Maybe I'm just being dense here, but can anyone explain to me why a Mac Pro with a single 3.33GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor and 3GB of RAM is considerably more expensive than a Mac Pro with two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors and 6GB of RAM?
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Mac Pro price puzzle
- Thread starter mazurka
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Um...Because Intel prices the more than 1GHz faster 3.33GHz processor considerably higher than than two 2.26GHz processors?
So which Mac Pro will have the better performance? The single 3.33GHz model or the twin 2.26GHz model?
This was quick, so I might not have the exact models, but you can see in this comparison, the 3.33 is more than 4 times the price of the 2.26 ($1600 vs $373):
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=41643,40200
Also see: http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-features/44940-apple-upgrades-mac-pro-with-333ghz-quad-core-xeon
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=41643,40200
Also see: http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-features/44940-apple-upgrades-mac-pro-with-333ghz-quad-core-xeon
So the slower Mac Pro is dearer than the faster Mac Pro? Is that simplifying it too much?
If you're running a CPU-intensive program with one process, the 3.33 will be faster. However, if you're running multiple simultaneous processes, multiple CPUs will have an advantage, since the work is spread over multiple processors. That's oversimplified, but you get the idea.
Thanks, understand now. It seems strange, therefore, does it not, that there is such a price disparity? Or are we on the cusp of a CPU upgrade for the 8-core computer that will redress this?
Newer, faster processors always bear premium prices when they're first released. The prices drop quickly as newer, faster processors are released.
Yes, but Apple's prices don't drop in tandem with the processor prices. That's why it's rarely a good idea to purchase a new machine at the end of a product cycle.
It's about the right tool for the job as has been highlighted and these systems are quite different. The 2.26GHz processors are more suited to a server than a workstation. Intel's pricing structure for more MHz isn't linear, there are large premiums for the fastest processors. There is also a premium for dual socket over single. When you combine these it makes the systems cost the same at retail component pricing (~$2,200).
In this case the 3.33GHz is more because you are paying Apple's premium on the upgrade ($100) and for the original 2.66GHz processor ($300). Not that Apple probably calculates it like that, but one way to look at it.
the xeon's are very expensive. To get that one with that clock speed will be a ton. Dont get the xeons confused with i7's