrome. Fine sandpaper then use alum wheel or other polish. Dont like the color? Get some vinyl and cover it, Or go to a sign shop and have them make a custom vinyl wrap for it. Don't like the sharp edges? Then get a file to it. Can even radius the edges or change the shape of the handles. Get or make some stencils and sandblast the case with a design, graphics/text you want on it. Get some paint or strip it out and have it powder coated. There are so many mods you can do to them Im really surprised that theres not a lot of people doing it or even reselling wrap kits etc for them. But then its a comp made for use as a workstation so not that many really care what it looks like only how it preforms and what can be connected to it or parts changed in it.
Click to expand...

There are several companies out there which will anodize your aluminum Mac Pro, and even (gulp) the LED Cinema display into wicked metallic colors to kick butt on Alienware. :apple:
 
alent1234 said:
what exactly is the point of all these cores on a desktop machine with a crappy graphics card that won't be used for heavy video work?...
Click to expand...

I've heard this ranting question over and over :rolleyes: :rolleyes: and all the time I come across it, I simply lay back and laugh... LOL

There are two answers to your question:

1. Eloquently put, just as other (albeit few) enlightened minds like that of the author of this post (me), if you don't know why you would need "all these cores on a desktop machine" (sic) then you definitely don't need it. I think we've also had this as the most typical answer.

2. But since you are actually asking why, I can tell you a simple reason that cuts it for me: V-I-R-T-U-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N
 
eastcoastsurfer said:
Why not? I have home built machines running 5 years after 24/7 work. The parts inside a MP are no different than any system builder can buy right now.
Click to expand...

Wrong.

Go to AnandTech to see how the Nehalem Mac Pros use special Xeons without the Intel heat-spreader on top. They bind the bare cores directly to the cooling assemblies for a better thermal coupling.

Our IT department routinely replaces failed components in Dell towers, and has never had to replace a component in a Mac Pro over the same time period. One reason is that Apple uses very conservative designs -- they always use memory that is one step down from what the CPU can handle, for example. Gamers hate that, but it does extend the life of the components pretty dramatically. And anyway, LCDs are locked at 60 Hz, so Mac Pro is now a pretty damned good gaming platform as well. :apple:
 
irrªtiºnal said:
You misspelled it my dear cube, you mean icosikaitetra-core. (Actually they will be icosikaitetra-virtual-core, for this is achieved via hyper-threading...) :cool:
Click to expand...

Both spellings are used.

AMD will be REAL icositetracore with 2 Magny-Cours.
 
alent1234 said:
what exactly is the point of all these cores on a desktop machine with a crappy graphics card that won't be used for heavy video work?
Click to expand...

CryEngine uses those cores:

Log Started at Saturday, November 28, 2009 20:31:16
FileVersion: 1.4.0.1405
ProductVersion: 1.4.0.1405

--- CPU detection ---
Number of system processors: 16
Number of available processors: 16
Processor 0:
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
Family: 6, Model: 10, Stepping: 5
FPU: on-chip
CPU Speed (estimated): 2926.015545 MHz
MMX: present
SSE: present
3DNow!: not present
Serial number not present or disabled

Processor 1:
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
Family: 6, Model: 10, Stepping: 5
FPU: on-chip
CPU Speed (estimated): 2926.013647 MHz
MMX: present
SSE: present
3DNow!: not present
Serial number not present or disabled

Processor 2:
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
Family: 6, Model: 10, Stepping: 5
FPU: on-chip
CPU Speed (estimated): 2926.012599 MHz
MMX: present
SSE: present
3DNow!: not present
Serial number not present or disabled

[snip]

Processor 14:
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
Family: 6, Model: 10, Stepping: 5
FPU: on-chip
CPU Speed (estimated): 2926.017336 MHz
MMX: present
SSE: present
3DNow!: not present
Serial number not present or disabled

Processor 15:
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
Family: 6, Model: 10, Stepping: 5
FPU: on-chip
CPU Speed (estimated): 2926.015415 MHz
MMX: present
SSE: present
3DNow!: not present
Serial number not present or disabled

---------------------
OS User name: 'Setmose'
File System Initialization
Stream Engine Initialization
Script System Initialization
Loading system configuration
Lua cvar: (ca_ambient_light_intensity,0.2)
Lua cvar: (ca_ambient_light_range,10)
Lua cvar: (ca_EnableDecals,1)
Lua cvar: (cl_installshieldversion,44)
Lua cvar: (cl_lazy_weapon,0.0000)
Lua cvar: (cl_projectile_light,1)
Lua cvar: (cl_punkbuster,0)
Lua cvar: (cl_saveubipassword,1)
Lua cvar: (cl_use_joypad,0)
Lua cvar: (cl_weapon_fx,2)
Lua cvar: (cl_weapon_light,2)
Lua cvar: (d3d9_TextureFilter,TRILINEAR)
Lua cvar: (e_active_shadow_maps_receving,1)
Lua cvar: (e_beach,1)
Lua cvar: (e_brushes_merging,1)
Lua cvar: (e_cgf_load_lods,0)
Lua cvar: (e_decals,1)
Lua cvar: (e_decals_life_time_scale,3.000000)
Lua cvar: (e_detail_texture_quality,1)
Setting e_EntitySuppressionLevel to 0
Lua cvar: (e_flocks,1)

[snip]

With Grand Central now Open Source and having already been adopted into the BSD Unix Distribution, expect an acceleration in multicore programming know-how and delivery. :apple:
 
irrªtiºnal said:
2. But since you are actually asking why, I can tell you a simple reason that cuts it for me: V-I-R-T-U-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N
Click to expand...

The Mac Pro is a workstation, not a server. How in the world would you ever run that many parallel VMs on a WORKstation to benefit from 12 cores?
 
Setmose said:
CryEngine uses those cores:
Click to expand...


Neither Crysis nor Far Cry 2 run any faster on a quad core than on a dual core at the same clock speed. Except when you maybe switch the resolution to 640x480, but I haven't seen anyone who tried that.

Games are maybe the LEAST area where multi-core CPUs are useful. Games want fast graphics cards above anything else.
 
alent1234 said:
intel hit 5GHz with the Pentium 4 years ago and it sucked. the chip was designed only for GHz and the performance was crap. AMD Athlon 64 was cheaper and faster at the time. This is why Intel went to the Centrino design that was based on the P3 for all future CPU's. it might not be as fast in GHz, but it's a lot more efficient and performs faster than the "faster" GHz CPU's.
Click to expand...

You were responding to a post saying that the Power7 was a great chip and listing its 5 GHz spec.

While it's not solely because of GHz, anyone pretending the Power7 isn't fast is an idiot. That chip is incredibly fast, just expensive and hot (although the fact that it will be used in Playstation 4 indicates that a cooler, cheaper version is in the works).

mhar4 said:
And what is the Power7 up to now, 5 Ghz? Once again Apple must be rueing the day they ever switched to these sluggish Intel processors.
Click to expand...

Sure. If they had wanted to stop selling laptops, they could have stuck with PowerPC. Not to mention, of course, that during the time of the transition, PowerPC was lagging behind.

It is quite likely that they're continuing to maintain PowerPC operability, so a Power 7 xServe wouldn't be impossible, but unlikely due to software issues.

eastcoastsurfer said:
The parts inside a MP are no different than any system builder can buy right now.
Click to expand...

That's BS. Where can you get the motherboard used by Apple? Or the power supply?

Not to mention, of course, that while you CAN get some of the components Apple uses, Apple specs theirs much tighter than the cheap crap that people like you invariably buy.

Ironduke said:
Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unlimited Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Until next time. 2 years from now, these chips won't be very impressive. Only newbies think that they are buying unlimited power.

azentropy said:
and more than 4 memory slots and can support more than 16gb (the current entry Mac Pro only supported 8gb when first released).
Click to expand...

Funny, but the Mac Pro has 8 memory slots in the DP version and is currently rated to 32 GB - at least. In most cases, Mac Pro systems have been able to handle larger RAM DIMMs when they became available, too.

Eidorian said:
BIOS updates as well.
Click to expand...

Mac Pro also has upgradable BIOSs. Not that you need to upgrade the BIOS often, but Apple regularly releases firmware upgrades when necessary.

I wish you folks would stop blabbing about things you don't know anything about.
 
jragosta said:
Mac Pro also has upgradable BIOSs. Not that you need to upgrade the BIOS often, but Apple regularly releases firmware upgrades when necessary.

I wish you folks would stop blabbing about things you don't know anything about.
Click to expand...
I'm sure that everyone with the Mac Pro 1,1 got the update to support Harpertown. :rolleyes:
 
So re-reading this story.... available in March... that's BS i want it now. I'm desperate for a new computer. Apple at least give me a new mbp in January
 
Speedy2 said:
Neither Crysis nor Far Cry 2 run any faster on a quad core than on a dual core at the same clock speed. Except when you maybe switch the resolution to 640x480, but I haven't seen anyone who tried that.

Games are maybe the LEAST area where multi-core CPUs are useful. Games want fast graphics cards above anything else.
Click to expand...

Actually the #1 comment you see from tweakers who are pushing the limits is: "I get a good frame rate unless there are a lot of NPCs on the screen, then I get some stuttering." COD Modern Warfare, for example. Non-Player-Characters have AI loops, and those loops take up CPU cycles. This is also the source of the standard label on game boxes and Steam downloads: "Performance will vary between offline and online gaming." When you play on a server, against human opponents, the AI overhead for NPCs is removed.

Yeah, you want the best graphics card possible (Radeon HD 5870 Mac Edition Q1 2010), but CPU is also very important. You have to keep both performing or one or the other becomes the bottleneck. :apple:
 
irrªtiºnal said:
I've heard this ranting question over and over :rolleyes: :rolleyes: and all the time I come across it, I simply lay back and laugh... LOL

There are two answers to your question:

1. Eloquently put, just as other (albeit few) enlightened minds like that of the author of this post (me), if you don't know why you would need "all these cores on a desktop machine" (sic) then you definitely don't need it. I think we've also had this as the most typical answer.

2. But since you are actually asking why, I can tell you a simple reason that cuts it for me: V-I-R-T-U-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N
Click to expand...


how many VM's are you planning to run on a desktop? that's what real servers are for running vmware on the bare metal
 
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