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Mac Pro Suitable Nehalem (Core i7) Processors Due in 1st Quarter 2009

mail4asim said:
Should be good ... would love to see the benchmarks on the new machine. :)
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Most recent one I know, but hopefully others have a few links too:
wiki and
http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/har...Core-i7-Nehalem-/0,139023402,339293122,00.htm


In numerous tests, the 2.66GHz Core i7 920 is a better proposition at AU$2800.00 [$284]than Intel's previous fastest processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9775, at around AU$2600.
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Mac Pro 3.2GHz on a X5482 - which is afaik pretty akin to the QX9775, so basically even the Core i7 920 is on a par with the current Mac Pro CPU.

Direct comparisons between the two 3.2GHz chips — the older Penryn Core 2 Extreme QX9775 and the new Nehalem Core i7 Extreme 965 [$999]— show the latest processor to be well over 50 percent faster. That advantage is not only confined to professional rendering applications; it also holds true for image editing with software such as Jalbum and Paint .NET, which fully exploit the features of the new architecture. That performance improvement should ensure Nehalem is a success
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Why do people think Mac World for the new mac pro, please let us know what knowledge this is based on?

Given that the first quarter of 09 means the end of March. The last update was 5 months after Harpertown were released.

You want a new Mac Pro you'll be waiting until WWDC09 for it.
 
G4DP said:
Why do people think Mac World for the new mac pro, please let us know what knowledge this is based on?

Given that the first quarter of 09 means the end of March. The last update was 5 months after Harpertown were released.

You want a new Mac Pro you'll be waiting until WWDC09 for it.
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The 2008 Mac Pro came out 8 weeks after the release of Harpertown. The 2006 Mac Pro came out 6 weeks after the release of Woodcrest.

edit: Just to add that Paul Otellini said that production on these processors would begin in January so it is perfectly possible we will see new Mac Pros by March.
 
G4DP said:
Why do people think Mac World for the new mac pro, please let us know what knowledge this is based on?

Given that the first quarter of 09 means the end of March. The last update was 5 months after Harpertown were released.

You want a new Mac Pro you'll be waiting until WWDC09 for it.
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I think the CPU and Chipset updates each have different lead/lags.

The CPUs can beat the PCs to market or lag, while the chipset upgrades will likely almost always lag -- sometimes painfully.
 
This is good news, I think we will see Nehalem Mac Pros as early as March and as late as WWDC 2009.

mgargan1 said:
What I'm really interested in the mobile version of this processor. I wonder if it'll provide the same performance benefit over penryn.
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Not as big a benefit but still a benefit.

mgargan1 said:
What's more important though is battery life. They said that this processer uses more energy than the current processor.
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The CPU uses more but the total chipset usage is about the same.

m1stake said:
This is the biggest speed jump since Core 2 in 2006. You won't be found wanting. The clock speed alone is just the tip of the iceberg. Clock for clock, these guys destroy their Penryn counterparts.
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Except for the quad-core Clovertowns if you consider multi-threading. And aren't these Nehalems more expensive than Harpertowns for the same clock?

G4DP said:
Why do people think Mac World for the new mac pro, please let us know what knowledge this is based on?
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The previous rumors of Gainestown coming in Q4 2008 and the belief that Apple will announce but not release the new Mac Pros.

G4DP said:
You want a new Mac Pro you'll be waiting until WWDC09 for it.
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I had thought of this, it's fairly reasonable, although on the late side. I'm putting my predictions for WWDC and then I'll be pleasantly surprised if they come out earlier. :) It's also possible for WWDC to happen early (May?) next year, but I'm not sure about that.
 
raydsr said:
The new display is total crap. If they glossy on all their displays they've lost me as a customer.
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Whats wrong with buying a Mac Pro and a Dell or LG display?

Just because you don't like one product you wont ever buy from Apple again?

Anyway they look nice, shame its Intel but still, nice.

Just FYI: These will only be at Macworld if something big happens, IE. case change, blu ray etc. If not expect them in early January like this year when they came out Jan 8th.
 
Power Consumption

With Core i7 being able to shut down single cores I'm more interested to see if the idle power consumption will drop below the 155W of the current Mac Pro (Mac Pro (Early 2008): Power consumption). Especially as the Mac Pro is now the only Pro machine which comes without a freaking glossy display.
 
I love how "traditionally" and "Mac Pro" are in the same sentence... as though they're it's a long-standing product....
 
29 % improvements ?

meh, only in heavy threaded app, but wait, any app on osx can optimaly use 8 cores or more (with two core i7 it will be 16 virtual cores)?

in single threaded apps performance improvement over penryns is just 5% avg.

i very doubt anyone will notice 29% in macosx, even photoshop on windz got hit because of SMT.
 
It will be interesting to watch how the economy will impact new Mac Pros

As Apple Computer, Inc. readies the launch of the new Mac Pro in first quarter 2009 it will be interesting to watch what impact the contracting, recessionary economy will have on Apple's strategy for its professional series of computers and on the sale volume of these computers.

Surely as consumer demand falters for the iPhone, iMac, and MacBook lines, Apple may put renewed emphasis on the Mac Pro series in hopes of expanding sales in this profitable professional arena.

As small business, especially creative producers, ponder their future in this transitioning economy one can only wonder if these new media professionals will invest in the greater production capacity and efficiency the Intel Xeon 5500 Mac Pro represents.
 
dante@sisna.com said:
As Apple Computer, Inc. readies the launch of the new Mac Pro in first quarter 2009 it will be interesting to watch what impact the contracting, recessionary economy will have on Apple's strategy for its professional series of computers and on the sale volume of these computers.

Surely as consumer demand falters for the iPhone, iMac, and MacBook lines, Apple may put renewed emphasis on the Mac Pro series in hopes of expanding sales in this profitable professional arena.

As small business, especially creative producers, ponder their future in this transitioning economy one can only wonder if these new media professionals will invest in the greater production capacity and efficiency the Intel Xeon 5500 Mac Pro represents.
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Care to comment on how much Apple is making from the Mac Pro, versus the iPhone and Macbook/MacBook Pro? And where is this "demand faltering" coming from - the increase in sale rate might drop, but even if sales went flat, they'd be making a lot.
If Apple can show that they can provide value for money - something that for a decent price will do the job quicker, i'd imagine the product will still have traction.

Comment from the bit-tech review?

If you're very interested in video encoding, transcoding, image editing or you need to compress files that much faster Core i7 is the de facto choice - even the least expensive Core i7 920 is worth the upgrade.
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There are some people who would be seeing the performance boost a Core i& Mac Pro would bring.
 
4God said:
Ah, tru dat. Snow Leopard on these should fly.
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Totally agree! 29% may not sound like much, but that is clock-for-clock improvements and not just upping the gigahertz (which would create more problems). Basically, Intel is tightening up the efficiency as Apple is doing with Snow Leopard. Again, it may not sound like much, but combined its going to scream.

Schneb
4God2
 
t0mat0 said:
Care to comment on how much Apple is making from the Mac Pro, versus the iPhone and Macbook/MacBook Pro? And where is this "demand faltering" coming from - the increase in sale rate might drop, but even if sales went flat, they'd be making a lot.
If Apple can show that they can provide value for money - something that for a decent price will do the job quicker, i'd imagine the product will still have traction.

Comment from the bit-tech review?



There are some people who would be seeing the performance boost a Core i& Mac Pro would bring.
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Oh, I'd speculate the Mac Pro holds the highest profit margins for Apple Computer. I do think Apple revised their models over the past few years to pursue sales volume with reduced margins on the MacBook and iMac series. My curiosity now is to see if this Apple changes this model based on the economy: for example will they bolster marketing for the Mac Pro in hopes that creative pros will purchase in a down consumer cycle? And how will the Creative Professional and small business community respond to new pro machines during this contract.

I know we would certainly benefit from Corei and new Mac Pros. What I unsure of is this: 1) Can we maintain enough growth to justify the outlay of revenue required to purchase, and 2) where will be find the revenue from?
 
Not as tech savy

So is Intel going to push the Xeon 3500 series CPU in the first quarter only to have them then replaced by the Nehalem processors when they hit the market? Or are these Xeon 3500 CPU's going to stay in the Mac Pro machines?

Thanks!
 
Why is Apple so dead-set on using Xeons in the Mac Pro?

The desktop processors are a *LOT* less expensive, and only a smidge slower.

The Mac Pro could be a much more affordable machine if they'd shift to desktop-grade CPUs, and the cost in performance would be minimal. Performance per dollar cost would skyrocket.

Thoughts?
 
Mithryndir said:
So is Intel going to push the Xeon 3500 series CPU in the first quarter only to have them then replaced by the Nehalem processors when they hit the market? Or are these Xeon 3500 CPU's going to stay in the Mac Pro machines?

Thanks!
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The 3500 series are just Xeon versions of the Nehalem processors that come out next week. Apple won't be using them.
 
zorinlynx said:
Why is Apple so dead-set on using Xeons in the Mac Pro?

The desktop processors are a *LOT* less expensive, and only a smidge slower.

The Mac Pro could be a much more affordable machine if they'd shift to desktop-grade CPUs, and the cost in performance would be minimal. Performance per dollar cost would skyrocket.

Thoughts?
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They can't replace dual socket systems with single socket systems so they would have to add a new machine. There are many reasons why they won't do that. It might be good for the consumer, but I doubt it makes straight up financial sense let alone from a marketing standpoint.
 
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