Mac Pro gets 12 Cores in September?

[Quash]

Not gonna happen.

The processors you are listing have a far lower clock speed then the current MP making em slower for 99% of the tasks then the current MP.

Also these are quad chip server models. Meaning you can use 4 of them in 1 computer. And thus are way to expensive.

The next Mac Pro will be based on Core i7 / Nehalem architecture.

So it will be a Gainestown which will feature 2 cpu's with 4 Cores which van handle 8 threads each.(by using Hyperthreading) I'm willing to bet good money that it will come in January as usual. A year later so 2010 you will get 2x 8core procs ( based on Westmere 32nm ) for that same money.

 

[t0mat0]

Would they do a mini bump to take into account the slightly faster ~3.4GHz CPU X5492 (It's the bottom of the Harpertowns on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon) at the least to take the edge off waiting till January potentially? Long but useful wait for Nehalem. (Will Apple actually put Nehalem in anything other than the Mac Pro first? What if Bloomfield was ready prior to Gainstown - would they ship Bloomfield first? Make the iMac wait for the Mac Pro refresh presumably as the iMac is mid cycle, with Mac Pro more in need of a refresh )

IDF Taiwan (Taipei): October 20 – 21, 2008 will see an Atom launch/new info potentially on benchmarks, release dates for some of the Nehalem (Bloomfield and Gainstown hopefully, covering Mac Pro, iMac at least.

 

[Umbongo]

Would they do a mini bump to take into account the slightly faster ~3.4GHz CPU X5492 at the least to take the edge off waiting till January potentially?

Nope. No business reason to do so and it isn't in Apple's style.

What if Bloomfield was ready prior to Gainstown - would they ship Bloomfield first? Make the iMac wait for the Mac Pro refresh presumably as the iMac is mid cycle, with Mac Pro more in need of a refresh

Bloomfield will likely be shipping in systems and as components before Gainstown, but it won't be going in to the iMac.

 

[m1stake]

The Mac Pro is the only Apple computer that uses desktop parts. The iMac, the Mini, and obviously the laptops, use laptop parts. Core i7 laptop parts will not be on sale until Q3 or Q4 2009.

 

[iMacmatician]

Some clarifications:

• Dunnington is a Xeon MP CPU. The Mac Pro uses Xeon DP chips.
• The next CPU the Mac Pro could have is the 4-core Gainestown (Q4 2009).
• Mobile Nehalem is due in Q4 2009 for quad-core and January 2010 for dual-core (not long ago it was Q3 2009).
• Westmere (32 nm) is coming at about the end of 2009. Rumors vary on its core count (4 or 6).

I'd say Westmere could be coming in both 4-core and 6-core variants. I would also say that we could be seeing a Mac Pro update at about the start of each year:

• 2008: Penryn (8/8)
• 2009: Nehalem (8/16)
• 2010: Westmere (12/24)
• 2011: Sandy Bridge (12/24)
• 2012: Ivy Bridge?

Tuesday before MacWorld, again, anyone?

I agree with this prediction.

Would they do a mini bump to take into account the slightly faster ~3.4GHz CPU X5492 (It's the bottom of the Harpertowns on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon) at the least to take the edge off waiting till January potentially?

I doubt it, unless DP Nehalem was delayed to mid-2009 or so for some reason. And if so, I see it as an addition, like the Clovertown Mac Pro in 2007.

 

[Umbongo]

Intel can do 8 core processors on Nehalem for the DP platform. They suggested as much in the past. However unless AMD can put pressure on them they won't, there is no reason to. It's why we will see 8 core in Beckton in 2009; that is a market where other companies do have more cores available.

 

[iMacmatician]

Intel can do 8 core processors on Nehalem for the DP platform. They suggested as much in the past. However unless AMD can put pressure on them they won't, there is no reason to. It's why we will see 8 core in Beckton in 2009; that is a market where other companies do have more cores available.

And that'll be a good thing, since AMD's coming with 6-core Istanbul in H2 2009 and 12-core Magny-Cours in H1 2010. The desktop AMD roadmaps still show 4 cores through 2009 (although at ≥3 GHz). I guess it's about cores in the server area, clock speed in the desktop area, and low power in the mobile area.

 

[Umbongo]

Although we've established that these aren't going in the Mac Pro some of you may be interested in seeing some 24 core benchmarks anyway. Interesting if only as it is compared with the 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2GHz processors the Mac Pro uses.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/09/30/exclusive-benchmarketeering

 

[liquid stereo]

12 cores sounds like nonsense

How are the CPUs/cores supposed to have access to memory? 12 contending for/via the same bandwidth.

Hopefully there will be a way to disable some of the cores via software.

A 12 core mac pro would be awesome for us crunchers.

 

[xgman]

windows side, but interesting #'s nonetheless:


http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/09/30/exclusive-benchmarketeering

 

[t0mat0]

How are the CPUs/cores supposed to have access to memory? 12 contending for/via the same bandwidth.

Hopefully there will be a way to disable some of the cores via software.

Maybe increase the bandwidth

Nehalem seems to do just that. As for the Higher core Penryns, they'll just have to duke it out, but they aren't hitting the Memory bandwidth buffer hard to my knowledge- otherwise why make them?