Intel stuck @ 3.5 GHz this year...

[hvfsl]

About Hyper Transport, there is problems with it. It can actually make the cpu faster and slower at the same time. What I mean is that the P4 HT will only be faster with optimised code, when the code is not optimised, the P4 can sometimes be slower. Look at the benchmarks on www.tomshardware.com fpr more details.

Also lots of new cpus are going to include hypertransport in them. I think the PPC970 is one of them. Also what HT basically does is make sure that none of the cpu's proccessing power is gone to waste. It does not provide the same speed improvements as using 2 cpu's. So HT is not a real worry for Apple, it really just speeds up the computer when it is doing many things at the same time.

 

[MorganX]

Originally posted by hvfsl
What I mean is that the P4 HT will only be faster with optimised code.

Also what HT basically does is make sure that none of the cpu's proccessing power is gone to waste. It does not provide the same speed improvements as using 2 cpu's.

Windows XP pro is optimized for SMP. It really is much more responsive with dual processors and HT. This makes all applications more responsive.

If PIV HTs proliferate, more ISVs will take time to optimize for SMP.

HT is here, no one is even sure when, if, or in what models Apple will use the 970. On top of that there's the cost. One thing I'm not going to be happy about is after I purchase the high end of the bumped iMacs, I won't be able to upgrade to the 970. If I do, the cost will be... high. This is a benefit to the PC world. Even if changing families you can swap a mobo, get new CPU, RAM usually for a couple hundred bucks. Compatibility and upgradeability are still areas I believe Apple lags way behind in.