Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.6 GHz X7800 Announced

[QCassidy352]

please let this be the piece that apple was waiting for to make the new imacs. Ten months is really quite enough of the current models.

 

[Mainyehc]

On behalf of the MacRumors forum-members, I take the liberty of drop-kicking you across the room.

Oh, no biggie, be my guest, I can take it, as any good ol' MacBook would. Isn't that what sudden-motion sensors and MagSafe connectors were invented for?

But serioulsy, an overclockable mobile CPU? It makes you wonder... If you did that to a MacBook, wouldn't you end up with something akin to a hipothetical PB G5 and burn a hole through the table or ( ) your legs? Or even worse, burn the MacBook itself!

 

[Eidorian]

Oh, no biggie, be my guest, I can take it, as any good ol' MacBook would. Isn't that what sudden-motion sensors and MagSafe connectors were invented for?

But serioulsy, an overclockable mobile CPU? It makes you wonder... If you did that to a MacBook, wouldn't you end up with something akin to a hipothetical PB G5 and burn a hole through the table or ( ) your legs?

Intel's trying to cash in on people with money to burn. The 800 MHz FSB is the biggest issue with Merom.

 

[pcorajr]

Also, how is it that everyone is happy with Intel releasing chips with max speeds that are at the same number as 3 years ago? This chipset maxes out at 2.6??? I know that they are doing more with these chips by making them multi-cored and tweaking the FSB, but come on.... Imagine what someone would say if they could have looked into today's world from 5 years ago. They were peaking at 1.8-2.0 back then.

It's not always about performance, a lot of it has to do with simply how the numbers look from the outside.

The Ghz war is over, Now we have the Core war. I rather have my Apps using multiple cores at 2.6 and still have 2 cores left for multitasking. Multiple cores is the way to go. We just need developers to stop been lazy and start developing for multi core platforms.

 

[StuPidQPid]

What does the "Extreme" mean? Is it just some arbitrary marketing that means "fast and cool so you want to buy it!"? Or does it actually reflect some type of change on the chip...

It means it's a warm-blooded mammal that lays eggs...

 

[shabbasuraj]

This Extreme advertising/branding is so yesterday... Intel really has to call it something else.. so dumb!!!!!!!!!!!!...EXTREME..

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=xtreme_********

 

[MrCrowbar]

I don't think we'll see those chips in any of the consumer Macs.

They're:
- too expensive (almost a grand per chip)
- too hot ("performance oer watt", remember?)

Ergo you'd have an iMac that is twice as loud as the current one.
Or a Macbook pro that will melt the keyboard when it's idling.
For Mac Pros, those things are too weak (laptop CPU...) and too expensive.

The only Mac I could possibly imagine those extreme chips would be a gaming Mac (gMac?). Most games are still not well optimized for multiple cores, usually the run loop (1 thread) takes up a core and the other things like AI, sound, physics, networking etc. are seperate threads that can run on the other core. So high performance per core is still the key here.

It would be like the cube; a small box with easy access to the CPU, RAM, 2 hard drive bays (striping per default) and a superdrive. I'd love to see the revival of the cube but with gamers as a target group. Any of the NVidia 8800 series would do.

 

[mathwhiz90601]

And will Apple even think about lowering their prices to reflect this savings. haha, ya right.

When will Apple join the rest of the computer industry and have their prices change as the costs change?

Give it a few weeks. Yeesh!

Isn't it odd that these chips are announced as a new iMac style etc are in the works? Why not put the new Extreme Quad Core in the new iMac. Hence the new design, and I'm sure Apple had advance notice of the chips, so they could have started to design around them months ago. Chips are ready, new iMac with Quad Core right behind it....

The iMac's are going to have something nice, I'm sure.

 

[gloss]

The problem is that at the top end, getting a bit more clock speed gets very expensive. Getting an "extreme" dual core processor seems a bit stupid, because a low-end quad core processor would be cheaper and much faster.

This chip is a 3.0ghz quad-core. So it's the fastest clock speed and the most cores they offer.

edit: Oops. Total mistake. I confused this with the desktop variant they just released. Sorry.

 

[spetznatz]

Confused old hack needs clarification...

QX6850 -- 3.0 GHz, Quad-core and 1333 MHz FSB -- these are the same numbers for the top-of-the-line Xeon chips...so what are the differences / advantages of the Xeons?

Is the QX6850 cheaper? (it certainly uses cheaper memory than the FB-DIMMs required by the Xeon...)

 

[derivativemusic]

Eek?

Or can you eke more power out of it?

 

[Counter]

Okay, okay, here it comes.... drumroll please!







...will this fit in an iPhone ?

Depends how big the iPhone 2.0 is.

 

[gloss]

Confused old hack needs clarification...

QX6850 -- 3.0 GHz, Quad-core and 1333 MHz FSB -- these are the same numbers for the top-of-the-line Xeon chips...so what are the differences / advantages of the Xeons?

Is the QX6850 cheaper? (it certainly uses cheaper memory than the FB-DIMMs required by the Xeon...)

The Extreme is on a different PIN architecture, doesn't require buffered memory, and is easily overclockable. I think that's mainly it.

Essentially, it's the power-consumer variant.

 

[fblack]

Yeah, but in what? A headless 'Mac Midi' would be great but where would that sit with iMacs and MacPros?

It would sit quite well on my desktop.

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

should be very interesting how they are able to use this for 17" macbook pros

 

[daneoni]

I think it makes sense for the 2.6GHz chips to go in upcoming 20/24 inch iMacs i.e 2.4 in 20" upgradeable to 2.6 and 2.6 standard in the 24". Hence each product lines is sufficiently separated. MacBooks 2.16, MacBook Pros 2.4 and iMacs 2.6....even fits since they are scrapping the 17" model. Mac mini might get bumped into 2.16 Core Duo or 2.0 C2D

Finally towers maintain their xeon processors.

Sooo, 2.6GHz 20/24 aluminium imacs anyone?

 

[Peace]

It does indeed have a 800 MHz FSB.

ahh..I thought it was just a faster chip.didn't know it came with a faster bus.

Still though.With a complete re-design of the iMac I can see non-mobile chips in the new iMac.

 

[pcorajr]

This is great news, Lets hope that this translate into new iMac Soon.

 

[shawmanus]

Key point about Extreme Edition Processors is that they have unlocked multipliers. So one can increase clockspeed without increasing FSB.

X7800 can have upto 15x mulitplier. So one could have a 3ghz dual core laptop.

These cpus are targetted at Desktop replacement(DTR) market. I cant see Apple using them unless they decide to use it for iMac.

Intel would be releasing T7800 in sep/oct (they would also be releasing 2.8ghz x7900 as well). Apple might use that for Macbook(pro)

 

[Headrush69]

It would be great for apple to start using some of Intel's desktop chips.

I am sick of laptop chips in Imacs. Yes they may be ok enough for Mac Minis, but Apple needs to offer up a mid sized tower or imac that has more power than a laptop.

The problem is Apple needs a system that fits between the iMac and the Mac Pro.

The current iMac line up is perfectly fine for your "average" user.
(Using mobile parts isn't going to matter to mom and pop.)

Unfortunately there is a large group of users that need a little more power or maybe a better video card or a decent system for users that have a LCD already, and the Mac Pro is priced too high for this group.

 

[lazyrighteye]

SURE CAN!!!!

As long as you don't mind the fact that making a phone call will be the same as putting a hot iron against your face!

OT, but speaking of heat - I was looking (feeling) an TV yesterday in an Apple Store, and that thing was hot, hot hot!
I actually laughed out loud. Shockingly hot. I bet you could quickly cook an egg on an TV.
Seems to me, having never used one more than in a demo setting, that the intense amount of heat these babies put off, there would be all sorts of performance issues. I always thought Macs (computers) didn't like extreme temps.

Anyway, back on topic, I expect these chips to find their way in the new iMacs.

 

[Eidorian]

The Ghz war is over, Now we have the Core war. I rather have my Apps using multiple cores at 2.6 and still have 2 cores left for multitasking. Multiple cores is the way to go. We just need developers to stop been lazy and start developing for multi core platforms.

Actually the GHz war is still going. You're going to hit a wall trying to code so many parallel operations at once in order to improve speed. Then you still have to fall back on raw clock speed alone. Penryn isn't that great of a change when compared to Core 2, you do get higher and cooler clock speeds moving to 45nm.

I don't think we'll see those chips in any of the consumer Macs.

They're:
- too expensive (almost a grand per chip)
- too hot ("performance oer watt", remember?)

Ergo you'd have an iMac that is twice as loud as the current one.
Or a Macbook pro that will melt the keyboard when it's idling.
For Mac Pros, those things are too weak (laptop CPU...) and too expensive.

The only Mac I could possibly imagine those extreme chips would be a gaming Mac (gMac?). Most games are still not well optimized for multiple cores, usually the run loop (1 thread) takes up a core and the other things like AI, sound, physics, networking etc. are seperate threads that can run on the other core. So high performance per core is still the key here.

It would be like the cube; a small box with easy access to the CPU, RAM, 2 hard drive bays (striping per default) and a superdrive. I'd love to see the revival of the cube but with gamers as a target group. Any of the NVidia 8800 series would do.

$637 for the T7600, $529 for the T7700, and then $851 for the X7800. I can picture Apple offering it as a custom option but not as stock.

The 44w TDP isn't that scary compared to the old PowerPC 970FX at full load.

 

[oscuh]

I'd only be impressed if they called it XTREME!!!

 

[theheyes]

Ahem. Sorry...

... are we talking about Extreme Edition cpus in an iMac?

I'll eat my own socks when I see it. Its just wrong on so many levels.

 

[Object-X]

You mean one you already own?

No, the one I'm going to buy when rumor becomes reality.