Next-Generation Mac Pro to Receive Temporary Exclusive of Six-Core 'Gulftown' Processor?

[deconstruct60]

I'm wondering...
Would the 6 core be better than the Quad Core nehalem they have right now?

Depends.

If you are doing stuff that only takes/needs 4, looks like you get a bigger cache which can help some.

If you are doing something with 4 that saturates the 3 memory controller channels then probably not. You will have two more, somewhat starved cores. You may get increase with some batch jobs that now manage to saturate the 3 memory channels when couldn't before.



Unclear though if Intel is going to offer a cheaper model though for just single processor package ( 36xx ) for this though. Suspect Apple won't sell without both processor slots filled. More than likely they are very happy with the better margins with the less expensive chip in the single processor package models.

 

[philbeeney]

This time Apple...update the freakin' case.

What does Johnny Ive do these days? They haven’t really changed a case design in ages.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Mac Pro case. It's unique and everybody knows it's a Mac. It's only the internals that need revising every time an update is required.

 

[primalman]

so now the mac pro can start at $3000 with a carp video card

What do fish have to do with the video card?

 

[iGod 2.0]

(=~o

OH...MY...GOD!!

 

[Bryan Bowler]

In today's day and age, who on earth could use 128GB of RAM?

Bryan

 

[AidenShaw]

In today's day and age, who on earth could use 128GB of RAM?

Bryan

Do you realize that Dell's large tower dual Xeon workstation (T7500) supports 192 GiB today?

It's nice that some future Apple will support 2/3 the memory of today's Dells.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/enterpris...efid=workstation-precision-t7500&s=biz&cs=555

ps: the 192 GiB option is only $107K additional

pps: if 192 GiB isn't enough, Dell (and HP/IBM/...) also have 24-core servers with 256 GiB support - or even 32-core 512 GiB systems.

 

[Thex1138]

More!

6 cores!
That rocks!

 

[Exponent]

In today's day and age, who on earth could use 128GB of RAM?

Bryan

That would be me.

When I'm verifying a chip's geometry before sending it off to the foundry.

Or when running metal fill, and/or other "Design-For-Manufacturing" compute jobs.

Or when I'm running device physics simulation code.

Or when I'm running design optimization programs.

Or when I'm doing all of those at the same time.

You need to get out more, dude!

 

[gugy]

128 gig of RAM, holly crap!

wow, I have now 10 gig of RAM and I thought I was hot sh•t!

I am really looking for this machine. I hope Apple will not charge and astronomical premium for it. And I will probably just put 20 gigs of RAM.

Also please Apple bring some new 30" ACDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[deconstruct60]

In today's day and age, who on earth could use 128GB of RAM?

The same folks who were using 128 GB of RAM 5-10 years ago on leading edge supercomputers. Only now it sits by their desk and they don't have to share or submit batch jobs.

If modeling a car crash or the weather or the ocean(s) or "the earth" then 100 GB isn't an usually large finite element mesh. The finer the mesh , the better the data but the more memory it consumes. Stuff similar to the verticle markets the tesla is targeted at (http://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla_computing_solutions.html )
Although, Mac OS X hasn't been a historical prime target for that kind of software.


Nvidia has mentioned the intent to make Fermi powered cards for the Mac OS. Can't think of a better host for that card than a Mac Pro. You really will have a supercomputer (from several years ago) sitting by your desk in that case.



If you are thinking in terms of loading some set of files off of disk (photoshop ) , that's a bit unlikely. Slightly more likely to get some database with enough feeds to keep that that much memory feed, but that too is possible.

There are folks though that will drop $20-30K on a workstation. Usually though because that means don't have to spend $20-30K on renting time on a bigger machine.

 

[MorphingDragon]

If this becomes true, including the RAM it will be my next purchase. I'm hoping the SLI option is in there for x16 on 2 GPU cards and thus have one beast for OpenCL coding.

I'm going to make myself very clear on this,

NO and as long as Intel is being childish we wont have nVidia chipsets for a long time. AND ATi is kicking ass ATM.

 

[Justinf79]

So...

Will these 6-core CPUs run in a 2009 quad-core MP?

 

[MorphingDragon]

Will these 6-core CPUs run in a 2009 quad-core MP?

Probably, if its the same socket type you may have a chance.

 

[Eidorian]

Probably not, if its the same socket type you may have a chance.

Gulftown is on Socket B and would only require a firmware update.

 

[AidenShaw]

I'm going to make myself very clear on this,

NO and as long as Intel is being childish we wont have nVidia chipsets for a long time. AND ATi is kicking ass ATM.

But Nvidia makes graphics cards (and CUDA GPUs) for PCIe. Having an Nvidia chipset isn't necessary.

 

[AidenShaw]

Gulftown is on Socket B and would only require a firmware update.

...and will the Apple that won't do an EFI64 firmware update to support Snow Leopard x64 across its line update the maxi-tower firmware so that you can buy CPUs from Newegg?

Biggest LOL of the week.

 

[MorphingDragon]

But Nvidia makes graphics cards (and CUDA GPUs) for PCIe. Having an Nvidia chipset isn't necessary.

His Keyword was SLI.

...and will the Apple that won't do an EFI64 firmware update to support Snow Leopard x64 across its line update the maxi-tower firmware so that you can buy CPUs from Newegg?

Biggest LOL of the week.

I dunno, you could upgrade the CPUs in the 2008 Mac Pros.

 

[Eidorian]

...and will the Apple that won't do an EFI64 firmware update to support Snow Leopard x64 across its line update the maxi-tower firmware so that you can buy CPUs from Newegg?

Biggest LOL of the week.

Why would Apple do that when they can just sell you a new Mac Pro?

 

[Fwink!]

Gulftown is on Socket B and would only require a firmware update.

It would be nice to know a current machine can be upgraded later. And who are these ultra users who require a supercomputer? Whoa, like super geniuses in their labs.

BTW, long time forum reader, not a lot of posts.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Why would Apple do that when they can just sell you a new Mac Pro?

ROM HACK!!!

 

[LEStudios]

That sounds amazing!
I'd love to be able to afford a mac pro and 30 inch cinema display, but the student budget won't stretch that far!
So looks like i'll have to wait for the new iMac which will hopefully be out soon because I want something faster to use than my PowerBook G4!

PowerBook G4?

Time for you to get one of those credit card applications in front of the student center!

 

[ngdesign]

This time Apple...update the freakin' case.

I rather they keep the same case to keep the apple store tourists and mac-user-wanna-be out of the shop so i can get a decent service.

 

[LEStudios]

128 gig of RAM, holly crap!

wow, I have now 10 gig of RAM and I thought I was hot sh•t!

I am really looking for this machine. I hope Apple will not charge and astronomical premium for it. And I will probably just put 20 gigs of RAM.

Also please Apple bring some new 30" ACDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah 1st Quarter of 2010 be perfect for 30" Cinema LED Display!

 

[johnhw]

12-core Mac Pro want!
128GB Mac Pro want!
20k Mac Pro don't want!

 

[SeaFox]

I guess this machine will see the first LightPeak connectors as well.

Don't hold your breath.

Yup. Lightpeak is at this point a technology demonstration. It's nowhere close to production if they're having to modify existing motherboards to show it off.

Will we finally see neato-keano glowing purple cooling fluid in the Mac?

Of course, when Apple puts in 16 cores, Apple will innovate using refurbished shuttle heat-shield tiles for the case, which of course will eliminate the need for any liquid cooling.

Did you actually read that comment before you posted it? How do shuttle heat shield computer cases protect the CPU from overheating.

If anything it will hold the heat inside the case and make the issue worse.

They have to use Xeon processors because that is required for ECC memory, which is required by many sources for Workstation purchases. The Xeons used in the single processor Mac Pros (3500 series) are the same price as Core i7s at the same clock speed. Apple aren't charging more because they are paying more than they would for Core i7 processors.

No, they're just charging more to the end-user who may not need an ECC memory workstation. This is what's wrong with the Macintosh lineup. There is a market of people called "enthusiasts" who want to be able to upgrade their computer themselves, add expansion cards, extra hard drives or even a second optical drive, etc and the Mac Pro is the only Apple computer that lets them do this. These people don't need special server processors or RAM or the restrictions on upgrading those components bring.

LMAO you do realize that 2002 was almost EIGHT years ago, yes? You see there's this thing called "inflation". Ah, nevermind, you're probably too young to understand.

I built a Core i7 tower with 6GB RAM six months ago for less than $1000. How fast do you think inflation goes?

And in case you're about to give the classic Apple fanboi response; no, I didn't buy "really cheap low-quality parts".

What do fish have to do with the video card?

If we're talking about Apple's video card selections: They both stink now compared to when they were brand new

/me bows